“Passengers, we are on our final approach to Beijing Capital International Airport, and we should be on the ground in no more than twenty minutes. Flight attendants, please prepare the cabin for landing.”—I will never forget how happy I was when the pilot on my flight to Beijing announced this over the loudspeaker. I was exhausted to have endured a twelve hour flight with no entertainment whatsoever, but excited at the same time for my arrival in Beijing—particularly for the reason why I was there. I was in Beijing, China, as a Global Leadership Adventures student, on their first ever China program. Global Leadership Adventures is an organization providing high school students with educational opportunities in foreign countries to learn, do community service, and make new friends.

When our two-storied Air China Boeing 747-400 jet finally arrived at the gate and began unloading it’s passengers, I stepped into the overheated airport, and followed everyone out—to customs, to that monorail that took us across the airport to get our bags, and finally out into the arrival hall. My flight arrived about an hour early, so frankly, no Global Leadership Adventures staff member was there to pick me up! I mean, seriously, who would want to wake up at four in the morning for some flight that got in early? I’m sure I wouldn’t! But in all importance, I eventually got picked up—and as I look back at this small memory from the trip, I realize that it is still one of the funniest moments of my life. I was told that I had to wait for the next two people to arrive since their flights got in at around the same time as mine—one of them was Miriam from London, England, and the other was Kate, a staff member flying in from another program in Australia. I remember getting Miriam and Kate confused right away, and thinking to myself, “Oh, brother! How am I supposed to remember all the other students’ names?”

After our little meet-and-greet, Miriam, Kate, and myself were off to the Global Leadership Adventures Home Base, which happened to be a hotel owned by the Beijing Language and Culture University. The hotel looked really nice—I mean, each room had two twin beds, a flatscreen TV, and even slippers to wear! But then there was a little problem. Miriam’s room across from mine would flood each time she turned on her air conditioning. Lucky for her, she got moved to another room for being the oldest girl. I hate to say this, but, Josh and Donovan—you guys got her somewhat faulty room. At the Global Leadership Adventures Home Base, we also got to meet our mentor for the program, Swiff.

The rest of the first day was dedicated to meeting and greeting all the members who were arriving. I remember that Miriam and I would go outside and wave as each bus pulled in. All the students probably thought I was crazy as I was wearing a bright red shirt with Elmo on it and bright turquoise jeans—especially you, Jose! It was fun meeting all the new faces—I remember we all gathered in the hallway of the hotel and shared our normal daily life experiences with each other. The fact that I can still recall exactly who I met on that first day and our conversations shows exactly how powerful of a bonding experience this program gave me. We then got to contact our parents and tell them that we had safely arrived in Beijing. It felt so good to hear my mom’s voice after such a tiring day. Tomorrow—the real fun begins!