Virtual China '98

MORNING ITINERARY

Nick Thomas

I have never been a very good early starter and I do not think that this trip has bean very easy for me yet. 6:30 seems to come so fast and bedtime never seems late enough. The breakfast was not very good but it was food. Then we went to the little markets behind the hotel. I have never been so glad that I learned Chinese because I saved about one hundred dollars all together by being able to bargain all the things that I bought. After we were finished shopping we were on our way. Getting out of the city was a little hazardous but there were no casualties that I knew of. We had plenty of time to spare so we stopped at a little house that looked very old. There was not a lot to see and we did not really get into it. Next we stopped at a little house that we saw on the side of the road. Stephen tried some acrobatics coming down the hill and ended up going over the handlebars. He was not hurt though and we left there very short after that. Our next stop was at a glass factory and I think that we all enjoyed that. I got a small bottle as a souvenir and we all got to take a lot of pictures. There was not a lot of people their but from what it looked like everybody was doing a very important job and nothing would have worked without them. The weather was still very nice though and there were no signs of rain yet. We all thought that the game was going nicely. Next we stopped for lunch at a town where there was a lot of kids that thought that we were like not from this planet or something. Lunch was not very good at all and all that I enjoyed was the dumplings that were stuffed with many different kinds of vegetables in it. There were eggs but I chose not to eat them, and there was also a Spam sandwich, which I also did not eat. After lunch we visited a village that was near by. There was three little puppies which me, Nate and Justin got to hold and cuddle. It was really sad that there were going to sell them to be sold to be eaten. After that we on the road again and now there was traces of rain all over the place. We biked for some time now until it finally started to rain and we all put our ponchos. Now going was harder and we no longer were going as fast as we were before. We soon reached our destination where we all stopped and got ourselves back together. Then the teachers told us the last thing that we wanted to hear. They told us that we had another 4 km to go. It turned out to be 8 km but finally we were at the peninsula. After a quick shower we went down to a very good dinner. And that was the day.

I woke up early this morning, having the feeling that something interesting. Sitting in bed I thought what could happen. It's not the day that my son will call me from Canada, it probably is not the day the pictures from my son is coming. I figured that it would be best that I let what is going to happen to happen.

After breakfast, I sat down on the couch and looked at the fields. I wasn't doing anything and then I heard someone call for me telling me that there were foreigners here at this village! I was surprised that there were foreigners here, not that I have never seen them before, why with all those times that I went to Canada I've seen many foreigners, but this is the first time that any have been here.

I went outside and greeted them, not knowing what to expect. Thinking that the foreigners were probably adults, I was amazed that they were only children, and that they were riding bikes. I thought that they would travel on buses.

They started to walk around, so I asked them if they wanted to go inside my house and look around. They said yes, so I led them inside and showed them around. They looked at the house and took pictures, I thought that there was nothing in the house to take pictures of, but they still did.

Soon they saw five pictures on the wall and asked what they were. I told them that they were my uncles and my aunts that traveled to Canada. I also told them that I went to Canada to visit them several times and they came here to visit me several times.

The other foreigners that were outside came in and made the man that spoke Cantonese to leave, so they all packed up and left. It was an interesting day and I will never forget it as long as I live.

NATE JOHNSON

(Interview by grade 7 students from HKIS)

The metal prongs stung my hands through the thin working gloves (our only safety protection). Each day is the repetitious process of heating the glass and pulling it out of kilns to let it cool down. The smell of sweet writhes up nose reminding me of the other zoo people packed in the metal/wood shelter.

The working conditions were not exactly the greatest, only thin gloves, no eye goggles, jam-packed people with hot kilns squeezed in. The heat was terrible today, mixed with kiln heat and smells, coughing echoed through the shelter. Sweat poured from every crevice and then, finally, a break. Foreigners came and asked to interview me. This is what they asked me:

  After the foreigners packed up and left, I was left in awe at all the questions that they asked. I will never forget the foreigners as long as I live.

Today I started out my day like I would any other day. I walked into the main village area and started my work. By around 2:15 some kids came biking into the village. They were all wearing red shirts with "Hong Kong International School" written on them. Some had green eyes and some had blue eyes. The kid that stood out the most had blue eyes and blonde hair. These visitors had with them a Chinese man in his 30’s. He spoke Cantonese so I was able to communicate.

The kids started asking questions through the translator – whose name was something like Mr. Woo. He asked us if we had any piglets. Boy would he see piglets! We had tons of pigs. The kids looked at the piglets for awhile and then started to leave. Of course they didn’t know we had puppies. Mr. Woo started talking to me. I told him that we had three puppies. Two of the kids came running back they seemed obsessed with the dogs. They played with them while they sucked their finger, after awhile one of the boys left. He soon returned with another person.

When it came time for time for them to leave I told them that we had a kitten too – talk about a kid magnet. For the next few minutes the kids played with guinea pigs and rabbits. It then became time for the kids to leave. They left with quite a commotion and the rest of the villagers waved goodbye. I smiled and waved as well. That night I thought about the nice kids who came into our village and all the people who are so kind to us. There is no way I will ever forget those kids.

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