The Last Post

 I found that the experiences gained through seeing places like the Great Wall or the Terra Cotta Warriors cannot be found through videos, pictures and stories.  There is more to these laces than what could be captured or told such as what is around, the sound, the environment, the smell, and most importantly, the journey.  I have heard many stories and facts. I have seen many pictures.  But nothing could compare to the full experience. The first shock is one of the best parts. You can see the amazing length and height of the Great Wall, the countless numbers of Terra Cotta warriors and the beauty of the Temple of Heaven. If I only saw pictures, I would only see a small, unmoving frame which forces you to focus on only one part.  The experience of shock allows you to see the full image from any angle of your choice.  Unfortunately, the first shock lasts a small amount of time and nothing could compare to the first experience. Knowing this could be good or bad for me in the future.  Now I will appreciate my first impressions more.
-Rex


I had many new and different experiences during my China trip.  It was my first time going to China. I was surprised by how many people there were in the train stations. It made me believe in the the huge population of China. It was hard to move around in the train station with so many people there.
-Thomas

Throughout this entire China trip, we all have experienced strange and very different foods than we are used to eating—from French fries to sheep penis-we’ve seen it all. We had to eat many interesting sights and tastes that kids would usually avoid.

            This was a very different food experience for me. I am not too picky of an eater.  Aren’t we all though? Coming on this trip forced me to jump out of my comfort zone so that I could fill my belly.  I tried a lot of stuff that I would normally avoid in the United States. I had to branch out and stretch my enjoyment of food.

            At first, this seemed like it could be the hardest, most painful thing that I could do at the time.  But as the days went by, and I was exposed to more and more foods and dishes.  I began to like the food I was trying and I also began to try lots of foods. Not judging it how it looked or smelled but just going for it. This really branched out my palate of food and what I liked or didn’t.

            This will really change my future.  The first and most obvious reason is that I will be able to try and enjoy more foods.  If I’ve never had a dish before, I’ll be able to openly try it. This will truly help me in the future and I will become, with time, less and less picky.

The second reason is that I can become less judgmental about people-not judging them appearance or how they do things. I will try and test them before I come to a quick, first sight judgment.

-Albert

Overall, I learned a lot on this trip. Out of all the things that I learned here, I think that the Terra-Cotta Warriors were the most interesting. I was surprised that there were thousands of soldiers and they still have not found all of the artifacts in the area. I thought it was really cool that the farmers spent all of their time creating the warrior’s extremely precisely when they could have been farming or doing something else.  I also thought it was very exciting how they have not found all of the warriors and the artifacts, because it gives you the sense that there is still a surprise somewhere, buried underneath the ground and you can’t anticipate finding it or having someone else discover a new secret.

            I will take a lot away from our visit to Terra-Cotta Warriors. Now I will be sure to be aware of what is around me and not think that every interesting thing has been found or discovered.

-George

I have had many different new experiences during the China trip. It has been my first time going to China. I as surprised by how many people there were in the train stations.  It made me believe in the huge population in China.  It was hard to move around in the train stations with so many people there. You had to push, you had to shove, and you had to run. This was the only way of staying with the group. This was a new experience for me. When I got in the train and in my room, Jackson, Isaac and Leo were there. The room was so small that we couldn’t move almost anywhere. We had to move our suitcases up to the top shelf, which was extremely difficult. Jackson almost had a bag fall on top of him! I had a slightly hard time falling asleep on the train. The train was loud sometimes and sometimes moved suddenly.

            As a result, I learned that train stations in China are dangerous and have a lot of people and that night trains are hard to sleep on. Next time if I go to China, I will be more aggressive or consider a different route when going to an overnight destination.

-Thomas

During this trip I learned that the Terra-Cotta Warriors weren’t actually real people covered with stone.  Before I came to China, I thought that the dead bodies of soldiers were preserved being covered with cement.  But now I know I learned that they are just big statues representing each warrior.  I felt good about the trip, but I became nervous every time we did something that involved being alert at all times. I enjoyed the trip a lot because I accomplished what I wanted to do.  I don’t like looking at pictures, knowing I have no chance at all to go there. When I saw Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Olympic stadiums, my mind would say,” Yes! Finally we are here!”

-Alberto

Last night was the most terrifying but fun and hilarious night ever. It started with us eating dinner in a restaurant called ‘The Pork Distribution Center.” The name itself made us all laugh, but what really made it fun were all of the jokes that were cracked out at the table.  When we finished dinner, we hopped on the bus thinking that when we got off, we would have a nice experience walking to the train station and into the train.  We were gravely mistaken. As we neared the train station, the noise and the number of people grew louder and larger. Soon it turned into a free-for-all.  People yelling and shoving, bodies one inch away from each other, creating a friction so great I thought my jacket was going to ignite. You could cut the heat between the bodies in half with a knife. As I was nearly separated from the group about three times, I started to get a little bit nervous.  Right when another person blocked my path, I was really scared. Thoughts of hatred filled my mind. Why were these people so mean? Why are they so pushy? I thought I was separated for good.

When Miles put a reassuring hand on me, I was so relieved.  Relieved of the thoughts, of being nervous.  I knew that I really shouldn’t have been so judgmental about the people. They all have the same goal of getting to the train. I thought of what it would be like to go through that line with my family and a chill went through my body. If I were with my family, my experience would be ten times more stressful as would anyone else’s.

In the end, I took away that I shouldn’t be so judgmental and stressed. Instead I should have been enjoying the experience and having the same mindset that I had afterwards of being relaxed and reflecting on how fun the experience was during the actual thing.

-Tut

On the trip, I had a special moment on the Great Wall. When I saw the wall, I was amazed how long it was.  It stretched from one mountain to another.  We also learned that the mortar on top were made from porridge and that each brick was laid by hand. I was amazed by how dedicated the people were about building it.  Thousands of people died but that didn’t stop the wall from being completed.  Dedication; that’s what I’m going to get from this experience or what I hope to bring back to America.

-Spencer

I have to say that of all the great experiences we’ve had in China, my favorite and the one that really changed the way I feel about things was the tea tasting ceremony on the say we went to Tienanmen Square.  In the past, I’ve been very close-minded about things and tea was always one of those things I refused to change my mind about. But when we tried the first cup of tea, I completely changed my mind about tae, and that will help me change about other things in the future. After my first sip of the tea, I understood why people, and some traditional Chinese people specifically; find tea such a big deal. I understood how it makes people feel peaceful and happy. I used to think of it lightly, as a joke. I thought that just a drink couldn’t make someone find peace or happiness. But after experiencing that tea tasting, I vowed to myself to try before judging and to give everything a chance. Having a more open minded approach to life will help me appreciate things and discover things that I may end up loving, like, as I discovered this week, tea.

The first cup of tea was called Ginseng Oolong tea.  I thought it was really good in comparison to what I expected.  Then we tried Jasmine tea.  The Jasmine tea was bitter and I didn’t like it as much.  The next tea was called Pu-er, which was somewhat like the green Oolong tea. The next two were my favorites that we tried-black lychee tea then fruit tea. They were very sweet and unique. After this day, I promise myself to take a more open mind to life.

-Timmy