Nian Jing Zhu
This year I went to Bursa in Turkey for the Youth Exchange Programme, this is probably the most correct decision I made in the year. During my 10-day stay with my host family, I met with two other girls, Sofia from Mexico and Laura from Italy, our host family daughters happen to be close friends, so we spent most of the 10 days together. We quickly became best friends by exploring Bursa and varies of Turkish cultures, from traditional breakfast to dinner, from mysterious Turkish coffee cup reading to Turkish henna night. We have been to mosques for the first time and it enhanced my understanding of the Muslim culture. They are very open-minded and enthusiastic people; we communicated smoothly and had several deep conversations regarding our cultural differences and similarities which was eye-opening
Camp Bursa was extra awesome, I swiftly experienced why it was one of the Top 10 Lion Camps. It was the people that make the journey more valuable than ever. We quickly bonded together and danced 24/7 on the party bus when exploring different cities (Bursa, Eskisehir, Canakkale, Istanbul) during the day and exchange our cultures at nights, happiness never came so simply (although I was completely exhausted when back at home). One of the highlights of the trip is definitely the Turkish wedding that we were fortunate enough to join, we danced the whole night through on a Monday and absolutely amazed by their dance moves (especially Turkish men!).
