The day had finally come that all 32 of us had been dreading, the day the 厦门 2016 NSLI-Y Summer Program came to an end. Before coming to the trip, I expected it to be boring and non-exciting. I expected the other people to be weird and nerdy. I expected to do nothing adventurous. But throughout the last 6 weeks, I have met some of the most inspiring, intelligent, and interesting people. I have done things I never dreamed of doing and learned about things I had never even considered. This trip has truly opened my eyes to topics I would never of thought about other wise.
On one of the first days on the trip, our chaperone, 伊芬, told us about her experience on NSLI-Y. After her summer program, she continued her study in Chinese language and culture at the University of Delaware. She said that without this program, she would never have created such an interest in the Chinese world. I remember her telling us about how she is still in touch with people from her 2012 NISL-Y trip. When she said this to me 6 weeks ago, I never imagined becoming so close to the other program members. I thought that I would never become so close to someone I only knew for 6 weeks. But now that the program is over, all I can think and wish about is seeing them all again.
Before the plane ride, I told myself to do 2 things: not be sad and not to sleep. But neither of those things happened. I slept for the first 3 hours of the flights and was nearly in tears by the time we landed. For the majority of the flight, Skylar and I were working on our trip video which I will post a link to later once he uploads it to YouTube. Besides doing the video, Merrick, Skylar and I talked about many things. We talked about our favorite parts of the trips and our feelings towards going home. When Skylar lands in San Francisco, he has 9 hours before he gets on another plane to go to Amsterdam for 2 weeks before school starts. Since Skylar has this vacation already planned, he is excited to go home but he said that he would rather skip Amsterdam if it meant spending more time with us. Merrick, being the macho person he is, says that he is not sad because "all good things must come to an end". But when he gets home he has so many things he must do, including his driver's license test, college applications, and being soccer team captain. I on the other hand, wanted to stay in China forever with all my new friends. Although I missed my family and friends in Maryland, the 30 other participants on the trip had become my family as well and leaving them was one of the hardest things I have had to do. Merrick, Skylar, Sydney, and I have become inseparable during these 6 weeks and not seeing them every second of the day will be confusing. We will be going from seeing each other 24/7 to not seeing each other at all.
Once the plane landed we filed off and went through security before arriving at baggage claim. Our director, 陈老师, had told us that baggage claim would be the time for last goodbyes, so when our luggage started falling onto the round-about everyone started saying goodbye. Merrick was one of the first people to get his luggage and since he lives in New York, his parents were already waiting for him at the airport exit. He made his rounds around the group and said goodbye to everyone, saving Skylar and I for last. While he was saying goodbye to everyone, Skylar and I made making him cry our #1 goal. Since he told us that he doesn't get emotional, we were even more dedicated to see a tear fall from his eye. But of course, his eyes remained dry, even when mine were filled with tears. Even if he didn't cry I know he will still miss everyone.
Since both Skylar and I had a few hours before our next flight/ train, we waited for everyone to get their luggage before we all went through customs as a group. After customs, we had to go our separate ways. Most of the people would go to catch their connecting flight while a few of us went to get on a train that would take us home. Like most of you already know, Skylar has become my second half during our time in China. It has been a privilege getting to know everyone on this trip, but especially Skylar. Skylar has personally changed me into a person that seeks to know more and more. He has taught me not to care about my appearance and my social status and to focus on the things that important the most. If Skylar was not on this trip, I know I would not have had the same life-changing experience that I did with him. After almost everyone already left for their connecting flights, it was just me and Skylar, not wanting to have to leave each other. Although we leave on opposites sides of the country, I know we will see each other again. In the mean time I will be texting him all the time. We hugged and said goodbye and I watched as he disappeared through the doors, waving to me.
Even though I have only been home for less than 12 hours so far, America seems different. I watched my friends Snapchat stories to find that I no longer cared. There were so many other things out in the world that were more important than the latest party or movie you went to. Being away from most social media this summer has taught me that what people do is not nearly as important as I thought it was. Doing something adventurous and interesting doesn't mean posting a picture about it, it means experiencing it and remembering it.
On one of the first days on the trip, our chaperone, 伊芬, told us about her experience on NSLI-Y. After her summer program, she continued her study in Chinese language and culture at the University of Delaware. She said that without this program, she would never have created such an interest in the Chinese world. I remember her telling us about how she is still in touch with people from her 2012 NISL-Y trip. When she said this to me 6 weeks ago, I never imagined becoming so close to the other program members. I thought that I would never become so close to someone I only knew for 6 weeks. But now that the program is over, all I can think and wish about is seeing them all again.
Once the plane landed we filed off and went through security before arriving at baggage claim. Our director, 陈老师, had told us that baggage claim would be the time for last goodbyes, so when our luggage started falling onto the round-about everyone started saying goodbye. Merrick was one of the first people to get his luggage and since he lives in New York, his parents were already waiting for him at the airport exit. He made his rounds around the group and said goodbye to everyone, saving Skylar and I for last. While he was saying goodbye to everyone, Skylar and I made making him cry our #1 goal. Since he told us that he doesn't get emotional, we were even more dedicated to see a tear fall from his eye. But of course, his eyes remained dry, even when mine were filled with tears. Even if he didn't cry I know he will still miss everyone.
After visiting the temple, we headed over to the Urban Planning Museum. Inside, there were mini scale models of the entire city of 上海. Even when it was miniature sized, it looked massive. What impressed me the most was how modern 上海 is and how efficient it is. It has the first offshore wind farm and the most powerful power plant in China. It has currently been focused on making the city a "greener" place. Using different techniques, it has exceeded standard set for national garden cities. It has 242 square kilometers of greening that loops around roads and urban areas. Also, in more suburban and rural areas, it has 671 square kilometers of forests dedicated to animal reserves and tourist areas. Taking this all into considering, along with it's massive population. 上海 could easily be the best city on Earth.
Surprisingly, the line to get into the tower was very short. What took a long time was connecting to the free WiFi, hahaha. After waiting for 30 minutes in line, we finally reached the elevator that took you to the viewing deck. The elevator doors opened to a spectacle view over the massive city of 上海. There were just rows upon rows of apartments, stores, hotels, and skyscrapers. It made you feel so insignificant, just a number upon the 23.03 million or more people in 上海. It kind of answers the questions of why Americans are so focused to determined to gain more and more freedoms. One of the biggest cities in America, New York, only has a population of 8.4 million which is less than half the size of 上海. Therefore, people in America feel more independent than the ones in China. In China, you are always crowded by people, but in America there are many more rural areas and smaller cities, allowing the citizens to feel as if they can make a difference. But standing in the Pearl Tower, overlooking China, made me realize that I am just one of the 7.404.976.783 people in the world. 
We walked down one level of stairs to another overlook spot, but this one was different. Unlike the last, this one was completely covered in glass, even the floor. Sydney, being afraid of heights, was unexpectedly very comfortable while we were up there. After walking around for 30-45 minutes, we all filed into the elevator again and went to the bottom level. On the first floor was a museum about the urbanization of the city. It started out with wax figures representing life before 上海 development. By the end of the museum, there were current pictures of the massive city. 
Today was our first full day in the beautiful city of 上海. The hotel we were staying at, Regal Hotel, had a rating of 6 stars. Right? I didn't even know that was possible. This hotel was so nice and so fancy. But since it was so nice, they over charged you for everything. Even the WiFi was 3 元 per minutes, but since we were a group, we got it for free. The breakfast in the hotel was unreal. Today for breakfast, they had a giant buffet set up with a variety of food. They had everything from baked beans to dumplings, and I ate everything. Hands down the best breakfast I had in China.
Once we finished viewing the entire museum, we headed to lunch. There we had 汤包, 上海 famous soup dumplings. Afterwards, we went to Hengshan Road, a street market. We were given 2 hours to walk around, shop, and take pictures before we had to met back at the Starbucks. Some of my friends went to a Phone Repair shop to get their screen's replaced, because they had shattered. All was well until the men tried to charge them double for it. Sydney, being in the advanced class, yelled at them in Chinese. But they did not budge. It wasn't until we told them we were with the US government and would call our director, did they agree to the original price. It was pretty exciting to watch the argument unfold between the men and Sydney, but I know it was also very stressful for her. After the phone situation, we walked around the shopping mall multiple times before we had to met.
Today was our last day in 北京 but also our first day in 上海. In the morning, our director 陈老师 invited a famous Chinese screenwriter to talk to us. Before the question-answer session, we watched one of his famous movies, Fearless. It was a very interesting and action packed movie. Would 100% recommend. After the movie we had a "lecture" that was divided into 3 parts: him talking about himself, us asking him questions, him asking us questions.
Today was our last full day in 北京. We
spent the entire morning sightseeing Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden Palace.
Although the heat was unbearable, it was a wonderful experience. 
After getting past security we walked over to the actual
square. Everywhere you looked there were guards who stood perfectly still. They
didn’t even look like they were blinking. Along the walk, I ran in between different
people’s umbrellas to get just a brief second of shade. I also stupidly forgot
my fan on the bus, so I was extra sweating and hot. Once we went underground
and to the other side, we were officially on the square. It was massive, filled
with tourist trying to be discreet about talking pictures of us. We waited for
30 minutes while our chaperones bought us tickets to go into the viewing area
on top of the entrance building. Once the tickets were bought we had 30 minutes
on top of the building. Inside, there was a showing of different “offices” that
were used by the empires at varies points of history. Outside, we got to stand
a look out upon the square, like different leaders once did. 
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