On October 21st, SUFE welcomed a group of 10 educators from Estonia for their 12-day-tour to the university. The group was led by Mikk Kasesalk, President of Tallinn Confucius Institute; others included several education officials and high school principals.
At the start of the tour, Yao Lingzhen, Vice President of SUFE, Li Hong, Director of Office of International Exchange and Yang Hong, Vice Dean of the International Cultural Exchange School extended warm welcome to the delegation. Afterwards, they visited two secondary schools in Yangpu district, where they attended English and pottery-making classes together with Chinese students. They were also able to discuss education issues and the newest teaching practices with Chinese teachers.
The delegation also attended a series of lectures on Chinese education, culture and economics as well as experiencing Chinese Tai Chi, the art of tea pouring, paper cutting and Chinese knots making. Furthermore, they had the opportunity to talk to SUFE students from Estonia, Kazakhstan and Russia.
On the morning of November the 1st, the tour was successfully completed. On their way back to the airport, the delegation members expressed their sincere gratitude towards SUFE.
Anna Dvorjaninova from the Pae Gymnasium said “life in Shanghai is really high-paced, after just one day, it feels as though four have passed. It is my first time visiting China, I believe that Chinese people have more personal opinions and ambitions than Western people, you won’t waste even one second in order to achieve your goals, and you don’t expect anything without working for it. I see that you are very independent and free.”
“Before coming to China my dream was to visit Zhouzhuang, but after my visiting, I have a new dream now, I want to become an English teacher in China.” said by Girta Pai, an English teacher from the Mustamae Gymnasium
Ms Eili Laas from Peetri School said “I really love Chinese food, when I go back to Estonia I would like to cook Chinese food. I would also like to encourage my Estonian students to study Chinese.”
Nadeza Tserkasina, President of the Narva Language Lyceum said: “My visit to Shanghai and SUFE has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my life; the scale of everything here is enormous. Today we saw a brand-new China, a developed China. Every day we encountered countless surprises.”
As Andry Ruumet, Counsel General of Estonian Embassy in Shanghai said upon his meeting of the delegation “Shanghai has millions of reasons to attract you back.” Everyone expressed their expectations of being back to such a civilized country and such a modern, ever-changing Shanghai.
