Report_2005

My Special Vacation Journal on Christmas 2003
By Dustin Hsu
It all started when my Mom told me that we were going to China with Auntie Wen-Ruh. The first thing I asked was “Will I be in New York for Christmas?” My mom said no. I was not fond of that answer at first but I ignored it later on. Few weeks later, on December 18, 2003, I found myself in the airport waiting for Wen-Ruh Ah-Ee, John Jr., and Kenny (who are the sons of Wen-Ruh Ah-Ee) to take a plane to Taiwan. The flight route was very weird and painful .We made a connecting flight from New York to Taipei, Taiwan through Anchorage, Alaska. After arriving Taipei on December 20, Wen-Ruh Ah-Ee’s group and my Mom’s were separated. We stayed in Taipei, Taiwan and met my Dad in my grandma’s apartment and stayed there for one night. That night, my grandaunt was also happened coming to visit my grandma from China and stayed with us.
December 21, my Mom, Dad and I went to the airport and met Wen-Ruh Ah-Ee’s group again to take a plane to China. We were all at the airport to go to China. The flight was painful and again the route was very weird. First we went from Taipei, Taiwan to Hong Kong, Hong Kong to Guang-Zhou and Guang-Zhou to Gui-Yang. That would all add up to 3 international flights in one very long day. That night I slept like sleeping beauty.
The adventure started on December 22. My mom, dad, a local lady and I went to see 3 schools they were called德華六小. The kids at that school were from kindergarten to 6th grade. On the way to the first school was like being in a Hummer commercial (very bumpy). When I saw the school I was impressed on the outside, but when I saw the kids that no one had clean clothing. Some girls were wearing the village costume. And most of the kids had running noses. But even they lived like that the kids seemed to be very happy. We took pictures of the kids and school building and were on our way to the second school. The second school was called文秀小學. This school had fewer kids than the first school; the kids were from kindergarten to 2nd grade. When we were talking to the principal, I saw a little kid running to his class (he was late). It was so cute. They were all like the first school (kids are very happy). That was the end of meeting the schools in the mountain. We went back to the hotel and had some dinner. Then my mom, dad, Wen-Ruh Ah-Ee, John Jr., Kenny and I went to a high school. When we were there, we were welcomed and they preformed dances and comedy. This school has dormitory and they did not seem to have a hard time with life.
December 23, today was everyone’s resting day. Like we toured around to town and we went to see one school. The school was called 瑤山民族中學. Then we went to hike in the mountains. And then we were at our hotel. I didn’t like the hotel because it was dirty and the toilet and the shower were in the same spot. The hiking really killed my feet.
December 24, my mom, dad and I went to see two schools. The first school,慈輝六小, was a little weird because they gave us a performance I had to drink some wine. The second school, 專次小學, gave us a performance too. The hotel that we were staying at was a lot better than the other one. And I was sharing a room with John Jr.
Today is X-mas. Usually I would be very excited about X-mas but in China it just feels like a normal day. Today we all went to a village to see an old school and there I made a little speech I asked, “How long does it take for you to walk to school?” They said”2 hours”; I said” It takes me 15 minutes on a school bus to get to my school.” But I said it all in Chinese. Then we went to see another school,良田小學, where I had to drink wine. I was used to the wine by now because the previous villages also made me drink wine. Back at the hotel after dinner everyone was gathered around for X-mas. The local friends gave me a Santa Claus doll and a Chinese Zodiac set.
December 26, everyone went hiking on a mountain to go to see a village. And again had to drink wine. The school, 慈輝八小, we saw in this village had a lot of kids, more than the schools we usually saw. This school had three floors and had a unique L shape. Hiking back down the mountain was very easy. But all at the end my legs were very sore and I was very tired.
Ever since I have been on this trip, I felt lucky for all the things I have. Seeing all the kids in China with barley anything to play with and learn with makes me feel that I need to appreciate what I have. But I thought that this trip was a wonderful experience for me and taught me a lot. When I saw these kids, they made me very sad because it was winter and every kid you saw wore thin and dirty cloths so they all had a running nose. And I am very glad to help these kids to have a better education and a better life. All thanks to EEP for this opportunity to travel to Gui-Zhou to inspect the newly built schools and for such a memorable experience of my life.