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Participants began arriving on Friday, July 6th. Many were anxious to begin experiencing the city of New York. As the weekend progressed, the various participants met as they checked in. Trey McArver, project coordinator, was on hand at the I House to greet participants as they arrived accompanied by Emily Baum, the project assistant. Trey and Emily had put together a booklet with a detailed outline of the course, a short bio on all the presenters, as well as the participants. In addition, the booklet contained information about the surrounding restaurants (thoughtfully arranged by ethnicity of the food served), grocery stores, and emergency contact information. Each participant received this information as they arrived. Trey and Emily also gave each participant information about things to do in New York City as well as maps of the city, Columbia's campus, a 10-ride [|Metro card] (very handy), and several maps of China.

Participants took advantage of a mild weekend and visited, among other places, [|Central Park], [|MOMA], [|The Metropolitan Museum], and the [|Bronx Zoo]. Monday arrived and all the participants met for the first time in a classroom located on the Columbia campus to begin the seminar entitled Living and Being Chinese: Geographic and Ethnic Diversity in China