A very successful trip to New York, Washington DC and San Francisco was held in the Term 2 holidays. Students were able to gain experience in overseas travel, look at the US markets, financial district and events, United Nations, NZ Embassy, US government, as well as visit a number of well-known tourist sites. These included Statue of Liberty, Alcatraz Prison, 9/11 Museum and Memorial.

Some of the student’s comments:

What was the best activity?

• Times Square: The scale of everything, how impressive it was with the Banners and Advertising
  
• Broadway Show “School of Rock” was quality
  
• NY Yankees game – baseball was a foreign sport to me and very interesting
  
• Alcatraz: The audio tour was very interesting and walking around seeing the real prison. Now I can watch ‘Escape from Alcatraz’ with more interest
  
• Smithsonian Museums: Overall really interesting, quality of the museums were high
  

Impressions of the USA

• Eye-opening, everything is so big and man-made, as opposed to New Zealand’s natural look
  
• Super-sized, advertising, fast-paced, patriotic
  
• It was very large but at the same time felt over-crowded
  
• Saw lots of homeless people
  
• Always something going on
  
• It came across as very strict, as though everyone was considered a threat
  

The trip is summed up by one comment: I loved it and would love to go again, amazing experience and I gained some great life skills.