It has been five days since the children arrived in Coaldale. Their anxiety about the new environment was gradually alleviated after leaving their parents , and they gradually adapted to the new school, new companion and new family.

In order to better integrate children into the local students, R.I. Baker school assigned eight children to eight different classes in Grade Five or Six. Each child had a learning partner to help them better adapt to the new environment. Different from China, the children here needed to transfer the classroom. Each lesson was given in its own special classroom with unique arrangement, so that children could completely immerse themselves in the lessons.

After the first week of study, the proudest thing for our children was math class. As soon as the class finished, Shen Yuting’s math teacher Julie gave feedback to his leading teacher Mr. Zhong, and praised him for his excellent performance in class. He was excellent in both solving arithmetic problems and understanding the questions. Yu Siqi was the first to complete the exercises in the mathematics test and all the answers were correct, winning the praise of local students.

However, children still encountered some problems, such as science, language art courses and other subjects that require a large vocabulary and professional terms, and they were obviously at a loss. With the encouragement of teachers and the help of local students, they said that they would adapt as soon as possible and try to understand what they learned in the class.

In school, there were nearly two hours of sports and games every day, which was the happiest time for children. At that moment, they forgot the shyness of new comers. A smile and a pair of warm hands from their peers could dissolve the barrier of language communication.

—Translated by Liu Lingyan, checked by Linfei