The Big Apple bound! We headed out to New York at 7:45, sitting on the bus for a couple hours and stopping for lunch. When we finally got there, we met a new tour guide named Mike. He was absolutely amazing! It was so interesting seeing a person filled up with that much information about one thing. He took us to Grand Central Terminal, and inside was gorgeous. It was enormous and filled with so much significance. Then, we went to the metropolitan museum, and that was big too! Anyone could spend days in there and still not cover everything. My feet were hurting so bad, so I didn't really enjoy my experience there other than the ancient artifacts. After that, we walked around more, heading to Times Square. It was complete chaos! People everywhere and food vendors yelling from left to right. We shopped and walked more all over the place. Finally, we said goodbye to our tour director and ate at food vendors, calling our dinner a scattered dinner. I had the chicken over rice which was really good. We then walked to the bus, and finally went to the hotel to unpack our suitcases. It was a really fun day, but very long as well. I noticed a huge toll in difference from home and to New York. Here, there's too many walkers and pedestrians to count, but to norman, there's a couple, but not a lot. Another difference is that there is so much traffic! It's kind of overwhelming looking at all of the cars and hearing the horns every ten seconds. However, a similarity is that people were actually nice in New York, reminding me of home. New Yorkers have a reputation of being mean, shoving machines tha only care about themselves. Although I encountered a couple of those, the majority of them were genuinely nice and considerate of others. They said "excuse me" or "behind you" to get around the grip, which I thought was very out of that stereotype New Yorker. With just textbooks and classrooms learning about the history in New York, you don't really get the atmosphere of New York in a classroom. All you have are printed paper and facts off of the internet. But on this trip, you get to actually experience it and feel that atmosphere. I think that is just absolutely marvelous and getting an opportunity like this one is simply amazing! This will definitely influence my life now and in the future. I can always reflect back on this trip and remember all of the fun, while learning, I had. Not a lot of people get an opportunity like this one. My tour director, Marianne, has done an exquisite job teaching us about the states that we have visited, while making it fun and exciting. She talks about the states and gives us background information that is super helpful now and in the long run. Plus, she makes conversation with us and is really easy to talk to. I hope the kids next year is lucky to have her because I know for sure they'll have fun!