During my summer holiday I joined a program called “Cultural Exploration: Netherlands, France, Italy & Switzerland” to go to Europe with a group of American students for “cheese.”

This was not my first time abroad, but it was an unforgettable one.

Why do I say the trip was unique? Travel agencies usually have travel buses accompanying tourists. What about us? For five days, we toured the Netherlands by bikes. We cycled for five days in the north of the Netherlands, galloped in the wilderness on the highways, and crossed through the manor into the town. How we were exhausted but joyful! There were accidents on the trip — somebody broke their bicycle chain, somebody dropped their luggage and somebody couldn’t follow the group — but the result was everyone was safe and happy. I was grateful that we could help each other in this alien land.

In Italy, we went to a private kitchen to learn how to cook Italian dishes. From raw materials to cooking platter, we were fully responsible for making the ricotta ravioli with rich cream and a fresh Spinach aroma, the pork loin with honey, sweet and sour plums and apples’ caramelized flesh. We ended by creating the chocolate cake’s exquisite taste. For me from one of the world’s greatest food nations, I gave full marks to that night!

We also went hiking in Dolomites National Park. What astonished me was climbing over a cliff that was almost perpendicular to the ground. Imagine hanging a few hundred meters off a cliff with whistling winds that still chilling your back, despite having the protection of a rope around your waist.

Switzerland was the last stop on this tour. The world’s most livable country is as unexploited as a holy land and indulgent. We hiked on a glacier at 3,000 meters above sea level — riding the world’s highest roller coaster.

One goal of my trip was to study European culture. The four historical periods include Ancient Greece, Rome, The Middle Ages and the Renaissance in Europe. There are diversified museums and classical churches and squares, which have become a part of European life from these periods in history. Over the course of 30 days, we visited five museums, including the Orsay and the Louvre, as well as several churches, including the Notre Dame and the Duomo. As a science student, I always want to learn about art lovers who are dedicated to studying their craft in museums and those who are devoted to prayer in churches. I learned from my conversation with a Frenchman that this was his sixth visit to the museum and that the French loved coming to museums. In today’s fast-food culture, where few people can quietly confront a picture or a book, cultural input has become a problem.

My second goal was to study American culture. After living with American partners for a month, I had many intuitive feelings about American life, which I believe will be of great help to my future study abroad. They told me a lot about American slang and funny things and I’m happy to share my culture with them.

The trip was both sweet and bitter. It’s hard to fit into a new group, and harder to fit into a new society. Maybe I was easy-going, and maybe my teammates were kind so the impact of culture shock was not huge.

But with experience, I would like to speak to students like me who are willing to go abroad in the future: You should be prepared to taste bitterness. Life abroad is glamorous, but cultural differences are inevitable, and even in today’s globalized world you may be shocked.

What impressed me most about my American teammates was the motivation they gave me while climbing the snowy mountains. The day before leaving the snowy mountains, I went to a large waterfall which was deep inside the forest with four companions.

It was a long way off, probably because I had not had a good rest the night before. After climbing over several mountains, I felt like I had an electrolyte disorder. My legs felt like lead, my head was humming and one peak after another seemed to be waiting for me. I felt like I was going to sleep. My teammates noticed something was wrong with me and held me up, helped me to find my way, and even ran to buy me sports drinks and candy.

Finally, after five hours, we returned to the camp. We held each other tightly and I shouted to the mountain “I cannot fall!”

I went to Europe and ate cheese with a bunch of Americans, and this cheese was soft gold; it was knowledge. In addition to a lot of knowledge accumulation, I also hope that my exclusive inspiration can help students who want to know more about foreign countries.