Article #4 in the Student Travel Stories Series from our tour of Beijing, China. By Toan, Age 18, 11th Grade in Boston. Born in the U.S. to parents from Vietnam.
Q: During our free hour in Beijing’s Night Market, word is that you sampled some INSANE foods. What exactly happened?
A: Well, first I went around trying to look for the scorpion. That was the first food I wanted to eat.
All the exotic foods in the market were [...Read More!]
Article #3 in the Student Travel Stories Series from our tour of Beijing, China. By Michelle, Age 15, 9th Grade in Boston. Born in the U.S. to parents from China.
Q: What was the craziest thing for you, traveling through China as a Chinese-American student?
A: When we got to China, Xiu Na (another Chinese-American BPS student on the trip) and I had the exact faces of Asian Chinese people who live there. So when the Chinese people [...Read More!]
Article #2 in the Student Travel Stories Series from our tour of Beijing, China. By Julio, Age 16, 9th Grade in Boston. Born in the U.S. to parents from El Salvador.
Q: What was the best part of our week in China for you?
A: Honestly, a highlight of the whole trip was the Silk and Cotton Markets because something very unique to China was the bargaining. Most kids in the U.S. never get to experience bargaining because [...Read More!]
Article #1 in the Student Travel Stories Series from our tour of Beijing, China. By John, Age 17, 11th Grade in Boston. Born in the U.S. to parents from Vietnam.
Q: John, what did climbing the Great Wall make you realize?
A: I pay so much respect to the Great Wall of China because it is over 3,000 miles long. That is as far as the distance between Boston and California! I [...Read More!]
HOORAY! We are all safely back from a phenomenal student tour in China!
I burst into tears of emotion when my fiance picked me up at the airport last night, so happy was I about what we accomplished over the past 8 days.
Here are the facts:
On the morning of Thursday 2/16/12, after a YEAR of planning, fundraising, and meetings, 42 Boston Students and 6 Boston teachers boarded a plane from Boston to [...Read More!]
“Argh!” my friend emailed, “How are you able to juggle all your work and social and fitness obligations??”
“Help me organize my life!”
In the email I wrote back to her, I realized that I have, indeed, honed a set of concrete Life Juggling strategies that have enabled me to get a ton done (click here for examples of uber-productivity) while still staying sane.
Allow me to share these productivity tricks with you now, as you [...Read More!]
In the previous article, we discussed the most shocking bathroom situation of my world travels.
But what is the most luxurious toilet of China?
Easy. Just go to Shanghai and travel about 1,000 feet… straight UP!
The Cloud 9 Bar and Grill is on the 87th floor of the Grand Hyatt Hotel of Shanghai, and is one of the highest-up and most beautiful bars on Earth.
It also has one of the best bathrooms in [...Read More!]
Never in my life have I been more dizzied from cultural differences than the afternoon I saw the Girls’ Bathroom in a 4,000-student school of Yunyang, China.
It wasn’t that the bathroom was rather run-down and dirty that shocked me. No– I’ve been a teacher in large urban schools in Boston for seven years and have seen (and smelled) my share of dirty school bathrooms. I’ve also squatted in all sorts of [...Read More!]
As a hip, world-traveling American, I am supposed to run in the other direction when I see a chain store from my native country, especially if that chain is a monster like Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts.
Buuuuut… it’s not that simple. You see, rather than being disgusted by the tentacles of imperialism in corporate garb, I’m frequently fascinated and impressed.
For example, check out the lead photo of this article. Dunkin’ Donuts of [...Read More!]
“Tell him in Chinese that we love his dumplings!” I hissed to Gareth as we walked out of the restaurant, passing by the saintly man frying and steaming the dumplings we’d just gobbled up.
My friend and I sidled up awkwardly behind the chef, waiting for an appropriate time to sing his praises.
Clouds poured from the steamed bun baskets. Oil sputtered from the giant black dumpling-frying pan. The man’s hand flew upward [...Read More!]