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FHS students experience once-in-a-lifetime China trip

This fall, four Ferndale High School students, recent alumnus Damien Kamkoff and Native American Liaison Mia Owings got the opportunity to visit China. This trip of a lifetime included visits to small towns, a panda zoo and cultural landmarks like the Forbidden City.  

The FHS group, all from Lummi Nation, were a part of 70 Washington students (from Lummi, Tulalip, Swinomish, and Tacoma) who traveled to China. The trip was sponsored by Ron Chow, co-chairman of the Washington State U.S.-China Youth and Student Exchange Association.   

Students traveled to various locales in China, but multiple students named the small town of Xijiang as their favorite. The town is well known for its Miao Villages, where the Miao people live in beautiful wooden buildings in the middle of a mountainous area.  

“I really liked the architecture in the Miao village,” said senior Natalia Jefferson.   

“It’s what you imagine China would be,” added fellow senior Alysa Julius. “The people there were really nice.”  

The group also met with multiple groups of Chinese teenagers throughout the country, which was a highlight. They held a gift exchange with each school they visited, where FHS students gave their hosts Native-designed t-shirts. Students also had the opportunity to practice traditional Chinese art. Junior Erin Laststar loved making wax art with the Chinese students, and said they were “so sweet.”  

“I told one of the girls that I like painting and reading, and the next day, she brought me a paintbrush for Japanese-style painting and some bookmarks,” Laststar said.  

Another exciting moment of the trip was visiting a panda breeding and research center – a lush zoo where students got to meet giant pandas and red pandas up close.  

“I never thought I would ever see a red panda, and I was very grateful to see those,” Laststar said. "It’s my little sister’s favorite animal, and she loved all the pictures I took of them.”  

The grand finale of the trip was visiting China’s capital, Beijing. Students played in a friendly basketball match with Chinese teenagers, visited local schools and saw the legendary Forbidden City, where the Emperor of China once lived.  

“The Forbidden City was really cool,” said Jefferson. “I took lots of pictures, and we got to learn about the architecture and the three doors and three bridges and how only the Emperor could walk on one of them.”