Reflections on 2018 NPU-QMUL Summer Camp (3): A Marathon to Explore London

In London, there are lots of famous landmarks all around the city. So here comesone of the most exciting activities during 2018 NPU-QMUL Summer Camp–the London Marathon. Our teacher gave us a list of 13 landmarks. The requirement is to start at QMUL and end at British Museum and check every landmark in the shortest time with any possible transportation.

In the evening of the day before, our group marked the places on the google map and tried to find every detail around the landmarks. For convenience, we drew a map with all the information we got and labeled the actual routes which we thought were the fastest.

Our English teacher,Agne did the marathon with us that day as a supervisor. Underground was the only transportation we chose, and Agne did save us lots of time on finding the way in the underground. We finally finished in 139 minutes, which was the first group standing in front of the British Museum.

Yuepeng Xin

Through this trip, not only we won the championship, but also it gave us a great chance to have a brief understanding of London's famous places.

For me, it was the first time that I really walk around this amazing city. I have to say London is beautiful.I love the ancient building structures here. You may see the old and the modern buildings are built shoulder by shoulder, which is pretty cool and let me wonder about the story behind them. I think London is not as big as wehaveimagined in the beginning. London looks pretty big on the map but it only takes us a short time to walk across the down town. Maybe it is because the buildings are built really close to each other.

Back to our topic, the London Marathon is a very tiring mission. We are all surprised by Agne's physical strength. She was just wearing slippers but even ran faster than all of us. When we got to the British Museum, we were all too tired to visit the museum.

Last but not least, thanks to Agne’s help to find the way in the underground and encourageus, and the little map we drew, which saved us a lot of time.

Zeyu Zhou

We've come across a lot of things that day, and I have lots of feelings on that day. For instance, first, most people rushed all the time whether on the street or in the underground. Agne told us that's what the citizens usually do. Second,the tube system is very old and confusing. Thanks to Agne, we didn't get lost in the tube (a few days later, we took the wrong line and spent 1 hour to find the way home). Third, the British people couldn't be friendlier. When you carelessly bump into someone else, they would say"sorry" immediately before you do that. Finally, the designs of transportation here are original. It is really a fantastic experience in London,and we have even made a memorable video to cherish this wonderful time.

Xianghan Gao

London marathon, which requires us to visit 13 sights and take photos in group and get to the British Museum as fast as we can after that;the fastest group is the champion.

Proudly, we are the champion.

In this event, being active during the day is not enough.Our group leader even got prepared on the day before it. He found out all the sights and connected them with London's underground.Then, he drew a map to find the best way to reach the destinations.I think the most important thing which supports us is this map. What's more, I also appreciate Agne, she has finished the marathon with us and givenus a lot of help.

She is really energetic and enthusiastic, always running in front of us and leading us to dash tothe next sight;it isn’t the Agne I have known. That’s so funny. And the other key for us to win is unity– none of us wanted to rest before we arrived at the British Museum. Each of us overcomes our different troubles, only concentrated on our same task, which moved me a lot. I think we have done our best and the marathon also helps me become a master of the underground in London. Now I can go to any place without Google Maps. This event really benefits me a lot.

Jiahan Zhang

In our London marathon, we toured 13 sights,trying to become the fastest group by underground andluckily we are the fastest. The result makes me happy and proud, and I know it is our force that helps us win the prize.

At first, I wasnot keen on this activity as it is too tiring and if we go too fast I can't appreciate the sights well at all.I was a little bit confused at night before the activity.

However, when we started to go, looking at my group partners' exciting faces, the only thing in my mind was to win the prize. So I tried my best to catch up the steps of Agne. Actually,she was really energetic. Nobody knew how happy I was when we finished our 13 sights.I dashed to the museum, with the joy of being the first one, tired but happy. After that, I had my first fish and chips in London with all my partners after a long-time walking.It is really delicious, maybe the best meal I had in London. The marathon taught me that we should hold to on our dream and never give up.It is a significant activity.

Mukun He

In the very beginning first, we were determined to get the champion. So before the scavenger hunt in London, we did a lot of preparations. Firstly, we found where the place was that we needed to take photos with on the underground map. After that, our laborious group leader drew the route on paper and madea perfect design to help us get the first prize.

Fortunately, in the morning, Agne decided to join us. She helped us to find the underground and asked for the directions. Thus she saved us much time for our group and she was our lucky fairy.

We all wanted to go into the art gallery to visit when we got there. But we continuously toll each other the champion belonged to us and we must go and we can get here other days. The final station is the Piccadilly Circus for our group. Then we ran to the British Museum, faster and faster.

By the way, I think the tube system in Londonis different from that in Xi’an. The main difference is the noise. The system in Xi'an is far quieter than that in London, because in Xi'an, springs are installed under the train to reduce the noise which may cause damage to the old treasures buried underground.We really enjoyed our time in London.