Sixth Annual Carden China and Carden Day School of San Jose International Cultural Program

Carden China is located in Beijing, China. Nineteen students from our international Carden Family visited our school from Friday, January 21 to Friday, January 28, 2011

The cultural exchange with Carden China for the past six years has been a great experience for our school, host families and students. True friendships are formed and cultural understanding was gained by everyone involved.

A deep-hearted thank you to all who made this wonderful cultural exchange possible. A personal note of gratitude goes to the host families for opening their hearts and homes to a new family member. It has been an invaluable opportunity and we all are looking forward to next year.

Carden Day School Heads East!

Thirty-three adventurous Carden students, faculty and families experienced ten action-packed days touring China under the guidance of Ms. Wang, Director of Carden China. Arriving in Beijing, we walked through the past and present by going to Tianamen Square, the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace. We meandered through an old neighborhood, or "hutong", of Beijing by rickshaw and stood in wonderment at the structures of the Beijing 2008 Olympics. Climbing the thousands of steps to the top of the Great Wall gave us the title of a hero and some sore legs for the next few days. The highlight was spending a morning with the students from Carden China, at the Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Shi Yan School, and experiencing school life in another culture. The Carden Day students' faces lit up as they repeated Carden controls with their Chinese counterparts. Every night was a feast for the eyes and taste buds as we tried regional dishes ranging from far Western China to Mongolia to the hometown Beijing favorite of hotpot. We proceeded onto the ancient capital of Xian where we rode bikes on the medieval walls that surround the city and stood at attention as we gaped at the thousands of life-size terra-cotta warriors ready to protect Emperor Chin's tomb. In Shanghai we experienced the business center of China with its dazzling skyscrapers and walked along the Bund, which has dozens of historical buildings, lining the Huangpu River, that once housed numerous banks and trading houses. In Tongli, we visited a quaint village that is known as the Venice of China. We stuffed ourselves with Shanghai dumplings and bargained our way through the markets of each city. We ended the trip in sultry Hong Kong by reaching the Peak of the island and walking along the sand of Repulse Bay. We shopped till we dropped at Stanley Market and Kowloon. We found enlightenment at a Buddhist nunnery and scented incense at a Daoist temple before savoring delicious dim sum each afternoon. The trip was exhilarating, exhausting and, everyone agrees, a once in a life time experience with our international Carden family! Our heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to Ms. Wang, Director of Carden China, her amazing staff and all the wonderful Carden China students for opening their classroom doors and hearts to us during our visit! It was an "once in a lifetime" remarkable experience!