A farewell to remember

By Anita Stackhouse-Hite, The Porterville Recorder

A tangerine colored sun set Friday, just west of River Island, signaled the end of the day and the close of a journey for Porterville’s Chinese exchange students.

With her voice full of emotion, teacher Shelly Xiong put it simply: “It is time to say goodbye.”

Li Xue ‘Celine’ Sue, 15, right, reads over her speech for the last time Friday at the farewell dinner at the River Island Country Club. Chinese exchange students spent two weeks in Porterville. (Recorder photo by Chieko Hara)

Xiong rounded out the procession of expressions of appreciation and delight from host families about students who came from thousands of miles to become part of their lives.

It was to be a learning experience for students from Porterville Unified School District’s sister school in China. The 11 young visitors attend Chengdu Meishi International, a private school.

It became a learning experience and continuous fun for the Chinese students, their American counterparts and their families.

While they enjoyed the fare and lush venue that is River Island County Club — the setting for their farewell dinner — students talked about their Porterville experience. A three-day stay at SCICON was part of their adventure.

Celine Sun and Leo Li spoke with excitement, and alternately between English and Chinese, about first-time experiences at SCICON.

“We liked everything new,” Celine said with a broad smile. “We saw a deer and ...” she glanced at Leo.

“A squirrel,” he said.

“And ... what is it?” Celine asked, searching for the correct word. “Dr. Staley knows.” She removed a camera from her purse and scrolled to a certain photo and showed it to PUSD Assistant Superintendent Val Staley.

“Oh, that’s a salamander,” Staley said.

“Salamander!” Leo and Celine said together, laughing.

“And the stars,” Leo said. “I never saw so many stars in the sky. I felt like I could touch them.”

Sleeping bags, mountains, horseback riding, waffles with hot sauce for some, Three Sisters dairy and a visit to a Bakersfield BMW dealership were all part of “everything new.”

The farewell

The clicking and quiet hum of digital and video cameras told the tale of the preservation of final memories. Laughter and chatter filled the restaurant. Strangers at nearby tables listened to all the experiences recounted by host families — some humorous, some sober.

Robert and Arlina Gillett and their family hosted Leo.

“Everything was exciting to him,” Arlina Gillett said. “Having him was wonderful.”

“And he’s highly intelligent,” Robert Gillett said. “He passed all the testing that will allow him to attend a special school. But he’s very down to earth. We took him along with two other students to the beach.”

Board President Richard Morris and Superintendent John Snavely shared in the farewell celebration. Snavely and his daughter Ellen hosted Celine.

John Snavely, microphone in hand, opened the procession of closing remarks.

“This has been great fun, an incredible experience and a wonderful opportunity,” Snavely said. “We really enjoyed having Celine with us.”

The microphone was passed from table to table as a representative from each family expressed the joy of their experience with the exchange students.

Some in the audience had been exchange students in China. Ellen Snavely and Andrea and Reid Bartlett, who are unrelated, were among the 15 students from Porterville who went to Chengdu in 2005.

“It was a great experience, everything was different,” Ellen said.

“It was wonderful,” Andrea said. “I learned so much when I was there. Everyone should have the opportunity to have that experience.”

When the yellow sun rose today, it signaled the start of another journey for the students from the sister school in China. Their schedule called for them to leave the district office at noon to begin the final leg of their visit to America. San Francisco is next, then Washington, D.C. and New York before boarding a plane to Chengdu.

Tony Zhang expressed the sentiment about Porterville that is shared by many of his schoolmates.

“It is hot here, but I hope I can come back one day,” he said.