So here I am, after months of anticipation, sitting in my dormitory in Shandong, China.

The journey here was a long one that left us feeling very exhausted, but it's only been a day and I can see it was completely worth it!

I can already tell China is an amazing place, and we haven't even seen that much yet.

The food is very different here.

My initial observation of the food is it was much healthier than American food. Granted we were at a formal Banquet but even so it was much classier than any American banquet I've been to.

The food was served and placed on an ottoman of sorts in the center of table, which was turned throughout the entire meal. As dishes went by we were able to grab any food we wanted to.

The dishes were very different than any American food I've seen.

We had a brief conversation this morning about American Chinese food as compared to Chinese, Chinese food. The two are nothing alike.

American Chinese food has always seemed very unhealthy to me.

Although I'll admit, it's absolutely delicious. The food here is good, and you can tell it's very healthy and prepared in a clean and healthy manner.

Unfortunately, my appetite has been a bit off since the plane rides so I haven't eaten a whole lot just yet but as soon as I start feeling better I plan on chowing down on as much as I can.

The people I've met so far have been incredible.

They're all so friendly and so willing to help you. On the bus ride from Jinan to the University I met a Chinese guy named Alex. He was extremely friendly and very interested in us and our American ways.

We spoke for a long time about many different things. I'm impressed by many of the Chinese students' English skills.

I'm glad too, because I don't know very much Chinese but trying to learn as much as I can in this short period of time we have. I learned the Chinese word for watermelon this morning at breakfast, which is xīguā (shee-gwa), so that was exciting to me. I can't wait to see what these next few days hold!

— Dan Copes, a junior health sciences major