International Student Trips Powered By Discovery Education
My Adventure to China

A Look Back...

Tuesday, August 18, 2009











It's been a couple of days now since we've returned from our incredible journey in China. It's taken time to adjust to the time (jet lag is merciless) but the adjustment is happening nonetheless. Being awake at awkward times has given me time to reflect and think about the amazing opportunity I was given this summer.








When people ask me "how was China?!" I really don't even know where to begin. I usually leave it to "amazing" or "incredible" to do the job, but they truly serve the trip no justice. The things that we did were extraordinary and breathtaking. I can say that I climbed (and camped at the foot of)the Great Wall, learned Kung Fu from the masters, cooked with a famous Chef, went Dragon boat racing, spent a morning with Buddhist monks and sooo much more. On a daily basis I learned new things. About the Chinese Culture, about history , about everything imaginable. However, it wasn't a mundane type of learning it was hands on and interactive. DISCOVERY STUDENT ADVENTURES truly does live up to its name. Everyday we discovered something new and along with that discovery came a new adventure. I couldn't complain about one thing about this trip even if I wanted to. We (the students) were surrounded by the most incredible staff. Both from Discovery and Star China. There was never a point in the trip where I felt left out, uncomfortable or in danger. We became incredibly close to these people and that made leaving them behind all that more difficult.








I remember the first day I met the New Jersey and California group. We all seemed awkward around each other, we didn't know what to talk about right away. Given a couple of hours though you could already tell we were gelling well together. Cracking jokes and poking jabs at each other as if we've known each other our entire lives as opposed to only a couple of days. Everybody brought something different to the trip. Whether it be a sense of humor, or a sense of knowledge everybody fit perfectly into our group of 12. We did everything together..literally. We ate every meal together, went through every experience together and traveled together. We had to face a lot of challenges on this trip. Many of us had to face fears and push ourselves, but the support of one another made overcoming that obstacle only that much easier.








Saying goodbye to the wonderful people that we met on this journey was the most difficult challenge we faced together. Goodbyes were tearful but held the promise of another meeting. "this isn't goodbye, it's see you later" was common the day of departure. I take that, along with the memories and accomplishments that DSA gave to me along this magnificent journey, home. This trip is something that I will never forget and I will be talking about for a long time to come.








Thank You Discovery Student Adventures for giving me memories and experiences so irreplaceable.

Monks

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Hi!
Yesterday was an experience that I will surely never forget...

It was 4:15. I was dreaming about a beach somewhere or something ridiculously relaxing then all of a sudden there was a knocking. On the beach? I suddenly woke up and realized it was our wake up call. My roommate and I rolled out of bed (less than thrilled) and we got ready. Walking down the street in the pitch black was strange, but then again I felt as if I was still asleep.

Once we got to the gates of the temple we began the silence. We then split into two lines: boys and girls. As we walked in the smell of the candles and smoke filled our lungs. We stood in silence as the monks chanted and sang. We then walked around the temple and sang. This took 45 or 50 mintues before we went to breakfast. At breakfast the kind young monks served us healthy portions of new foods. Once breakfirst(what our travel manager calls breakfast) we swept the courtyard with the most simplistic brooms.

As we swept the courtyard the sun slowly began to creep up coloring the sky the most beautiful shades of red and orange.

Regardless of the fact that we woke up before the sun and my dream was ruined, spending our morning with the monks was the craziest experience.

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Kung Fu!

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Hello!
Today was amazing! We went to a Kung Fu Academy where we had a private instruction...oh boy.

Kung Fu is not what I expected at all. I feel as if the word pain is an understatement when describing Kung Fu. The students eat,sleep and breathe it. Although their faces seem stone cold, its just their way of showing determination. Every move they make is done with passion and grace(something that I lack when it comes to Kung Fu).

Walking in to meet our instructor was scary. There were kids half my height and age using swords and doing things that I'd only seen in the Karate Kid. There was a language barrier but we all understood when we started running our laps what was in store.... After our run we stretched (even stretching was intense) and began right away in technique. I wasn't perfect...that's for sure. I was told that if the instructor corrected you that he liked you and wanted you to improve. If that's the case then our instructor must have loved me!

After a hard day of sweat and pain I walked out of the Academy with the sense of respect for all the students who did it daily. Maybe I'll just stick to blogging.

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Train!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Hii!
Last night around 9:00 we walked into the Beijing trainstaion. If I could think of a word greater than madness I would...

There were people everywhere. Packed bags.Children everywhere. It was the defintion of crowded. As we boarded the train I was worried about the sleeping arrangements. "Maha, Becca, Kim and Cait." I was super excited when I heard who my roommates were. I havew grown very close to these girls, we are one huge family.We walked in and threw our stuff everywhere. Girls night! As the night continued I began to stare out the window and noticed the blurred city lights of China. It was crazy. My first train ride would be my most memorable. Before I knew it my lids were heavy and I reached to the top bunk to make myself comfortable. "It won't be comfy" I was told over and over. I layed down and the next thing that I remember is waking up in the morning to a knocking on our cabin door. I was out like a lightbulb. The train edperience was amazing. Although busy and overwhelming, who doesn't love a good train ride?

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400 steps

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Hello!

Today was another awesome day with Discovery Student Adventures! We left our hotel at 8:30 and headed to one of the thirteen temples in Chengde. On the way over we were told by our tour guide that there were 400 steps leading up to the Temple. You could hear the sighs on the bus "nooo". We weren't exactly thrilled, but we were ready to face the challenge!

Once we got off the bus the first thing that I noticed was the bright colors that was the Temple. I hadn't expected it to be so bright .Traditionally I thought that temples used simple colors, this one however was bright reds,blues and greens. As we continued towards the entrance I noticed the large group of visitors. I hadn't expected that as well. When we walked in the doors the first thing I noticed was the stairs....

As we began our climb all I could think about was not thinking about it. Katie and I chatted the whole up, which was helpful, because before I knew it 400 steps were over. The top of the temple was incredible. The view was amazing, we could see the city, the summer palace and the mini great wall. We noticed the gold shingles on the roof had been scratched on the first level. Mr.Harvey explained to us that people used to scratch the shingles in order to steal the gold.

As we began our decent I, along with others, praised the fact that going down stairs is easier than going up!

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Dinner, Dancing and Music!

Hiii!
Last night was an amazing night. Yesterday during our tour of the Summer Palace one of the amazing people with us mentioned that dinner that night would be different and unlike the ordinary Chinese food that we had been eating. Boy was she right.

Around 6:00 our bus left to take us to this mysterious dining experience. Once we reached a tall building our tour guide Riley pointed up and said "second floor". We all listened and headed up the stairs. The restaurant was beautiful, white marble beautiful furniture. We were quickly seated and served our drinks. We were all excited and VERY hungry. The food came out and it looked delicious. After we devoured the delicious food we noticed Riley walking around with a cake. The table of students quickly got excited (we thought this was the surprise). However, we were then told that the cake was to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Olympic games and that it wasn't the surprise.

We all ate our cake in contentment when all of a sudden the lights dimmed and the strobe lights began. The Surprise. Soon four young ladies walked on stage and began dancing then a young man began to sing followed by a young woman singing. Our group got very into it (like we do with all things) we got up and got on stage. We did a conga line around the restaurant. We were having a blast.after the performances we got on stage and took a picture with the male singer. It was amazing. We all proceeded to the bus yelling "I love China!" And "Nothing tops this night!".

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Summer Palace

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Hi!!!
Today was another awesome day with the Discovery Student Adventure gang! We left left at 9:00 to being our journey! We drove for about 10 mintues before we got to the Imperial Summer Palace!

Walking into the Palace was similar to that of walking into the Forbidden City, although on a smaller scale. Walking around was awesome. The first thing we saw when we walked around the grounds was a band. The band played Ancient Chinese music. They played the four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. I can't compare the music to music in any other region. It was so unique and laced with culture. Once they were finished playing we were fortunate enough to be invited up by the band to play their instruments and to look at them. The sheet music that I encountered seemed to be in a different language. Luckily, the music was universal. As we walked around we also saw rooms filled with gifts,art,clocks even vehicles of transportation! It was so cool! After walking around we hiked the "mini great wall". Don't be fooled by the mini, this wall was rigorous. However, the hike was one that our group was able to accomplish together!

The palace and wall was just another great day with a group of wonderful people!!!

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Essential Programs Details

Duration 15 days
When August 4th - 18th, 2009
Focus History/Culture
Martial Arts
Modern/Ancient Architecture