From America to China

 

On August 23, 2018, the NSLI-Y Changzhou Academic Year students departed from Newark-Liberty International Airport at 10:45 AM.
After 2 days of Pre-Departure Orientation, the six of us woke up on Wednesday at 5 AM in the morning and left for the airport at 6 AM. for some of us, this was crazy exciting! For others, the fact that we would be living in China for 10 months still hasn't set in yet. For some, even as we sat in the airport in Shanghai, the fact that we were in China was STILL surreal.
You could almost taste the excitement in the air as we boarded the plane. And we knew, there was 14 hours in the air to feel excited. Especially if you had the middle seat . . . Sorry, Mac. 😛😜
Nonetheless, that didn't stop me.
With my new camcorder, and SD memory card that I bought just hours before, I set to document my memories. Sure, I'd be missing all the fun events that high school has in store for seniors but I'd also be stimulating my passion for learning foreign languages! (Thank you, NSLI-Y for the opportunity!)
Of course, the weather in Shanghai the day we arrived was the most humid day of the week. Pennsylvania has rarely seen such humid days. I felt attacked. However, that feeling was quickly overridden by anxiousness. Even though our AFS chaperone, Georgia, and her husband were precious beings, I couldn't wait to meet the volunteers from AFS China. I was ready to start speaking Chinese right away! Fatigue had nothing on me. 😃