Favorite Trip

               Last summer I had the most amazing time of my life. I’ve got a chance to visit London for my first time, and this was more meaningful because it was during the Olympics. This wasn’t a personal trip but a band trip, although it would have been so much better if it was a personal one. As a member of Saipan Southern High School Manta Band, I participated in numerous fundraisers all year long. We, as a whole, were able to make about $250,000, which seemed like an amount we could never earn. Although it was arduous, it was worth it.

On July 23, 2012, we embarked on our journey to London and after two days of spending time inside the plane and in the airport, we finally arrived at the London Heathrow Airport. There were Olympic committees everywhere and this made me realize that this was really the reality. We headed straight to the temporary building built only for Olympics uses and received our Olympics accreditation. After the two-hour bus trip, we finally arrived at Max Rayne House, one of the dormitories of University of Camden, London. Tired and weary from 2-day plane ride, everyone just fell asleep instantly.

The next morning, we woke up at 7 o’ clock in the morning for breakfast. As soon as I got out of the building, I felt chilly. The cold was unbearable, so I ran to the cafeteria for breakfast. All the participants of the London Music Festival were there, and this made the dull façade of the cafeteria livelier. Afterwards, we headed to the Elizabeth Conference Hall, an antique building across the Westminster, for our adjudicated concert. This was the most important day of our trip. We have prepared for a year for this concert, and we were all excited about it. After a short rehearsal, we had time to roam around central London. It was just amazing to see the Parliament and the Westminster. The scene was just ineffable, but the food there tasted so horrible. We soon headed back for our adjudicated concert. There were several other teams competing against us, and actually most of them were also invited to come to London just like us. As our turn neared, everyone became tense. Even I could literally feel my heart palpitate. When I sat down and Mr. Dewitt, our band director, raised his baton, I felt a rush of adrenaline. We, as a whole, followed his conducting and played the music with our hearts, and we achieved what we came for. We played with our best abilities and actually won silver award. Even after our adjudicate

d concert, the warmth remained inside me despite the extreme cold weather.

The next morning, we prepared to play for the torch relay. The place was not far away from our place, so it only took us about 15 minutes to get there. There were already crowd of people gathered around the relay line, and everyone welcomed us as we sat down to start our show before the torch relay. Unlike the day before, everyone felt relaxed and really just enjoyed the music and that moment. Soon after our entertainment, the torch relay participants entered one by one. Everyone cheered and clapped, and as the actual torch came in, the noise increasingly became louder. Even after the torch passed by, I couldn’t believe that I was actually in London to enjoy and be part of the event that I never thought I would be part of, the Olympics.

Several days passed and we have played for the cycling venue and for the entertainment show inside the Olympic park. These experiences were new and exciting but not as much as the first two days. After five days of staying in London, we finally got used to London but it was time for us to leave. Although it was only five days out of 16 years of my life, it was more valuable, exciting, and inspiring than any other moments in my life.