From passing through a few states to going halfway across the world, Diamond Bar High School juniors Arella Yang, Erin Lai, Lawrence Wang and Fiona Huang took advantage of Thanksgiving break to immerse themselves in different cultures.

Yang visited Seattle for five days with her family. During her trip there, she utilized her time by exploring her interest in the arts by visiting the Chihuly Glass Museum, Seattle Museum of Art, Museum of Pop Culture and Freedom of Flight Museum. Besides museums, Yang also visited well-known tourist attractions like the Space Needle.

“I love to travel and explore new places. I’ve heard Seattle is the city to be, and it definitely was,” Yang said via Messenger.

To travel to Seattle, Yang took a 30-hour train ride from Los Angeles to Seattle..

“[The train ride] wasn’t that great in my experience. 30 hours, cramped in a small space with barely any leg room and several passengers [throwing] up in between carts,” Yang said.

Meanwhile, across the Pacific Ocean, Lai visited Australia for an unforgettable break. Lai’s mother, a flight attendant, wanted to revisit the country with her family having  she last visited Australia 20 years ago.

“I liked looking at the koalas because you could actually see them rather than zoos here and it’s in an open place rather than glass behind the wall,” Lai said.

Meanwhile, Wang and his family flew to London  to visit his sister, who attends University College London. During their trip there, they  also visited Paris, which is only a train ride away. While touring both cities, Wang and his family visited famous landmark sites, such as the Eiffel Tower and Buckingham Palace.

“The most interesting part of the trip for me was probably not being able to go to the Arc of Triomphe because of the large protest-riot,” said Wang. “It was quite the experience to see so [many] green vests in one area.”

Huang also left the country and visited Taiwan, where she was able to visit family that she hasn’t seen in years.

“At Taiwan, I finally got to talk to my cousins and know them better for the first time,” Huang said via text. “I’ve seen my cousins years before but only briefly and never really got to know them as people, but this trip brought us closer.”

After convincing her parents to let them go for a family vacation, Huang hiked up a mountain and visited Xiangshan, where she experienced night time views, authentic street food and Houtong Cat Village, a village filled with stray cats.

“The hike [to Xiangshan] was tiring but worth it. Even though no one went with me, I just listened to music and enjoyed the breathtaking view,” Huang said.