Gillian Moore
Staff Writer
Traveling and seeing how different cultures live can be an amazing and eye-opening experience. While some students to California for summer break, a few students have had the opportunity to travel outside of the continent.
“It was really weird; we just ate dinner there…” senior Henry Schutt said. A few years ago, his class at OTA was given the opportunity to travel to China for about a week and he and a few other students took the opportunity.
“We just went to malls nearby, at one point we went to someone’s house, that was weird,” Schutt said. “They made us dinner and this person is a big CEO person now and they had a massive house somewhere else, but this was just their family house,” Schutt said.
Along with Schutt, senior Landon Wesley went to China.
“I can’t remember where we were, but we were at this hotel and couldn’t find the remote or figure out how to turn off the TV, and this Chinese advertisement for this car was constantly playing, for like two days straight. We could not sleep at all,” Wesley said.
While some may have been to Asia, senior Wesley Newman went to Tanzania, Africa, for a mission trip.
“My favorite part was definitely the kids. We went to a lot of schools and the people there are so nice. If your car gets stuck and there’s a house nearby, you can just go and tell them what happened and five or six people will just come and help drag your car out of the mud. Oh also, doors, don’t mean anything,” Newman said. Community is an important part of the lifestyle in countries like Tanzania.
Some students are fortunate enough to be able to travel and have all loved their experiences, even when things aren’t so glamorous.
“Also the thieves there are great, like they’re super nice. They’ll try and take money from you, but not all of it because then you’ll be starving. If you look at them and go, ‘No, don’t take my money,’ they’ll say sorry and walk away,” Newman said.
Newman suggests everyone to take the opportunity to go to Tanzania if they ever get the chance, not only because of the kind people, but of the beautiful scenery too.
“Tanzania is amazing, it’s very colorful and everyone feels almost spiritually healthier than they do here. It’s kind of a gross feeling coming back home. Everyone here is so focused on doing their own thing and they don’t want to be bothered by anyone. Everyone was together and happy there,” Newman said.
Some students are able to leave the continent and come back to the US with inspiring stories.
The Pioneer Press 