College students Zhenya Wei and Zhaowen Wang, visitors from China, made sure to hit up popular Chicago tourist attractions such as the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium.
But they wanted a more immersive museum experience, so they decided to get a behind the scenes look at an area institution and up-close interaction with its patrons by volunteering at the Children’s Museum in Oak Lawn.
The two college students are part of Global Cultural Adventurers, an organization with a mission to expose university students to diverse cultures, according to the G.C.A. website.
Accumulating volunteer hours is the primary reason for the brief stay in the U.S. and a requirement of Global Cultural Adventurers.
Adam Woodworth, executive director of the Children’s Museum, said the museum is in its fourth year of partnering with G.C.A. and relies heavily on the time and talent college students give.
“Volunteers are extremely important to us,” he said.
Wei and Wang spend at least five hours at the museum, four days each week, interacting with museum visitors and “running special programming, according to a museum release.
In her interactions since she began at the museum, Wong said American children are “quite creative and very friendly.”
Wang struggled a bit with expressing herself just right in English. But her voice leaves little doubt that her time in the states so far has been pretty cool.
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Wang, 20, is to begin her second year of college in a small city in China where she is pursuing an interest as a software engineer. Wei, 19 and a first year college student, intends to be a doctor.
The museum volunteer experience allows the students to hear how Americans speak the language, which they both agree has been beneficial in their efforts to learn English, a part of their school curriculum in China.
But the real work at communication comes when they are with the woman who is hosting their 4-week stay, Evelyn Soto, who lives in the Beverly neighborhood of Chicago., is now a retired “empty nester.”
Soto, who described herself as a retired “empty nester,” has been hosting foreign students for four consecutive summers. She said she completely enjoys living with the young adults and puts much effort into improving their English speaking skills during their stay in her single-family home.
In one case, following visits to the Field Museum and the Shedd Aquarium, Soto said she asked the girls to tell in English about a favorite exhibit they had seen. Soto asked the girls to compare the Field to a museum in China.
“I get them to talk at dinner and tell me about their day. I ask them to tell me what they found interesting,” Soto said.
Soto also encourages communication by playing games with her foreign visitors, such as Monopoly or cards.
“This builds cultural awareness on both sides,” Soto said. “By the end of the visit, their English has improved and they are aware of so much more.”
The students arrived July 22 and they head home to Changchun about the middle of August.
When asked what she plans to tell her family and friends when she arrives home in China, Wang said: “Western food is not bad, and the architecture is beautiful.”
Barbara Dargis is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.