Thirty-one students from Yunnan University arrived in Baristaville Sunday night for a week-long visit to Montclair at the invitation of Mayor Fried as part of his “China Montclair Friendship Committee” initiative.
The students were welcomed at a ceremony Monday morning at the high school and also at Town Hall that afternoon where they met with Mayor Fried. They then continued their tour of Monclair’s Municipal offices, with visits to the police department, court and the fire department.
The program is a repeat of last year’s visit with some slight changes. Instead of staying with Montclair families, the students chosen for this year’s visit are staying at a nearby hotel, as a request from their parents. Mayor Fried wasn’t sure the exact reason, and told Barista Kids he was a bit disappointed as he feels that it was a wonderful experience for both the host families and students last year, but it was what this year’s parents felt more comfortable with.
Another positive change is a much richer educational aspect. Montclair Public Schools will be providing five days of an American learning experience at the high school from July 25 – July 29. There is a lot planned, with the focus on American culture, including a cooking class that will be filmed, movement/dance, government, history to provide an opportunity to share in an engaging cultural exchange. A handful of students are helping out as Student Ambassadors.
In addition to the educational course at the high school, the students will visit Montclair Art Museum, Eagle Rock City view, go shopping on Church Street, enjoy Applegate Farm’s delicious ice cream at its Family Fun Night, and take a dip in Mountainside Pool, before leaving Baristaville and touring NYC.
The thirty-one students visiting from China are visiting us at no cost to the municipality or the school district. Eileen Gilbert, the educational coordinator from MHS, said enthusiastically, “Imagine, no municipal tax dollars, no school tax dollars, and no school budget funds, and our students get to share in this unique cultural exchange.”
So when do our students go to China, which was the intended idea of this exchange program? Fried explains that the cost of airfare was prohibitive for them to go this summer, but that plans are in motion to get Montclair students to China next summer 2012. Many aspects still have to be worked out, but Fried says that scholarships will allow a diverse range of interested students to have the opportunity to travel to China.
An opportunity, I’m sure, many MHS students would jump at.
(Photos: Bob Tynes, the China Friendship Committee organizer)
Did Montclair host Afrikaner school kids from South Africa during apartheid? Really, why are we so eager to help a brutal Communist regime with their public relations?
p.s.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with the kids or that they (the kids) are like Afrikaners. I’m saying, this kind of thing benefits the Chinese PR machine and until they’re government respects fundamental Human Rights, we should not be hosting or participating in these kind of events.
until their government…
p.p.s I’m sorry, is somebody trying to say something here in the comments section? I keep nodding off.
It’ll be worth getting rid of Mayor Fried just to stop hearing his incessant talk about China. A town employee told me that he went on and on about his last trip to China during a meeting to discuss town business. And his foot-in-mouth comment about Chinese students being smarter than Montclair students should have really taught him a lesson.
Imagine, no municipal tax dollars, no school tax dollars, and no school budget funds, and our students get to share in this unique cultural exchange
That’s not really accurate, right? I’m all for a cultural exchange, but:
Montclair Public Schools will be providing five days of an American learning experience at the high school from July 25 – July 29. There is a lot planned, with the focus on American culture, including a cooking class that will be filmed, movement/dance, government, history to provide an opportunity to share in an engaging cultural exchange
Is the Chinese gov’t paying for the cooking class, the filming of it, the dance class, etc.?
Is the High School even in-session July 25-29?
I’d like to associate myself with both ROC and nickcharles.
I’m so sick of all this Chinese love when they are such a brutal, Communist regime.
And with all the girls in the picture, has anyone asked them about their Gov’s birth policy, which has lead to a lively debate recently discussing what their sex imbalance (115+ boys born for every 100 boys):
https://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/06/30/abortion_sex_selection_debate
Oh, wait. They probably aren’t allowed to speak freely. Remember, China is that great Country that wouldn’t allow one its citizens to pick up a Nobel Peace Prize because he was jailed for daring to write about wanting China to have more freedom of expression and human rights.
Oh, well. So long as they pay for the Chinese teacher and will put up a few of our students in China, I guess it’s all good.
ROC, I believe it’s called Constructive Engagement.
Montclair WILL play Sun City!!!
China may have a brutal regime, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t associate with Chinese people, for lord’s sake, even if they happen to be hand picked by the state. Israel also has a pretty brutal regime, if you should have the misfortune of being Palestinian. So did South Africa during apartheid. So does Russia, Iran, Syria, etc etc. Should we shun all these people because of their regimes? The U.S. invaded Iraq with no provocation, for chrissake. I’m not equating China with the U.S. I’m just appealing for a shred of humility.
Of course we should associate ourselves with the people walleroo. Just not hand-picked “ambassadors” sent for purely PR reasons. Do you imagine some larger purpose to a 5 day visit? (especially at the invitation of our Mayor)?
Yes, the Mayor is fiddling while Rome burns. He should be either paying for all this himself, or raising non-tax funds for it. It smacks of a vanity project, the kind of thing that would be more appropriate for a mayor emeritus than someone who is supposed to be running things, especially during a time of crisis (which is still, incredibly, under appreciated). I have no great love for the Mayor qua Mayor (personally I don’t know him but I hear he’s a nice guy, which I say despite the risk of being accused of affability).
But the argument that we shouldn’t have cultural exchanges with the Chinese because the regime is brutal is just silly. These are people, ROQ, young students, not soldiers.
I’m sure the students are wonderful walleroo. You are missing the point. In my opinion, before any organ of our government should invite official groups or delegations from non-free countries we should ask 2 questions.
1. Is this opportunity open to anyone or only politically-aligned people?
2. Once here are they free to discuss anything the like with anyone and without “minders”?
If the answer to either question is no, we should not invite them. Because we’re just making ourselves (and them) a tool of a dictatorial regime for PR purposes.
What private groups do in the US or China is up to them as far as visitors.
If, for now other reason walleroo, to express solidarity with any one of these 1452 Chinese.
https://www.cecc.gov/pages/victims/20101010_PPD_AR10.pdf
People like (selected nearly at random):
Record 2009-00332
Merdan Seyitakhun – sentenced to life imprisonment) for “teaching religion”
Record 2008- 00444
Based on TCHRD, China Digital Times (CDT), and Xinhua reports, on April 11,
2008, a Chinese government “law education work group” arrived at Drepung
Monastery in Lhasa, the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The work team
commenced a program of intensive “patriotic education” on “opposing the Dalai
clique” (TCHRD), and maintaining “social stability, socialist legal institutions, the
public’s fundamental interest, and [the] normal order of Buddhist activities” (Xinhua).
Monks reportedly confronted the work team and expressed their opposition to the
program. Officials summoned People’s Armed Police stationed at the monastery and
an unknown number of monks were detained and taken away (CDT). A TCHRD
prisoner list provides the names of six Drepung monks detained on April 11,
presumably as a result of the confrontation: Choewang, Gaden Lhagyal, Jampa,
Jamsem, Lobsang Jampa, and Tenpa. No information is available about their place
of detention or criminal charges, if any, against them.
record 2010- 00314
According to a Chinese Human Rights Defenders report (17-23 August 10), in late
July 2010, authorities detained eight villagers in Raolefu village, located in the
Fangshan district on the outer edge of Beijing. On July 27, a vote was held for
members of the village committee. The villagers confronted officials about vote
irregularities and while waiting for an explanation, police and government workers
fled with the ballot box. In protest, villagers blocked traffic in the village. More than
300 police converged on the village the next day and reportedly beat and detained
some villagers. Among those detained on July 28 and 29 included Zhao Yun, Ma
Zhizheng, Zhao Zhenghai, Zhao Daqing, Qiu Lina, and Qiu’s two twin sisters. Qiu’s
family said that the formal detention notice for Qiu Lina indicated that she was
detained for “obstructing traffic.” Another villager, Hao Sen, was detained on August
16, apparently in connection with the protests.
(if for no other reason…)
Mikhail Baryshnikov had minders, had to toe the party line. But we did good by letting him in, didn’t we?
(Pardon the pun.)
Okay, that’s a better argument.
How’s this: it’s only okay if the Mayor gets to take each one of these kids aside and explain the virtues of our capitalist system?
I take your point about solidarity, but I still think the more exchange we have with this country the better off we all be in the long run.
“Mikhail Baryshnikov had minders, had to toe the party line. But we did good by letting him in, didn’t we?”
can’t seem to get this across…
Should the US have granted him a visa? Yes! a resounding yes! Should he have been invited (during that period) to play the Kennedy Center, or perform for the President or bet the guest of Montclair Township? No.
“I take your point about solidarity, but I still think the more exchange we have with this country the better off we all be in the long run.”
How so? These little photo ops make it all the easier to forget about Merdan Seyitakhun. He never gets to see his kids again, let alone send them abroad.
Here’s a question that should stump everyone: which obsession of Mister Mayor’s is more maddening, China or bikes?
Here’s a question that should stump everyone: which obsession of Mister Mayor’s is more maddening, China or bikes?
Nick’s obsession with the Mayor’s obsessions.
The exchange is worth the photo op, yes. Montclair is hardly the Kennedy Center or the White House lawn. If we sent our athletes to compete in Beijing, certainly it’s not out of line to invite a few college students to town for some pound cake und some schnapps… oops, sorry, wrong thread.
Nixon did it. He went there are brought this all on America. *snort* giggle giggle
“This” meaning trade with China? If you knew what was good for you, johnlee, you’d wake up each morning and kiss the Chinese flag and say a prayer that the Middle Kingdom continues to buy our t-bills.
The irony of my Chinese flag, it was made in Ohio.