RULES:

• The song must be SCHOOL APPROPRIATE.
• Submit video to vfttsubmissions@gmail.com by Monday, October 17th.
• Boost your chance of winning by using props and costumes.

• Previous concert ticket winners can not participate. (We love you, Ryan and Leo, but someone new has to step up).

This will be on the morning announcements all week. Clock’s ticking. You got this! Let’s go, Mustangs!

Oswaldo Guzman, interviewer

Ms. Trang Tran, interviewee

Guzman:  How does it feel to go on trips such as these, where one can have fun yet learn so much about a different culture?

Tran:  [in high spirits] Fabulous, you get to have your passport stamped; I’m super excited! Last year I went to London and Paris and that was a 7 day trip, this one will be an 11 day trip, we’ll get to go to Rome, Florence, Barcelona, and Madrid.”

G:  How is it meeting and traveling with new students all the time?

T:  I never noticed there was this immediate bonding that takes place cause you are traveling to a foreign country so it’s not just meeting the students but well, I’m also in a different position cause I’m the chaperon so you feel very protective and of course you’re there to have fun and experience a lot of things but  first and foremost you just want to take care of everybody, make sure people are feeling well and comfortable cause even though it is very exciting to travel when you travel to a foreign place it can be difficult because you don’t understand the language, there’s all these signs in a different language that is hard to get use to at first…but I like that feeling of making sure everyone is having a great time if I am.

G:  How is the scenery?

T:  You know, there’s always things I like such as old buildings, cobble stones and seeing different people and its very diverse because we go to major cities and it just feels very fast because I went to London and Paris, which are Capitols, so everybody was moving very quickly so it’s like being in New York city or San Francisco.

G:  How do the trips differ in terms of the people living there?

T:  London was easy, I was like “Oh okay,” they’re all still speaking English even though it’s in a different accent, but what made London a little harder at the beginning was getting use to their currency.

G:  Is there anything you would like to caution students about?

T:  Well, they need to be financially able to do it, money is first and foremost and having a valid passport, of course. Also, you have to keep an open mind, it’s really hard the first day because you’re jetlagged and you’ve been flying for like 12 or 24 hours and you’re not in your own bed, so just do not base your trip on the first day cause you felt miserable, not miserable like  “ I hate it” or anything in particular but it’s really tiring on the body to have to be on a plane ride for so long and you come to that country and you’re like “Oh, its 7 am” when you feel like it’s 2 in the morning back in the States and your suppose to be asleep rather than awake but after that first night you feel wonderful the next day.

G:  Although this trip seems very exciting, what are students looking at regarding the price?

T:  Well the cost of the trip can range between $3,000 – $3,500; depending on how long you go of course. You also have to count spending money, what I recommend is asking your parents for permission but working out a payment plan.

G:  What do you think students would get out of this?

T:  Well, I think the only way you learn about where you come from is by leaving [the country] and then you can start comparing how people live. And you learn about [that country’s] culture, which is always important. And people always think they are very open minded and we’re very diverse here, which is true, but you also learn about how other people are also very open minded and diverse in a different way that you didn’t realize. I mean just little things like their toilets or  how even though in London they spoke English, it’s not just the accent but the phrases that they use, their signs, their advertisements I mean things like that just make you think.

G:  Any final words you would like to say?

T:  If people are truly interested then they don’t have to go through me of course, they can organize the trip on their own and do it as a family trip, or if where they are mature enough they can book it themselves. I think a lot of kids would like to go on an organized tour because they know they are going with other high school students and have at least one adult chaperon watch over them. Also in 2012 it will be super exciting cause we’ll be doing a 17 day tour and the price is not so bad, its $3,500 but because we’re paying half way in advance they are giving us at least a $400 discount. We’ll be going to the Netherlands, a couple of places in Germany, Venice, Italy, some country place in France, and London. We’ll also get to see the sites on which the Olympics will be held.  “

[end interview]

“I’m very excited to go on this trip and also to end my senior year in a unique way. I can’t wait to see everything and learn about all of the cultures,” states Eeva Nelson, a senior at MTHS, who will be one of the students going on this amazing journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

With all this information it can seem overwhelming but ones thing is for sure if you’re one of the students going on this trip you have so much to look for after the school year for a vacation.