Seventeen students and three teachers from China will get an education in Wareham schools for the next two weeks.

The students, ranging from ages 10 to 16, touched down in America on Jan. 30. For some, it was their first time in America. Others, like 16-year-old Lily Wang, have seen the U.S. before, and were intent on returning.

“It’s fun to meet new people and experience different cultures,” she said. The bright Chinese high schooler is working on improving her English further (it’s already excellent) so that she can attend an American university upon high school graduation.

Acceptance to an American university is the goal for several of the exchange students. Lily said she plans on experiencing an American education now, so that she’ll be adjusted to that style when she attends an American college.

Lisa Wynne, Lily’s host sister, also loves meeting new people.

“I love learning about the differences in her Chinese education and my American one,” she said. “It's a great opportunity.”

Of course, there are several differences between the two teaching styles.

“In China, classes are not as open. There’s not as much discussion on subjects,” Lily explained.

Here in America, she's also learning different subjects and taking environmental science courses and a culinary class; those classes don’t exist at her school in China, which focuses on math, sciences, literature and music.

Last week, the Chinese students and their host families gathered at the Gleason Family YMCA to try some icebreaker activities. The group started off standing in a large circle and each person would perform a dance move while the others would all imitate. From there, the students and host families played capture the flag, and found time to shoot a few hoops. Later in the week, the students visited Harvard, MIT, and Boston University.

Maureen Manning, the director of Wareham’s Beyond School Time and head of the Global Education Club, said that the exchange was a great asset for each group of students. Both are able to interact with people from another country and another school of thought.

She emphasized that the Wareham school system was not charged for anything as part of the exchange.

“Chinese schools are so adamant about global education that they allot money to it in their school budgets. That’s what our sister school did - all of the money came out of their global education budget.”