Empire State of Mind!

Another exciting day in New York City!!

At the Empire State Building, it was really cool to see that something we see on tv all the time was really in front of our eyes!  From the top, we could see the whole city and it was really amazing.  From the 86th floor, we could see all the tall buildings, but we were above them all!  We were on the same level with the birds, and we didn't know they could fly that high!  How do they get up there? Do they take the elevator, too?

From there, we went to Grand Central.

That was so cool, because so many movies take place there, like Madagascar.  The ceiling was really amazing, it is decorated with constellations.  That was also where we had lunch.  I (Winnie) and my friends ate sushi, and I hadn't eaten sushi for a long time before that!  So I was really happy.  We thought about going to the Oyster Bar, but it was pretty expensive.  But we tried the Whispering Chamber in front of it, and talked to some random people on the other side of the room.  How cool!  Some of us ordered from the famous New York City restaurant Shake Shack, and it was so good.

After that, we met our guides and continued the City Tour that we started yesterday.

We saw the bull statue, Wall Street, the World Trade Center site, the New York Stock Exchange, the place where George Washington swore in as president, the beautiful Trinity Church, which is the richest church in the U.S., and even more tall buildings!

Then we walked across the famous Brooklyn Bridge.

It was a long walk, but really beautiful.

We saw a lot of locks all over the bridge.  We guess couples write their names on the locks and put it on the bridge like a promise of love.

Our next stop was shopping in Soho, but we were kinda tired from walking so we didn't buy too much.  We learned a lesson though while looking for the bathroom: life is hard and you have to find the right place.

Then, we went to Chinatown for dinner!  It was really nice to see some of our same culture and some of the same food.  We could talk in Chinese with the servers, and they said we are the sweetest group :o)  Those of us who use chopsticks in our home countries taught other people how to use chopsticks, and some of it was really funny!

We're looking forward to another full day in New York City tomorrow!

Winnie, Jeffrey, and Jennie from Taiwan

Day 1 in The Big Apple!

It was our first day in New York City!!!!  It was a full day with a lot of nice things.  At the end of the day, we couldn’t believe we had done all of those things in the same day!

When we arrived in Manhattan, the buildings were so tall and beautiful and amazing. We have never seen buildings like that in our lives.  We started with a city tour.  We met our cool guides who talked to us about the history of the city.  It was like history class, but way cooler because we were actually there!  The real things we were learning about were right in front of us!

We started our tour at the New York Public Library

and walked by Bryant Park and up to Rockefeller Center.  Then we went to Central Park. 

When we were inside the park, we couldn’t believe we were in the middle of the biggest city in America!  We saw the Imagine mosaic

and went to Bethesda Terrace. 

There were church singers there who sang really good all at the same time.  The winter has been so cold, there was some snow still on the ground and it was the first time some of us had seen snow in our lives!

From there we went to St. John’s Cathedral, and then took a walk to Columbia University.  It was huge, and some of us dreamed about going there someday.

We finished our tour by driving around Harlem.  Then we went to lunch in Greenwich Village, where some of us ate sushi, some burgers, and some of us went to a famous pizzeria where they filmed Spiderman!  It wasn’t expensive and there were a lot of people there.  It was a super famous place, but it seemed really normal.

After lunch, we went to the Metropolitan Museum. 

There were so many things there.  We couldn’t stop walking around the galleries to see all the variety of the museum!  They have very famous paintings that you can only see there. 

There was even an Egyptian temple inside.

The hip-hop class was next.   It was super fun, and some people’s favorite part of the day.  It was a very good academy with professional people, so you could feel like a New York artist there!

Finally we went to dinner at The Hard Rock Café.  The food was so yummy, and we could see real things that the Beatles wore and other rockstars owned.  One of the waiters danced for us.  In our countries, no waiters would dance for us. 

After we got some time to walk around Times Square at night.  Some of us didn’t have cash, and we told the street performers that, and they took pictures with us anyway.  They were so nice!  We even saw a horse in the middle of Times Square!  We think those unique and special things only happen in New York.

Aitana – Spain

Nia – Thailand

Polina - Russia

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!