On March 27, passports and travel visas in hand, fifth-grade teacher Mary Kay Weinmeister and I climbed aboard a flight in Seattle bound for Beijing, China. We were on our way to share aspects of our education system with audiences throughout southern China, upon invitation from the American Education Federation (AEF). Having hosted 34 students from Beijing at Norman Rockwell Elementary in January, we had a rudimentary understanding of what we were heading into. Still, the excitement and anticipation (and, to be honest, sheer nerves) were palpable as we boarded our 12-hour flight.

We first learned about AEF when I was contacted in September 2015 by the director of International Programs here in the United States. Ray Yu was seeking schools interested in hosting several students visiting from Beijing, who were touring the west coast and who wanted to experience a day in the life of an American student. As part of this cultural exchange, he also invited me and a veteran teacher to come to China, to teach educators there about aspects of the American education system. Through a partnership with the Chinese National Institute of Education Sciences, they would fund the trip and send us to different schools to present upon the topics of Building Positive School Culture and Classroom Engagement, and for Mary Kay to teach demonstration lessons with the aid of an interpreter. While this offer sounded too good to be true, our investigations proved that it was, in fact, bona fide. With our hearts in our throats, and unable to resist such an amazing offer, we accepted.

Having hosted several students and educators at Rockwell in January, we knew that the schools we would visit would be much larger than ours. While we tend to think of our school as relatively large, with 640 students, elementary schools in China often exceed 1,000. We did not know the size of the audiences we would meet, but packed several manipulative materials to lead groups through activities requiring teamwork and a high level of cognitive engagement. All of our materials had been sent ahead to be translated into Chinese, so all that was left was to gather host gifts and board the plane to Beijing, where we would meet our translator, Gabby…

…which did not happen. We deplaned in the Beijing airport, bleary-eyed, and looked around for someone with a sign. Or someone who might be looking for four Americans. Or anyone. When none of these things presented themselves, we began searching for the route to domestic flights, as we needed to board another plane that evening to Changzhou, a two-hour flight, and time was passing quickly. With virtually no Chinese language skills among us, we found our way, much to the wondering looks of passersby. Once at our new flight, we finally met up with Gabby — apologetic and flustered, she told us that we were the first group of Americans who had ever made our way to the connecting flight alone. Though exhausted, we had some small sense of pride in having done so. Gabby quickly took over in taking us under her wing for the remainder of our trip, and was the most gracious translator and host we could have hoped for.

The next morning, still somewhat disoriented, we were taken to the Changzhou Wujin Xinghe Primary School, where we were greeted by a contingency of students who led us by the hand into their beautiful building. All of the schools we visited had multiple floors, three or more — a necessity in China, where we visited schools with up to 1,500 students. The welcome we received was so gracious and warm that any trepidation melted as we were led through classrooms, taught calligraphy, eagerly welcomed by staff and students and seated for a feast with the heads of the school. The facilities we toured were phenomenal — this school had state-of-the-art science rooms, music and art facilities and a basement floor that could pass as a children’s science museum with its interactive displays on electricity, volcanoes and physics, including a bike with square wheels, which we could only pedal in cooperation. The students were eager to share their writing, their books and their music and art with us. The facilities themselves were beautiful — well-lighted classrooms with many windows, clean and uncluttered — and there, as in every school we toured, plants were everywhere. From small plants to larger potted trees, each school was lined with many of these, and we witnessed many students tending these as part of their classroom duties. Whether this was part of the established classroom cultures or as a part of the initiative in China to plant 100 billion trees by 2050, I never did learn.

Lunch quickly segued into presentation time, and all of our nerves came rushing back. An auditorium of Chinese educators awaited our information, so with a warm glass of tea in our hands and encouraging smiles from our hosts, we took the stage. While it took a bit of practice to get used to pausing for interpretation every minute or two, we quickly warmed to the crowd, and they to us. They were eager to learn about our school and classroom cultures, and in our initial think-pair-share sessions, we were entertained to learn what many of them had heard about American classrooms. Teachers and administrators wondered at the freedom they thought American students have — freedom to move around if they were bored, and that there weren’t rules or principles (allowing for translation subtleties, this was a prevailing theme through all of the schools we visited). They wanted to hear about all of the resources available to American teachers and schools. Many were surprised to learn that in American elementary schools, teachers usually teach all content areas — math, reading, writing, science, social studies — as in China teachers are content specialists, and young students have different teachers for different subjects, much as we do in secondary schools here. At one school, Mary Kay received a spontaneous round of applause from the audience when they realized that American teachers must be experts in every content area.

The classroom engagement strategies we used with our audiences were well-received, and we learned that some things are universal: just like American students, it is very hard to get the attention of a group back on the teacher once they have started problem solving and building together! The videos and photos we shared of differentiation and small group instruction, as well as hands-on investigations, were also fodder for excitement. Our first host school was eager to set up a sister school relationship so that we may continue to learn and grow together from across the ocean. The most fun was in watching their fifth-grade students explore new learning with Mary Kay, and to watch her quickly find her stride as a teacher, with language as only the smallest of barriers.

The excitement and welcome we received in Changzhou continued in Chengdu, a beautiful city that offered us the opportunity to tour and present at two different schools in one day: the Chengshi Eldo Experimental Primary School and the Jinjiang Foreign Language Primary School. From Chengdu, we traveled to Xi’an, where we met our largest audience yet at the Rich and Force City Huang He International Primary School. At each site, we shared what we knew about positive school culture and classroom engagement, and Mary Kay built a new classroom of learners with their fifth-graders, exploring which variables might have an effect on the swing of a pendulum. All of the students we met were ready to engage hands-on, to debate and question together, and to explore learning in new ways with us. The adults, educators and parents alike, were equally passionate to do so.

Throughout the tour, the hard work with our school groups was interspersed with visits to cultural wonders: The Terra Cotta Warriors, the Huaqing Pools, the Forbidden City, the Great Wall. Everywhere, we were honored by our hosts, showered with gifts and thanks, and given the best that anyone could offer: full noodle bowls, beautiful lodgings, open smiles. Many, many people wanted to take photos with us, as we were simply a curiosity — though this was never rude; the curious glances usually came with a smile and a wave.

We will always be grateful for the opportunity we were given. Our week in China left us with much to ponder. Language is not nearly the barrier one might think, in building relationships; much can be learned with a smile and an open heart. For all the traffic and clamor, we never saw an angry driver; we simply heard frequent beeps of car horns indicating “Hey, I’m here.” The generosity we received from other educators inspired us to realize how much we all have to offer others. The history and pride in China’s cultural heritage was everywhere: both inspiring and humbling. Most of all, it is the openness and eagerness to build partnerships and learn from one another that we will carry with us — the awareness that each party is doing their utmost to provide an outstanding education for their children, and the desire to improve that work by collaborating across the ocean.

We are so fortunate to live and work in Redmond, where families come from all over the world in search of the best for their children. We are honored to be part of that journey for each family we serve. I believe it is through the development of continued partnerships with educators here and across the world that we will see these wishes come to fruition. We extend our tremendous gratitude to the AEF, and to all the people of China we were fortunate enough to meet, for helping us grow as educators and as human beings.

Kirsten Gometz is the principal at Norman Rockwell Elementary School in Redmond.