Usher for Gala Concert

It was hard for me to get this activity since Mr.Moussay could not trust me because of what happened few days before this activity

Kom Tum Field Trip

At the beginning of grade 12, for our last school field trip, we went to Kom Tum. A small town located in the Central Highlands region. Near the borders of both Laos and Cambodia.

To go there we had to take the plane, I have to say it was the worst flight ever. When we finally arrived; our luggages were not arrived yet.

It felt like a nightmare. On the way to our hotel, even frustrated I noticed the beautiful landscapes. The first night was not so great as we could only wear our old clothes. Thankfully the missing luggages came in the morning. First day we went tracking and it was the best experience ever. I left with the group first and arrived first. I thought it was so fun, I could not stop. Since we went into the rizieres my shoes went all wet, so I decided to take my shoes off; of course everyone thought it was the worse idea, but I did not care , I could not walk with blisters and wet shoes/socks.

I honestly enjoyed all the activities, i did not even had to force myself, i just took part of it and had fun.

Trecking: i have always loved climbing and walking in the wild so this activity was extra fun. We were sighseeing and working out, we saw how alot of people in the country live. We bathed in the water as it was so hot, and since it was quite muddy in the rizieres, i decided to take off my shoes. The guide and everyone thought i was mad, but my feet are used to walk on rocks and any type of "floor".

Teaching students: Maybe one of the most challenging ones to go to, as the cars could not go throught, Peter and i just decided to walk and other friends joined, it was quite one of a walk but so fun as the air was so pure, no noise.. when arrived at the school, we learned some facts about the school, the students, the program, then we organized our activities for the students. Before teaching we had lunch, in their canteen. Teaching the students was something i thought i could never do as i am very impatient with people, but since i was my group leader, i forced myself to be calm, and in the end, i thought it wasn't even bad, the children listened and i think they enjoyed it. ( honestly, i thought it was harder to talk with my group than the children ). And of course, after some hard work, we played sports, i did not participate in that, i was just watching because it was mainly boys playing. Walking back to our buses was one of a work out, Abeer, Peter and I decided to race. A tragic accident occured on the way back to our hotel, which was very scary... But thankgod no one got seriously hurt. Some of my bus people decided to wait in the middle of the road so that Bus 1 ( Who had the accident ) could go back to the hotel first. I could have went with them but i decided to stay and i was very pround of myself to have let other people go there first since i was not tired and i was fine with the idea of waiting for an hour or two.

The last day, we visited Orphanage 1 ( with the nuns ). Once again, we listened to the "boss" of the orghange, which was very interesting. SOme of us went to back bread, some others tought english i think, and others including myself went to see the orphans. I have always loved some children and babies, so we just took care of them and gave them some attention. I got attached to this little baby boy called Bom ( i am not sure how to spell it ) and he was just sleeping in my arms for a very very long time. But when he woke up, we got along and i just brought him everywhere i went; we visited where they were making bread, shared 1 bread, talked to everyone...I felt that he was very happy. But not until the end, it hit me that i will never see him again after this, and i got pretty sad because its not fair to them how maybe they get attached to visitors and then they get left again...it must be very hard for them since they already got abandoned by their parents.

Orphanage 2: it was maybe more "fun" because the kids were older. With Mrs. Favret, we made masks with them, and of course since I always have such good ideas, I created a trend : feathers on a headband. It was mad, they all came up to us and BEGGED for us to make them one as well. Another thing I was very proud of. For hours and hours we just played with them, chased them, carried them… it was so much fun, no one cared about how we looked like ( sweaty ) and just had fun. The other group came and we continued playing for another hour. Maybe a problem was that since I speak Vietnamese I always tried to talk to them, but there only a few people can understand Vietnamese.

At night, they made a bond-fire and danced, we joined. And then again, it hit me because I realized once again that I will not see them again… I was talking to Mr. Moussay about it; this is actually very selfish to visit them and have so much fun because when we leave, it will be over. But he told me that we can always send them useful things etc…

In the end, I realized only while writing this reflection that it was a very touchy, challenging field trip. I loved it and I am happy in a way that it was our last grade 12 field trip ever, it will be in my memory for ever.