Clusters of American and Chinese students leaned closer together to be heard over the dull roar of the busy room, trying to overcome language and cultural barriers Thursday.

The students met at the Lansing Community College East Campus, 2827 Eyde Parkway, to help teach each other their languages during an activity for the MSU Visiting International Professional Program, or VIPP.

VIPP hosted a group of 36 high school and middle school students from China for the first time this year as a part of an outreach program, said Qing Xia, global Education Coordinator for VIPP .

During their stay at MSU the students studied English and American culture and issues.

On the last day of the three-week program, students had a chance to join one of the Lansing Community College A+ Summer Youth Programs — which teach Chinese culture and language to American students — so they could practice what they had learned, Xia said.

"This is an opportunity for the Chinese kids to meet American kids and practice on each other," she said.

The students are from Ji'nan Foreign Language School, which has a tradition of traveling overseas for short-term trips. They previously visited the United Kingdom and Canada, but this was their first visit to the United States, Xia said.

"They wanted a good university for the kids to be hosted," Xia said, adding that two of the school's principals said they intend to return next year.

VIPP has had an office in China for 12 years and aims to reach government and company managers, as well as scholars and students. The student exchange program is just one part of that, said Michael Miller, director of VIPP.

The experience has been great for both program organizers and visiting students, except many of the students are sick of the American food, Xia said.

The students have been living in West Holmes Hall and eating cafeteria food. The main complaints are that it's too sweet and there is excessive cheese, she said.

The thing that surprised 17-year-old Yu Ruilong about America most was that cars stop for pedestrians, she said.

"China has a lot more people, so we must wait for cars," she said. "I like it here. I don't want to go. I think America is very beautiful. The people here are very friendly and very kind."

Ruilong had studied English at school before arriving in East Lansing and said the program has been a break for her, so she isn't looking forward to leaving Friday.

"I go back to China and I have lots of homework and lots of lessons to do," she said. "Here is my holiday."

Classes teaching various aspects of American culture were offered in the morning, and afternoons were spent visiting museums and other areas of interest, said Susan DeChant, programs dean and coordinator of undergraduate exchange student programs for the office of international studies at MSU.

"One of the instructors is focusing on all kinds of stuff, like holidays, religious beliefs — the variety of religious beliefs,"DeChant said. "Another instructor was talking about culture but looking at environmental issues in the U.S."

The final culture class was on popular American culture, which the students were already surprisingly familiar with, she said.

The biggest obstacle for making a program like this work is securing the visas, Miller said. Two other programs had to be canceled because visas could not be acquired.

The overarching goal is expanding the relationship MSU has with China, he said. "This is one part of that."