Student comments 2011#

This year, the group faced hot, sunny weather and cold, rainy weather all in just 24 hours. Nevertheless, the trip was very successful and the students felt that the experience was worth the hardship. Here are some comments by the group at the end of the trip.

Now I feel that I have made the right choice in choosing Baiwan trip for CAS week. The beautiful scenery isn’t the only part of Baiwan I like, the main bit is the innocent and cheerful faces of the little children in Baiwan. Even the slightest thing such as a wave or even a smile would make them extremely happy. I was shocked to see how contented the population of Baiwan are with their lifestyle whereas we were only there for 4-5 days and had started complaining from the first day. However, my group and I together faced the difficulty by helping one another. We developed a stronger bond and trust between each other and have gotten to know more about one another. The whole time I was in Baiwan, I wanted to go back to Hong Kong, but now I wished I had stayed there longer because of the cheerful memories and moments I shared with everyone in Baiwan.

To me, this trip has helped me understand just how lucky I am. Seeing the children wildly amused at my attempts at communication in Cantonese, laugh at my basketball skills and surprised about our lifestyles really put my lifestyle into perspective. This will be my last CAS trip abroad with Island School and I have to say, it’s one of the best trips I’ve gone on. I do not regret the discomforts either as that adds to the experience.

The weather was so cold, since there was no hot water. I took cold shower for five days. When I thought of some of the poor people needing to take a cold shower in a more cold weather, I thought this is just an experience.

However, this trip was different from the rest in that the town was cleaner, the students remembered the English I taught during summer classes, and they were better dressed with fresh clothes. One of the most enjoyable aspects of the Bawian trip is the delight and a sense of attainment derived from successfully teaching perky and receptive kids who are interactively engaged and willing to learn. The fact that these children will remember the special lessons we taught for a lifetime motivates us to give our best shot. The people in Baiwan are extremely hospitable. Be it a student in a primary school, a teacher we play basketball against or a villager we visit during a walk, the unstinting generosity is ever-present in Baiwan. Simple life perhaps breeds admirable qualities of character.