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My brother brought me into NYC from Staten Island by the ferry and cab. When I first got there I was introduced to all of the other kids on the trip since I had missed the orientation. From the China Institute we went in a van to the airport. Our plane to China got delayed for a few hours so we walked around the airport, got gelato, and played cards. When we got to China I was exhausted since I had only slept a couple hours on the thirteen hour plane ride. I was also overheating because I wore jeans and a hoodie on the plane. We first went to the Beijing International Language and Culture School where I stayed in a dorm with Nikki. We had classes the next day, exchanged money at the bank, and went to the gelato place. Nikki, Kasia, and I spent a lot of time in the international café because it had good food, and was a good place to sit and hang out. We played ping pong, went swimming, and checked out the campus in our free time. We had classes every weekday which was a group lesson in the morning then individual drills in the afternoon followed by a practicum which was us breaking up into groups and going around certain places asking for information about the area. On the weekend we went to the Great Wall of China, Peking University, Bei Da, and came to the Yucai School yesterday. I ate some cookies and got sick last night, but I feel a lot better today. I’m excited to move into my host family’s house and meet the host couple.