Cross Pacific bound friendship
By Yayu Wu


澳大利亚商务部副部长(左一)在欢迎仪式上接受厦门客人赠送的双语周刊.

7月22日到8月7日,厦门市青少年友城访问团赴澳新参观交流,受到了友城政府和人民的热情接待,也度过了他们人生中难忘的两周时间,以下是他们此次旅行的见闻摘录.

Peter Slipper, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Finance and Administration, attended the welcoming ceremony for XMTD in Sunshine Coast City and held our newspaper that the guests gave him.

From July 22 to August 7, the Xiamen teenagers delegation (XMTD), which included 28 students and 6 teachers from Xiamen middle schools visited Maroochy, Xiamen's sister city in Australia, and Wellington, another sister city in New Zealand. From both cities they got a very big welcome and spent unforgettable and wonderful two weeks there.

Obviously it was a precious experience for young students to go abroad, study and travel. Not only did it mean they got an environment where they could touch a different culture and language, but it also meant a chance to test their independent capability to live away from their parents.

In addition, this delegation represented 600,000 Xiamen middle school students and carried the friendship of the Xiamen people and its culture to Australia and New Zealand, two beautiful countries in the southern hemisphere. Whatever students did or said conveyed the exact message of Chinese culture and civilization and conveyed Chinese friendship as well. The tour in the two countries was beneficial to their maturity and development of personality.

As Yang Xiaochun, the first secretary from the Embassy of the People's Republic Of China in New Zealand said in his speech for welcoming XMTD, which was held by Wellington Municipal Government, "The relationship between New Zealand and China is developing steadily and persistently. It is no doubt that a sister city affiliation plays an important role in it." So the affiliation should be stronger and more secure, and this communication in education should be healthier and more open. Yet the world is becoming smaller and smaller with the aid of modern technology. The communication, as XMTD has taken part in, made even more sense than it appeared to.

"I took in its glamour in the short time during the trip. Of course, the children got more than me. Meanwhile, I hope that more and more Australians and New Zealanders can go to China and try to learn about the luxurious Chinese culture." Chen Jianchuan, the director of XMTD concluded.

The delegation organized by XMFSC (Xiamen Foreign Service Center) and Xiamen Education Bureau, was greatly supported by the Xiamen Foreign Affairs Office. They are very thankful to George Jiang, Tom Hulett, Tom Yuan, and Mary Busch, for their great contributions to the wonderful trip and for developing friendship between the two sister cities and Xiamen.

在厦门赴澳新友城青少年代表团访问交流的同时,另一队中学生也赴日本友城佐世保,长崎市参观,让我们也来听听他们的观感吧.

My trip in Australia
By Zhong Yilin
Xiamen Lianhua Middle School



I, luckily, was one of the XMTD, who spent 17 days touring around the two countries, deeply attracted by the extraordinary scenery. And also we met many friendly people and got to know their culture. I enjoyed every minute there. But what impressed me most was the Sunshine Coast Middle School. It is located in Brisbane.

At the first sight, you might not notice it is a school. It is too much like a beautiful park, with a large area of green grass and a thick forest. All the buildings are of unique style and are dotted here and there. Most of them are of only one floor, quite different from ours in China. No need to climb up the stairs! It seems that the students there enjoy a very leisurely school life. The classroom layout is like a meeting room, 5 square tables, each for 6 students. They can break in and ask questions any time whenever they feel confused. And sometimes there is a group discussion. From my talk with some of the students, I know they also have a handwork class, where they learn how to make small articles like chairs. They take an active role in classes while we are passive most of the time. Surely the former is more beneficial to the students. We only spent half a day in the school. But I made friends with some students, leaving my e-mail address and promising to keep in contact.

I treasured the moments we spent together and took their smiles with me back home. It will be part of my best memories. Maybe five years later I will be among them again in the same university, I hope so.

My first time to be an interpreter
By Zhao Minglei
Xiamen Foreign Language School



Several days ago I went to Australia. During this unforgettable trip, I became an interpreter.

At first, I got really nervous because I'd never done this kind of work before. I thought that it might be a very difficult job. I felt helpless when I thought I would stay with Tom (the owner of the motel we stayed in) and practice my translation skills for several hours or even longer. "Welcome to Australia", Tom said "I hope that you will have a very nice trip." Then he stopped, waiting for my translation. But I didn't even know he had said a sentence. I rubbed my coat again and again, but I still couldn't relax myself. Tom spoke again. I started to understand what he said. I translated this sentence uneventfully although I was still very nervous. Then I translated some sentences easily after the hard start. It seemed that every sentence would go smoothly. But in fact, I was wrong. It was just a warm-up. "You must ponder before your lecture. That's the pattern of speaking English." Tom said, smiling at me. Actually I didn't know what "ponder", "lecture" and "pattern" meant. All my classmates were staring at me, waiting for my translation, but I just didn't know the words. I couldn't translate! I could hear nothing but my heart-beat. I felt that the sky was going to fall down to the ground. Eventually, my teacher helped me.

After this trip, I learnt that I really need to improve my English. I believe that after this incident, I will lead a new life.

The impression of New Zealand
By Gao Yi Xiamen Foreign Language School



In those days, we had been deeply impressed by the friendship of the New Zealand people. We exchanged our thoughts freely with our foreign friends. It was the first time that we were so close.

We visited St. Catherines and Rongotal in Wellington. Just as we arrived at St. Catherines, we found that there were several local students standing at the school gate to welcome us. And the headmaster was also there to welcome us in person. It made us feel quite cordial. Then the headmaster let some of the students lead us to visit the classroo- ms and the playground. We visited the math, English, PE, art, music and cooking classes. We did some drawing with the local students in the art classroom, the teacher told us how to draw a wonderful picture. Then we enjoyed the music with the New Zealand students and listened to the teacher with blonde hair. We also had a basketball game with local students. Wherever we stayed, we received the warmest welcome. I have never experienced such warmth before. I was received with a smile everywhere. I strolled in the playground with my New Zealand friend. She told me the history of New Zealand and also the local customs and culture. We had a good time. I felt that the air had been melted by the warmth there. All the things there were full of the breath of spring.

At noon, we had lunch in the Rongotal. We had Chinese food with New Zealand students. What surprised us most was to find that all students handled chopsticks skillfully. We were proud that our country finally won acceptance by the people from all over the world, and somehow affected the culture of other countries. After lunch, they performed some Maori dances for us. The scene was quite superb!

Today we can communicate with New Zealand people easily. We enjoy their warm welcome and that's because there is a deep friendship between us, between Xiamen and Wellington. We have the same ideal. We don't have national boundaries among us. Even if there is a long distance between us, we will be together at last.

Communicate by Music
By Chen Siyu
Xiamen Science Middle School



On the 22nd of July, as a member of Xiamen's delegation , I visited Australia and New Zealand for communication and friendship. The most unforgettable thing is that I have communicated with foreigners through music in New Zealand.

In Wellington, New Zealand, we took part in a welcome rite by the local people called "Maori". The ardent Maori presented their brilliant folk dance to us. It was easy to see their enthusiasm and hospitality. After their perfect performance, I represented our delegation to play an American song on bamboo flute(竹笛), a Chinese traditional musical instrument. At the beginning I felt a little nervous, as well as a little uncertain whether they would like it or not. To my surprise, they gave an excitedly strong beat to my music in rhythm when I played. I could tell from their attentiveness and warm applause the profound power of music, which surpasses any national boundaries. So I thoroughly exerted myself, tried hard to put all feeling into my performance and made it very dazzling. When it finished, lots of people came to talk to us. Not only did they show great interest in Chinese musical instrument, but also offered a brief introduction to their own instruments. It would be exciting for me to be invited to their country again, and give them instructions on our folk instrument at any time.

Through this activity and communication, I not only gave a music show to other people but also learned about the great knowledge of foreign music. "What a great thing to be able to play a musical instrument." I think.

Maori performance
By Zhang Luyi
Xiamen Datong Middle School



This summer I joined a summer camp to Australia and New Zealand.

Fortunately, I could go to Rotorua of New Zealand to watch a Maori performance. First of all some Maori went out of the house. They sang and shouted in Maori. One of them ran to us. He waved a Maori weapon and put his tongue out at the same time. He threatened us because he wondered whether we were enemies. Soon they knew the result and that man threw some leaves of olive on the ground and a tourist went to pick them up. Then we went into the Maori house to watch their performance. They used their own language and were dressed in native style.

Sometimes they sang songs and sometimes they clapped their body or hands or stamped their feet. Sometimes they acted with stage props. They showed us what their life was like and also told us their romantic story. Most of the tourists watched it very attentively and some of them also took some photographs. Finally their performance was over with the songs. What a wonderful performance it was! I went around and observed more about their clothes, their houses, their food and their instruments after their performance. We learned a lot of things there and all of us enjoyed the good time. I will never forget that trip.

日本之旅
陈晓新
同安一中



都说日本是一个讲究礼仪甚至于死板的国家,这点我深有体会.几乎整天都是在打招呼,道谢,道歉中度过的,让人在拘束中甚至还带点儿惶恐.或许日本人习惯了吧,但我感觉还是在中国自由豪爽点.然而在和日本学生的几次接触中,带给我们的却是完全不同的感觉.不论是吃饭还是游玩,他们都显得很随意,自在得甚至有点像那种走家串户的农家孩子.

我们这次到日本交流的主题是环保.我们参观了日本的许多建设,日本在环保方面做出的成就让人惊叹.放眼望去,四处是山,到处是树,一片青葱郁郁.(但有一点不足之处,几乎所有的树都是近年新栽的,最多不过几十年的树龄,而且大都是同一树种,有点单调,也缺少一点古朴,一点真正的自然,或许叫它人工自然会更为合适些吧.当然,这是很多国家的通病.)每一条街道,每一条公路几乎不见一点垃圾,而更惊奇的是也找不到一个垃圾桶.以前在书上看过,说日本人都是把垃圾带回家的,看来果真如此啊.我们还到长崎的旅游胜地转了一圈,站在游轮顶俯瞰整片海域,海水清蓝透彻,水母鱼虾四处可见,令人叹为观止.让我印象最深刻的是参观一个叫"豪斯登堡"的荷兰特色的大型主题公园.这个公园就是以环保为基础,为追求天人合一而建造的.豪斯登堡原意森林之域,倒也名副其实.从整体上看,豪斯登堡依山傍海,弯弯曲曲的河流清澈见底,贯穿整个公园,园内鸟语花香,到处可见天鹅之类的动物在水中休憩.当然,既是荷兰村,就少不了风车之类的荷兰特色建筑,也不必多讲.公司以节能,清洁理论为指导,采用了污水处理再利用,海水净化,天然气发电余热再利用等先进技术,总之一句话,以自然为本.

到长崎是一定要参观长崎原子弹爆炸纪念馆的.看到那一张张惨不忍睹,触目惊心的图片,作为一个中国人,我本以为我会感到痛快,因为南京大屠杀.然而我却觉得悲痛,甚至恐惧.无论是长崎原子弹爆炸还是南京大屠杀都是残忍残酷的,是人类的悲剧,是历史给人类惨痛的教训.无论是那日本人民还是那中国老百姓,都是一条条无辜的生命,没有人有权利杀死他们.我只想说:我很庆幸参观了原子弹爆炸纪念馆,但即使再有机会,我也不会再踏进里面,因为那太残忍.我希望全世界能有更多人有机会亲眼看看那些图片,也看看南京大屠杀的图片.我希望日本方也带一些日本的少年儿童到南京的纪念馆看一看南京大屠杀的图片.我们希望像南京大屠杀,长崎原子弹爆炸这样的悲剧永远成为过去.这是历史留给我们的教训,我们不应该忘记.让战争成为过去吧,让恐怖主义,让那些信奉侵略主义的统治者统统见鬼去吧!人民是无辜的,我们也渴望和平!

在参观途中,还有三个细节也让我印象颇深.一是日本公路的拐弯处都立有一面凸面镜,以便车辆拐弯时可以看清前方是否有车辆以防车祸.二是日本的公共场所的门上或警示牌上都刻有盲文,其关注残疾人的意识可见一斑.三是像我们参观的原子弹爆炸纪念馆,科技馆之类的馆所门票都很低,一般都为一两百日元,最多也不过三四百日元,须知那儿一瓶水就要150日元了.据翻译介绍,日本的馆所大多是以宣传教育为目的的,非为赢利.其在教育方面所下的力度也可由此略知一二了.

日本确实很漂亮,也很干净,是一个很现代化的国家,但它太拥挤,太压抑了(有点像中国的上海),也太年轻,缺乏一点历史的底蕴,像我们参观的城市佐世保不过一百多年的历史,长崎给人的感觉也是如此,虽然到处是树,却缺少一种真正的自然与古朴,当然那里被原子弹炸过,能恢复到今天的模样已经是很不容易了.而中国比起日本是脏了点,也乱了点,但山清水秀,人杰地灵的宝地却要比日本多得多.况且佐世保也是日本环保工作做得最好的城市之一了.我们有很多要向他们学习的地方,但同时我们也更清醒地意识到了我们的优秀之处!我们有那么多的文化古迹,珍禽异兽,我们有那么多风光秀丽的旅游胜地,我们随便找一棵老树就能发现它已有上百年的树龄……这一切都值得我们珍惜和振奋!