Kobe gives assist in cultural relations

LOS ANGELES - The basketball superstar Kobe Bryant spent his Thursday afternoon with 10 Chinese children at Gertz-Ressler High School in this city, which has a Mandarin cultural exchange program that Bryant initiated in 2010.

In front of admirers from home and abroad, Bryant, who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers, displayed his basketball prowess and expressed affection for China, a nation where he said he always "feels at home".

He may have a prominent fan watching him play on the court on Friday night.

According to reports, Chinese Vice-President Xi Jinping, who is visiting the United States now, was expected to attend the game between the Lakers and Phoenix Suns that night before he boards a flight for Ireland.

In the past two years, Bryant has been using his international popularity to help US teenagers better understand the relationship between the US and China.

In March 2010, his family foundation worked with the after-school program provider After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles, to initiate a Mandarin language and culture program. Bryant now is its ambassador.

Asked about the program, Bryant spoke of his years of experience living abroad as a child. He grew up partly in Italy, where his father played professional basketball.

That time overseas allowed him "to experience and understand other cultures and broaden my horizons beyond my hometown of Philadelphia", he said.

"I just want youths now to have the same feelings I had growing up."

After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles, has established six Mandarin programs in as many Los Angeles schools, said Shannon Mayock, director of marketing and communications for the nonprofit organization.

Susan Jain, executive director of the Confucius Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, recalled how she had worked with staff at After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles, to cultivate a culturally rich curriculum.

"Why not start with wushu (martial arts)?" she said, thinking that might be a good way for families and children who know something about that part of Chinese culture to begin learning the language.

Kelly Araujo, a 16-year-old junior at Gertz-Resssler High School, said wushu has taught her persistence, patience and resilience.

"I wasn't patient at all before," Araujo said.

She said she was proud that she had the opportunity to learn from the renowned wushu master Hu Jianqiang.

Hu has competed against Jet Li, an actor and practitioner of martial arts, in national championships in China.

The Mandarin exchange program has brought together other parts of Chinese culture, such as cooking, calligraphy and singing.

To date, the organization has enrolled 200 students from greater Los Angeles middle schools and high schools, a number expected to increase rapidly, said Anna Campos, president and executive director of After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles.

Last summer, the Chinese National Office for Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language, an institution that is affiliated with the Ministry of Education and is also known as Hanban, invited 11 children from the nonprofit's Mandarin program to tour Beijing and Shanghai.

"It's a life-changing experience," said Leslie Guzman, a senior at Gertz-Ressler. She went on a two-week trip to China last year and now says she keeps in touch with several Chinese friends.

"I sent them cards for Valentine's Day," she said.

Cao Diefeng, an official with Hanban's Confucius Institute Affairs, said Confucius institutes achieved remarkable things in 2011.

By the end of August, 353 Confucius institutes and 473 Confucius classrooms had been established in 104 countries and regions.