Through our 6 weeks in 厦门，北京，and 上海, you could always find Skylar and I filming our activities. We used all the videos we took and back a 15 minute long video to remember and represent our NSLI-Y summer trip. Please check it out on YouTube! Hope you enjoy! ...
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...
For our last day in 上海 and China, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple and a few museums. It wasn't the most exciting day, but it wasn't too busy and tiring. After breakfast, we went to the Jade Buddha Temple which is right smack in the middle of downtown 上海. One minute you are surrounded by skyscrapers and the next, you are in front of an ancient temple. That's what I love about...
For our second day in 上海, we went to the famous Pearl Tower. Although it wasn't in our original program schedule, our director bought us all tickets to go up in the Pearl Tower to see the beautiful city of 上海 from the sky. The Pearl Tower is the 3rd tallest building in 上海, after the Shanghai Tower and World Finance Center. It stands at 468 meters high and was built in 1994. Surprisingly,...
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...
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...
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. We woke up at 8, and left at 9. We arrived at the tourist entrance to Tienanmen Square around 10. What is interesting, is that all public places, including transportation vehicles (buses, trains,...
After getting at least 10 wake up calls at 6:30, Sydney and I woke up to go eat breakfast and get ready for our first full day in 北京. After having a wonderful, western styled breakfast with fried eggs, potatoes, and orange juice, we filled on the bus and headed for the 长城/ The Great Wall! We traveled through a small village before arriving at 慕田峪, a less-touristy part of...
Today was a long day that felt like 15 days filled with happiness and sadness, all in one day. It began at 4:00 am, when my host father banged on my bedroom door to wake me up. Then, 20 minutes later, my host father, sister, and I left for 夏大 where we met all the other NSLI-Y kids. The previous night was the farewell party, which was really fun until the last 30 minutes when...
After stalking other NSLI-Y program around the world on Instagram, Sydney and I decided we had to do something fun, to prove that we were the best NSLI-Y group. We thought of the idea of making a spirit week, to celebrate our last week in 厦门. Monday: Pajama Day A lot of people dressed up by wearing shorts and a tshirt, me being one of them. Considering I sleep in...
The following is a list of the interesting things I have noticed, experiences, and struggled with in China that differ from in America: 1) The streets of China are a dangerous place to be, beware! Their entire idea of driving is so different than in America. In America, all street laws revolve around pedestrians, but in China, pedestrians are at the bottom of the road totem poll. In China, if a pedestrian is hit, it is considered their wrong doing because they did not move...
Today was the second, and last day, that was dedicated to spending time with our host families and sightseeing. More importantly, today is also Skylar's 16th birthday. Since we did not have classes today, our families, along with Aidan's host family, went to 庄州 for the entire day. At first, I did not know what to expect. My host family had only told me it was a farm on the country-side...
There are 31 other NSLI-Y participants, 4 teachers, 4 chaperones, 3 host families, 2 host parents, and 1 tutor that have all become my best friends these past few weeks. As the program comes to an end, I have been thinking about how much I will miss these people. I am used to seeing these 41 faces everyday, all day. I'm used to waking up and seeing their face first thing in...
七月二十七号，星期三 今天我想用中文写我的日记。 我希望你享受它。 今天我很忙，很累。 昨天我二十点睡觉， 今天我六点三刻起床。因为今天我的队友 E-Portfolio, 所以我们八点十分到厦门大学。 今天是个平凡的日了可是我的中国姐姐跟我来学校。我的中国姐姐， Crystal, 跟我去了课。 早上我们有三接中文课了。下课以后我们去吃午饭了。 我们在新餐厅吃了午饭。 我吃了很多米饭， 肌肉， 和西国。很好吃！然后我跟 Crystal 在市场买了冰淇凌. 我爱冰淇凌！我吃了冰淇凌以后去我的老师的宿舍因为他有空调。我们享受了空调然后我们去文化课。 警察应该会来我们的课， 但是他没来因为他有会议。那， 我们有一门特别的课。 我们有一场研讨。我们聊天人关于中国的文化。比如，一胎制，LGBT 人权，人工流产。 我的同学问很多问题关于敏感的话题。 下文化课，...
I have been in China for almost one whole month. Looking back on PDO seem like so long ago, but yet again I wish this program would never end. Living in the dorms was like a taste of what college would be like in 2 years. But living with a host family has been entirely different. Being completely emerged in a society that has such a different culture and language than you are...
I could eat all of these in one sitting Sunday was our first day without classes!!! The entire day was dedicated to free time, or that's at least what we all thought. But no, our host families took full advantage of this day to show case their new 外国人. There is a WeChat groupchat with all the host parents and the chaperones; us kids nicknamed it the "Brag Chat" because...
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