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It’s that time of the year again— China trips; a week away from the strenuous daily work (for most of us!) of school. While most of the trips remain the same as in previous years, the seniors get a chance to take on a new adventure. This year, instead of revisiting the familiar scenes of Yangshou, they’ll embark on a journey to explore Lantau, Hong Kong. Similar to the previous senior China trips, they will be working on their college applications and finishing up some IB work. No worries though! There will still be down time for them to enjoy their last China trip as a class together.
As this is the ninth graders’ first China trip in high school, they’ll be traveling a short distance to Qing Yuan and enjoying a tremendous number of activities each day. The freshman class will be rock climbing out in nature, with harnesses, helmets and safety equipment, of course, to ensure the utmost safety. This trip is all about stepping out of your comfort zone and building new friendships. They’ll also indulge in caving activities where students have to help one another move through passageways, often in low light. A word of advice: be careful, you’re going to get dirty! Another memorable activity is building your own tent, literally, with tarps and sticks and other materials. Of course, for the full experience, they get to sleep in their own hand-made tent as well.
The sophomores will be engaging in one of the most well-liked China trips, the Hong Kong program. There will be numerous water activities and plenty of sun. Some of the activities include SUP, kayaking and snorkeling. This is truly a different version of Hong Kong, not the busy, developed city we’ve all been exposed to before. It’s an amazing experience to take a break form the cityscape, and get a chance to jump into an even more enthralling Hong Kong. There, the sophomores will be out by the sea almost every day, trying activities that we don’t normally experience. Sophomore Leyla Sepahi said, “I’m excited to see a whole different side of Hong Kong!” This is definitely one of the best trips I’ve been on and I know that the sophomores will enjoy it.
The junior class will be going to Yunnan where they learn how to dance, farm and most importantly, shuck corn. In addition to that, they’ll do community service, planning games and activities for younger kids. This is the third year of this Dragonfly program, and it’s been going very well for the past couple of years. Along with the sophomore trip, the Yunnan trip tends to be very well-reviewed. When asked about the upcoming trip, junior Sophie Elliott says she has heard all about the trip and is extremely excited to go to Yunnan. This trip allows students to engage and interact with people of different cultures. They get to experience the daily life of the people of Yunnan, and also roam around the old town of Shaxi.
As mentioned above, seniors will go to Lantau, another part of Hong Kong. This is an entirely new trip for both the faculty and the students. They’ll also be outdoors, taking in the scenery of Lantau Island through kayaking, canyoning and hiking. These activities are similar to the ones from the sophomore trip, but they’ll be spending time with each other on their last trip together. The seniors all have high hopes for this after the presentation done on Tuesday, and are looking forward to a new adventure in Hong Kong.
Lastly, for the students who are not able to travel with their grade for a variety of reasons, they’ll be going on the local trip. Despite it being in Guangzhou, students get to explore parts of the city they may not have known existed, sightseeing from the old to the new town, and traveling to an old port area. They also do community service with GETCH, an English training center full of wonderfully friendly students with physical handicaps. Being a mixed grade level trip, students get to interact with people they may not yet know, and meeting new people is an important part of the local trip. Many students who have been on the local trip have enjoyed this experience.
Here’s to another year of new memories and fun!
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