Journey to India

DAY 1: Arrive in Delhi

    Today arrive in Delhi, the national capital of India. Upon arrival at the airport, our company representative will meet you and transfer you to the hotel for check-in.

Overnight at Delhi hotels

DAY 2: Delhi—Full-day tour (old& New Delhi tour)

    Today morning have breakfast in the hotel. At 9:30, the tour guide will meet you at your hotel and later proceed for a full-day guided tour in Delhi starting with Old Delhi visiting Raj Gaht. Jama Masjid, driving past through the Red Fort. Later in New Delhi visit Humayun's Tomb, India Gate, drive past through Parliament Street and President House and visit Qutub Minar.

Overnight at Delhi hotels

DAY 3: Delhi—Jaipur via Fatehpur Sikri (240 km/5 hours)

    Today morning after breakfast, drive to Jaipur, the capital city of Rajsthan state. Jaipur is also known as “Pink City”. En route visit Fatehpur Sikri, known as Ghost Capital. Later continue the drive to Jaipur. Upon arrival, check in at the hotel. Evening: free at leisure for your own activities.

Optional: visits to Chokhi Dhani Village Resort (US $25 per person)

Overnight at Jaipur hotels

DAY 4: Delhi (256 km/5 hours)

    Today morning after breakfast, drive back to Delhi airport. The total distance is 256 kms and you can cover it in 5 hours. Upon arrival in Delhi, board flight to onward journey.

NOTE: Price starts with US $ 215 with

• Daily breakfast and soft beverages (饮料) and packaged drinking water.

• Elephant rides at Amber Fort.

• Sunset or sunrise visits to Taj Mahal.

• All entrance fees to the monuments and train tickets.

    Paris is the city of dreams; the city of love. If you are thinking of heading to Paris for a study period, then perhaps a little reality check is in order. But my experience was a romantic one.

    I paved my path to Paris through an exchange program. On arrival in Paris, I was constantly reminded of the official processes I was required to complete — forms to be filled in, meetings to attend, the list seemed endless. Perhaps it was due to my well organizational habit, but somehow this endless list of to do's was completed in little more than a week.

    Then the real work began. Once classes were underway, I found myself volunteering to do oral presentations and assignments first, rather than last. This method turned out to be very helpful.

    Once I had finished class for the week, I had an ever-increasing list of museums to visit, neighborhoods to explore, cafés to sit in, and parks to run around. Read as many books about Paris as you can. Talk to as many locals and other foreigners living there as you can. The one thing that reading a book or talking to someone cannot do is to provide you with the experience of wandering Paris on foot. I discovered some of my favorite places in Paris by wandering. The people watching, the sounds of the city, the colors as the seasons change, they all add to the ecstasy that is experiencing Paris as an exchange student.

    After spending five months wandering through the charming neighborhoods, I fell in love with the atmosphere that came out from every open door, and with every spoken word. There is something comforting about walking to the market each Sunday to be faced with the beautiful display of fruits, vegetables and dairy products. There is warmth in saying bonjour to the man across the hall.

    On my last day in Paris, I confidently said, “Bonjour Monsieur,” as I passed the little store down the street. I guess no matter how hard I tried I was always going to be an outsider, a tourist. The best part about going on exchange in Paris is falling in love with the city in your own unique way. Everyone's experience of Paris is different. I know mine is unique and special to me, my own little pieces of Paris.

    The associates I hired in my bicycle and lawn mower shop like myself were never perfect; however, they were excellent. Working with them as they improved taught me new ways to show forgiveness, understanding, and patience.

    One day the placement officer asked me to interview a young man who was having trouble finding a job. He told me that David was a little shy, did not talk much and was afraid to go on with interviews. He requested that I give David an interview just for practice. He plainly told David that I had no positions open at the time and the interview was just for practice.

    When David came in for the interview, he hardly said a word. I told him what we did at the bicycle shop and showed him around. I told David to keep showing up because the number one thing an employer wanted in an associate was dependability. David was very quiet (he was evaluated as a slow learner in school).Every ten days or so, for weeks after the interview, David walked into the bicycle shop and stood by the front door. He never said a word, just stood by the door.

    One day, shortly before Christmas, a large truck came to the shop, packed with 250 new bicycles. It had to be unloaded right away or the driver would leave. It was raining. Some of my workers (without physical limitations) chose not to brave the weather to get into work, so I was short-handed. It seemed everything was going wrong and on top of it, David came in the front door and just stood there. I looked at him and shouted,“Well, all right! Fill out a time card and help me unload this truck!”

    David worked for my bicycle shop for eighteen years. He came to work every day thirty minutes early. He could talk; however, he rarely chose to. He drove my truck and made deliveries. The customers would praise David, saying,“He doesn't talk, but he really shows you how to operate a lawn mower!”

    Disease, poverty, hate, love — Charles Dickens' stories opened his readers' eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years later, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens' legacy (遗产) was far greater than just "great-literature".

    February 7 marks the 200th anniversary of the writer's birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let's take a look at two of them.

    A White Christmas

    Dickens is described as "the man who invented Christmas"— not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today.

    In the early 19th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day — unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.

    Many people believe that Dickens' popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth —“home enjoyments, affections and hopes".

    In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote:" Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas."

    "Dickensian" poverty

    Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London.

    He helped popularize the term "red tape" to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy (官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.

    "Dickensian" has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like "terrible" or "horrific", but rather described it as "life mirroring the times of Dickens".

    I took a journey to New York, US several months ago. It was the first time I had been abroad. It was also the first time I had taken a trip by myself. I had great enthusiasm and high hopes, and I wasn't let down.

    It's hard to describe how I felt when I arrived at the airport in New York. Looking at people of different races and nationalities passing by and hearing different languages all around me, I couldn't say anything for a long time. I had never understood the cultural diversity of the US so clearly and closely before.

    The following days were even more impressive. We integrated(融入)into the forest of concrete and cement(混凝土和水泥). We waved to the Statue of Liberty; we looked down at the busy island of Manhattan; we looked at well-known universities—Harvard of ancient Egypt.

    Then we visited some well-known university—Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Columbia—each with its own appealing and time-honored history. But what all these universities have in common is their peaceful academic atmospheres witch you could feel everywhere. I was impressed by the libraries, decorated just like cathedrals(教堂), and the laboratories just next to the classroom. My dream is to return to those places as an international student.

    Finally came our destinations—the Model United Nations conference at the University of Chicago. Students from various countries arrived to act as United Nations delegations and share their opinions about global issues.

    As a non-native speaker, I felt that competing against native speakers was a very tough task. But it was also a rare change to improve my English and I couldn't throw it away. With perseverance and devotion. I got used to talking to other delegations naturally. Although I didn't win any awards, the chairman praised me at the closing ceremony for my excellent performance. That made me feel really proud.

    This trip brought me unforgettable and valuable experiences that will benefit me forever.

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