Chinese students gain once-in-a-lifetime experience in Gig Harbor

Middle-schoolers spend time digging for clams, geoducks

Hugh McMillan

Special to the Gateway

It was Peninsula School Board member Wendy Wojtanowicz who alerted me to the visit here of some 30 Chinese exchange students.

And, bless her, she invited me to participate in their once-in-a-lifetime adventure of gathering butter clams and digging for geoducks. To add frosting to that, my wife Janice and I had the immense pleasure of sharing the fruits of the kids’ labor at dinner the following evening.

Let’s go back to World War II and the famous Burma Road, which enabled allied forces to supply Chinese armies resisting Japanese aggression. It terminated at a barely accessible landlocked city known as Chungking, where American General “Vinegar” Joe Stillwell had his headquarters, and where Gen. Claire Chenault’s Flying Tigers did as much damage to the Japanese.

In 2004, Janice and I fulfilled a lifetime ambition: We visited Chungking and Stillwell’s headquarters, which was also his residence and is now a museum and major tourist attraction.

Fast forward.

To my astonishment, while raking up butter clams with the kids at Joe and Louise Stoddard’s beach near Purdy, I learned that all of the kids visiting from China are seventh-graders from Chungking — which they, curiously, call Chongqing.

Wadda you know?

For me, this was a very large-sized thrill. It was also a bit of a disappointment; they’d never heard of the flying Tigers, “Vinegar” Joe, or his headquarters ... in their home town.

They now know, and they promised to have a look when they return home.

The day after the clam dig, when we gathered at the Wojtanowicz home for that fabulous seafood dinner, I just happened to be wearing a T-shirt with a Flying Tigers P-40 flashing its ferocious shark’s teeth; I got it at the Stillwell museum in Chongqing.

I said earlier the kids from China were having a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. Not one of them had ever been on a beach before, let alone gathered clams — and certainly not handled a geoduck.

They were just thrilled.

“Lydia,” the kids teacher and chaperone said, “This year our school joined Cultural Homestay International so our students could travel to America. In my group are six boys and eight girls ages 12 to 13. They chose their American names for this trip.

“We’ve visited Olympia, Seattle, Ocean Shores and Mount St. Helens. We visited the state capitol building and learned about Washington State. We went to the University of Washington and downtown Seattle.

Lydia said “Jay,” a 13-year-old student, said Seattle looks like Chongqing. It’s modern and busy.

“At Ocean Shores, all the children were happy and excited,” Lydia said. “The Pacific Ocean is very far from our home. We hardly believed we touched the waves and felt the cold water. How excited we felt!”

Lydia said the students had class every day, improved their English and learned about American life.

“The teaching method is different from that in China,” Lydia said. “The students became more and more interested in English. ‘Andy’ said that he will go to America for further study one day.”

The kids learned some American games, like kayaking, cooking and making baskets. “Mike” said kayaking was his favorite.

They enjoyed the calm sea, the thick forests, the fresh air and the beautiful view.

“Most important,” Lydia said, “we feel love from all the host families. For example, ‘Hannah’ was very moved because her host mother especially had her bed-room painted pink for her. ‘Ivy’ and ‘Fourteen’ will never forget their American parents. Their host father taught them many handicrafts, such as making cell phone chains, bracelets and so on.”

Lydia herself lived with a host family, who helped her learn more about American culture.

“They showed me around Gig Harbor, told me the history of the small, beautiful city and took me to the Tides Tavern,” she said. “We had a good time riding on their boat and going under the Narrows bridges and around Fox Island. I’m thankful to them for being my hosts. In my heart, they are my American parents forever. I love them.”

Lydia said three weeks in Gig Harbor was short but sweet.

“It’s an unusual experience for us,” she said. “We will always treasure it and would like to say thank you very much to every host family and all the people in Gig Harbor.

“We hope to welcome you to Chongqing again soon,” she added.

Yes!

Hugh McMillan is a longtime freelance writer for The Peninsula Gateway. He can be reached at 253-884-3319.