“We do this thing where every even day we speak in English, and every odd day we speak in Chinese. Well, we try, at least,” senior Philip Swanson said about him and sophomore Alex Qin.

Qin was new face to St. Paul Academy and Summit School’s Class of 2016 at the beginning of the year, and around a month ago, he moved in with Swanson’s family.

Qin is an immigrant from China and has been living in the United States for two years. When asked about he likes about new surroundings Qin said, “Yes, better environment. There is a [bigger] population in China. The people are nice and there is a better education [here].”

While living in China, Qin learned mainly how to read, write and listen. “I speaking last year,” Qin said. “I like to learn English.” This is Qin’s second year in the United States. “I went to Shattuck St. Mary’s,” he said.

Along with his like of the English language Qin also enjoys playing hockey. “I played hockey in China.” Qin is on the Junior Varsity Hockey team and played football in the fall.

“My mom is going to go back to China in January, because her visa won’t allow her to stay more than half a year,” Qin said.

“I took him in because it would help him with his English and help me with my Chinese,” Swanson said. So far, balancing his and Qin’s school activities has been going well, since Swanson’s fencing practices are around the same time as Qin’s hockey ones.

With additional reporting by Lucy Li.