背景：2012年4月9日，美国伊切斯特第二届“了解中国”考察团十余名师生来访我校，进行了访问、研讨、寄宿、共享的系列交流活动；住在国际部学生家庭的美国高中生们受到学生和家长的热情接待，短短的时间里，他们对中国的文化和生活有了深入了解，从一封接待美国考察团此行的学生沈湛博家长写给来访学生罗伯特家长的信，可以看出双方学生结下的深厚友谊。

尊敬的Jensen夫妇：
    你们好！中国有句俗语，叫做有缘千里来相会。中美二个国家不远万里，中国城乡有几亿个家庭和大小不等几百个城市。但您们的儿子罗伯特来到了我们居住的城市沈阳，来到了我们的家庭。这就是一种缘分，也是上帝的安排！我们很高兴能够接待罗伯特。

    虽然我们与罗伯特相处只有短短的三个晚上，但是，我们看到他是一个自信而健康的男孩。他说自己喜欢中国文化、雕塑和建筑，这让我们很高兴。短短的三个晚上，我们也许无法让他对历史悠久而又博大精深的中国文化有什么了解，只能通过饮食和交流方面有个小小的感受。诚然，饮食文化也是中国文化的重要组成部分和表达方式。总之，我们由衷的希望罗伯特的中国之行，能够初步看到一个真实的中国，不管是它好的一面。还是不好的一面。所以，我们让他乘地铁、打的、也坐公交车。
　　
    中美二个国家有着历史的友谊，在中国三四十年代抗日战争的时期，美国人民给了中国人民不少的帮助。现今中美二个国家也有着很强的互补性，在全球国际事务中是二个举足轻重的大国。二个国家完全应该成为友好的关系，事实上二个国家也是在这样发展着。美国自由、民主、公正、法治的国家和社会体制很值得中国学习和借鉴，我们对美国人民的自信、勇敢、幽默和文明精神，也是很赞美和向往的。所以，我们决定让自己的儿子沈湛博明年去美国读大学，也希望他能够成为在全球化的今天，缔造和书写明天中美友谊的使者。
 
    最后，为了表达我们的敬意，我们全家送给你们全家一副中国饮食的工具——筷子，不成敬意，还请笑纳。这副筷子是由红木和瓷器制作和组成的，都是中国文化的典型元素。因为，罗伯特说他喜欢中国文化，我们说那就请从学会使用中国筷子来吃饭开始吧。就像我们中国人要学习美国文化，有时也是从学会使用刀叉开始的。这是我们将筷子作为礼物的原因。这副筷子共有八双，是缘于中文中“八”是“发”的谐音，有“恭喜发财”的意思。这是中国现今常说的一句话，也是中国的一句传统用语，更是中国文化的一种表现。
 
    好了，真诚的祝你们全家幸福和快乐，真诚的欢迎你们全家有机会来中国度假，我们会在自己的度假酒店接待你们。
 春安！  
                                                                         国际部学生沈湛博的父母：沈洋 冯娇
                                                                                             2012年4月10日
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Jensen

How are you! A Chinese proverbs goes, "Destiny draws unacquainted people together from miles away". The Pacific Ocean, a vast thousand miles expanse, lies between China and US. and there are thousands and hundreds families living in numerous cities in China. However, the mysterious destiny let your son Robert go to Shenyang and stay with our family which is just an ordinary one out of millions of Chinese families. What an amazing arrangement by destiny! We were very glad to know Bobby Jay and accommodate him.
 
In the three days that we spent with Robert, he impressed us as a very communicative and confident boy. He said that he liked exploring the Chinese culture, especially ancient sculptures and architectures. Undoubtedly, we are pleased to share the orient culture with guests from western world.
Due to the very short timeframe, he couldn’t have a complete understanding of the 5000 years history of China. But we successfully help him interact with Chinese culture by serving him various Chinese foods. In general, we sincerely hope that Robert's trip has helped him to get a general picture of an actual China. That's the reason why we encouraged him to take the subway and other public transportation as to obtain first-hand experience of China.    
 
China and U.S people had established long friendship. From 1930's to 1940's, U.S air force supported Chinese army to fight against Japan intruders. In recent decades, the economic tie has being deepened between the two superpowers. US serves as a model for China in aspects ranging from human rights, democracy, justice to government. And Chinese appreciate the self-confidence, bravery and sense of humor of US people. So we decided to send our son Shen Zhanbo to some US university next year. He can also contribute to the friendship between our two countries in the globalized era. 

As to express our respect for your family, we gave you a set of chopsticks, the Chinese eating tool. It's a small gift but carrying our best wishes. It's made of rosewood and porcelain, both of which are representative elements of Chinese culture. We also suggested Robert learn to eat by using chopsticks since most Chinese new to America culture have their first lesson from using a knife and folk. Another reason why we chose chopsticks as the gift is the number of components in the set-eight. The pronunciation of eight in Cantonese resembles another Chinese character “Fa” means getting rich – “Kong Hei Fa Choi” (Wish you great wealth and prosperity).
 
At the end of this letter, we want to give your family our best regards and look forward to seeing you again on vacation. We will welcome you in our own holiday hotel. 
 
Sincerely,
Shen Yang & Feng Jiao
Apr.10th.2012