MANY OF the over 3000 kids here at Granger have had a chance to go to many places all over the world and have experienced a great deal of new things. Their experiences have all varied, but there is one thing they all had in common: they all had a great deal of fun.

The many countries that Lancers have visited have many different things about them. Some even have a lot things figured out. “Germany just seemed to have it all figured out, like the trash it was separated into different sections. Like glass had to go in glass you know and you would get a ticket if you didn’t do it or like the license plates on cars said what city you’re in and where you were from and it was super rare to see an actual house,” Xochiquetzal Colunga-Martinez (12) said. Colunga-Martinez described more things about Germany, like the fact most of their cars are small and have to go through very thorough gas tests to see if they are safe enough for the environment. The way she put it all, it sounded like a very organized place. The German people also seemed to be very introverted people. “The people act very different. Germans feel harsh and are not a very open people,” Colunga-Martinez she said.

The people’s attitude and ways of living change from place to place and no one knows this better than Roby Karangalan (12). Karangalan has been everywhere: Philippines, South Korea, Paris, and Hawaii. He has seen a lot of things and the very different attitudes of people from all over the world. “ The people in South Korea were very nice people, very approachable. There was always someone drunk in the streets. I even saw a man breaking down one night,” Karangalan said. In comparison, the people of Paris were very different. “The people in Paris were very closed up and they seemed to be annoyed with tourists. One of them warned about keeping my phone in my back pocket- in French of course that I didn’t understand at all,” Karangalan said. People’s way of thinking and personality changes from place to place and Karangalan knows this the best.

Jet lag is a tiredness a lot people experience when traveling between time zones. Our Lancers here are not immune to it. Colunga-Martinez had a difficulty adjusting. “It took me about a week to get used to the 8 hour difference in Germany and it hit me even harder when I came back home,” Colunga-Martinez said. From the sound of it, it was a very hard thing to deal with. Even Karangalan had trouble getting used to it all. “Well when I went to all these places I didn’t have a hard time getting used to it but when I came back is when it hit me. I couldn’t sleep at all,” Karangalan said. They all seemed to have a hard time coming back, and it seems like jet lag is the only downside to going to these amazing places they seemed to love.

Lancers have yet to finish their travels. Many of them have many places they have yet to visit and want to visit. “Thailand is a place I want to go to because it’s like hot and jungly like the Dominican Republic but it’s in Asia,” Alexander Valdivia (12) said. Lancers have many dreams of visiting places they seem to imagine as a great place to go to. They seem to describe it all in a way that makes it sound magical.

The food was something that wasn’t very different compared to here. It was described as more authentic but more or less the same. “The food felt more real. Like it wasn’t fake like more fresh I guess,” Valdivia said. Food wasn’t really a reason to travel or something that stuck with these travelers.

Love is a word people seemed to use a lot when describing their travels. They loved it all- everything about it. Everything sounds lovely about it and it’s something I’m sure everyone wants to do and will love it.