ACCEXS Youth Camp 2013

ACCEXS.org 2013 Summer Camp

July 24 – August 12, 2013

After a decade of traveling the world and feeling a bit complacent, an opportunity arose to get involved with bringing Chinese students to America to attend summer camps and study. Although this was a business that neither Ying nor I had much experience, we felt that our combined backgrounds were ideal to be successful in this field. After a two-week trip to China to meet with potential partners, we formed the American-Chinese Cultural Exchange Service (ACCEXS.org) to Advance Education through Cultural Understanding.

ACCEXS.org would provide three areas of service. First we will develop and run summer and winter-camps in the USA for Chinese middle and high-school students. Second we will assist Chinese students who wish to study in America find a suitable high school or university, help them enroll and get settled in the community. Finally, we will organize group tours geared to spouses of Chinese business people visiting the USA.

Our first event is a 3-week summer camp for middle-school students scheduled from July 24 to August 12, 2013. Our partners in China were able to book 26 of the 32 maximum numbers of people we felt we could handle. The trip would start in Los Angeles and finish in San Francisco. A week before our group was scheduled to arrive, an Asiana Airlines plane carrying Chinese students to summer camps in the Bay Area crashed at SFO killing three students and injuring many more. Although we were concerned about potential cancelations, everyone scheduled to come on our trip reconfirmed their plans.

After weeks of meticulous planning, Ying and I drove to Los Angeles on July 22 to spend two days visiting the venues we planned to tour when the students arrived. We rehearsed where we would eat, what shows we would see, the order of rides we would go on at Disneyland and Universal Studios and how we would move from place to place. We visited the California Science Center to see The Space Shuttle Endeavour and La Brea Tar Pits where we planned a picnic lunch. On Tuesday, July 23^rd, we moved over to The Portofino Inn & Suites across from Disneyland which would be our headquarters for the next three days. As breakfast is not included at this hotel, and we planned to pack sack lunches for the students so they did not have to purchase meals inside the parks, we headed to Costco where we purchased enough food to make 180 meals.

On Wednesday, July 24^th we drove out to LAX to meet the students. The first plane carrying one student from Hangzhou arrived on time, but the second plane from Chengdu was over an hour late. By the time the group cleared immigration and boarded the bus we had arranged to take them to Anaheim, we were two hours behind schedule. Ying rode with the bus while I drove to Costco to pick up pizzas and cake. We met later in the afternoon for a pizza party where we got to know the students and discussed our plans for the next few days. After dinner, I took half a dozen students over to Downtown Disney for a couple hours.

We have five suites at Portofino, each with six people. I originally thought it would be tight, but it actually turned out to be quite comfortable. I woke up at 5:00AM Thursday to make 30 lunches and distribute muffins, milk & bananas to each room for breakfast. By 7:45AM we were out the door, walking 10 minutes to Disneyland. We have 26 students, two Chinese chaperons, Ying and myself. While the group was at one attraction with two adults, a third adult would wait outside with whoever chose not to go on that particular ride, while I ran around getting fast-passes so the group did not have to wait in line. By 3:00PM, we had ridden every major ride and seen many exhibits. I left to buy roast chickens at Costco which we ate for dinner in the picnic area just outside the gates. Ying took most of the group back to the hotel after dinner while I stayed to see the laser show and fireworks with five kids who seemed to have endless energy.

I was up again at 5:00AM Friday making lunches and preparing breakfast. We checked out of the hotel this morning, packing all large luggage into my truck for transport up to Fairfield, CA. The group boarded a bus for a tour of Los Angeles which included stops at The California Science Center to see The Space Shuttle Endeavour and a picnic lunch at La Brea Tar Pits. By 2:00PM the bus dropped them off at Universal Studios where they spent the rest of the day and evening. When the park closed at 9:30PM, Ying and the two Chinese chaperons took the students down the hill at Universal, boarded the Red Line Subway to Union Station where they caught a Megabus for an overnight trip to Oakland. A private bus picked them up in Oakland and took them to Solano College where they reunited with their luggage and met the host families whom they would live with for the next two weeks.

Ying and I will have the two Chinese chaperones, Ben Li and Lili You, as well as four boys stay with us in our home. Our boys are Bill, Andy, Tiger & William and they are all 11-12 years old. The rest of the students are scattered around our neighborhood and other parts of Fairfield with a few living as far away as Novato and Colfax. On Sunday we took the boys to The California State Fair and then spent the afternoon at the water park where several other host families took their students.

Monday morning we took the students to school. Students will attend English classes in a classroom we have leased from Solano College most days for the next two weeks. My sister Carolyn developed the curriculum which will be taught by herself and another professor with the help of a teaching assistant. There will be ten three-hour sessions, punctuated with field trips and other cultural activities. Monday afternoon, our neighbor Georgia Javaras, taught a 3-hour course in manners & etiquette.

The next two weeks flew by and everything went even better than everyone expected. The English classes were a big hit due to the unorthodox manner of teaching. Our three field trips to Silicon Valley, Sacramento and San Francisco were excellent and we even got to go out onto the floor of the NBA Sacramento King’s stadium and play basketball for a while when we visited Sleep Train Arena. Many local families invited the students to their homes for parties so we certainly left them with the feeling of what it was like to be an American. Additional photos of the trip are posted on the www. ACCEXS.org website.

On Sunday, August 11^th we had a farewell party at our home for all the students and host families. We asked each family to bring a dish which they made with their Chinese guests. Although the quantity and diversity of food was incredible, there was very little left after sixty guests ate their fill. At 8:30PM, the bus to transfer the group to the airport arrived and we began a half hour of tearful goodbyes. Ying rode on the bus to the airport, and I followed an hour later to pick her up and bring her home.

A day later we learned that the plane had arrived safely and the students had all returned home. Many will keep in touch with their hosts and several hosts are making plans to visit China. One couple has already purchased their airline tickets. The program was an overwhelming success and we are making plans to organize two or three trips next year.

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