EdOdyssey Custom Student Trips Around the World

By my sophomore year of high school, I had been studying Spanish for my eleventh consecutive year. When the opportunity presented itself to study abroad through a two week immersion in Córdoba, Spain with Mr. Peter McGovern (my Chinese teacher at-the-time, actually!), I wasn't expecting my Spanish to advance as rapidly as it did in such a short time frame. During that year I was in Spanish III and attaining an average grade, but following this trip, I was able to not only receive an A+ in level three, but then skip over Spanish IV and enroll in A.P. Spanish Language & Culture my junior year. This is no coincidence - Mr. McGovern understood the power of immersing oneself in another culture using another language. From our arrival in Málaga, he had us sign language pacts to try and only speak Spanish for the whole two weeks, and my Spanish has never been the same since. This trip was incredible: from Granada to Sevilla to Córdoba, the views were spectacular, the bond of friendship bred between our small, intimate group of five students was strengthened, and the itinerary developed through Peter's expertise and experience really displayed a thorough and thoughtful embrace of Spanish culture.

The trip was amazing, and the lasting post-program effects just keep on giving. As a result of my enhanced view of the country, now as a college student, I am pursuing an International Studies major with a regional focus on Latin America. To this day, I still remain in contact with my host family from Córdoba over WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, and even FaceTimed their four children my freshman year of college for a final project for my Spanish 301 course. They are, truly, my Spanish family!

In summary, two weeks in this program had the same effect on my Spanish as four years in the classroom, but these two weeks also have had a overall recurring effect on my life for almost four years, now. For future participants - don't hesitate. Just do it! With EdOdyssey and Peter McGovern, you are in good hands. Plus, your Spanish will never be better!

I love to travel but the opportunity to do so at my age isn't always there. I typically have to wait until my parents can take time off so we can go together. However, a last minute opportunity to go to China with other students from Plymouth came up and I couldn't say no! I worked very hard over the months leading up to the trip so that I could pay for the trip myself. It certainly helped that the trip was affordable! Going to China with a few friends and a few new faces made the experience even better. We traveled through Shanghai and Beijing as well as Kunming and Wenshan. We got to experience how different their cultures are, meet some incredible students and tour their fabulous school. I am so excited to get an opportunity to travel again with EdOdyssey! They truly made this trip memorable and jam packed!

This year, I flew to China with my Mandarin class (I take 3rd year Mandarin at my school). I was really nervous the night before - I had never really been away from home before, and the trip was two weeks in a foreign country halfway across the world - but my parents assured me that I would be upset with myself if I didn't go. I am so glad that I decided to go (and not just because it would be a huge waste of money if I didn't), because it was the best trip I have ever taken! My class first flew to Shanghai, where we visited Shanghai High School. EdOdyssey organized the second part of my trip, where I traveled to Huzhou and Beijing. The trip was really well organized, with tons of fun activities, amazing restaurants and food options, and really nice accommodations. One thing I really loved about the trip was all of the variety. For example, we did a range of touristy attractions (like the Forbidden City and the Great Wall), but we also did many activities that allowed us to immerse ourselves in the culture of the locals. One of my personal favorite activities was visiting a local high school in Huzhou. At this high school, a lot of the students had never met someone who was not from China, and you can imagine their excitement when they saw a group of American teenagers. They wanted to add us on WeChat, take pictures with us, play games with us, and ask us a thousand questions about us and our lives. I felt like a celebrity! It was really fun, and gave me some perspective about what life is like outside of America. This is just one example of one day I loved from the trip. Another thing that made the trip great was Peter McGovern - our EdOdyssey representative. He was super knowledgeable about all of the places we visited, and told us tons of facts that I would never have even thought about otherwise. I learned about bamboo (did you know that bamboo can grow almost 3 feet in 24 hours?), local culture (I never knew how important it was to know about the traditions of tea if you want to do business in China) , landmarks (the Great Wall of China is more than 20,000 km long!) and so much more. Because of this, I was able to leave China with a new knowledge about life and culture in different parts of the world. I really feel like this trip enriched my knowledge and views on the world, and opened my eyes to many new perspectives and possibilities. Of course, none of this would have been possible without EdOdyssey.

When I went on this trip I was scared. I was half way across the world for the first time and I was surrounded by people who didn't look like me. Instead they marveled at me. I was really scared and nervous, especially on the first day, but then I met my buddy at Shanghai high school. I admit at first I wasn't very social and I was quiet but soon we got to know each other and became very close. We formed a bond that was incredibly strong through food, modern teenage Chinese culture, shopping, and our interests. After four days I went to Guilin. The people there were phenomenal. They made sure I had everything to eat for my vegan diet and surprisingly there were a lot of options. I was always full and constantly had fun activities to do. The mountainous view was gorgeous and unreal. We learned a lot about the religious culture as it was a more rural part of China compared to Shanghai but I definitely enjoyed both totally different experiences a lot. As someone who mostly travels in instate America I can say I was definitely nervous and had no idea how the trip's planning was going to work but EdOdyssey blew me away with how thorough they were. There were no hiccups and I can tell you, you can rest assured when planning a trip with them because they have your back.