SUMMER 2009 July 7- July 26
Last summer I went on the Chinese Bridge Summer Camp sponsored by Hanban. In our Hawaii group we had 10 people, 7 girls and 3 boys. It was a fun experience for me and it was lots of fun. If only there was no swine flu then I think this trip would've been so much better. We went to a total of three places, Shanghai, Beijing and Shandong. The best was Shanghai, in Beijing we were quarantined for a day ( we were only there for 3 days) and Shandong was the worst. We were there for a week (5 days?) and one of our group memebers got sick and they said that he had swine flu (which he didn't). I seriously think that the Chinese were being too paranoid. It was just a a little thing, he wasn't used to the water. We were out the first two days, then he got sick on the third day. We were quarantined in the hotel. We didn't get to climb Mount Taishan. I admit that this was actually something I wanted to do. The other groups were able to and they also went to the hometown of Confucius. They wouldn't even let us leave the Shandong Province!!! So the teachers arranged a bus for us and early in the morning, 4 a.m to be exact, and we escaped. Haha, it was the only way they would let us leave. By that time we were all tired of being cooped up and we all had enough of China. Everyone just wanted to get home so we didn't mind taking the bus back to Beijing. ( By the way, the bus ride from Shandong Province to Bejing was 8 hours long) But heck nobody cared. We just wanted to go home. Apparently we were able to do this since we were only being quarantined in the Shandong province. After that we took the plane home.
Other than that this trip has been a good experience for me. It was the first time I've ever traveled myself. Also during this trip I was able to get a feel of living in dorms. ( In Shanghai and Shandong I dormed with my friend, In Beijing it was 4 to a dorm but my dorm had 3). At least now I know how it is if I want to go away for college. The Dorm Experience. In Bejing we hand community bathrooms and showers :P something that was totally new for me. During this trip I had to wash my own clothes by hand, had to take care of myself, had to manage my stuff and money... I feel that it was a great experience that I will remember for a long time. even now I remember it really well.