"Which bus will you be riding?"
"I'm busy this afternoon cus I need to go buy some snacks!"
The spirit is high.... since a week before that day. The day when the whole school goes on an outing away from our little town. The day when the kids get to go on a rare trip out of town.
When I was a student in Taiwan, we had this annual trip which is a big deal to us. It's just a day trip. Destination was not important to us, but the procedures of preparing for it was. We had to prepare snacks, lots of snacks! Whether we eat them eventually was irrelevant. We had to ride either in the front seat of the bus or the back. Front so we can see the road, back so we can mess around with a bunch of classmates since the space is bigger. I did not remember where we went, again, it was irrelevant.
After grade two, I left Taiwan. There were outings when I was in Singapore, but none was as memorable. This time, I am going on the trip as an outsider, but I soon realized that it was more than that.
Needless to say, I was the camera man. I thought I was just the photographer, staying out of the way while documenting the experience in photographs. However the night before the trip, I was thinking if I should get some snacks as well just in case some kids didn't bring theirs. So I rode into town and went through the snack aisle. Up and down the aisle I went, again and again, can't decide which ones to get! Of course, the classic ones are must-gets! Before long, I realized it was ME going on a trip.
The day of the outing, the school was filled with kids long before the day started. Somehow the kids felt less need of sleep. Everyone was hyped up, excited and more than ready to go. Then the buses came and students were gathered. Today, we were going to another tribe to see their culture and dancing, but the real deal is towards the end of the trip. What "deal"? Well, the truth will be revealed later.
Like I said, the destination was irrelevant. Going to see those tribal dances, making some hand craft and visiting a baseball museum was all fun and game, but what really mattered was the fact that they get to see the outside world even though it was just an hour drive away from home. As the bus approached the mountain valley, the kids wowed at the scene. It's not like they've never seen mountains before. They live right by one, but they wowed anyways for the sake of wowing. When they saw the sign pointing to the destination, they got excited. "We are almost there!" Some shouted. At the destination, tour guides taught greeting phrases in the local language, the history of the tribe and then some soap making and leather printing. Everyone has something to take home! Then we went to the baseball museum nearby where we stopped for about 20min. Yes it was a museum, but the kids were running and climbing up and down the statues outside of the facility. How is this different from the playground set they climb everyday in school? Not much, but it was more fun than seeing the trophies and videos inside.
Like I said, destination was irrelevant, but the next destination was definitely relevant! McDonald's!!!!!
Nothing is more exciting than going to McDonald's even though I myself try to avoid it. In this case, the food was irrelevant. It was "going to McDonald's" that was relevant. It was a short stop, but the most important stop of the day.
The day was short, but eventful. I am most impressed by the kids' habit of not wasting food. During lunch, we sat around a dining table and towards the end, the kids started to ask each other to finish the remaining food on the plate, like lick-clean. They were not picky. They liked everything from vegetables to meat. They wouldn't even want to waste a piece of onion. Impressive!
While taking photos, the kids usually like to get in front of the lens and pose funny faces. There was this girl who kept wanting to be behind the camera instead. I asked her if she has camera at home. She said no. I realized that, since most of the kids' parents don't spend a lot of time with them, there's probably no one to take photos of their childhood. I hope these photos will do the job.
"Come on, can we get going???"
OFF TO MCDONALD'S!!!!!!!!
RIOT!
Satisfied!
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