使用php，我如何将char字段的所有行（如“11/19/10”）转换为日期字段？

Question

In order to import a column of dates into mysql using phpmyadmin, I defined the field as a char field.

So now the dates are in a mysql table look like this:

ID | Name | DateArriving
1  | bill | 11/19/10
2  | tom  | 12/1/10

etc....

I want the DateArriving field to be formated as actual dates so I can do certain queries such as "who is arriving within the next week".

I would like guidance on how the PHP code should look to do this conversion.

Thank you.

ADDENDUM FINAL SOLUTION I USED:

In the end, I used a combination of a few answers:

$select_trips = "SELECT * FROM trips WHERE STR_TO_DATE(DateArriving, '%m/%d/%Y') BETWEEN NOW() AND NOW() + INTERVAL 1 WEEK"; 

Answer 1

SELECT STR_TO_DATE(DateArriving, '%m/%d/%Y') FROM TABLE