-by Richard Wang, MLHS Freshman
On Tuesday morning (Oct 26), we went Mr. King’s classroom. He said, “Hurry up everyone. Our exciting trip to St. Louis will begin.” We were looking forward to this trip for two weeks now. All of us were so excited, and I was a little nervous. This was my first time leaving my host family and going to a different American state. We left school at 13:00 or 1 pm. Mr. King said the drive would take 7 hours nonstop. We rode in Lancer 1 and 2. On the way, we did stop for dinner at Applebee’s, so we arrived in St. Louis a bit later than planned at 22:30 or 10:30 pm! We were all so tired. Ricky, Stoney, and I shared a room. In fact, every student had to share a room. Our room was a bit cramped, but we were happy to get some sleep.
The most exciting parts of our trip began the next day (Oct 27). Although we had a long and tiring drive to St Louis, we were all so excited and curious on Wednesday morning. Our first place to go was St. Louis University. It is such a big and beautiful college. Two friendly students in that college took us on a walking tour around the campus. We also had an admissions presentation. The college was so beautiful and amazing, so many types of buildings: church, library, dormitories, class buildings, etc. Then we took a riverboat ride on the Mississippi River. Around 3 pm, we arrived at the Gateway Arch. We went to the top of the Arch by the tram system - 630 feet in sky! It was so spectacular. Later, we had a yummy barbecue dinner at Salt + Smoke followed by a good sleep. We went to the City Museum on Thursday (Oct 28) morning and then visited the St. Louis Union Station where we visited the aquarium, rode a Ferris Wheel, and did lots of interesting things there. I liked the aquarium most because there were some animals we could touch. We went to Circus Flora that evening. On Friday (Oct 29), we visited the Meramec Caverns. Jesse James once hid out there with one of his sidekicks. I saw lots of new and interesting things, like an underwater river and beautiful formations. I found an old machine I used to type out small messages on coins. After a long drive, we finally arrived back to Manitowoc at 20:15 or 8:15 pm. Home sweet home!
I thought this trip Mr. King planned was so successful and wonderful. I didn’t want to go on this trip so much when Mr. King first told me, because I don’t like group trips so much. But this trip made me so happy! I got to know some of the international students better and became better friends with them. I saw many things I had never seen before. When I first saw the Gateway Arch, I thought it was only an adornment. But when I went to the top, I experienced a feeling I never had before. As said in a Chinese poem, “When you arrive at the highest place, every ‘mountain’ will be so small.” If you let me use one word to describe this trip, I will say, “amazing.” Thank you to God who gave us a safe and happy trip. Thank you, Mr. King, for planning and taking us on this amazing trip. Amen!
