Tour of American universities, elite program at Berkeley High School in San Francisco, California
In December 2018, Taiwanese students have received emails from their American study partners and have had very pleasant communications.
Participation experience
Day 1
Theme: A fulfilling day at Universal Studios
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: As soon as I arrived at the airport, I went to Universal Studios immediately. I had been to Universal Studios in Osaka before, so I thought it would be similar. But after I went in, I realized that they were really different. Because the studio is next to the studio, I found that Universal Studios in the United States pays more attention to "movie production". I think it is worth it to learn more about Hollywood movies through this trip. The rides and staff are also very different from those in Japan. The staff in the United States always greet people with a smile, which makes me happy. Thanks to Frank, our tour guide, we almost watched all the facilities and performances. Today was really fulfilling and I learned a lot about movie special effects.
#GlobalEliteLeadersProgramDay1 #Universal #UniversalStudios
Day 2
Theme: One-day tour in downtown Los Angeles
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: I arrived at the Getty Museum early this morning. After listening to the guide's explanation, I learned that so many clever ideas were added when designing the museum, such as the size of the tiles, the feeling of the color, etc. Then I went to Beverly Hills. There is a street nearby, and both sides of the road are lined with famous brand stores, such as Prada, Hermès, etc. The cars on the road are either Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and other sports cars. Going around the residential area, some houses look like art museums, and some look like castles. Each one is very expensive. Next, we went to Hollywood Boulevard. Street performers and tourists crowded the sidewalks, and people often came up to take pictures with you in movie character costumes. Finally, we arrived at the planetarium. Looking down from the observation deck, we had a panoramic view of the entire Los Angeles city. We even watched the sunset at the end, and we were already very satisfied.
Day 3
Theme: Science Center, Stadium and Santa Monica Day Trip
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: Today we first went to the California Science Center to see a real space shuttle. Then we went to the Lakers' home court, the Staples Center. There was a game going on and they closed the streets. There was a constant stream of people entering and leaving the stadium. Next we went to the park next to Hollywood. The Hollywood sign was clearer than yesterday. Then we drove to Santa Monica, the end of Route 66. The number of tourists was not to be underestimated. We finally found a gap to wait for the sunset. There was a reason why so many tourists were waiting there. This should be the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. Unfortunately, the camera is far inferior to what I see with my eyes.
#GlobalEliteLeadersProgramDay3 #CaliforniaScienceCenter #SpaceShuttleEnterprise #Los AngelesHome #HollywoodSign #SantaMonica
Day 4
Theme: First trip to Disneyland
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: This was my first time to visit Disneyland. Unfortunately, it was off-season and the park closed early and there were no fireworks, but I was still very excited about this day. Although it was off-season, there were still a lot of people going to Disneyland. We waited for a long time for the shuttle bus. After that, we played all the exciting rides one after another, from the first area to the other areas, and had a lot of fun. At night, we were lucky enough to see the light show. It was the first time I saw such a grand amusement park event, and I was very excited. Finally, I dragged my tired body to take the shuttle bus home, but the line for the shuttle bus was also very long.
#GlobalEliteLeadersProgramDay4 #Disneyland #CaliforniaAdventurePark
Day 5
Topic: Visit UCLA & USC
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: I came to California for the first time on 1/23 and visited UCLA and USC. The whole thing was explained in English. Although I felt that I could understand 80% of it, their speaking speed and the vocabulary they used were still a challenge for me. The campuses of these two schools are very different from those in Taiwan. I walked for almost an hour and still couldn't walk through the entire campus. The campus is very beautiful, with grass, trees, birds and squirrels everywhere. Usually, college students in Taiwan ride bicycles to get around. In the United States, in addition to bicycles, skateboards and scooters can be seen everywhere. Their students often wear casual clothes with the name of their school, which shows how proud they are of their school. After listening to the introduction of the tour guides of the two schools today, I feel that college life in the United States is really attractive.
Day 6
Topic: Visit UCI and travel around Santa Barbara.
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
Experience: On the morning of January 24, I left the hotel and went to visit the third university, UCI. Unlike the previous two universities, this university seems to be smaller and there are not so many students. However, the laboratories, library, etc. are very complete, and the library is divided into science and other departments. The tour was short, but the older brother who led us still introduced it in detail.
After a 2-hour drive, we arrived in Santa Barbara and visited a courthouse. The curtains inside seemed to be more than 100 years old. After dinner, we walked around the area and walked into a shopping street with a very European atmosphere. Before we knew it, an hour had passed. The houses on the street were restricted to a certain height, so the whole row looked very neat.
Day 7
Theme: Aquarium and 17-Mile Coast Tour
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
Experience: 1/25 I like to go to aquariums and zoos, so I was super excited when I knew I was going to the aquarium today. Although the aquarium is not very big, there are many marine creatures inside that are different from the Taiwan National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, which is very novel. Then we went to 17th Coast. The beach is very wide and clean. There are many different kinds of birds and squirrels on the rocks on the beach. They are not afraid of people, so we all get close to them. This is the first time I get so close to squirrels! Then we went to the town of Carmel. The whole town feels like a fairy tale. People on the road seem very leisurely. Some are drinking in the bar, and some are walking their dogs on the street. It makes people relax.
Day 8
Theme: Stanford University and Outlet Shopping.
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: 1/26 I have never been to such a big Apple Center. There must be dozens of Apple products on display. Surprisingly, those products have no anti-theft mechanism. Although I was very satisfied after using it, the price is not affordable. Then I went to Stanford University, which is a famous university ranked very high in the world. The campus is so large that it is impossible to walk around it in a one-hour guided tour. The tour guide introduced it in great detail, including the interesting history of the founding of the school. In the afternoon, after taking a photo next to the Facebook logo, we immediately went to the outlet that everyone had been looking forward to for a long time. After four hours, as expected, almost everyone came out with big bags. Whether you buy it for yourself or give it to someone else, it should be resolved satisfactorily today.
Day 9
Theme: San Francisco City Tour
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
Experience: I went to the Palace of Fine Arts early in the morning on 1/27. It was different from what I imagined. It turned out to be a semi-open area with a lake next to it. On the other side of the lake was a high-end residential area. Many residents exercised next to the Palace of Fine Arts. Then we went to the Golden Gate Bridge. The wind was so strong that I could hardly walk. The total length is about 2 kilometers. You can directly overlook Alcatraz Island from the bridge. After that, we went to many attractions: the winding Lombard Alley, the streets full of Chinese characters, and the monastery. Finally, we went to a high place next to the city to wait for the sunset. From above, we overlooked the entire San Francisco city. The beauty is really not what photos can show. The scenery I saw with my own eyes is really shocking. We ended the day by climbing up a hill and watching the sun go down. San Francisco is a really beautiful city.
Day 10
Subject: Berkeley High School and College Visits
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
Experience: 1/28 Tomorrow I will go to Berkeley High School for classes. Today, when their students were on holiday, we went to the school to introduce ourselves and the book donation ceremony to the vice principal, and took a look at the environment. Their school is really big, and it is very different from the school I went to in Taiwan. After that, we walked to Berkeley College by ourselves, and there were college students there to give us a tour. They were different from the previous tour guides. They not only introduced the school, but also introduced the dormitories, restaurants, sorority houses, and so on near the school. I learned a lot of things. We also went into the dormitory and found that their dormitories were in the same building for both men and women, and the toilets were also. After the end, we took the bus back to the hotel. It was really a very special experience.
Day 11
Theme: Experience Berkeley High School Life Day 1
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My experience: Today was the first time I met my study partner. Her name is Fernanda. She is a very lively and outgoing girl. As soon as I walked into the school gate early in the morning, she introduced many friends to me. Because she is Mexican, she took me to eat the famous Mexican burrito outside the school at noon. The course that impressed me the most today was the chemistry class. It is very different from the chemistry class in Taiwan. My study partner said that they would do an experiment almost every week. Today we had to do an experiment. Although the content was something we had learned in junior high school, it became very difficult after switching to English because there were many technical terms that I didn’t understand. However, I still understood the course according to my memory of what I had learned before. We did a total of 8 experiments in class, which should be more than the experiments I had done in junior high and high school. I met a lot of people this day. Although I really didn't understand what they said sometimes, I tried to muster up the courage to ask them to say it again, and they were all happy to repeat it for me. It was the first time for me to face all the foreigners who only spoke English. No matter how bad my English was, I had to force myself to speak, regardless of whether the sentence was wrong or not. This really required courage. I would not dare to talk so much with foreigners in the past, but this time I forced myself to find topics to chat with them, maybe to avoid regrets in the future. After all, if you don't challenge yourself, you will definitely not grow. I really didn't have much time to take pictures today, so I can only post my own thoughts.
Day 12
Theme: Experience Berkeley High School Life Day 2
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My thoughts: 1/30 Today is the second day, and I have started to get familiar with their curriculum. There are only 6 classes a day, and time flies by so fast. The most impressive class today is Chinese class. It’s not that what was taught in class today was special, but because I met the classmate next door today. Originally, we were not familiar with each other and could hardly say a few words. But today he seemed to be particularly talkative, so I took the opportunity to join in his conversation, and just like that, we became familiar with each other. I taught him some Chinese, and he treated me to American cookies. It was really cool. I hope that tomorrow we can still chat as enthusiastically as today. After school this afternoon, a few of us gathered and took the subway to United Square, which is a very busy downtown area. After shopping, we took the cute rickshaw to Fisherman's Wharf. It rained heavily on the way back, so we had to run on the road in the rain. It was a very special experience.
Day 14
Theme: Experience Berkeley High School Life Day 4
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
My thoughts: Today is the last day. In the past, there was no teacher in the math class, but today there is finally a teacher. Therefore, the math class left the deepest impression on me today. I found that what they taught was so simple. They taught "points, lines and planes" today. However, they only taught these three things, but they distributed a lot of handouts, making simple things more complicated. Moreover, this teacher is very special. As soon as he started the class, he asked us brain-twisting questions, and then explained to us that math is a subject of logical thinking, and that using mathematical logical thinking can also solve many things in life. His voice is really super hypnotic, and I fell into a daze for fifteen minutes without realizing it. On the last day, my study partner gave me three things, and I also gave her a card I wrote. She is really a very nice person. I am glad to know her and glad that she is my study partner.
Day 15
Theme: Last Day in San Francisco
Cao Qiaoying from Zhiping High School
Experience: This morning we set off in a rented Mercedes Benz. This was my first time riding in a Mercedes Benz, and it was a novelty. We arrived at the pier and waited to board the boat to Alcatraz. I had heard about Alcatraz before, but I never thought I could set foot on Alcatraz in person. How could I not be excited? Although it was windy and rainy on the island, it did not affect my excitement. Listening to the tour guide and walking in the prison cell, I realized that Alcatraz had so many stories. After that, we arrived at Golden Gate Park, which was really huge. We drove for several minutes but still couldn't get out. However, the rain was really heavy, and the temperature was very low, so we took some photos and left in a hurry. Before leaving, I went to TJMax again, which fulfilled my dream of buying clothes. Finally, I have to leave the United States and go back to Taiwan. These few days were really fun and I made some good friends. I hope I can come again in the future.