By Jessica Wang and all the participants

Cupertino and Hsinchu began their friendship city relationship in 1998, and officially became sister cities in 2007 when the mayors of the two cities signed a formal agreement. With the strong support from the Cupertino-Hsinchu Sister City Association (CHSCA), a community-based non-profit organization, Hsinchu City has successfully sent outstanding youth ambassadors of Gr. 7-12 to Cupertino city for an annual student exchange program since 2004.

The host families are the most important part of this cultural-exchange experience. Not only did students build the person-to-person connection, but they also helped with mutual understanding across countries and cultures through home stays, school and corporate visits as well as pubic performances. During the trip, we visited worldwide leaders in IT such as Intel Museum, Portwell and Cisco and prestigious colleges like Stanford and De Anza as well as the most popular attractions in the city of San Francisco. The gorgeous twilight and the sunset cruise have perfectly concluded our exchange program on Nov. 5, the last day of the trip. Even though we are apart, our best memories and friendship will stay forever!

Melody Chiu / IBSH

Through this Cupertino exchange trip, I learned how the American school system is different from Taiwan. The first thing I noticed when I entered the classroom was the difference between the numbers of students. They have hundreds of people per grade, whereas we only have hundreds of people in our whole school. When I walked into the class, I noticed that I didn’t recognize anyone from my classes before. Then I realized that everyone had their own schedule to follow. Yet everybody got to their designated class on time without being late. Another big difference that I noticed was the way the teachers taught. The teachers in America split their students into separate groups so that they could easily and collaboratively share their opinions within their group. While in Taiwan, the teacher would provide all the ideas and themes of the topics so that we wouldn’t get easily confused with a clear guidance from the teacher. In the end, I realize how little things in school can make a big difference from the way teachers teach the way students learn. That’s why we were there to experience the differences between the two school systems.

Another thing that I noticed which was different from Taiwan is their spirit for Halloween. In Taiwan, we don't celebrate Halloween. But over in Cupertino, they go out trick or treating from house to house to ask for candy. Not only are the people who pass out candy super friendly and welcomingly, but they also spend time decorating their houses. Each house would have its unique style, and some would even decorate the inside of their houses imitating a real-life haunted house. People who went trick or treating would also have lovely costumes. Some would dress up as cute princesses while others would dress up as creepy ghosts. And at the end of trick or treating, you would also have a lot of candy in your bag.

Last but not least, we went to two colleges, Stanford and De Anza. These two colleges were amazing. I never knew that a school could hold so many people, yet no one would be lost. Everyone seemed as if they knew where they were heading and they would not get easily lost. And one of the privileges of having such a big school was that there was a lot of history inside the college. Each arch to each building would have its only story to tell, each with special reasoning why it is kept where it is today. De Anza College allowed a wide range of students with different talents, which I think is very special. It didn't matter to them what your strengths and weaknesses were; it only mattered to them if you had the talent inside you or not. Most impressively, I liked this college because it was so inviting to all students around the world and the school is committed to help them strive for their goal.

Paula J. Chu/ IBSH

The trip to Cupertino, thanks to the Cupertino Exchange Program, was one of the best, most interesting experiences in my life. I made a lot of new friends and great memories, and got to experience the American culture for the first time in my life. Both the Committee together with teachers, and my host family, planned entertaining, fascinating, and at the same time educational trips to several places in California.

During this trip, I had a lot of first times - for the first time I went trick or treating, and for the first time I tried a hamburger and a burrito, and for the first time I’ve been to the US! I’ve never really had Mexican food before, and it was a huge mistake because burritos turned out to be exceedingly delicious. Alas, Chipotle, in which we ate the burritos, does not have a branch in Taiwan. Same for burgers - I ate my first burger in a Californian fast-food chain, In-n-Out, and it was delectable! In fact, it was so good that we ended up ordering another one.

On Thursday evening, we went trick or treating, and it was wonderful! We went to a street that was blocked out, and the crowd of people that were trick-or-treating was spreading throughout the whole street. People decorated their houses lavishly; some people even bought moving figures of monsters and thrilling lights! We collected more sweets than I have eaten over the past few months, and we decorated my host family’s house with pumpkins. We’ve carved pumpkins the day before. Halloween celebration in the US is far better and more fun than in Taiwan.

The trip to Cupertino was undoubtedly marvelous and full of new and great experiences. We visited a variety of places, including Intel and Golden Gate Bridge, celebrated traditional American Halloween, and experienced days at American schools, but most importantly, we have made lots of friends and gained countless memories. I am greatly thankful for my host family for being the best host family ever, the teachers, and the Committee for making this trip possible, and for giving me this opportunity. I wish that the trip would last longer, and that we could visit even more places and spend more time with our host families. I can’t wait to see them in the spring next year!

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I went to Cupertino in the United States for an eight-day exchange visit, including three days of school visit at Miller Middle School to experience their classes and campus life. Choosing the course they want to study and maintaining the same class schedule every day is the most different part from Taiwan education, and we change classrooms between every class. Another impressive difference to me is the sporty atmosphere there. Not only do they have physical education classes every day, they also have locker rooms, which is something quite rare in Taiwan. There are people in the sports field and court doing various sports all the time. The whole campus is full of dynamics and passions in learning.

Next, the most important thing to do in this trip is to live with my host family for eight days. Usually when we were back home, we talked about the interesting things that happened in the school, we chatted about the game of the day, we shared the differences in our daily lives, and we planned where to go on trips. With all pleasant experiences and daily interactions, I learned a lot of differences between local cultures there and our own cultures. One of them is about donations. My host family has always stocked their cupboards with lots of canned food prepared to be donated all the time. During this visit, I even participated in two charity events: one was a school program to help the poor, and the other was to give gratitude to the host of a Halloween party. And of course, I had a lot of wonderful memories when we had trips together like going to a corn maze, pumpkin field, and bowling alley and other interesting places!

When I learned that I was going to the world famous Silicon Valley in California, I have already imagined the various advanced technologies and high-tech industries I would see at Cupertino. As expected, we visited world-renowned companies such as Intel, Portwell, and Cisco. We learned about how Intel has grown from just 100 people, when it was founded, to more than 100,000 people around the world in 2018. The most impressive and surprising thing to me is the story about the representative product microprocessors o Intel were first invented. At that time, since the boss was very optimistic about its development, in order to retain its patent, Intel provided their partnership companies microprocessor free of charge. For a small company that that has just started, it is very risky to give up this money, but they made the right decision back then and it changed their fate. For the next two visits, we got to better understand how their jobs were done and products of Portwell and Cisco were made after their presentations and the walk-through in their factories and offices in person. It is indeed a privilege for me to see the real work environments and to touch these high-tech machines (with permission).

Abby Lin / IBSH

The second day I arrived at Cupertino, my host family took me to the beach, it was right next to the Golden Gate Bridge, so I had an amazing view and took many beautiful pictures of the view. My host family and I were taking silly photos of us jumping up as well as in weird postures. On the car ride home we were all so tired and soon fell asleep.

On Halloween, we went to their school and found that most of the students were dressed up to show their great Halloween spirit. The school even had a Halloween parade and costume contest for this special day. At night, my host family brought us to a neighborhood where all the decorations were so cool and a bit scary. I got so much candy and had an awesome experience. I took a lot of photos with the students I met at school and with my host student.

On our last day, it was a very emotional day for me because I met so many people and I was so sad that we had to leave. That day we went sightseeing, we rode a boat and went under the Golden Gate Bridge. Arielle helped us take lots of photos during the boat ride. We also went on a cable car, it was so bumpy. Since I was standing, I have almost fallen backwards. However, it was so fun with all of our friends on the cable car together. After that, we went to Pier 39 and teachers gave us plenty of time to shop. We all bought matching bracelets. Then teachers took us to a restaurant named Swiss Louis to eat crabs, the signature meal. The view overlooking the pier was just amazing because we could see the sea lions from the windows! When we got on the bus and headed to the airport, Melody started crying and that made me sad too. However, I didn’t cry because I have finally got myself back from the parting sorrow hours after we said goodbye to our host families. After we got on the plane, I felt like I wanted to stay in Cupertino forever but I also missed my friends and family in Taiwan. So I was glad to leave San Francisco and return to Taiwan at the end. This Cupertino trip will always be one of my greatest memories throughout my life.

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During this 8-day stay in USA as an exchange student, I experienced different lifestyles and school environment and have wonderful memories.

My homestay classmate’s name is Vera. Her parents were from Taiwan. Vera is very cute, kind, and has a sense of humor. At the first sight, both of us were a little bit shy then we became very familiar with each other. She kindly introduced me to her school friends. When we took photos together, Vera often put some funny gestures that made us laugh. I went to classes with Vera and there were many different courses such as language arts, math, science, Chinese, search, history and sports. Their teachers are very energetic and interesting, and very open-minded; they respect students?opinions as well. There are a lot of reports or essays to be done for the course. The teacher only explained the general directions and then waited for the results from the students. The teacher sat there and encouraged everyone to ask questions. Teachers answered questions in detail and guided students to learn independently. They adopted English Phonics to pronounce Chinese words, which is quite different from ours classes in Taiwan. Although I spent only 3 days at Miller, I really enjoyed each class and had great experiences.

Food in USA is special. There are different flavors and tastes of French fries and Greek Pitas. There are CoCo and TPTea in USA but with a little bit different tastes compared with those in Taiwan. We also visited the Apple HQ with full of high-tech devices and products, even the buildings were built innovatively and modernly as well. On the 2nd floor, there is a small platform guests can overlook and enjoy a fantastic view of the entire Apple HQ in a wonderful evening.

At the moment to say goodbye, tears were running in my eyes so as Homestay Mom’s. I could not help buy cry. Separation from my host family was a great pain to my heart! However, all the days as an exchange student are a challenge to me. Far away from home in Taiwan for me is an opportunity to grow and get more independence. It was indeed a rewarding experience at the end!

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I’ve learned a ton throughout the days I’ve spent in Cupertino. This trip has opened my eyes in many ways, either it’s the cultural difference or the different styles of a local American middle school.

American schools start pretty late. High schoolers go to school at 9:30! As for middle school students, every day is different. They have a “late start?on Wednesdays, and an “early start?on Thursdays. They even have a “brunch break? Students can choose if they want a zeroth period or not, so they each have different schedules. Unlike Taiwan, where everyone learns from the same textbook, students in the U.S. take different courses depending on their level. For example, you are poor at math, but is excellent at science. You would take courses in the easier math class, and have advanced science. This way, students are able to learn more, and not forced to learn something they know again or study something they clearly cannot understand. Here in the U.S., teachers teach using Chromebooks. Almost everything done in class requires a Chromebook. They do quizzes, finish their home/schoolwork, and do projects online.

I like the teaching methods in America better than the ones here in Taiwan. Students in the U.S. have more freedom, no exams, less homework, less stress, yet they still can achieve the same level as Taiwanese students. I think the main difference is that Americans know that they would have to take responsibility for their own actions and they have self-discipline. If American students don’t pass their course, they won’t be able to graduate. If they don’t pay attention in class, they won’t be able to get in a good high school.

This trip to Cupertino taught me a lot of things. Adapting to a foreign culture and learning from it, discovering different ways of getting things done, being independent, expressing my opinions, and discipline, etcetera. I’m very grateful to be able to have these amazing experiences, and share them with you.

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My friends that came together in NEHS and IBSH. We had a lot of fun.

Library in Miller Middle School

We¡¦re in the USA!

We¡¦re visiting Intel

Our days in Miller Middle School

City tour in San Francisco