Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Movie
August 16, 2016

Movie

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! ...

Sunday, August 14, 2016

再见
August 14, 2016

再见

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...

Friday, August 12, 2016

上海 Day 3
August 12, 2016

上海 Day 3

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...

Thursday, August 11, 2016

上海 Day 2
August 11, 2016

上海 Day 2

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,...

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

上海 Day 1
August 10, 2016

上海 Day 1

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...

Tuesday, August 9, 2016

北京/上海
August 09, 2016

北京/上海

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...

Monday, August 8, 2016

北京 Day 3
August 08, 2016

北京 Day 3

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,...

Sunday, August 7, 2016

北京 Day 2
August 07, 2016

北京 Day 2

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...

Saturday, August 6, 2016

北京 Day 1
August 06, 2016

北京 Day 1

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...

Thursday, August 4, 2016

Spirit Week
August 04, 2016

Spirit Week

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...

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

China vs. America
August 02, 2016

China vs. America

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...