"Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind? Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and auld lang syne?"

Sang the Tacoma delegation along with students from the Affiliated High School of Fuzhou Institute of Education (FIE) in Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian province on June 26.

The atmosphere was vibrant, filled with enthusiastic singing in the school's gymnasium on a sunny and clear day. Apart from "Auld Lang Syne", the Tacoma delegation, here to participate in the 2024 China-U.S. Youth Festival, and students from Fuzhou also sang the Chinese classic song "In the Fields of Hope".

The Tacoma delegation sings with students from the Affiliated High School of FIE in Fuzhou, capital city of Fujian province on June 26, 2024. [Photo/fznews.com.cn]

Moved by the heartfelt singing, Susan Doris Westberg, a teacher from Tacoma's Stadium High School, had tears in her eyes.

"Coming to this school deeply touches me; it feels like coming home", said Susan, the former chairperson of the Tacoma-Fuzhou Sister City Committee. "I am moved by the enthusiasm of the teachers and students and hope the friendship between Fuzhou and Tacoma lasts forever."

For Susan, the Affiliated High School of FIE is not unfamiliar. She first visited the school with the Tacoma delegation in 2010. She has since visited it three more times, forming deep friendships with the teachers and students there.

On June 26, as soon as Susan got out of the car at the school gate, she eagerly hugged her old friends, sharing her thoughts and feelings.

"It's been almost ten years since I last visited here, and I missed everyone a lot." Susan clearly remembers attending the school's 20th-anniversary celebration in 2015 as if it were yesterday.

During these ten-odd years, the campus and friendly teachers and students of the Affiliated High School of FIE have appeared in Susan's dreams many times. Although she couldn't visit the school during this period, her communication with the school's teachers never stopped.

"We often stay in touch through emails and WeChat," she said.

In the Sino-US Garden at the school, pictures documenting the school's friendship with Tacoma's Lincoln High School are displayed, capturing beautiful memories of exchanges between the two sister schools: in April 2012, David Morse, former chairman of the Fuzhou-Tacoma Sister City Committee and a world history teacher from Lincoln High School, led a group to visit, observe interest group activities, and interact with teachers and students.

These memories took Susan back to past years. Carefully, she took out a gift she had prepared — a collection of photos documenting exchanges between the two places — and gave it to the Affiliated High School of FIE.

"These are our shared memories," said she.

Crossing mountains and seas, this journey also made the new generation of Tacoma youth ambassadors of friendship. "I hope to make good friends," "Friendship lasts forever," "Thank you for the warm hospitality" — these were the heartfelt messages they left on the message board.

The Affiliated High School of FIE prepared an array of activities for the visitors, inviting Chinese and American youths to experience together calligraphy, paper cutting, Chinese brush painting, and paper fan-making, all rich in Chinese cultural characteristics.

Asher Josiah Brewster, chair of the Mayor's Youth Commission of Tacoma and a sophomore at Tacoma's Science and Math Institute, said, "Everyone here is very enthusiastic and willing to share all beautiful things with us. The connection of hearts breaks the language barrier."

Dorothy June Wygle, a freshman at Tacoma's Science and Math Institute, deeply agreed, "I will take this special memory back home to share with my family and friends, and I will continue to keep in touch with my Chinese friends. We have so much more to talk about."

Dorothy proudly waved the paper fan she had just made. The "福" (Fu, meaning "blessing") character written by her new friend and her own attempt at writing the character were side by side, just like the two young people standing shoulder to shoulder at the start of their new friendship.