Well today was my personal favorite day ever.

We started the day with a bus tour of Paris. We saw the Eiffel Tower, the Palace of Versailles, the Arc de Triomphe, the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and the Louvre while on our bus tour.

We had a long break at the Eiffel Tower so we could get out and take pictures. The Eiffel Tower was spectacular and blew me away.

After the bus tour we got back on the bus and went to Versailles. The gardens there were astonishing. I kept wondering how do they keep these gardens so beautiful all the time.

After seeing the beautiful gardens we went in to the Palace of Versailles. Wow, it was the largest palace I have ever seen. The art and architecture throughout Versailles was impressive even for our time period, but when it was built a few hundred years ago it must have been the craziest thing ever.

While in Versailles we grabbed some lunch and then were on our way back into the city of Paris.

We got to go in the Cathedral of Notre Dame which has vivid stained-glass portraits of scenes from the Bible.

After, we had about an hour of free time to pick up souvenirs or get a little snack. Then we were off to dinner. We had pizza (the French version). It had an extremely thin crust and less sauce than an American pizza.

We then went to the top of the Montparnasse Tower which gave the best view of Paris. The building was almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower. It had a glass observation deck where we could watch as the sun set over Paris. It was like a little kid in a candy store just bursting with excitement. It was perfect, we got there around 9 p.m., which is when the sun sets in Paris. I enjoyed just sitting and watching the sun set.

All and all everyone had a fabulous day, but we were pretty excited after the train ride which took us back to our hotel.

--Elizabeth Mitchell class of 2017

Do you know Notre Dame? That cathedral Quasimodo spent a majority life ringing bells in? Well I was there and got to see one of the most famous cathedrals in the world.

Let me tell you: it was huge. I've never felt like such a bug ever in my life. It's the most beautiful building I've ever seen. Even the gargoyles were gorgeous. Terrifying, but gorgeous nonetheless.

The inside was spectacular, her windows reached from the tile floors to the tops of the ceilings. All of the stained glass. The rounded windows looked like the inside of a still kaleidoscope.

Similar to the Rouen Cathedral, it branched off into different rooms dedicated to saints. I did not see the confessional though.

There was terrific woodwork along the walls. Candles everywhere. There was also a nun holding an offering basket. I gave ten euros.

As much as I love the cathedral and stories that sprang from its gloriousness, it felt way too much like a monument or a tourist playhouse than a church. I know with how famous it is you have to expect that, but it's still a house of worship.

All in all I'm still head over heels in love with the history and beauty of Notre Dame. Going inside is marked off my bucket list, now I need to go to the top of the tower.

--Ashley Williamson, class of 2017

Today we went to Rouen, France to see the Rouen Cathedral.

The cathedral itself took about two hundred and sixty years to build and was completed in the early 13th century. The doors were super tall; maybe the size of two charter buses stacked on top of each other. There was a man standing outside the doors with a donation basket.

When we went inside, we had to be uber quiet. It shows respect to those who were praying in the church. As we walked around, we saw gorgeous stained-glass windows. Every color you could imagine was pieced together to create elaborate pictures of the stories of Jesus and other important people of the Bible.

Statues of the saints lined the eastern side of the Cathedral. The one main hall branched off into different halls; most were for the saints.

There was one room where I saw my first real life confessional. Another had a small model of the whole cathedral.

When you get to see the gorgeous intricacies of the church and how much time went in to it -- thinking of the people who first helped start it, but never got to see it finished -- really gets to you. How much faith they had that it would be beautiful, knowing they may never see it.

--Ashley Williamson, class of 2017

Today was merely a travel day,  however it does not devalue the day itself.

We started off the day with a group grocery trip, then made our way to the port in Portsmouth.

The drive to Portsmouth itself was lengthy and allowed us to see more of the English countryside rather than the metropolitan city of London.

While we loved London, it was a great chance to see both sides of England.

And in addition to this, we all caught up on much-needed shuteye.

Then at once we arrived at the "ferry " port, but this was no ferry. Little did we know we were able to ride a cruise from England to France and lay out on the deck as we voyaged into the next country.

This trip allowed us to see the coast of England and France and gave us free roaming time.

All in all what was made to be a travel day actually turned out to be a great day getting to see more of the countries we were visiting and it was a great way to leave England and enter France.

--Miranda Scheetz, class of 2017

After eating a wonderful breakfast and chocolate croissants and fruit, our group took a one hour bus ride to the Caen WWII museum. It was very interesting to see France's perspective of the war. 

After that, we met with the tour guide and went to see the beaches of Normandy. It was an emotional thing to witness and experience, but I am glad to have the pleasure of visiting.

One of our last stops was the American Cemetery. It made me feel sad not knowing the names of those who helped us have the life we have now, but I am happy to have been able to visit them and say thank you.

At the end of the evening, we had a nice dinner. It was a sort of Shepard's  Pie with duck meat. It was actually very delicious and I was pleasantly surprised.

With the night coming to a close, some of the students traveled with the tour guide to see a castle nearby while the rest had a little while to shop.

Overall it was a lovely day and I am extrememly privileged to spend it with the people I am with.
-Skyler Paul
Class of 2016

The St. Paul Cathedral was beautiful,  and finding out that the steps were filmed for the song Feed the Birds in "Mary Poppins" was really nice.

Also, I saw the performance of Wicked. The show was amazing. I had seen it in America, but it was it was fun seeing it England and it made it better the second time seeing it. The show was spectacular. The story was great and the voices were beautiful. I loved it.

While I was seeing the show, others were exploring London on a tour of sites involving the famous "Harry Potter" novels.

Finally, we went back to the hotel for our last night of London.
- Cristina Rowe

Our last day in Harbin was special and a lot of fun. 

We took part in several classes, including aerobics, tai chi, Chinese and calligraphy lessons and we went to the MIT of Harbin, the Harbin Institute of Technology, where we also visited its science/space museum. 

Some of the photos include those of the elementary school Chinese class and elementary school students showing off their pictures of spring, the aerobics class, the calligraphy class, where you might recognize the teacher as the tai chi master. 

When we reached the school today, we were greeted by a flash mob of students singing and dancing just for us. Then we had a talent show, in which, not surprisingly, everyone won. 

We then had our final dinner with our hosts, where new best friends, and the parents, teachers, principals and students said their goodbyes. 

The students received welcoming gifts, took part in math and physics classes, learned tai chi and visited the Wen Temple, where students were seen making wishes for better grades.

In some of the photos you see us at the gate to the Wen Temple, and Meredith praying for good grades there. 

Math class stopped for us, and on the board, she got the problem correct. 

Jacob struck a pose while we learned about Beijing opera in history class from a professional Beijing opera singer.