Jamie

My Digital Scrapbook:
Day 1: Our trip started off at 5.00am. I didn’t sleep at all and stayed up all night waiting for this exciting trip. I was with Kenneth, Timothy and Wayne pouring down coffee and red bulls down our throat to keep us awake. We were the first ones to arrive and i couldn’t wait to see Kana. One after another, students started to arrive. We slowly moved on the bus and drove off to the Pudong International Airport. From then, time passed so quickly. We flew off to kuming then transferred to lijiang. In the meantime, Melody lost her boarding pass which caused our entire luggage to be delayed. Then we drove to the black dragon pool and saw the amazing sceneries. I had a chance to take many photos with kana and it took all my worries away. At night, we listened to the Naxi orcheretra which was not amusing at all and half of the students fell asleep. We were all very happy to jump on our comfy hotel beds and prepare for another productive day.

Day 2: Our trip didn't have a bright start and things can only get better. We had breakfast at the hotel to keep our energy levels up. Then we drove off to the snow mountain. The views were just breathtaking; things were fine until we were on the mountain. While on the cable car, we were just taking photos of the snow and ourselves. Once on the mountain, Kana started to be nauseous, she couldn’t see and she needed oxygen. She usually is a tough cookie but just couldn’t cope with the heights. I had to send her back down to ground level in order for her to recover. She fell asleep on my shoulders and woke up more energetic than ever. Even though we didn’t make it to the top of the mountain but it was her health and safety was way more important than that. After that, we travelled to an average high school in lijiang. They gave us a warm welcome with performances and a tour around their school. We got along very well and share commons among ourselves. Their school life is so much tougher than ours but we both learn similar things. Together we chatted about each other and exchanged phones numbers. After meeting to the locals’ students, we went crazy shopping and got lost on the way, fortunately Chase found Ms Zoe and guided us back on track. Another tiring day but spending time with Kana was all worthwhile. Day 3: Time flies when we are having fun, it’s already day three. It’s such a great trip with so many different activities. Here is the highlight of the trip, the tiger leaping gorge. The sceneries and views I saw were indescribable. I don’t think I will ever see such things in my life ever again! I made a terrible mistake on the way; I misunderstood Ms Perks and thought we could leave our bags on the bus. I and Kana had to wear the same clothes for the night. I regret that fully and feel extremely sorry for Kana. Despite my stupidity, everything went according to plans; we hiked for 7 hours with breaks in between and went 18km. It was unbelievable, the 28 bends, the steepness of the slopes, the energy and determination needed from us. We used every bit of our energy and went all the way. Kana and I were off the game yesterday on the snow mountain but today we were on top of the world. We were so energetic and were one of the first ones to arrive to the hotel. We were exhausted and never wish to do it again. We had dinner and a bonfire with the locals. Danced the night away and slept soundly like a baby. Day 4: Its day 4 already believe it or not, we woke up on the mountain and the air was so fresh. I felt so guilty over my misunderstanding and left our bags on the bus and made kana to go down the mountain without contacts. She couldn’t see properly and fell down four times. I tried to help her but it was just too difficult, even I had troubles going down because it was so steep. I was so worried that she would have an injury but luckily we got down the mountain safely. The first thing we did when we got on the bus is to change into new clothes. I felt so much more comfortable and clean. I can only blame myself for this and wish never to drag someone else into my our mistakes. We had a long drive back to the old city and had two hours of free time. We went shopping again and picked out some souvenirs for our family. That’s all I can write right now because we are in the internet café typing this up…

Day 5: To be continued..