We decided to go on another adventure in the real world. We have heard of a park nearby where it is known as a good spot to fly kites. We took the subway to a shopping complex nearby and walked to rest of the way. When we arrived we saw a swarm of kites in the sky. We couldn't resist the urge and we all decided to purchase kites for ourselves. It took us a while to get our kites in the air and when we finally got some real altitude we took it to the next step. Renceh became a bit aggressive and began using his kite as a weapon to strike our kites. We were all caught in what we now call a kite battle. Renceh was quite ambitious in his attacks as he downed Ms. Higa's kite two times and mine as well. We had a close battle, but Renceh managed to recover at the last second before he hit the ground as my kite met it's doom. Ms. Frank managed to stay neutral in this conflict, but nevertheless Renceh set his eyes on Ms. Frank's "Jellyfish" kite. Overall it was a spectacular day and we finished off the day with some Pizza.
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Monkeys! Today we encountered monkeys in the wild during our expedition to the Three Gorges. Most of the mokeys seemed docile and comfortable around us humans. My mate Matt feed one of the monkeys with peanuts he recieved from one of the locals. It seems that the monkeys prefer peanuts instead of the usual bananas we see. Most of the members of my party, including me took pictures to the so called "cute" monkeys. But I knew that some of the monkeys had a darker side to them. This fact was proven true when a foreigner approached one of them and it was prepared to leap and attack. Later in trail we encountered a baby monkey, another local frightened the baby. An adult monkey swooped in to protect the baby and more monkeys in the trees attempted to descend and approach the baby. The adult monkey then screeched as the other monkeys tried to advance. Once this occured my mate was like, "let's get out of here!" My mate rushed out with Ms. Frank to safety. This was a true story. We've have successfully returned from the Three Gorges. It was an experience that we will never forget. We saw the industrial Three Gorges Dam as well as the rainforest trail of the Three Gorges. We encountered many challenges such as ice cold temperatures, rain, and monkeys. The monkeys were very friendly so I guess they weren't a challenge. The views were spectacular and it is one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. We took a few boat rides down the YangTze River. The day we left was when we took a speed boat down a stream and it got pretty hairy. The cold air rushing through your hair and the driver went a but crazy with the turning, but everything was great. My weekend was filled with nice views and a awesome adventure. My family consists of my host brother Lan Bo, my mother Mrs. Bo, and my father Mr. Lan. They are very considerate and caring for my wants and needs. Every morning, Ms. Bo prepares our water/juice bottles and milk for both Lan Bo and me. Mr. Lan drops us to school for most of the week and Mrs. Bo picks us up after. At their house, I usually do homework, relax or eat. At their house, they try their best to converse with me in English and in return I try say what I can in Mandarin. I am very thankful to them for providing me with a house to stay at and all the understanding and patience they have with me. -Renceh B. Flojo My family consists of my host brother Wan GuangWen and his two parents Mr. and Mrs. Wang who are both teachers at the school. Everyday is a different experience with my family. In the morning I usually get up earlier than everyone to prepare myself for the rest of the day. Mrs. Wang prepares breakfast for me and my brother. After breakfast we all drive to the school which is about ten minutes away. Once the day is over me and GuangWen head over to his father's office so that he can drive us home. Mrs. Wang is there to greet us when we arrive as we end our day. My family wants the best experience for me and they treat me with much love and understanding. Their English is not up to par, but I try to speak Chinese with them, and they try to speak English to me. My family is a very unique set of people that I care about a lot. -Matthew Sun Today is the day we finally make the expedition to what the locals call "San Sha" but in my language it's called "Three Gorges". The journey took about four hours by car from home base to the Three Gorges. Through the windows of the car all you could see were farmlands and construction. When we finally reached our destination we picked up one of the locals to be our tour guide. Stated that we had to take another thirty minute drive to the actual site. When we arrived at the site we did some exploring and my mate Matt got to have a video dancing in front of the dam. Once done we had dinner and the most "awesmazing" hot pot ever, we headed to the hotel. All I could say is that it was a good day. -Renceh B. Flojo Adventure Log: Day 04; Wuhan, China Part 2 We headed out into the darkness. My mate was playing some football with some of the locals. I was waiting for him to finish so we could go to the canteen and eat. By the time he finished, the canteen was about to close. Luckily the general store was still open and we could purchase some food. We purchased some noodles and water. After we bought our food we poured the sauces with the water we bought. A local approached us and pointed to a hot water sink and pointed to noodles. Without saying anything we knew what he meant. Along with this blunder, the noodles we purchased had a sweet taste to them which was extremely foul to us. That day we made fools out of ourselves and learned to never go late to the canteen ever again. -Renceh B. Flojo When we first started teaching to the students we didn't know what to expect. We had no gauge on how well their English was, but we soon found out they were very enthusiastic. They liked our lessons and enjoyed our presence. The Xing jiang group were very hospitable and were ready to learn. I've enjoyed my job as a teacher or a T.A. if you will, and I wish I could teach them more. If these students can learn English as well as they speak Chinese then I'm sure their education will go beyond their own understanding. Today we had a beautifully sloppy day. I woke up this morning optimistic and bashful. We taught two lessons to the students of Wuhan. The special group called the Xing Jiang group were very enthusiastic about our lesson plan. After our teaching periods we went on a little excursion with the principle of Wuhan No.1 High School and a few other staff members. The food was very exotic and luxurious. We had a wonderful time eating lunch, but our adventure wasn't over yet. We went to a little shopping plaza that we called "Little Italy" because it had an italian theme with the architecture. We went to many shops and explored the world. After we went shoppibg we encountered something called the Wanda Department Store. We decided to venture further into this void of mystery we knew as the Wanda Department Store. What we saw wasn't meant for any ordinary adventurer. Shops were lined all over the place and we had no clue what we were looking at. We trekked through the vast array of Shops and sites. It was when we were leaving that we encountered a bizzare site known as a rest station. Massage chairs were spread out through the main plaza and a machine that made our stomachs sick. When we interacted with the chairs we knew immediately it was no mere massage chair you would buy from Sharpers Image. The chairs felt like hands and the movements where very precise. The chair focused on many parts of the body. After the experience we felt very refreshed and limber. Out feet felt like we could run for miles. I would say today's adventure was quite alright. Today I ventured out into the new world. I traveled to the school where my surrogate family goes to. The air was frigid and unforgiving. I can't feel my hands and feet. The food I found was good, supprisingly good. After my short meal I entered one of the rooms. Books were everywhere and people filled the seats. A person entered the room and brought me to what they call a "pedastal". She asked me to state what who I was and what I came to do. Once done, I sat down and sat through two classes with my surrogate brother. A foreign language was spoken as a medium to relay instructions. Since I didn't understand it, I questioned myself. By the time the heat in my feet and hands gave out, it was time to go. When I left, I knew I will miss them and hope they miss me. Its been very foggy and cold since we've arrived in Wuhan. Today I woke up early to prepare for our first day of school. Breakfast was good and we didn't take long to drive to school. The students are very excited to see me. I told them that I like to play soccer and they invited me to play with them. The classes have been very interesting and are different from my classes. The lessons seem very fast paced and are full of information. I'm looking forward to playing soccer with the students. |