Hey everyone how are you? Today was the best day in Washington D.C.  We went to Capitol first. I could not believe that I stand in front of that building, because I saw that building only on the TV or internet.  It was huge building. I really wanted to go in, but I could not. I hope one day I go in that building. Behind the Capitol, there was Library of Congress. It was huge also. It was the biggest library I ever seen. 

Group photo in front of the Capitol

Next was White House. It was very white and I disappointed when I heard Obama is not in there. White House was very “belo” (beautiful).

The White House

Group shot in front of Obama's house

I could see the tall tower from everywhere in Washington D.C. Finally we went to there. It was Washington Monument. The color of building changed at middle. It was very weird. I heard color changed because of they had no more money. They also didn’t have same kind of stones when they started again.

I touched it!

Welcome to the biggest museum in U.S.  Smithsonian Museums were really really really big. I went to Air and Space Museum. When I entered to that museum I thought I saw this before from some movie. This museum was the background of movie ‘Night of Museum.’ I love airplanes and space. So it was my favorite museum at Smithsonian Museums. I went to National Art Gallery and Natural History museum. Both were good but I didn’t have enough time to enjoy that museum because they are so big. So I looked really fast.

Salad, Soup, Sandwich that three food were my dinner at Georgetown. I could not see very well because it was rainy and dark. But I remember it was beautiful town.

These were my last day in D.C. It was the best trip in my life. Because I could see a lot of building that I only saw on the TV or internet. I want to come back NYC, Philly and D.C. We never say good bye, only see you later! Because we will come back NYC, Philly, and D.C!

SEE YOU LATER!!!!

--Daniel, South Korea

Sa-wad-dee-ka! (Hello in Thai)

We are exchange students from Thailand!! My real name is Samita Ua-arunchote, but everybody knows as Sammie. I live in Belding, Michigan. And this is Nittawan Choosong or you can call me Bew, and she lives in Washington State. 

The first thing that we had done today was visited many memorial such as Korean War, Vietnam War, Martin Luther King, Lincoln, Jefferson and FDR. We saw a lot of cool building and I really love it. And I’m so happy today because I really want to come to Washington DC since I was in Thailand. The city is even better than I thought plus the weather is so nice. It was pretty interesting to see different memorials, and know the history at the same time.

Hanging at the Lincoln Memorial

Bew and I at the Lincoln Memorial

Group photo at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial

Next we went to Fashion Center at Pentagon city to have lunch and have some time to shop, and we really had a good time. Our favorite thing today is Mount Vernon which was George Washington’s home land. He has so many rooms and antiquated stuffs. The place around his house is so huge it has like many acres. We really excited!!! We really like the garden and field so we took a lot of cool pictures then we just hang out and take a little bit nap because the weather is so nice.

I'm a wizard!

And a giant!

And dinner this evening was at the Mount Vernon Inn. It is so good, we love the apple pie!!  :> We hope tomorrow will be fun too!

-- Sammie and Bew, Thailand

Hallo amigos!

The day started by saying goodbye to the people who started to become our friends and New York. It was really sad for many of us, because we got so close to each other in this short time. But after some tears and numbers exchanged, we finally got into the bus and headed to Philly. It didn’t take us too long to get there and a lot of people were still tired and they were resting during that time. When we arrived in Philadelphia, we had lunch in a really amazing place called Reading Terminal, where you could get a lot of stuff to eat from countries from all over the world. There was this really cool place in the market where you could walk by and be surrounded by chocolate, cookies, cakes and all kinds of sweet things that we love!

After a while we left and headed to the Constitution Center, where we listened to a really nice presentation about the constitution of the United States. This presentation was full of lights and had a lot of pictures and sounds going on so we could pay more attention than we usually do in our history classes. There was also a room where they have statues of the people who signed the constitution and we took selfies with them! In the same room there was a book where we could sign our names to feel part of the history. In the lobby of the museum you could see the flags of every state on the top of the room.

State flags in the lobby of the Constitution Center

After we spend a while in the museum we met our tour guide, Jen. First she went with us to the liberty bell and explained to us that it’s not only for the US a sign for liberty but for the entire world. The bell has cracked several times (in the same spot) and since it has been in the US most important moments they opened a museum for it. 

Group photo in front of the Liberty Bell

Afterwards we went to the Independence Hall and we listen to what important things happened there. Then, we walked to the outline of a building and we thought it was weird, but then Jen explained to us that they called it the Ghost house. It was the house that belonged to Benjamin Franklin, but his family couldn’t afford to keep it after he died, so they had to bring it down, but architects recreated the outlines of the house, so that you could see where the house was and how big. Benjamin worked in the first post office and invented a machine that would tell him how much money people needed to pay for letters.

Listening to Jen at Independence Hall

Independence Hall

There is a really old church there in Philadelphia called Christ church and after listening to the history of it we walked to Ben Franklin’s grave and threw a penny for good luck.

Next we took the bus tour around Chinatown (fifth largest in the US), city hall and the art museum. We stopped at the art museum to run up the stairs like in the movie “Rocky.” But almost everybody was too tired to run so we just walked up the stairs to have a nice few over Philadelphia.

Beautiful City Hall

Group photo with the Philadelphia skyline

After our short stop at the “Rocky stairs” we headed to South Street to our nice dinner spot at Bridget Foy’s. We all were really hungry and looked forward to finally arriving at our restaurant. The dinner was so delicious and most of us tried the famous Philadelphia cheesesteak. We had an ice cream and then we headed to the bus to go to Washington DC!

-- Karen, Mexico and Mara, Germany

A Bright Lights Big City Fairytale

Today was kind of bittersweet day, because we had so much fun, but at the same time it was our last day at the city that never sleeps, aka New York City!!

The first spot of the day, we took the ferry down to New Jersey so we could go and see the most famous lady in New York City, we are talking about the Statue of Liberty  J. The whole experience was amazing, is something that you HAVE to do if you visit New York City, and now we can check it out from our bucket list. 

After we took a lot of pictures (and selfies) we had some time also in the island so we could shop some souvenirs. Oh, just letting you know, today’s writers of this blog were famous today for 15 seconds, a picture of us appeared today in one of the screens in Times Square (I know, is SO COOL). Also, one of our favorite things of Times Square is you can see everything, and with everything we mean it, but our surprise today, was this “Naked Cowboy”, (don't worry, he's not *totally* naked!) so if you ever go there, expect the most unexpected and amazing things.

Afterwards, we have some more free time in Times Squares, where we had lunch and SHOPPING TIMEEEEE!!! We haven’t met somebody who doesn’t love Times Square, for real!! And I don’t know about you, but we will never have enough for shopping there, lolololol.

After, we took a selfie with the one and only Kim Kardashian!!! Oh, don’t get too excited, we’re not that lucky to meet the real one L… We went to the Madam Tussaurd’s Museum where they have all this wax figures of famous people and they look so real!! At the beginning it was so weird to look at the wax figures because they were ridiculously impressive that at first sight you could think they are real people.

Then after the museum we head to dinner in an Italian buffet called Sbarro’s, and we could have some Italian food and choose it from a buffet and also pizza and cake… yummy. Also the buffet had another groups inside and the waiters were so full of energy and they made us clap our hands, and we sing.. really fun last dinner in New York City.

Later, we walked to Broadway for watch the play Cinderella. Carly Rae Jepsen was the principal character (Yeah, the girl that sings “Call me maybe”) and it was amazing how they did everything, we were really impressed. This play had a modern and humorous version of Cinderella, and more adapted, it was funny and we really enjoyed it!

Make us really sad thing that today was our last day in the dream city, the city that never sleeps.. in New York City! But we are happy because we spent three AMAZING days in this city, and we are coming back for sure, so we won’t say goodbye, we will just say SEE YOU SOON NEW YORK!

ROCIO GARCIA HERNANDEZ & CARMEN TOYAS SANCHEZ

The Great day of New York City

Monday April 21, 2014

Today has been a great day. I really love the trip, I enjoyed everything I did. I love the Empire state building, even though I have visited the Jin Mao tower in Shanghai, which is really tall and people do get to the top of the tower visiting the City of Shanghai. It is really amazing and fabulous. However, I like the Empire state building more, it’s more international and it’s located in Manhattan.  Obviously the Empire building is more popular than the Shanghai Jin Mao building and it was the tallest tower in the world at one point.

The view from the Empire State Building

After lunch at Grand Central Station, we visited the financial district. We went to Wall Street. That is my dreaming place. I heard and saw the Wall Street on TV and news before, and I wished I could visit Wall Street one day. And today I did that, I made that really happen. I walked down Wall Street and we learned a lot about the stock exchange. Also I had some pictures with the Bull in the Wall Street. We saw the amazing Bull on Wall Street, even though the artist just put it there "temporarily." But everybody loved it, and it represented Wall Street so the city bought it. It’s so sweet, isn’t it?

Yong Won (South Korea), Pengfei (China) and me (Hong Kong) at the Bull

Then we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge, which is around a mile long. We were above all cars walking in the bridge. We watched the car came and left. We can easily tell the different people in cars and see they drive across the bridge. It’s so impressive, it looks like a movie, we usually see this amazing and famous bridge in so many different movies. However it’s the really life, I know it’s really unbelievable. We just did it. It’s really good, everyone should get here and visit here, I promise you it’s really really good, you have to come here so that you can feel the great life.

The famous Brooklyn Bridge

Group shot after crossing the Brooklyn Bridge

Last but not the least, we found out we are really small in the universe. We are so small for the big city.  If you have been to New York City, you will know what I am saying.  New York city is a international and modern city. You have to get here and feel this city. I trust it’s the center of the whole universe.  I like NYC, it’s so amazing; I love NYC, it makes people to think about their life; I admire NYC, because there is no other city can be that amazing and gorgeous like NYC.

-- Ka ho, South Korea and Pengfei, China

First Day in the Big Apple

Dobar dan! (Hello everybody!)

Today, our day started with a beautiful, sunny weather. We packed up to our buses, and the first thing we went to was a Public Library. There, we met with our tour guide who was really approachable and welcoming, and he also had very beautiful sunglasses. He talked about a deep history of Public Library. 

Group photo in front the Public Library

Our next stop was Rockefeller center. Because it was a Sunday, Easter morning, there was a collection of eggs along the sides, and flags from our own countries in the circle. After seeing all of the marvelous, decorative eggs, we decided to search for our countries flags, and take a picture with them. The sunlight was right on the building, making whole Rockefeller Center even more wonderful. 

With the Serbian flag

With the Montenegro flag

After that, our next stop was gorgeous Central Park. The sun and the weather was beautiful, making the nature in park seem like magic. We took pictures with an angel fountain, and listen to the lady playing drums in the park. Our next destination was a St. John the Divine Cathedral, and if we put the Statue of Liberty on her side, we would be able to fit her in the cathedral, that’s how big it is! After our short stop, we went to Columbia University, and to us it was very fascinating because one day we would like to go to that same university. C

Columbia University

The village was our nest destination. The wonderful staff of Belo USA gave us a free time to wonder and explore around the village. We took our time to have lunch and we HAD TO find macaroons. We bought every flavor and color available. That was a check from out Bucket list! J In our free time, we searched for the apartment of Carrie Bradshaw, from the TV show “Sex and the City”. Taking pictures with the apartment was really magical and dream come true.  

Carrie Bradshaw's house in the show!

Metropolitan museum of art, which was our next destination, was pretty interesting. We saw Egyptian art and European art, and explored their history.

Group shot in front the MET

One of our favorite parts of the day was definitely hip hop class with an instructor from one of the best dance schools in the city: Alvin Ailey. They have dancers that have been in music videos of celebrities like Jay Z and Beyonce.

Group shot at Alvin Ailey

After the amazing dance class, we went to the most famous Hard Rock Café for dinner. We saw all of the rock stars stuff and instruments and outfits. We bought some souvenirs and the food was really good. Then we had some time to explore the Times Square at night. Let me tell you right away, IT IS MAGICAL! 

Times Square!!!

We still can’t believe that this day actually happened, and it seems like we are dreaming! Every part of this day was like a part of the dream. The dream that was coming true, and we can’t wait for the next days, and the rest of the tour.

-- Nikki, Serbia and Nevena, Montenegro

Empire State of Mind: the Beginning of a New Adventure

April 19th, 2014

My travel started months ago when I booked this trip. It's unnecessary but understandable saying that New York City, in the eyes of a young traveler as myself, is a big deal. But I am considering the emotional part, so, technically, my journey started early in the morning of April 19^th, when the dang alarm clock went off, but for this time that noise had an excuse for being forgiven.

Smooth sailing to the airport, where I managed to drink some energizing coffee, in the midst of the sights of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

At 9.30, I was up in the air, directed towards Detroit, my only obstacle on the way to Newark, New Jersey.

When my second flight was landing, I somehow had an idea of where New York was, so I was looking for it's Skyline. Picture the scene: me, my headphones blasting Empire State of Mind by Jay-Z, and the sight of the most famous group of buildings in the planet, that is shortly called: Manhattan Island.

It was cool. Real cool. 

And yes, I am mainstream because, yes, I couldn't think of anything better than that song, that pretty much everybody would think of in such circumstances. Yeah, I think you can picture the scene.

But anyways, I arrived at the airport, and I started annoying every single one of the other kids by asking where they were from and stuff. Plus I bought a doughnut. I think is always relevant. Yes, I love doughnuts. Once I was finally done with that fried treasure, I met some other students and we had a ride to the hotel, where I could meet some friends that I knew from a Belo trip California, and I was really looking forward to see again. Then we had dinner, where our Boss Tici explained the rules of this upcoming trip. And no, we can't do drugs for any reason, but to be completely honest, I somehow saw it coming.

To end the day I just laid down in my bed, watching some basketball. You know, is Playoff time.

-- Giacomo, Italy

WELCOME TO THE NEW YORK CITY, PHILLY & DC TRIP BLOG!

This will be our day-to-day journal... each day, you'll get news, information and pictures from the students. Join us on our adventure!

Get ready for a week in the exciting cities of New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC!!  The trip will be starting out in the great city of New York! There is no place like it in the world! A nice walk in Central Park, shopping in the cool and modern neighborhood of Soho, exploring the ritzy Upper East Side…the possibilities are infinite!

Continuing on to Philadelphia- we will see American history come to life! We will explore the National Constitution Center, see where the Declaration of Independence was signed –even try one of Philly's famous delicacies, the “Philly Cheesesteak”.
 

Next, we will head to Washington DC – the nation's capitol. Here, we will explore the many monuments and memorials in this important city! Enjoy an afternoon on the Smithsonian Museum campus, visit the quaint neighborhood of Georgetown, explore the life of George Washington on his Mt. Vernon estate…and more!

Join us on this journey through three of America's most vibrant, exciting, and historical cities!