Today was a day of many emotions, and it also happened to be one of the longest days of my life literally spanning more than 24 hours. For me I’m going to start my day where I met all the other students going on the China trip. I had been scared of going across the world all alone without my parents for the first time, but meeting everyone and making new friends felt comforting. It was reassuring to know that I wasn’t actually venturing alone but with people that would become new friends and hopefully a little family away from home. When I got to campus I stayed in Tower A. That was where I met my roommate for the night. We talked about where we were from and what we were hoping to get from the China trip. Later we met some of the other people going on the trip and talked for hours up until it was time to leave for the airport.

We got to the airport super early at about 3 am. I was so tired I don’t even remember the drive there. After we checked in, there continued the longest day ever as we waited for our flight. The flight itself took up most of my day lasting for 14 hours and taking us 12 hours into the future. That was the longest flight I had ever endured. Surprisingly the flight experience wasn’t as bad as I suspected it would be. To get through the 14 hours getting a lot of sleep was a big help in passing time. Being exhausted from packing and getting ready for the trip helped put me to sleep for the plane ride. Though I tried, I couldn’t sleep through all of it. The rest of the time I spent watching movies provided on private screens on the plane. I was able to catch up on three movies I had been wanting to see which was enough to entertain me for the rest of the flight.

When we first arrived at the airport in Beijing, even with the airport workers speaking Chinese on the intercom it hadn’t truly hit me yet that I was in a different country. I think it still hasn’t.  As we arrived through customs we were greeted by our program coordinators from the Asia Institute. At the airport we took a big group picture with everyone. As we all posed for the picture people around us stopped to look and even take their own pictures of us. I knew that people taking pictures of Americans would be a thing, but it was my first time experiencing it, and I actually didn’t know what to think of it. From the airport we went straight to the hotel.

When we arrived at the Pentahotel in Beijing, I was so amazed at how amazing the hotel was. It was surrounded by so many malls and buildings. It had such an urban professional feel. Later we went to dinner to the welcoming dinner at Hua’s Restaurant. There we all got our first taste of traditional Chinese cuisine. I was exhausted from the 14 hour plane ride but it was still exciting. We tried so many dishes, but the most memorable for me was the famous Beijing style peking duck. This was my first time trying duck and I think it tasted pretty good especially the way it was prepared. As soon as we left the restaurant and went to the hotel the first thing I did was plop on the bed. The 36 hours of exhaustion also plopped on the bed with me and I was out for the night.