Washington D.C. on a beautiful day

Today we went to the capital building and we had a super nice tour guide who showed us the Capitol Building, the Library of the Congress, which was super pretty and just simply amazing. Then we walked over to the White House and took pictures while we all were hoping to see Barack Obama. The weather was warm and sunny so we went to the National Mall with all the museums and we were able to explore all the museums we wanted to. The Art museum was amazing and it took a lot time to go through even one of the museums because they are super huge. The boys got excited about the Air and space parts of the museum, which was apparently also really amazing and a must see. After our amazing museum time we went for a little shopping and dinner in Georgetown and enjoyed our last night together.
All day everybody had an amazingly positive attitude which made me automatically feel happy and also in a good mood too. I enjoyed the good weather we had and the people around me, but at the same time I had also on my mind that this perfect time is going to an end. The time was simply so perfect that it is going to be hard to say goodbye, but well, how BELO said; It is never a goodbye, it is always a see you later.
         Anna Sofia, Germany

What a view!

Our local tourist guide was amazing. Telling both interesting and entertaining facts about really helped us understand both past and present New York. The city streets were full of people. Eating in Chinatown felt like eating in the real China. And finally seeing the legendary Manhattan skyline from the Brooklyn Bridge has one of the most memorable moments of my lifetime.

The Empire State Building’s observation deck made me gasp. Seeing over 30 miles of land! Also Grand Central Terminal was very memorable, because the place has been seen in several movies. Wall St and its history are truly a must-see in the city.  Shopping at the magnificent stores of Soho will make you lose a lot of money in clothes and souvenirs. Also Chinatown and its originality will shock you.

Name: Aki Huunonen

Country: Finland

Washington DC

May 1^st

First we went to Memorial Park which had a lot of statues and monuments. We saw Lincoln Memorial, which was  one of the famous statues that I knew before, we also saw the Korean War Memorial and the Vietnam War Memorial; I really enjoyed seeing all of them and the statue of Martin Luther King, Jr. too. Also we went to  Roosevelt Memorial and  The Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It was so cool!! Our tour guide was so awesome!! I appreciated her being our guide. After that we went to big mall (near the Pentagon) to have lunch and to do some shopping. And then we went to George Washington Mount Vernon! It wasa  huge house and it had so many interesting details and things about George Washington, his family and his life. It was great and beautiful.

I think that today was more valuable than normal American history class.  It was a  wonderful day! I felt that everyday on this trip went so fast. I hope that tomorrow is going to be a fantastic day again!

Fuka Iwase and Yukari Nakamura (Japan)

Philadelphia Experience

April 30th

First we left New York and drove to Philadelphia. Nine of the exchange students were there for only New York trip so we had to say good bye to them. It was pretty sad… Oh no, we’ve never said good bye but we say “ see you later.” Don’t forget that. Then we went to ReadingTerminal to have lunch. The place was pretty cool because they had so many kinds of awesome foods from many countries!! After that we went to the Constitution Center. We saw a presentation first which was pretty good, and then we went to look around. There was a room which had so many statues of important historical people. One of the coolest things in the center was that we could experience voting of the presidential election.  Then we had a walking tour in Philadelphia. It was raining so hard. Everyone’s shoes were dead and wet and it was freezing cold. I couldn’t even pay much  attention to what the guide was saying sometimes, but I still learned a lot. It was kind of sad because it was the only day that we could see the Philadelphia area... and all that rain! But I really want to go back again when it is sunny cause Philadelphia is amazing! After the tour everyone was not in a good mood because of the raining tour... we are normal teenagers after all! lol But the dinner changed us! The cheese steak was  awesome and the dessert was amazing! The dinner made us happy and made me feeling like this whole day was great!! After dinner we drove to Washington DC! I'm excited for the day tomorrow!

Yukari Nakamura (Japan)