Does anyone else have a dc going to China in July?

[Ingles2]

With the school? My yr 10 ds2 is going to China,mid July on the UCL IOE Trip.
I'm so excited for him, but so worried too. Anyone else's dc going? Or been on previous years?

ds went last year. Well, not with UCL IOE.

The problem was poor internet access , so had 1 txt in 2 weeks.... They had a really good time, saw and did lots of things. Had a lot of Mandarin teaching as well.
Teachers were good though and kept us up to date

Hi motherwithaheadache :) thanks for your message.. It sounds v similar and yes I thought the communication would be bad! Ds2 is doing gcse mandarin so is really looking forward to the lessons. Was the food and accommodation all ok do you know?

DS went last year too. I think they stay in different places each year. He had an amazing time.

Food was only difficult for him because he's a veggie but he coped. There is Chinese food on offer and also some international food (more expensive). There was only wifi when he was in Beijing so we didn't hear from him much but the teachers made them do a blog, taking turns each day so we had a rough idea what they were up to. They actually had to work pretty hard in lessons but did loads of other things too. Came back exhausted!

DS1 is off to China on Wednesday! Am very jealous, we went years ago and it remains one of my best holidays. He will be back towards end of half-term and I'm happy to report back then on food, accommodation etc? Yes, we have also been warned to expect poor/little communication from them while away.

I asked DS about it this morning. Apparently food is edible. The only time everyone (except him) was ill was after they went to KFC!

My DD went twice through school exchanges - in year 6 and again in year 10. She stayed part of the time at the Chinese Boarding School and part time with a couple of Chinese children and their family. She loved it both times. There were no problems at all as far as I'm aware with any of the kids - other than a couple being a bit homesick. We've also had Chinese exchanges to stay which added to a great experience. She learnt mandarin at school and has continued it as an "added" subject at Uni.

ok, so it sounds like I should try not to worry too much then! :D
sounds like he's going to have a great time, and thankfully this ds will eat just about anything.
Updates would be brilliant stillunexpected ..I would imagine the weather is good for travelling now, in July they have 40 degrees plus heavy rain!

No, not that trip and not to China, but DS is off to Taiwan in May on his Manadarin language school trip. I'm trying to not think about the fact that there was just an earthquake in the city where he'll be staying.

DS is very excited. He's been writing to his exchange student as a penpal for a few months now (he comes to stay with us in June).