Cultural Exchange (文化交流) and Homestay

Some cultural differences that I have discovered, been fascinated by, or have had to actively struggle with include:

• Cold water is not a concept in Chinese homes, mostly because for many in China, cold water=unsafe to drink. So, most people, even on hot days, drink 开水 (kāi shuǐ) which is boiled water. There is a pitcher with warm water always on the coffee table. What I do, is I take some and put it in my designated mug and wait for it to get to room temperature. This is a little bit tricky because of the air conditioning situation - see the next bullet point.
• Although my family is extremely well off, and not only relative to the Chinese population, they do not use their air-conditioning in one of the hottest parts of China. They want to save money and believe their apartment is too big for the AC!!! I think this is crazy, but they open all of the windows and have fans everywhere so its usually bearable. Thankfully, my room has air-conditioning, which I turn on the second I come home from school and then close my door. When you live in China during the summer, your become very protective of your air.
• The lack of chocolate in this country is upsetting. They only have two types of western chocolate, and that is Snickers and Dove. I do enjoy both of these, but I miss my variety. I suppose it is just something to look forward to for when I get back!
• The relationship between kids and their parents is much different in China, and especially different from a more progressive bay area family. I have asked several Chinese teenagers and adults about their perspectives on parent-child relationships in China, as well as the relationship with their own parents, and I have heard mostly the same thing from everyone. I was obviously not raised in Chinese household nor have I ever lived in China, so the following are just my observations. Firstly, one thing about the Chinese culture that is very different than America is the way gratitude is shown. I find that my Chinese family, along with other Chinese people, find the frequency which I say "thank you" and "i'm sorry" to be odd. I have learned that gratitude is shown more through actions and the development of a good relationship and less through words. My host brother never says "I love you" to his mother, something that I do multiple times a day back home. There is very little dialogue and communication within the family, and tonight at dinner we actually had a conversation about how many Chinese families lack open communication. I think I have concluded that Chinese parents simply choose to show their love in very different ways than their American counterparts. The second thing is the level of control and oversight parents have over the kids. As I have only met relatively high-achieving high school students so far, they have all told me that there is very little room for error in their family and their parents don't give them much time to enjoy being a high schooler. An example of the constant oversight is when I walk upstairs in my homestay house. My host mother is always sitting in the living room which I have to walk by to go upstairs, where I can do laundry, take a shower, etc. Every time I go upstairs, she asks me where I am going and what I plan on doing when I get upstairs. I understand that she wants to make sure that I am not struggling to figure anything out, but she does the same thing to her son and gives him very little freedom. I have heard from some other high schoolers that as a result of this lack of independence, many Chinese teens struggle when they enter into college with their newfound independence. Chinese parents are also known to send their kids to summer school for nearly the entire vacation and schedule them in other activities in order to improve their resumes and also better prepare them for the Gao Kao. In my opinion, it leaves very little room for individuality, learning how to socialize and interact with others, and for teens to find their own way in the world.
• There is definitely a different vibe at the dining table. At my house in America, its often very casual and rarely silent. In my Chinese home, we sit down, eat, have little to no conversation, and when one is done with their food, they make it very clear that they are full and dismiss themselves from the table leaving the others to finish their food. Additionally, they take food directly from the serving dish into their mouthes or occasionally on their plate of rice. Sometimes I wish that there was a little more camaraderie at the table, but the food is generally delicious enough to distract me.
• Chinese people definitely don't say sorry as much as American's do. We often say sorry in America for the most random things, sometimes even when others hurt themselves. In China, however, this is not common and sorry is exclusively for when you do something to someone else that you want to acknowledge your action and apologize to them. Many Chinese people I have met give me looks when I say sorry for very small things. Same goes for thank you. I have never heard my host brother say thank you to his mom, and I know that this is not just my family because this was confirmed by one of my teachers, who is Chinese native. In China, thanking a family member or close friend creates distance, so it is not used the same way we use it. If you ask politely for a glass of water, you generally don't say thank you to a family member, but rather show your gratitude in a different way, like through actions. I think my family has figured out that the fact that I say thank you a lot is part of my American upbringing.
• 淘宝 (tao bao) is the Chinese equivalent of Amazon. Everything ships in 2-3 days for free, and you can pretty much find everything on it. It is definitely the dominant culture for much of the younger Chinese population.
• The beds are hard in China, some more than others. I know some of my other classmates live in families who have bamboo slats for beds, and mine is a mattress that is simply more firm than the ones we have in the US.
• When you go out in China, you often get treated differently and looked at for being a foreigner. More than occasionally do I hear "外国人" come out of the mouthes of those around me, either whispering or very loudly as they assume I don't speak the language. 外国人 (wai guo ren) means foreigner.
• To date, the Chinese people that I have met have a culture of self-censorship in their speech and actions. Most people, even teens, view certain things as bad in ways that are very opposite of the way I see them. For example, even words like "idiot" is too immature or silly for teens to say, which is just so different than what I am used to. Sometimes I wish the younger people in China were a little more adventurous and like to joke around more unanimously. Political opinions are also very hard to hear about because the government in China has not known to be the most fervent supporters of freedom of speech. 
• In China, seat belts are only worn in the two front seats of the car for one reason - to get the beeping sound that the car gives you when it has not been fastening to turn off. My family always tells me I shouldn't wear my seatbelt in the backseat. I suppose this is because in China, you rarely move more than 35-40 mph on the road as a result of traffic.
• Pedestrians are at the bottom of the street totem poll in China. I haven't decided where I stand on this because there are parts of the system that I really like and parts that I don't. All of the locals are so aware of their surroundings and I have had to adapt to that as well. Typically cars don't even slow down at intersections, which is the opposite to what we have to do back home. They also don't use their turn signal for changing lanes, and honestly, I can't remember the last time I saw my host dad use it for turning his car either. Essentially, if you are a pedestrian and you are in the way of a car, truck, van, bike, bus, or motorcycle, you need to get out of the way or get honked at and probably hit. Contract to what one might thing, there are so few accidents in China, most likely because it's chaotic, but it's organized chaos.

• For breakfast, we eat very savory non-breakfast foods. The only thing that I have eaten during breakfast that sounds familiar to me as a breakfast food is a fried egg. We usually eat the food from the night before, as well as congee (粥) and dumplings. This has not been a problem for me as the food is almost always outstanding. Something interesting about Chinese homes is that they leave food out on the table under a screen dome, and do not believe in refrigerating most already-cooked foods.

• I have had a little difficult with the lack of privacy in my homestay. My host brother frequently knocks on my door in the morning when I am getting ready and asks if he can come in, and I have to tell him no and explain why. This happens many times throughout the day, which is just something I have to prepare myself for.
• I will write another post about it, but the view of the government is very interesting in China. Other than a certain portion of educated youth, the majority of the population is in favor of the Chinese government and has little to say in the form of criticism about Mao Zedong or the current administration under Xi Jinping. This is quite different from the very liberal, borderline anti-America bubble that I call home.
• In China, the concept of making a friend is very different, or at least for me as a foreigner. When you meet someone in China, someone always asks for the other's Wechat, no matter how brief the encounter. There have been many instances, such as one of the tutors who I have had over 
  
  the course of the last month, asked for my Wechat and then proceeded to frequently check in and ask how I was doing. She even got my a delicious birthday cake for me! I really appreciate this and have found this to be one of the most touching and my favorite parts of the culture. Having a friend is a very close bond in China, and I asked Dr. Chen about it, and he said that in college, students keep the same roommate all four years to foster that bond even further. I have been so lucky to meet so many fantastic people on this trip, and I never have to worry about staying in touch with them.
• Another admirable value that I have noticed among just about 100% of the people I have met is the idea of doing everything to the best of your ability and with a sense of dedication. All of the tutors and culture activity leaders in the NSLI program at Xiamen University are student volunteers, but yet everyone of them acts and works as though they are being employed and paid. They take tutoring time very seriously and really want to help us learn the language, and the culture activities are always very well planned out. I really think Americans could learn from this idea of taking pride in everything you do, even if it seems small and unnecessary. 

First Days at the Homestay

It's been a while! I have been so busy that I have had no time to write my blog. On Friday, after our 口语考试 (Oral Chinese Examination), we met our host families. We all went up on stage and were called to the front one by one. When we were called, our host family came on the stage, took a picture with us, and then we went to the dorms to collect our luggage and go to our new homes. What none of us realized is that a large percentage of us would be staying with millionaires. I saw some of the families drive up to the academic building and immediately noticed that all of their cars were extremely expensive. I tried not to jump to any conclusions about their economic status by the car they drove, but there is no arguing that nice cars require a substantial amount of money. Still, I kept a very open mind about everything, especially about my own families situation. We arrived to their building, and it was a huge tower. We pulled into the garage underneath, and took the elevator to their floor. On the 16th floor, which is the top, there are two units on either side of the tower. We walked in and I was surprised to see that the apartment actually had three whole floors! There is the first floor, where the kitchen, living room, my bedroom and bathroom are. It is tradition in China to take off your shoes before entering a home and putting on slippers, but in my host family's house, we wear a different pair on each floor. I don't think this is typical, but my 中国妈妈 (Chinese Mom, as I am instructed to call her) believes that doing so will keep the dirt on the first floor, even though I think the first floor is spotless. Of course I oblige to all the small, seemingly silly rules, because they are kind enough to welcome me into their home. On the second floor, there is the laundry room which is in a sun room with huge windows and a beautiful view, Wenjing's (my host brother's) room, the shower that we both use, and a staircase that goes up. The third floor has the master bedroom and a cool view of the entire apartment. See the photos page for pictures of the apartment. I didn't get to meet my host dad for a few days because he was in Beijing for a business trip. He returned, and I enjoy talking to him. He is sometimes a little easier to understand than my host mom, but they both have strong accents as Mandarin is not their mother-tongue. Interestingly enough, they both speak the dialect of Fujian, called Min Nan Hua, but they purposefully did not teach their son to speak it or understand it so they could have a way to communicate with each other without Wenjing hearing. I was of course nervous from the horror stories I have heard about what host families have fed their America guests and how the food is sometimes never-ending, but my family is very healthy and eats a good amount but the food is never strange and they always trust me when I say that I am full.

Ferry Ride to 鼓浪屿 (Gu Lang Yu Island)

On past trips, students never went to possible the most iconic place in Xiamen - 鼓浪屿 (Gǔ Làng Yǔ), an island only 3 minutes by ferry from the south-western shore of Xiamen Island. This was mainly because they assumed homestay families would take them. Gu Lang Yu is known as being the piano island, because it has a history of producing many Chinese piano prodigies and is home of the famous organ museum. The chaperones thought that after three weeks of hard work we deserved a nice, cooler-than-usual night outside of the university campus. So last night we went to Gu Lang Yu and all of the tutors and teachers came with us, so we had a lot of fun and got a chance to see Xiamen's skyline from over the water. We were allowed to wander the island with Cai Laoshi, our group's chaperone, but still forbidden from going in the water. We think Cai Laoshi is like a teenager - she is always on her phone (sometimes for NSLI-related things) and she always wants to go shopping with the group so SHE can go buy additions to her wardrobe. Navigating the island was an adventure, but it was fun nevertheless. There were shops everywhere, and it was a little packed with all of the tourists visiting the beach area. We saw the old German and English embassy - it was interesting to see the European influence in the architecture in certain areas of the island. We got back late at night, and everyone was exhausted from hiking all over Gu Lang Yu, and I think we all slept well because people were surprisingly awake today during class.

Venturing to a Xiamen Shopping Mall

We have a system here at NSLI-Y: China Edition, called Strive For Excellence, created by the one and only Yang Laoshi. This year is Strive For Excellence's inaugural year, and it was developed as a competition so students do exactly what its name says. Each team (we are team 4, as I have mentioned before) receives 70 points each week for not dying...literally. Aside from that, we can each receive points for doing well on quizzes and tests, helping out others, excellent class participation, making an effort to speak with locals, etc. We are also at risk of losing points for poor test scores, being late to class or lectures, and one point for every instance of speaking English on immersion days. As the leader of my team, I am the only one who is allowed to see the progress of my teammates regarding how many points they have earned and lost. On my team, Merrick has lost us a few points, but Shanna has gained 10 points for helping out and doing really well in class. If it weren't for Merrick's loss of three points, we would have gotten first place this week - group 5 just barely won. The winner of each week gets to go on a trip to one of Xiamen's nicest shopping malls with a few of the teachers/chaperones. Since we were so close to the winning team, we got to go shopping too! Not only did we get to go shopping, but we went with two teachers, Cai Laoshi and Lin Laoshi, who were both experts at the mall, and also rode the public bus there. The public busses (公共汽车, gōng gòng qì chē) only cost 1 元, which is the equivalent to about 15¢ in the United States. Compared to San Francisco's $2.25 Muni fare, this is extremely affordable. On the bus, I saw something I don't think I will ever forget. It was a very busy time of night - the later part of rush hour - and the bus was so full there were people standing on just about every inch of the floor. It was so chaotic - the bus driver would start to drive before closing the door and people would jump on. However, they were much nicer than the busses in America. Anyways, back to the story. A woman, likely in her thirties or forties, got onto the bus using the back door, and she had no chance of getting to front to pay her fare. This was not a handicapped woman by any means, but the other passengers did something that I have been thinking about ever since. She asked someone to pass down her 1 元 bill fare down from one end of the bus to another, probably passing over 50 people. She put her complete faith in those around her to pass down the bill, allowing for someone to steal it without her even being able to see over everyone else and notice. I, however, stood up on the size of the bus and watched the yuan closely as it made its way to the front. Every person who made contact with the fare kept it moving down without hesitation. While it might be incorrect for me to generalize, thinking about this moment makes me feel great admiration for the Chinese values and aversion to the very western individual-centric way of thinking. I don't want to say that if people were asked to do this in America that they would object, but I have not one seen this before nor do I believe it would happen with the same integrity as I saw on this bus ride.

I didn't end up buying anything at the mall except for a chocolate croissant at 星巴克 (xīng bā kè, Starbucks). Even though it was only a pastry, they presented it to me on a nice plate with utensils to eat it. I think it is very interesting how the trashy, or at least fast food chains that we have in America render such higher-end experiences in China. I loved seeing all the different people in the shopping center, and got to walk on the street for a bit outside which was so bright, busy, and exciting. The teachers who took us really didn't care about getting us back in time for regular curfew, so we got to stay out later than normal and even walked along the beach for a while. Funny note: If we even touch the water, we will be sent home immediately. NSLI-Y has a very strict policy on getting in the very polluted ocean water.

Trip to 泉州 (Quanzhou)

Our group took a trip to 泉州 (Quanzhou) today, a city to the east of Xiamen known for being the entrance to the Silk Road, to visit a museum and some very beautiful temples. Seeing the temples was really incredible for me, especially hearing about the traditions that go along with the Buddhist culture. When we were at the Guandi temple, I was really inspired by the fact that three different spiritual practices converge at that temple: Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. It made me wish that the religious groups in America were more respectful of one another, less filled with hate, and could find a better common ground. I got very curious about some of the traditions upheld by that temple, so I asked Yang Laoshi about the culture and practices, and she was telling me about the concept of asking for good luck. When something is not falling correctly into place or someone wants an extra boost of good luck from a higher power, they can go to the temple with offerings often in the form of food and flowers, and then light incense and bow down while making their wish. If the wish comes true, they must return to the temple and show gratitude. While I myself and not a religious person nor do I believe in a god, I felt great admiration towards this concept because it seems like a very humbling way to ask for assistance.

We also visited the 海上丝绸之路博物馆 (Maritime Silk Road Museum), which while not my favorite stop on the trip, was a really near way to learn about the international importance of Quanzhou in the old global trade system of China. They had an exhibit about cross-cultural interactions that occurred through the Silk Road. Some of the most notable examples of this were the ancient relics of other religions, such as signs of Hinduism dating back to the 1400s and the Christian tombstones from the early 20th century. I thought this exhibit was a good symbol for why I decided to go to China - I wanted to facilitate the sharing of cultures between my own country and China, and I hope to leave some of my own values behind while taking many back home with me.

Once we got back to Xiamen University, we were given a few hours and a 100 元 stipend to go eat and shop in the mall across the road from one of the main gates into the campus. I walked around for a while, and then once I got hungry, I was lucky enough to be offered by Yang Laoshi to be taken to a really awesome restaurant. With one of my friends, Camille, Yang Laoshi took us out onto the street into a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant with food from Xi'an China, the old capital in the western part of the country. The first thing she said when we walked in was "don't worry, the food is safe." Not only did I not wake up that night with food poisoning, the food was absolutely delicious. Many people on the trip don't like spicy foods, but I love them and this restaurant was full of really hot dishes.

Visit to 厦门外国语学校 (Xiamen Foreign Langauge School)

The first half of today was a normal - relative to our agenda on other days - but in the afternoon we got a chance to visit one of Xiamen's most prestigious high school. So prestigious, we learned that the student who scored highest on the 高考 (Gao Kao, the placement test that graduating high school students take to determine their entire future) in the entire Fujian province goes to the Xiamen Foreign Language School. Once we arrived at the school, the first thing I noticed was the high level of security at the front gate. There was no going in and out without permission - there were guards on either side and metal gates lining the entire entrance. The school was huge and spanned a very large campus, almost making it feel like a college. All of the students live on campus for all of middle and high school, and also stay in the same classroom their entire time there. We were welcomed into the school by once of the directors, and met a few of the student representatives in a nice air-conditioned room. We got a chance to introduce ourselves and also hear from some of the school's students what they enjoy doing with their time. We then went in our groups and got a short tour of the campus from some students. I have a lot of admiration for the high quality of academics, but I couldn't help but see the similarities between the living conditions and restrictions of the school to a prison. The students have no electricity in their dorm rooms besides lights, and they must charge their phones in small cupboards and lock them away when told to do so. They have no access to internet, and the only computers are in the library and have restricted internet access. Most of the dorms have balconies, but they are all barred off to the point where you can't see out of them, and 6 people share a small dorm room. I would NEVER be able to attend a school like that, but I suppose it works for some of the kids there. I have really enjoyed observing the differences between American high school students and our Chinese counterparts, in addition to breaking down many stereotypes. We also performed a funny Chinese pop song and dance in a small cross-cultural bonding talent show. After our visit came to an end, Dr. Chen gave us all 100¥ to spend in a mall and go buy food and hang out for a few hours. That was definitely a highlight of the day. Yang Laoshi took Camille and I to eat food from Xi'an, an area in China where they have very spicy food. It is one of her favorite types of Chinese food, and I was so excited that I got to taste such incredible meat and noodles.

A Typical Day at 厦门大学 (Xiamen University)

On a typical day, which is technically everyday because we have class seven days a week, we follow a relatively similar schedule. Until today, our wake-up time was governed by our mandatory pre-breakfast gathering in the lobby at our dorm tower at 8 AM. From now on, we can go to breakfast at our leisure as long as we arrive to class on time (9 o'clock). I always wake up at around seven so I have time to get out of bed slowly. My roommate, Kelby, takes his shower first, followed by me, then we both generally leave at the same time. All of our meals are at the university's cafeteria. There are three levels of Chinese taught on this trip: intermediate low (we are still not sure why it's not just called beginner), intermediate high (my level) and advanced low. In a typical class, we warm up with some call and response with our teacher, 刘老师 (liu laoshi), reviewing the new words and vocab from the day before. She also puts all the new content on a document so we can keep it all organized and study it easily. I have found that I know at least 90% of the words we cover in class, but there are a lot of grammar concepts that I have picked quickly, but need to use them in everyday conversation in order to really drill them into my head. Today, my teacher told me that she thinks my teacher at school has done a really great job because I already know more vocab than most of the class and I am able to acquire the new words and grammar so rapidly. However, I have a lot of work to do because I don't know how to handwrite characters as well as I would like.

After class, we go to lunch in the canteen (餐厅, cān tīng) and eat lunch together. Then, we head back to the academic building for a lesson on Chinese culture from Dr. Chen. This usually lasts an hour and is always very intriguing. Next, we have our interest groups, where we take a class (of our choice) to learn some component of Chinese culture (中国文化). This week, I took a calligraphy class and (with a pen, not a brush) used the more modern style calligraphy to write a Chinese song on a hand fan. Finally, we have our tutoring session with the other members of our Chinese level. This last week, I have been working with Samara and Catherine in a small group, and our tutor's name is also Catherine. She is from Hong Kong, so her Mandarin Chinese has a unique sound to it since it's not her mother tongue. However, Chinese is all written the same disregarding the dialect, so she was able to really help us understand everything from the class that day. At the end of the day, we have dinner followed by about two hours of free time. It's funny to call it free time because we have so much homework (along with other things we need to get done), so the amount of time we have to relax is limited. I try to get to bed by 11 or 11:30, but my roommate usually goes to bed at around 9:45. Kelby is a deep sleeper, so I can type, walk around the room, and even leave the lights on and he doesn't wake up. There are some things, like the shower in our bathroom without a curtain or anything that looks like a shower other than the head, that I really miss about back home. But to be honest, I am having such a great time here, have made some incredibly close friends, and stay very busy that I rarely even think about the things I miss at home. I do love hearing from my parents, of course. There have been some very saddening events taking place in the United States over the last two weeks. I have been staying up to date, but am glad that I am far away from all of the violence and tragedy.

A Day in Xiamen - July 4th

To celebrate the 4th of July and our first day in Xiamen (厦门), we visited three important places around the city. The first was a temple called Nan Pu Tuo Si (南普陀寺), a temple that dates back to the first century. It was a little bit crowded with tourists, and we stood out especially because of Catherine's red hair and Jackson's American flag tank top. There was a collection of beautiful Buddha statues and we were forbidden to take pictures of the inside of the temple, but we felt like celebrities from all of the locals who were trying to take pictures of us! We climbed up the mountain on uneven stairs until we reached the best lookout spot of the area.

Next, we hopped on our air-conditioned bus, Shanna and I got the best seat at the front, and we travelled to Hu Li Shan Pao Tai (胡里山炮台）, an old cannon battery used to fight against Taiwan and other countries during wartime. It was right on the water making for a spectacular view of the skyscrapers and mountain ranges surrounding Xiamen. There was a steady breeze on top of the battery which made the heat bearable. After about an hour, we were treated to a family-style feast for lunch. Unfortunately, the food was not my favorite part of the day. For example, the first four dishes they brought to the table were various kinds of seafood, for example, whole squids, shrimp with their eyeballs still staring at us, and an...interesting plate of vegetables and strips of fish. But we weren't hungry for too long...after about thirty minutes they brought the one thing we all love - rice! While the food was not my favorite, I still appreciate the efforts Dr. Chen made for us to eat well.

After lunch, we drove across the bridge to travel to the hometown of Xiamen University's (厦门大学）founder. There was a long street filled with little shops that we could go into an browse, and at the end of the street there was the Turtle Park with a temple and an obelisk looking over the coast. It was cloudy and windy so we could enjoy the view with a little less heat than normal.

This is a photo of one of the cameras in the tunnel

Something that we noticed while sitting in the front of the bus is the number of cameras the government has installed around the city. Every tunnel, every road, every building, every highway sign, every exit, and every ramp has a camera. Some posts even have five or six just to capture every angle. In tunnels, the cameras take a photo of every car at the beginning and end of the tunnel. We noticed because there was always a big flash when we drove through. We all thought the different views of privacy in China was fascinating.

We decided that there are three terms you need to know when spending a summer in china:

1) Turn up the AC!

2) Where's the REAL toilet?

3) I don't eat seafood, do you have other meat?

For dinner, we ate at a really nice buffet at a 5-star hotel (thank you taxpayers!) and ate until we couldn't stomach any more food. By the end of the day, we were EXHAUSTED. We got to see so much and I look forward to seeing even more of Xiamen.

The Flight - July 1st

By the time the last place team was in the airport shuttle, the members of Cheng Dui had not even woken up yet. This would become very helpful once it was followed by almost 24 hours of no sleep. The 15-hour plane ride was not as terrible as you might think, but a select group from our trip decided that they would keep their windows open during sleeping hours and congregate in certain areas to have two-hour long discussions about whatever they pleased. Were there people all around them trying to sleep? Yes. Did those having the conversations notice? Who knows. Nevertheless, I was able to get a nice 20 minutes of sleep over the course of the entire flight. After a few hours of flying north into Canada, wherever that is, we changed directions due to intense turbulence that spanned over our route. Originally, we were planned to fly west over the United States while hugging the North Pole, but we then switched to flying east, over Iceland, Greenland, Europe, and finally dropped down through Russia and into China. I think this change only added an extra 20 or 30 minutes to our flight time. The second I got off the plane, I could feel the intense humidiy of Shanghai. We went through customs as a group with no issue, and the same when reclaiming our luggage. The real fun began the second we stepped into the Domestic Check-in Terminal - we were told that our flight to Xiamen had been cancelled, likely due to weather. I couldn't beleive what I was hearing. After a 15 hour flight, all I wanted was the rewarding feeling of arriving at our final destination. I know how airports work, and I immediately realized two things: 1) getting upset would solve NOTHING, and 2) it was not likely that the problem could be fixed with any ease. So, we all took a seat with our luggage in the center of the concourse -  perhaps the most inconvenient place in the terminal. Even though we were all hangry (hungry + angry = hangry, it's a real thing - look it up) and tired, there is no group of people that I would rather be stuck with than this one. Everyone figured out how to make the best of the situation. After almost seven hours of sitting on the floor of an airport, I could see everyone was struggling with the fatigue, and everyone was dealing with it differently. Some just shut their eyes and allowed the exhaustion to take over, while others, myself included, fought the urge to sleep. Honestly, I have no idea why I chose to stay up, but I really didn't want to miss out on anything. After all, it was already three days into the trip and time felt precious.

The Orientation Experience - June 30th

The day after we arrived at the Newark Airport we had the wonderful pleasure of sitting through a daylong orientation. The first few hours were a little long, but then I became friends with some really fun people and 5 small groups were formed. Luckily, my group included some of the people I had already begun to become close friends with. In our group, Cheng Dui (橙队), meaning Orange Team, consisted of Shanna, Sydney, Merrick, Catherine, Skyelar (with an E). We learned all about what to expect on the trip and went over all the rules. Which sounds like it would be long and borderline uneventful, and it was, but luckily we had Dr. Chen who is a good storyteller who made it a little more interesting. One interesting thing we did was play charades, and the winning team (us, obviously) got the prize of an 8:10 departure the next morning as opposed to the last place team who was forced to leave the hotel at 6:50.

Arrival at Newark - June 29th

             I knew I was about to spend the next month and a half with some pretty cool people the second we boarded the shuttle from the airport to the hotel. Besides the fact that our trip director, Dr. Chen, had to pick us up at the gate, we had an awesome first night. We drove to the hotel with the groups that came from Chicago and Miami. From Chicago, there was Catherine, Sydney, Justin, and Phoebe. From Florida, Camille and Zihan. They were all so funny and had such great attitudes while us San Francisco people were bitching about the weather being too hot. (Little did we know that Xiamen was going to be 10 times worse). We got to our hotel and I was immediately appreciative of how organized the trip was and how nice the accommodations were.

            Dr. Chen informed us that a big order of pizzas were on their way for dinner, and once they were delivered, we all went to Merrick's room and had a pizza party. It was so lit that it was almost like I was back in middle school. Our group truly represents the whole country - we have people from the Best Coast, East Coast, and states in-between.

Newark Bound - June 29th

On the Wednesday of our departure, I woke up to leave for the airport at 4:45AM since my flight was at 7:25. Getting everything ready occupied so much of my mind that the early wake-up was really nothing that difficult. When we got to SFO, United tried to tell me that I was too young to fly without an adult as a result of confusion around some new rule changes within the airline. It was especially odd because one of the other two kids traveling with me (Natalie) had no issues, and she was even younger than me. We ended up having to pay the airline to let me travel as a minor. I was the last person on the plane but was lucky enough to be traveling with two other teens from the Bay to Newark. The flight was shorter than expected and our conversations made the time fly.