• LaSalle Overseas’ Trips

  
  During Spring Break, LaSalle families hosted Italian students coming from our sister school located in Piacienza, near Milan. Students from France will also visit us at the end of May. Global citizenship requires to understand other cultures and to learn other languages. The yearly foreign exchange programs are a vital part of LaSalle.
  
  38 seventh and eighth grade students of Chinese, Spanish and French recently returned from the field trip of a lifetime. In order to participate in the exchange program, students must be eligible according to the criteria of academic achievement and effort, citizenship and behavior. In short, students hoping to travel overseas with the school need to demonstrate the principles of the LaSalle Way: Respect, Responsibility, Citizenship and Work Ethics.
  
  Here is a selection of the comments written by our globetrotting students when asked to reflect upon what they liked best about their experiences, and how well prepared they felt they were:
  
  China
  
  I loved the Great Wall. It was amazing and a lot of fun. It was also great exercise for me. (Dominique Zinserling)
  
  What I liked about the trip was seeing my Chinese family and experiencing home culture. (Marlena Doughty)
  
  One of the things I liked best about China was that everyone got along so well and everyone was agreeable. (Kyle Ferrantella)
  
  I enjoyed visiting the Forbidden City the most out of the trip. (Yoshi Rivera)
  
  My favorite thing about the trip was being with my exchange student. We had a lot of fun together and really bonded. She always had something funny to say, and we will definitely keep in touch. (Phoebe Hicks)
  
  I liked the Great Wall. It was the most amazing place ever! It was so fun to climb up, but at the end, my legs were wobbling. (Elsa Thompson)
  
  I do not think that any improvements needed to be made, but I wish the trip had been longer! (Sabiné Zinserling)
  
  I really enjoyed the trip to Beijing. It was fun to climb the Great Wall and see the birds nest. (Summer Calvache)
  
  Spain
  
  I liked talking in Spanish everyday, and as the days passed I began to understand more and more of what they were saying. (Esme Kline)
  
  What I liked most about the trip was that there was a very large variety of things to do everyday. I also liked that we used public transportation to go everywhere so we got to compare life in Barcelona to life in Chicago. (Austin Handler)
  
  The architecture in Spain is magnificent, with towering buildings and amazing sculptures. (Ethan Linker)
  
  What I liked most about the trip is everything really. Every moment, every trip, every second was overall the best experience in my life so far. (Madison Newell)
  
  I honestly just enjoyed coming to terms with another culture and experiencing the way they lived. (Lauren Moore)
  
  What I liked best about the trip was getting close to all of our Spanish friends…. Each day I got to know them more, and it was so much fun. I really miss them. …The only suggestion I have (to improve the trips in the future) is making the trip a little longer. (Toni Madorsky)
  
  What I liked best about the trip was how attached we got with not only our student, but all of them. (Natalie Pierce)
  
  The thing I liked the most about the trip to Spain was the sights. Everything there was so pretty! Nothing there was like in Chicago. Everything is very unique. (LeNardo Nelson)
  
  I think that I was very well prepared for the traveling experience. Being that I have a wonderful language teacher and my enthusiasm for Spain was crazy, I believe that I was ready for the travel experience. (Kaila Latiker)
  
  I enjoyed everything, new customs, places, friends, experiences, everything. I really loved the whole trip and the whole experience. (Estelle Bastounes)
  
  I liked the scenery. From the mountains you could see the whole city. (Vernon Ford)
  
  I liked the Chocolate Museum the best. We first went to the portion of it that was a culinary school and learned how they made the chocolate. Then we saw all of the chocolate creations in the museum. (Adam Linker)
  
  I liked my host family and my host student. They were so nice to me and made me feel so welcome in their home. (Olivia Harris)
  
  I loved everything about this beautiful experience because everything about the city of Barcelona was beautiful and interesting. (Stefano Bertazzi)
  
  France
  
  I liked almost everything. All the fieldtrips were good. I especially liked being able to bond with my student. I was able to easily communicate with the families. (Bridget Soderna)
  
  I loved the different sights we saw in France. They were all so cool and so much fun. My favorites were Carcassonne and Toulouse. (Lamiya Tanovic)
  
  I really enjoyed all of it…. I wish we stayed a bit longer in Paris. (Nathan Ruhrkraut)
  
  I really enjoyed all the field trips since it was nice to learn about and see new things…. I felt very prepared and knew mostly everything I had to say. (Mia Noguier)
  
  The best thing I liked about France was being popular! (Nick Papadogiannis)
  
  I really loved the city of Toulouse. It was like stepping into another time zone. The cobblestone streets and old buildings had so much charm and the shopping was great! (Andie Linker)
  
  I really thought the family and everyone I met was the best part. Everyone made us feel so welcome and special. I miss so much all of the French friends I’ve made. (Regina Chan)
  
  The best thing about the trip was getting to see the French countryside and cities. Also getting to know the students. (Rebecca Sudworth)
  
  I liked Carcassone best. It is a beautiful city, and I liked the time we had to roam around. The church was very big and the windows were beautifully colored. (Jordan Wooten)
  
  I have to say my favorite part about the trip was being with my family and other students. I really loved Jeanne; her family is amazing.... Any day we would be at home it was so much fun. (Maggie Cann
  
  
  
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Photos

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  Our students in Shenyang, China Summer Emperor's Palace
  
  
  
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  Our students in Paris, at the Sacre-Coeur, Montmartre
  
  
  
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  Our students in Spain