Hong Kong Day 3

Well this is Alex, today was a great day to end the trip. We had all the free time in the world because we never went on any of the extra excursions. So we went to the beach and Stanley market, they both were really fun. Wes and I went to swim in the ocean, oh it was so mice to have some salt. I can now say that I have swam on both sides of the ocean. After the ocean we went to the hotel and everyone besides Wes and are to group leaders and myself went on the cruise. Us four went to the cleanest Pizza Hut in the world, the food was really good. After that was walked along the ocean and watch the light show again. China is truly beautiful at night! It was nice to rest for once and enjoy the beach. Most of the time I found myself with only Wes next to me and almost the whole trip it has been this way. I could not have asked for anyone else to swim in the ocean with and put a smile on my face when I missing home. I can't wait to get back home but at the same time I am going to miss everyone here. We are now family and I will remember them forever. The person that changed my point of view on life is a boy from Maryland. He happens to be deaf and also he has CP, but I promise that he would always have a MILLION dollar smile on and he wouldn't let anything bring him down. He showed me that I should not take for granted everything that I got and take the time to be thankful. I am really going to miss him. I had an amazing trip, with amazing people.

More Pictures

http://gallery.me.com/expressionsbymichael#100051

More Moments to Remember

• Hello, hello people
• Trying to cross the street
• Helen saying, “Is your everybody here?”
• Mr. Chimento breaking out into song.
• Fish heads, and duck heads and others, oh my!
• Playing uno in the hall in Hong Kong
• Learning sign language
• Boiling water
• Finding Waldo on the Great Wall
• Saying goodbye to Helen
• Finding a good bargain

Hong Kong Day 2

Ni Hao all! Its Nicole here to fill you in about our trip. As for today, it was our first real day in Hong Kong. And wow. Hong Kong is an amazing place it has so many unique and beautiful aspects to it. First off we went up to Victoria's peak, which is a very lush with plant life, and also very expensive as we learned from our guide Calvin. He also mentioned that ambassadors live on Victoria's peak along with David Beckham, which makes sense when he said it's so expensive. Once we got to the top we enjoyed the view before we enjoyed the Starbucks and the shopping, it was alittle misty, but still very beautiful. Then we went down about half way down and got off the bus to take some pictures, the view was better, but still a little clouded by the mist. We made our way down Victoria's peak and then stopped at a market called Stanley's market. This was just like the flea market, but bigger and even cheaper. It was great, everyone bought so much, only to find out we were going to an even bigger market later called the ladies market. After the shopping we had a seafood lunch. This resturant was neat because it had everything that was used in the food alive in tanks. I mean I like my food fresh, but not that fresh. Ick! After our lunch we departed from the bus to take the subway to the ladies market. The subway was just like in the movies, which can be good and bad. Bad because there were so many people and good because it was so fast and efficient. Once off the subway we got to the ladies market. It was 10 times bigger then the Stanley market, and consisted of three parallel streets, one being electronics, another being vendors, the last one being a sports stuff. Everyone split up into groups to shop for about two hours. I can speak for the whole group when I say our feet were not happy with us at the end of these two hours. After this market we headed to a bus stop to take a double decker bus to dinner. Though not as efficient as the subway, it was still pretty quick to the destination. Our destination was a large street with many restaurants, people picked there preference, but the majority of our group picked Mcdonald's. Mcdonald's in China surprisingly tastes even better then American Mcdonald's. Once everyone was done eating we walked to the piers to watch a 15 minute light show. It was amazing, but I can't imagine the electric bill, since they do it every night. It was around 8:15 when the show ended, so we all regathered and took a ferry back to the area when our hotel was. This ferry ride took 10-15 minutes until we docked. Once off the ferry we had to take a tram back to the hotel, it was very slow compared to the subway and the bus, but we got to sight see the city more then usual. Exhausted we arrived at the hotel at 9:45, boy were we beat. Everyone made their way to the elevator to go to bed. It was a full and amazing day in Hong Kong. I just can't believe it is almost over.

Hong Kong Day 1

Not much to report.  We traveled to Hong Kong today.  Basically got in and came to the hotel.  Hong Kong is another great city and the students are eager to explore it. 

In lieu of Chinese we decided to order in some pizza tonight and some of us played cards until bedtime.

Picture Link Summary

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Shanghai Day 2

The first thing that we did was to visit a Chinese School with students around our age (16-19). Seeing as we have a deaf school in our group, they went to visit a deaf school which I thought was neat. While we were at the school, we were able to talk to the students and ask them some questions. Most of the students were shy, but once you started talking to them they opened up more and were more outgoing and talkative. Alex, Wes, and Amanda got phone numbers from some of the students so that they will be able to keep in touch once this trip is over. After the school, we visited the Jade Buddha Temple. Sadly, we could not take photos of the Jade Buddha because it is sacred to the people of China. After seeing the Buddha we were allowed some time to shop around. Some of us bought paper cuts, others brought jewelery, fans, or statues. Our next stop was lunch at the “Chinatown of China”. Once there we broke into our groups and Mrs. Archer, Mr. Chimento, Alex, Wes, Kym, Ande, Olivia and I went to McDonalds then Dairy Queen. After lunch we were once more allowed to shop around, then as a group we visited the Yu Garden, where learned about the history of the garden. After the Garden we went to dinner. Seeing as this was our last night with Helen as our tour guide, we decided to give her a card and all the books we brought for when we got back to the hotel. While we were saying so log, Mr. Chimento sang a song for Helen and Mrs. Archer, Kym, and I started crying, and then Helen started crying too. It was so hard to have to say goodbye to Helen after being with her for a whole week. But as Mr. Chimento stated, we weren't saying goodbye. We were just saying so long, until we have the opportunity to visit again. (Mikayla

Shanghai Day 1

Hey guys, Erica here. Shanghai is an huge place with over 21 MILLION residents. Right now there's a vast amount of construction to prepare for the 2010 Shanghai Expo. Most of the houses resemble European styles rather than the traditional Chinese. Traffic here is much better than Xi'an and Beijing where people don't follow any driving laws. When we get home, turn signals, and any person driving will be seen in a new and joyful light. Every few minutes a barrage of horns distract us. So far there have been fewer street vender and are less persistent. If they are you could be like Wes and only offer 1 yuan, it makes them laugh or just search for new prey. Our activity after the flight was to visit China's tallest building. Right now the name eludes me, sorry. Standing over 400 meters with 100 floors this building is incredible. Several of us got great angle pictures of it so you guys back home will be able to see it in all it's glory. The interior is just as amazing as the exterior. Imagine walking into a Star Trek ship. Sleek obsidian halls, small wall lights. The best part was the elevator ride. Traveling from floor 1 to floor 95 in approx. 56 seconds, this elevator is one of the fastest in the world. The ride was surprisingly smooth. It has several circular discs which would light up in a ring to show what floor we were on. Describing it is too difficult and I don't know if anyone got pictures. Afterward the groups went to dinner at a restaurant to celebrate Mr Chimento, Ande, and Amanda's birthdays. The food was excellent,(mom you need to cook rice with eggs in it please) and Helen brought in the cake which looked like plastic at first, but the icing was just shiny. The frosting was fruit flavors. The candle was the greatest part. Resembling a flower it was in the shape of a flower bud the size of a hand and you lite the candles. It slowly burns away at the wax then it pops open to reveal a center and begins playing happy birthday. The little thing didn't stop playing for hours. Well that's all for now and I hope you guys back home are doing ok and see you soon!