The trip to Edinburgh is very interesting, but a little bit tiring. The flight from Shanghai to London was quite terrible for me since I have motion sickness badly. Fortunately the flight aviator of the second flight was much more experienced than the first one, so that I felt better when the short ride on plane finished.

It was at midnight that we arrived in Edinburgh. There we met our partners in Fettes College after taking the taxi. We were a little bit nervous and embarrassed at that time, since we didn’t know what to talk to them about. Luckily, my partner Natalie, the only girl with short hair, is quite enthusiastic, out-going and talkative. She asked me many questions about our culture, such as the Chinese New Year. What’s more, she can speak Chinese very well, because her mother is Chinese. That’s why she loves Chinese so much.

During our stay in Edinburgh, we travelled around the old city. One of our tour guide is an interesting middle-aged gentleman. However, when we saw him for the first time, we were very amazed. He was wearing Kilt, one kind of traditional clothes for Englishman. I have to admit that it’s really cool. He showed us around the castles, churches, every scenic spot there. It was a pity that I couldn’t understand some of his words because of his local accent.

In the week staying in Fettes, we spent two days having class with our partners. It’s true that math is quite easy for us Chinese. However, I could hardly understand English and Biology, because the words were too profound for me. They can choose Chinese as one of their curricula. I’ve said that Natalie is very good at Chinese, even better than my English, so she took Chinese class alone. I read her article, the sentences were funny, but she really had unique idea, about the world, about life. What shocked me most was her artwork. They are really creative and have strong practical abilities. In the musical, they played the symphony themselves, sang bel canto nicely, and acted very well. To tell truth, we are far behind them in the aspect of innovation.

Though there are students from all over the world, racial discrimination exists in this famous college, especially for negroes. Outside the school, it might be worse. Once we walked on a street, a man prevented his dog from approaching us. When we passed by, one of us heard he told his dog, ’they are Chinese’, and it made us truly sad.

It’s true that China is getting more and more powerful in the world, but not a few foreigners think of us as of low class. To make them know more about our culture, our kindness and ceremony is the real significance of our exchange, I think.