With the arrival of 15 children and parents from Peking, culture summer camp 2019 began. With Berlin being their first stop in Germany, foundation of German and Chinese culture welcomed them heartfully in the office with a welcoming forum, making an overall introduction to Germany.

Some of the visiting parents make their living in the education industry, some of them are also planning an oversea education for their children. Hence we started with education in Germany, the topic they mostly cared for, and explained the different education concepts and systems in Germany and China. Parents were especially interested in the supporting policies in Germany for students with foreign backgrounds and basic terms and advantages of learning and studying in Germany.

As for immigration, parents also raised their questions: What standards should I meet when applying for a EU blue card? How is the social welfare in Germany? What advantages does Germany have, comparing to other european countries? Which German city guarantees a better career development? Questions were answered with details and Ms. Shi Hongxia, member of advisory board, introduced the whole progress and criteria of receiving a EU blue card with her personal experience.

Comparing with conventional nations of immigrants like U.S.A. und Britain, immigrating to Germany or applying for a German university requires far less than what the parents persumed before. A large numbers of German cities, especially Berlin, which has been developing rapidly in recent years, are confronted with work-force shortage in many fields, resulting in a friendlier policy for highly qualified and talented immigrants.

We hope that through this welcoming forum, parents can have a better knowledge of German education, society and culture. What’s more, we also arranged a programme for the younger and more energetic visitors. Accompanied with two teachers from the foundation, children began their excursion from Potsdamer Platz to the Großer Tiergarten, passing several interesting sights like Sony Center, Filmmuseum Berlin, Berliner Philharmoniker und Berlin Instrument Museum.

Though Berlin is the largest city in Germany, it has a surprisingly high forestation rate. Families frequent parks at weekends, resting, jogging, picnicing, BBQing and sometimes culture activities and music shows take place here. In the Großer Tiergarten park, children exposed themselves to nature, an opportunity that is seldom in big cities in China. Some of the children collected flowers for their parents, and some of them talked about their life in and out of school whiling resting on lawn.

During their stay in Berlin, they are going to make chocolate by theirselves, visiting farms and museums. We wish that they can gain a deeper insight to Germany and Europe from what they see and learn during this summer camp and apply it into further study with curiosity and thirst to the world unknown.