As Lincoln Academy prepares to launch an international residential program in fall 2013, its international student population lives with local families during the academic year.
The Brinkler family, of Newcastle, is one of those families. Michael Brinkler, a carpenter; Carole Brinkler, the assistant to Lincoln Academy’s Head of School; and their 14-year-old son Liam hosted Willy Wang.
The Brinklers and Wang talked about their experience in a June 15 interview in the dining room of the Brinkler home.
Wang, 16, hails from Shenzhen in south China’s Guangdong Province, a major industrial city of more than 10 million where he lives with his family on the 16th floor of a high-rise apartment building.
Academic life in China is rigorous. The school day lasts until 6-6:30 p.m., when the students go home and start their homework, Wang said. Every weekend, they go to a teacher’s house to study.
The move to America was Wang’s father’s idea.
As a freshman in high school, Wang was studying feverishly every night until 1-2 a.m. in anticipation of the exam Chinese underclassmen take to place into the next level of their education.
Students who don’t score high enough on the exam “go to a bad school or go to work,” Wang said.
Father and son saw opportunity in America and quickly discovered Lincoln Academy through an international educational organization.
Back in Newcastle, Carole Brinkler became intrigued after discussing the home stay program with Lincoln Academy Head of School Jay Pinkerton.
She brought the idea home, where it met with the approval of her son and husband, and the family signed on.
“We thought it would be interesting to learn more about China and what it’s really like to live there and the culture,” Brinkler said.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Academy staff was interviewing prospective students and, after meeting with Wang, they knew they had a match. Carole Brinkler remembers an admissions worker telling her “‘he is perfect for your family’ and they were right,” she said. “It’s been a fun ride.”
The journey from Shenzhen to the quiet, wooded neighborhood where the Brinklers live came with inevitable surprises.
Wang remarked about the abundance of creatures in the summer forest, especially, to his horror, mosquitoes and spiders.
“He definitely doesn’t like bugs,” Carole Brinkler said.
Other discoveries about life in rural Maine were more pleasant. “The air is very clean,” Wang said. “In China there [is] a lot of pollution.”
Wang, a sophomore, likes his new school, too.
The academics are, depending on the subject, a challenge and a cinch.
Wang arrived with “very poor” English skills, he said, and he credits his English teachers for taking the time to coach him and his fellow international students.
While Wang sharpened his language skills, he breezed through math, which “is pretty easy here” in comparison to China, he said.
Another major difference between the school he attended in China and Lincoln Academy is the availability of computers.
Lincoln Academy issues netbooks to every student; whereas, at Wang’s old school, students hand-write all their assignments. A teacher will occasionally use a computer to show something to a class, but students have no access to computers at school.
Wang also took advantage of the opportunity to participate in extra-curricular activities, joining the Chess Club, albeit with little success – all his teammates can beat him, he said – as well as the International Club and the tennis team. He wants to play basketball, but didn’t make the team this year.
Athletics, too, are different in America. In China, if you play a sport, it seems like it’s your job to play the sport, Wang said.
At home with the Brinklers, Wang excels at pingpong.
“We refer to him as the pingpong king,” Carole Brinkler said, and Liam and Wang – as competitive as any brothers – face off regularly on the family table.
Liam acknowledges Wang’s superior skill – for now – although he squeaks out a sweet victory once in a while, he said.
Wang also joined the Brinklers on family vacations, including a Christmas visit to Carole Brinkler’s family in Ohio.
“He has an extended family in Ohio,” Carole Brinkler said. “Willie can get away with a lot more with my mother than any of us can.”
Between endearing himself to the relatives, Wang joined the family for a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game and an Ohio State Buckeyes basketball game.
The family headed west for spring break, visiting family and friends in Las Vegas, Nev. and San Diego, Cal., with a side trip to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon.
At home, the Brinklers and Wang learn from each other every day, although Wang’s English skills have progressed considerably more than the Brinklers’ Mandarin.
“It’s hard to learn,” Liam said of the language.
At least one Brinkler appears to be picking up a few words, however.
Daisy, the dog, “knows how to sit in Chinese,” Liam said. She responds better to the Chinese command than the English, he said.
Wang recently boarded a plane for China, where he plans to spend his summer studying for the TOEFL, the equivalent of the SAT for international students; and traveling with friends. Chinese teenagers can’t get a job until they reach the age of 18.
He’ll return in August to start his junior year, this time with Liam, a freshman, as a fellow Eagle.
The Brinklers can’t wait.
“He’s fit in really well with the family,” Carole Brinkler said. “He has a great sense of humor. It couldn’t have been a more perfect match.”
The easy chemistry between the Brinklers and Wang makes for a “fun and relaxing” atmosphere free of the strain some might associate with hosting a stranger, she said. “It hasn’t really felt like there’s a guest in the house.”
“It’s definitely enriched our lives and hopefully we’ve enriched his a little bit,” Carole Brinkler said. “I feel like we have gained a family member.”
Lincoln Academy expects to welcome 11-12 international students in the 2012-13 academic year, including students from China, Germany and Spain, up from the six Chinese students who came this year.
Carole Brinkler, who enthusiastically recommends the experience, encourages anyone with interest in hosting a student to contact Carl Von Vogt at 563-3596 extension 307 or vonvogtc@lincolnacademy.org.
The school accepts host family applications throughout the year.
