Grace Church School Experience at Vasant Valley
26th March, 2016

Vasant Valley Exchange Students gathered at school on Saturday 26th March at 5:45pm to meet their long awaited guests who were coming from Grace Church School, New York. Last year these Vasant Valley students had visited their school. The Grace Church students were on their way from Agra and were expected to be in school by 6:00am but due to heavy traffic were delayed by an hour or so. The Grace Church students arrived around 8:00pm and were warmly welcomed by the families of the Vasant Valley
students. The children from New York were exhausted from the long journey and so all families took their guests and went straight back home for a good nights rest.Since it was a Sunday ,families interacted and bonded with their guests, taking them to famous places in Delhi

Vasant Valley students brought their guests to school on Monday and the Grace Church students were fascinated by our concept of assemblies. They soon after departed to visit a school which educated marginalised children and soon after had lunch at a famous Gurudwara. The Vasant Valley students picked up their guests from school at 4:20 and took them home to engage in various activities.
The Students woke up ready for a new day. This was their first day attending classes in Vasant Valley. The students were present in some of the academic lessons, they learned about Classical Indian music and instruments. The Grace Students had requested to learn and try Bollywood dancing, as it is a hyped aspect in the U.S.A . The Exchange students and their hosts together danced to famous Bollywood music such as ³Galan Goodiyan² from the movie ³Dil Dhadakne Do². Soon after they left to see the bustling ³Dilli Haat² where different aspects of Indian culture were showcased. The children were done with the Dilli Haat experience at 6:15 and returned home fatigued from the long day. The students, now familiar with the school went fresh on the Wednesday morning excited for a soccer game between the hosts and guests. The match was quite thrilling and ended as a draw. The children attended the classes of their hosts. In the latter part of the day, the students were introduced to a famous art form in India, known as pottery. After school all the children went back to their homes and did various tasks with
theirs guests.

Thursday was their last and final day in India had come, all the children were dreading this day. They arrived in school for a yet awaited basketball match between the two schools. It was yet another extravagant match played. There after the children indulged in the activity of Tie Dye. The guests were quite familiar with this art form and picked up the technique instantly. They spent the second half of the day preparing for a presentation of their beloved country, U.S.A. At the end of the day the guests presented the various aspects of their country and school. They summed the performance by singing a famous song. After school the kids went back home and packed for their return journey ahead. All guests and hosts arrived in school at night for a lovely farewell dinner organised at our school. At 10pm the bus had arrived to collect the guests to take them to the airport. The hosts and guests were devastated to be separated from each other and many students ended up in tears. It has been a great learning experience for both the kids of the different schools.It created a bond between two countries.

- Ransher, Adi and Arnav