3. Mighty K… This is Eric Today, the first day of our trip, I was assigned to the group of ‘Mighty K’, which was directed by Eric. Our group member was Brian, Joe (me), Jong Hyeok, Bum Soo, Michael, Jun Jun, Maddie, Chantelle, Jamison, Jong Chan, Cedric, and Sean. The reason for our group name is unknown, which made our group unique.
4. We hiked (for 4 hours)… The main thing done the first day was hiking for 4 hours, which I found extremely frustrating. This was almost the 10th time I rode on a bike and the 9th time was on more than last year, so I knew I was to fall down at least 5 times. When I heard the hiking was to be done for 4 hours, I fell in despair, and powerlessly rode myself on a bike. Hiking seemed relatively easygoing at first, but the continuous bumps muds on the road made my journey more and more challenging. Eventually, I rammed into the ground, and almost crashed my spine. I also had to stop about 10 times on the muddy road with my bicycle stuck on it. Yes, it was indeed a harsh hiking, but I eventually made it to the end. Through this experience, I hardened my tenacity, and from now on, giving up will almost never be mentioned by me in any activity on this field trip. (Being the last for all the time with Jong Hyeok made it a bit embarrassing, though…)
5. Night Walk At night, we had a night walk in the town. The town was mostly filled with trees, muds (or often cow poos) and complete darkness. We went without torch for most of the walk, and stopped to listen to the silence and the sound of the town, comparing it with the one in Shenzhen. At first, I was scared by complete darkness, but going with my friends made it less intense. Eric also taught us about the way to make the complete darkness by shining our eyes with torches for several minutes and then opening our eyes. (with some biological+ chemical explanation)
6. We climbed rocks… Climbing rocks was the one of the most challenging activity I had on this field trip. Since the first group (Mighty K was divided into 2 groups at first) had done so well (almost everyone succeeded climbing), I thought I would be a fine example of a bad climber. At first, I shouted back at my bilayer (Patty) “Can I go back?” and the reply was “No.” I was extremely scared with the height I was on, and there was no place to step on. Since Patty did not allow me go down, I continued climbing, and took 30 minutes to finish climbing up, which was the amount of time 2 girls to complete their climbing beside me. However, when I got to the end, I was shocked to find myself to have the climbing completed, since I thought I would never be able to complete the climbing. (And I wasn’t an example of a bad climber at all!) This activity hardened my tenacity more, and I again decided never to give up on anything in this trip.
7. We ate… Eating was one of the most pleasant activity we had during the trip. The most of the meal was fried noodle (as shown in the picture of Sean vigorously gobbling them), and I found them really delicious. However, as they came out on the dish for straight 5 times I slowly got frustrated with them. For all the meals I had, I felt somewhat not full, and I had to eat up all the snacks I had brought. However, the meal I had after hiking and rock climbing was like eating after starving for 5 days! HehHeh
8. We taught Chinese children (5th grades)… This event was the one that gave me the most stress among all the activities I had. I was assigned to teach English to a group of kids with my team and play several games to entertain them. Since they were all 5th grades, they were bright, but unnecessarily. The classes were divided into 8 classes according to their behavior and knowledge, and we were assigned to teach class 4 and 6. The class 4 was too shy, but they seemed to already know everything we taught them, since they were able to answer all the quiz we gave them. However, the class 6 was a bright class and needed some of our teaching. While we were playing games with them, they were unnecessarily overwhelmed by excitement that they started running away with their friends. As shown on the picture, I had to stand in front of them playing games and grab the kids who ran away to take them back to the game. I was sure that was not going to provide them with fun. Then, Mr. Eric joined us and made them enjoy game without shouting at them. That day, I learned how hard it is to be a teacher, and learned to manage kids with patience.(Although I am a kid also.)
9. We camped… … This was another activity that again hardened my tenacity and patience. I grouped up with a team of 5 members (Hee Jae, Bum Soo, me, Jason, and Roy), and found the right place for setting up tent where cow poo wasn’t on. When we were building tents, we had a extremely hard time to set up the mosquito net, since the tent we were making was triangular, and the net was for square tent. Spending about 3 hours without progress, Mr. McElroy came to us and gave us the solution. After setting up the tent, the whole school showed the team work of gathering the woods for setting up the camp fire, and had a spaghetti made by some students. They tasted good, but too little sauce were provided and the amount I could eat was too small. Then, I shared scary stories that scared all of us (including the big guy), then went to the tent. Unfortunately, there was an unexpected battle with mosquitos and cockroaches which deterred us from sleeping. Everyone except Hee Jae and I went out on 2 o’ clock, and they told me that they could all hear me snoring… Making tents and the attack of bugs caused a growth on my patience and tenacity.
11. We caved… (which knocked one of us out) Our group was assigned to find hints in the cave to answer several questions. The cave was extremely muddy, and some of us had hard time not to fall or to take out their shoes out from the muds. It was really fun to explore the caves since it was my first time to freely explore the cave myself, and also got scared by another complete darkness after turning the torch off. Thinking that this was the last activity, I regretted to spend the hours of my trip without any thinking. When we found light, we all were relieved, and got back to home. This was an event that made me immune to the darkness from now on.
12. Washed our shoes… I was going to throw them away, but Patty forced me to wash them…
