Crossing campus through the trees in an early autumn breeze, with freshly cut grass sticking to my shoes, and the wet pendula of a weeping willow sweeping across my shoulder, and up ahead, I hear a girl singing, "It's stopped raining, everybody's in the play, and don't you know, it's a beautiful new day." That's my classmate from Seoul, and beside her, one of our teachers, a Chinese man, who recently returned from Rome, strumming a guitar.

Such a scene might strike you as being completely out of step with what you'd expect at a Chinese high school, and yet, this is a new era for exceptional educational experiences, and just another "beautiful day" at "Hua Er," officially the No.2 High School of East China Normal University. This is the school I attend along with more than 2,000 other students enrolled at the Zhangjiang campus in Pudong New Area of Shanghai. It's one of our six campuses located in the city, all under a unified management, sharing the same identity, model and standards.

As one of 400-plus foreigners at my school, I belong to the International Division. In fact, most of the students on my campus are Chinese, and I interact with them daily through shared coursework and extracurricular activities, like sporting events, including an annual track and field meet and regular football matches. That said, most of the students in most of the classes I take come from around the world, hailing primarily from the Republic of Korea and Japan, but also including Americans, Russians, Cambodians, Thai, among others, as well as a large contingent of Italians who come each year through an exchange program. While English is the language of instruction in a few classes, most of us advance into higher-level courses conducted entirely in Chinese, which is also the language we speak in common, whether we're gossiping over lunch, arguing over fouls on the basketball court, or working together to figure out a tough physics lesson.

While the school has emphasized internationalization, including admitting foreign students and sustaining international connections with institutions in North America, Europe and Australia, it's done so while preserving Chinese values and academic rigor. Perhaps contrary to some international perceptions, Chinese education has matured and followed a progressive curve in its development, finding better pathways to high performance, creativity and innovation, eschewing the old models of rote and repetition. Consequently, while we're well-known for our strong exam scores, which remains a baseline we all strive to support, we should also be known as the school where kids keep guitars and basketballs close at hand, and where students form bands and teams to play on and off campus. Above all we should be known as a school devoted to developing healthy minds and bodies, always ready to cooperate and compete.

Recently a group of seven of my friends came home with me after school to have a home cooked meal. Some live in the dorm on campus, others live with their parents or in group arrangements off campus. We enjoyed a little smorgasbord of fresh salads with fruit, cheese and avocados, pan-fried salmon and bratwurst, spicy Thai noodles and empanadas. Afterwards, my father brought out a big chocolate cake and we covered it with candles, singing "Happy Birthday" for my grandma back in America in five different languages. Her eyes brimmed with tears of happiness as she watched us online. Shengri Kuaile! A beautiful day indeed! BR

The author is an American raised in Shanghai and now in his final year of high school

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson

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