People to People and National State Leaders Programs

ready2011
Sun, 13 Feb 2011 16:43:40 +0000

My dad had paid for P2P China and when he got sick, I couldn’t go. But they allowed me to postpone until the next year. The trip was a bit more expensive but I did some fund raising and received a bit of a grant as well.

I never really thought about the world before I went on the trip to the South Pacific. I stayed with host families for some of the almost-3 weeks and saw many things that I would never see otherwise. I wrote about it in one of my short essays because it really did change my “world view.” P2P also has very strict dress code and behavior codes. I thought the dress was really dorky but we looked respectful and acted respectful.

I’ve always had good table manners and civility but after that trip I have even more. I think that the strict behavioral and dress standards and emphasis on learning about other cultures was more positive than anything I could have accomplished at home in 3 weeks.

And I was far from miserable. We had a great trip with great counselors and a fun contingent. The 3 weeks went by so fast. Definitely not miserable and neither was anyone else that I’ve known who has gone on a P2P trip.