While In Beijing, China

I don’t even know where to begin. The trip was out of the ordinary for me. I mean I’m from Massachusetts and have never been out of the country before and then one day I’m on a 12 hour flight to China. I was nervous but excited. CIEE made it all so easy. They had staff meet us at the airport and bring us to the hotel we’d be staying at. The first night we ate dinner at a restaurant close by and just got to know each other. The next couple of days we started off by going to a local university to learn about the language and culture. After our lessons we’d go and explore the city together. We went to museums, temples, the forbidden city, etc. The second week we went a Friends of Nature farm and volunteer there. My favorite memory of that place was feeding the sheep and taking naps under plum trees after pulling weeds that morning. On our third and final week we went back into the city and was given the freedom to explore the city on our own. Overall it was a once in a lifetime experience that I’ll cherish forever.