Remembering Yunnan

finally... a post about my Yunnan trip...

this trip has thus far been quite enjoyable. i am learning a fair number of things about myself, about my students, about education, about my colleagues and about life in general.

i love standing in mountainous regions looking at rolling peaks. it makes me realise how insignificant my problems are and at the same time, it makes my life immensely large when i feel the connection with the land.

i also love seeing the sun gently rise from behind the mountains, having the rays of light shoot out from behind the peak. it was a gorgeous experience, made even more beautiful by the cold climate and the warmth of the local students.

i saw that sight in this secondary school right smack in the middle of the mountains called Si Zhong (Fourth Secondary School). yar... the schools there only have numbers... the students there are amazingly resilient. some of theme walk 2 days to go home (they only do so once a month) and they walk through the mountains. and while i have my millions of layers and my gloves, they have 2 layers and no gloves. yet their thirst for knowledge is... one of them asked me something about Singapore, then a whole group of them crowded around me to listen. i've never had a group of students look at me so attentively before. and we were standing outdoors in the cold. they did the same to my students who told them about things in Singapore.

and when we parted, some of them cried. it's amazing, considering that we've only met for less than 6 hours in all. some of my students cried too. i teared. a little bit. the thought of connecting with people and not being able to see them ever got to me.

then there was the final debrief on the final day. i was amazing how open SL was. and with his frankness, he moved the students to tears, opening their hearts, making them more ready, more able to learn the lessons that they had to learn for themselves, lessons about love, friendship, themselves, family, country.

it was a good trip in all...