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| Bird's Nest, Olympic Village, Beijing |
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| Outside my Beijing Hotel Room |
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| Two Chinese Teachers |
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| Choosing Breakfast (with help) |
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| Beijing Middle School Meet and Greet |
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| Isaac and a loom at the silk factory in Beijing. |
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| CSB and Beijing June First Middle School Group |
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| Kung Fu practice room |
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| Bullet train-nose to nose |
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| Who isn't fascinated by the life cycle of a silk worm? |
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| Who knew silk could be so stretchy? |
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| CSB and Beijing June First Middle School Group 2 |
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| Watching the Kung Fu Demo |
Friday, February 17
Reflections from the Boys-Part 1
Boys gathered in the lobby. Simona, our tour director, asked them to think about what they learned from this trip. How might their experiences in China change them, if at all? Following are the first part of the entries boys submitted in response.
Over this trip there have been many interesting and different things to see, do and experience. One of those things I loved was the food. Something I learned about here was about all of the culture history and many times love goes into the food here. From the savory soup to the sweet and sour meats, I used my previous “foodie” knowledge to help me understand food, but to be honest, it would take generations to fully understand something we take for granted like food or drink.
I am writing about this food because it honestly stood out to me and complimented this trip in a positive way. I experienced hundreds, probably, of new tastes through this week. Each city had its own unique tastes and special dishes. This made me want to appreciate the food to its fullest extent. This made me realize that these people don’t just cook for us because they are forced. For example, in the Hutong area, the families that welcomed us and cooked for us made food as they have done for generations for complete strangers to give us this unique and wonderful experience. Another example of this was the restaurants we went to, especially the one last night (2/16) in Xi’an.
Although I loved all the food with their rich, savory, exotic flavors, I also experienced the downside of our enjoyment as well. I understand that large dishes are common and traditional in China, but I also see the waste that is produced while we gorge ourselves. This also made me think for long periods of time. After truly realizing this, it made me think back seeing the millions of hungry people.
After all this, I want to change truly and use this experience to never take seemingly simple things for granted. This does not mean I disliked any of the trip, food, or anything of that sort, but the small things lime the food put things into more perspective. It made me see each impoverished person more clearly making my thoughts of appreciation more justified in my head.
Lastly, my appreciation also should go out to all those who helped us through the trip like our guides Aaron and Howard and our activities director, Simona. Without them, almost none of our trip could have happened successfully from PEK to PEK.
Overall, food started all my thoughts on this trip and taught me not to take little things for granted, especially when those things are staring straight in the face.
-Chris
I experienced a new type of food. Not by eating but by walking through one of Beijing’s Night Markets. Although I already knew other countries had foods that were very odd or even gross to us, but to them its absolutely normal. In the market, I got to see different foods. I saw cat, dog, beetles, scorpions, larva, grasshoppers, worms, seahorse, animal genitalia and more. These were all interesting to the class and me because none of us had seen anything like it. I felt that these foods were things people would never eat. After seeing these foods and the many people eating them, I found how this would affect me in the future. Even though I have been told this saying before, I feel in the future when I see something odd to me or what may be useless is another man’s treasure (or in this case food.)
-Ethan
This China trip had many interesting parts to it. To me, the most important part was seeing the Great Wall of China. At the top of it, I could see it dip down into the valley, come up the mountain and then dip back down. This ongoing pattern lasted as far as the eye could see and much farther. It made me feel relaxed and at peace. I thought about how long it had lasted and why. It had lasted so long because people had taken care f it for so long. If I take care of myself and other things and people, I will last for a lot loner and be stronger rather than letting myself crumble to pieces.
-Leo A.
I learned a lot this trip. The most important thing I probably learned was to deal with adversity and adapt quickly to change. On this trip, we had many different things that don’t meet standards at home. There were gross squatters (toilets), to unclean water, from bad air quality to communication problems etc. We faced a lot of adversity this trip, and I feel it has taught us how to adapt to change, and how to, as Mr. Tacke would say, “Suck it up.” I think this will help me be responsive to change in the future and really deal with it because nothing is exactly the same.
-Isaac
When I look back on this trip, I will remember the three Fs. Fact, Feeling, Effect. We have learned many facts on this trip. Facts about Beijing, Dengfeng, Xi’an, and Zhengzhou. Also facts about Tienanmen Square, the Forbidden City, the Shaolin Temple, the Temple of Heaven and the Terra-Cotta Warriors. When we were at the Shaolin Temple, we learned some facts about Kung Fu and Kung Fu within China. I learned that less than 50% of China learns Kung Fu. I feel from a certain point to view that this trip was more of a culture trip. The Costa Rica trip seems like more of a vacation. I think that the effect of this trip will teach me not to judge things. For example, when I first came to China, I saw tons of pollution, but once we were out of the city, I noticed that the country was a whole lot clearer, and not as polluted. I just based the whole country’s appearance off one city. That is when I learned I shouldn’t judge things based off appearance.
Alex Bro…
There are a lot of things I learned on this trip and one of them was to be flexible. When things don’t go your way, you can be fine with it. When we had to use squatters (toilets), we just had to be flexible. When the air quality was not the best, we dealt with it. When the tap water was not healthy to drink we sort of had limited water. YOU WILL BE OK! An experience I had on this trip about flexibility was when a classmate complained about the shower in one of the rooms and I was thinking we were lucky to have hot water or even water and to be thankful and deal with it. Also, if there is something you really want in a store, but you don’t have enough money, you have to be flexible and you have to by borrowing money or something like that. I also learned that not everything in life is just meant to come to you. Sometimes you have to work hard.
-Bradley
I learned that the four main pillars of the Temple of Heaven are made of redwoods from Oregon. . I felt there was much too much pollution in Zhengzhou. I was scared that I would get lung cancer (not really.) I think that now I will not form impressions of a place before I have been there. China really surprised me. I was expecting the monks to be more stiff and formal. I thought that the Great Wall would be filled with tourists and the Shaolin Temple less so. I also thought I would be sick of Chinese food by the end of the trip and I wasn’t. I also discovered that I want to make a Lazy Susan for a rectangular table. I would place two on the table, then I would put a rubber lining on both and put them together, so when one turned, the other would too.
-Liam
One thing I learned on this trip about China was that the customs, traditions, and general way of life in China are a lot different from home. I learned this before we even got to China. Once we were on the airplane to China, we were all zoned out listening to music, watching TV and such. At one point, I looked over my shoulder. I saw a Chinese man just staring at us as if we were his kids. Every once in a while he would try to talk to us, not quite realizing that we didn’t speak Chinese or that we were really creeped out. As our journey progressed, we all saw a lot of different things such as squatting toilets in pretty much every restroom to our horror. Despite the occasional “airball” on the squatter, we adjusted. The differences that we experienced went beyond the bathroom. As soon as we stepped out of the airport, we realized there was a reason our parents sent us with lots of warm jackets. It was pretty freezing, to say the least. The days when we were outside for extended periods of time got pretty chilly and we wore everything we got literally. If someone did forget something at the hotel or misplaced it, someone instantly offered something to make the day a little better. Overall, I saw that beyond our ever thoughtful and prepared chaperons and fellow students. As travelers we did a good job of adapting, helping each other and being selfless. I think this leads to what we all learned. We are often told that we will be pushed out of our comfort zones and we accept that although I think this was, for me, at least a large, inescapable trial at this. I think this trip did a good job if pushing our comfort zone but also let us have a lot of fun. So what I learned from this is that being pushed in a new place and being in a totally new and different environment is a challenge that we will most likely face in the future and this was a good example in showing us and proving that we can adjust and have fun.
-Alex Brah…
Before I came to China and saw the Great Wall, I did not really recognize where it went, how big it was or how much work went into building it. When I saw it in the distance, I began to realize, but it wasn’t until I stood on the wall itself that I truly saw its scope and size. The wall stretched off into the distance for miles upon miles, stretching over the tallest hills and mountains. I had completely prejudged and taken the Great Wall for granted. My former idea of the Great Wall made seeing it in person all the more exciting, but I was also disappointed that I had not seen this version of the Great Wall before and that I had forced my idea of the wall into an untrue shape in my head. I feel that after seeing the Great Wall, I will take things for granted less and try not to prejudge and predetermine things before I see them myself.
-Leo W.
My favorite part of the China trip was all the moments I had to myself. While I was thinking to myself, I looked around at the new, strange sights. I felt weird at these moments because I felt like I had no padding to fall on, no support.
I think that the thing that I noticed that would be most helpful in China would be to speak the language. From restaurants to the street, people would stop and talk to me. All I could do was single out words like “wu” and “ni.” IN the future, I am going to continue to learn Chinese so I can understand. I am also going to convince my parents to send me to China more often.
I also enjoyed seeing Chinese culture and learning their history. The many places we went were more fun than I expected and I enjoyed them.
The food and hotel rooms were also one of my favorites. Every morning, I would wake up in a nice, comfortable bed surrounded by a lot of nice furniture. The bathrooms were much better than the public squatters in the public bathrooms. The breakfasts we had went from hotel buffets to homemade food. I ate a lot of the lunches. We had dumpling buns, soup/congee and many other great items. The food I have had in China is very different from the Chinese food I have had in America. The food in China has many different shapes and tastes. For dinner, I have had many different meals in restaurants. The meals have been vegetarian, Chinese meals and American meals. I have enjoyed this diversity in food a lot. If you are reading this mom, please let me come back to China soon. I also want to teach Jack the “Ways of Bargaining.”
-Louis
On this trip we had to travel a lot, deal with change and keep ourselves composed and organized for the next situation. We rode trains. We were forced to take many showers and handle ourselves as individuals. There weren’t any moms, dads or older siblings to baby us or wash our clothes or tell us to brush our teeth. We were forced to become at least a it more self-sufficient.
I felt that at the end of this trip, I had become more organized and able to feel comfortable in any situation I was thrown into. (In a radical sense as I’m not saying I was prepared for a tornado or anything.) I always carried layers and I was constantly warm with my camera prepared. (Yes, the camera was a necessity because the last trip my mom was upset due to me not taking pictures.) Now though, I was organized and I did my duties without being told. I feel now I can handle myself as an individual without messing up or being yelled at. I can control my own universe. In the future, I’ll probably think, “Oh hey, that was my second trip to China. That was awesome, I suppose.” Then though, I’ll realize that I really became independent on that trip. I’ll think about how, if it wasn’t for that trip, I’d feel like a 24 year old man being fed from a bottle while wearing Depends (adult diapers.) That’s right, I’d feel like a 24 year old man wearing a diaper. This trip has provided me with the skills needed to control my life. I can pack my own suitcase, manage my spending and diet, not go into below-freeing weather wearing a t-shirt and short-shorts (not that I actually own a pair of shorty-shorts. This trip is something that I’ll hold onto in the future where I learned to manage myself. That was the trip where I learned to handle the life of Justin M…
-Justin
When I first came to China, I was not looking forward to seeing the Great Wall. It was not disappointing at all and I would even say it blew my already high expectations away. I always knew it was colossal, but I didn’t know quite how big it was until I first laid my eyes on it. The view was incredible and just looking at the rest of the wall along the top of the mountains was one of the most incredible sights I have ever seen.
I have just been to one of the world’s most interesting countries and I feel sad that I will have to leave it so soon. I find it fascinating how Chinese culture and American culture are so different. I also noticed that almost everything in China is massive and I think this was reflected especially in the size of the buildings and the number of people. I am very glad that I have had this unique experience of coming here.
I think that one thing I can take away from this trip is all of the rich history that China has. I think that Chinese history has played a huge role in its culture today. An example of this would be the importance of Kung Fu in Chinese culture. I appreciate this, because in America, something like Kung Fu is non-existent in the culture. History plays a bugger role in Chinese culture than American culture and I believe we shall appreciate this a great deal.
-Miles
