Cheryl Ng

So much seem to have change, yet everything – in a way – is still the same. So hard to accept the fact that I’m in school, so hard to accept that I have a week left to prepare for exams, so hard to accept people change…everything seems to be happening way way tooo fast! Let’s rewind time, and slow down the pace. Let’s go back to when I’m still in the 2nd week of Fiji…

The 2nd week of Fiji was… good… only for the first 2-3 days? After that, I really disliked the beach, the sunshine, the swimming pool…I guess I just had too much time on my hands, too much time to relax. Although, reflection time alone seems kind of boring, it was actually useful. I think I’ve never done so much reflecting in the past couple years before! At first I actually thought about going home, I dreaded reflecting because I thought I could’ve spent that time reflecting at home anyways, but I was dead wrong! Seeing as to how I haven’t blogged for over a month, concentrating on one simple task like this is actually really hard for me. (So much distraction!) Well, thinking back to when I was still in Fiji, time for reflection was actually great. Without it, I would’ve never really fully appreciated all that had happened during the 1st week. 2nd week made me realized the importance of the connection between the locals and us, their friendliness, their heart-warming welcomes, their smiles, our trusts… things that I did not find(?) during that 2nd week… I really like & miss how we were so productive and hardworking during that 1st week…

WOW! Here with us (the Global Perspectives students & teachers) is the dentist group who volunteered to help check-up the locals’ oral health, pull out decayed teeth etc… From this morning until now I’ve been assisting them and observing the whole process. I find it extremely interesting how even in a place where it is very poor and lack high-tech equipments, simple processes can still be done. The dentists use tables and chairs to lie down on and to operate on. The area that I’m in charge with is arranging and sterilizing the equipments. The process of sterilizing the equipments was done in 4 simple buckets of liquid: soap, clean water, bleach & clean water again and then it was dried. This made me realized that although lacking the monetary means and high-tech equipments, when we really need to get things done effectively & efficiently – it is always possible! The dentists presence attracted not only the locals who live in the village who came here by bus, but also attracted those who needed to take the boat here! The number of people who came (which is A LOT!) throughout this week illustrates how poor the local dentists are. Poor, not in terms of skills perhaps, but in terms of the equipments and their reputation. A patient said that the anesthetic used by the locals were not concentrated/strong enough, and thus the patient is in a lot of pain when taking the teeth out. Also, because our dentists are volunteers, the Fijians come because it’s free and pain-free. Seeing how the people travel by boat to visit the dentists reflect the trouble that they are willing to go through in order to seek great dental care.

Another interesting thing that I noticed was that even though the sugar cane industry is the backbone of their economy, it is a detriment to their oral health!

- Cheryl

Yesterday – sugar cane, coconut, mango… goat. The Fijians let us tried some local food in the area FRESH! They chopped & gather the sugar cane and coconut fresh off the fields and trees and it tasted AMAZING. Very sweet and filled with juice! They also sacrificed a goat for us. In Fiji, sacrificing an animal is for serious & important events, such as, weddings or for this case, for Global Perspectives as a sign of their appreciation for what we have done. However, it was very emotional for most of the Global Perspectives people. We were welcome to watch and/or leave during this sacrifice and I decided to watch. I saw them pull the goat in, tie the goat down and then… I left and couldn’t watch anymore. I burst into tears. It was interesting because it was really  different from seeing it on television or going to the market, chopping meat up – it can only be understood when here watching. After this emotional event, we went for a hike and participated in a Fijian event – The Festival of Colour – where they wiped coloured powder on us and poured coloured water on our clothes. What I enjoyed about this event was how we were able to dance & sing together with the Fijians and the Indians despited our different cultures. How, although we come from different parts of the world, that were still able to communicate and overall, HAVE FUN with EVERYONE!

As for today, I did something that I probably would’ve never done before I came to Fiji, I PICKED UP A FROG! That was very satisfying and probably the highlight of my day! I don’t think I would have held a reptile in my hands back in Canada!!!

Well… still have 2+ hours of hard work to go! Blog again later~ ByeBye!

- Cheryl

March 18, 2011 9:42am – Fiji Time

Bula~!

40+hour of transportation and delay of flights before arriving at FIJI! During our wait for the flights, we had over 6 hours of time on our hands to do… anything! That sounds great doesnt it? But then it was actually very boring because we were only allowed to stay in the airport. When we had all those time on our hands, we actually believed that going to school would actually be better! When we arrived at Fiji, EVERYONE was very nice. Even when we were just passing by, they would say “BULA!”. Also, when we ask them how to say a certain word or phrase, they were very willing to teach us.
Busing to the village was also quite a long, bumpy ride, however it was interesting to see how people on the streets – even though they didn’t know who we were – they waved non-stop. At the village, they greeted us warmingly and enthusiastically, gaved us a necklace made of flowers, danced for us and made snacks. The curry was very yummy~! When we were leaving, a kid started chasing after our bus. A really interesting thing that I noticed was the separation between the males and females. All the males were standing on one end of the cover, while all the females were sitting the ground. In particular, only one male was willing to carry two children, while all the other men stood and watch.
First day at work, started digging a 6 feet by 6 feet hole for the washroom, and started sweating right away! Inside my pants were all sweaty too! So much more to talk about, but limited time on computer! I shall blog later with more detail!!! BYE!

-Cheryl

To start off… 24 more days until we leave for Fiji !

Yes, indeed this is something to be happy about but at the same time there is still a treacherous road before we can get there. For the majority of the students, ‘treacherous road’ as in being the first ones for oral exams, finishing up design labs, extended essays, ToK essays, math portfolio and on and on and on…

For today’s class, Mr. Matheny invited many past students who were a part of the Global Perspectives Program! They talked about their experience before, during and after the trip and just as importantly, how it affected their decision and how it relates to them now. Two things I found interesting was that – after the experience – many ended up liking to travel (whether alone or in groups). Also, the other thing was that they were SO focussed at what they were doing for the 2 weeks, they barely had the time to think about what was happening in back in Richmond or rarely had the time to miss their family. This was interesting because this will be the first time that I have ever left my parents for such a long time and prior to listening from them, I was actually expecting myself to be home sick for at least a while during the trip, but after today’s class, I was thinking…”Hmm… maybe this will be a very busy trip !”. Additionally, an advice was to given that we should leave all worries and basically everything behind and enjoy helping, working and getting to know others during the trip. I see this as a great opportunity to do something meaningful in my life (and a chance to escape the life of an IB student). Something I was wondering about all day was… “Will I end up liking travelling too?”. Well, I guess I’ll find out soon!

My parents were both born in Hong Kong and although they were raised in a totally different environment as compared to Canada, they did not impose their parents’ (my grandparents) expectations on me. To be honest, I feel quite free and I can almost say that I have no expectations, except for the ‘basics’ which includes: taking care of myself (e.g. shower, brush teeth etc.), going to school and most importantly, trying my best/hardest…However, even though they have no expectations for me, I set my own expectations. For example, I like to study lots until I run out of time or work on my homework until really late, but my parents would rather I sleep earlier. In a sense, the lack of expectation gives me even more pressure to do better and I constantly find myself trying to achieve something to the best of my ability but seemingly have no ‘end goal’. For instance, they do not mind if I don’t get a score of 32 for IB predicted or even go to college rather than university, but I constantly stress out about my own marks. Other than the pressure I put on myself, this freedom also allowed me to join sports team and the Global Perspective program. Whereas, I know there are many other parents who are extremely stressed out about their children’s marks and often restricted them from other extracurricular activities so that they can focus on their homework. I guess, my parents would be closer to the Canadian mentality of exploring, working in groups, volunteering etc. as oppose to the robotic, monotonous life of schoolwork and grades. Fortunately, this freedom gave me the opportunity to understand working in team environments.

I guess, expectations have both its advantages and disadvantages. Children who are pressured by their parents into learning more things acquire more skills and talents even if they don’t like it may have a more ‘bitter’ childhood but in the end, the skills learned and outcome may provide them with more options – a more ‘sweeter’, less restricted future. On the other hand, a childhood with more freedom may seem ‘sweeter’ and more fun, but bad choices may lead to a ‘bitter’ future with little/few options… as for me, I think I would like a combination of both sweet and bitter moments rather than the extremes~!

“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends, but is played out over and over again in the quiestest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy

This reminds me of what Mr. Matheny said, how usually it’s after the trip that we get “aha”-moments. How many of the students, after the trip, change because of the experiences encountered. How it’s hard to get back into our life in Canada after coming back from Fiji. Because every aspect of the trip will bring back both memories good and bad. Because when I get back, I’ll probably relate every little thing with the events that happened in Fiji. Though i cannot predict how my reactions, emotions, and personality might change after this experiential learning and cannot guarantee if I’ll have these “aha”-moments, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to forget this trip !

Two days ago, Mr. Matheny handed out chocolate to students who participated in the discussion of child labour. Turns out, children were involved in making/packing these chocolates, he asked “who feels guilty for eating these chocolates?”. Although, to a certain extent, we all felt guilty thinking that we were supporting the major companies in exploiting children labour, but on the positive side, at least our demand for chocolate is providing job opportunities to the poor in the developing countries. Rather than not having any money at all, at least they get paid so they can support their own family. In reality, the majority of the poor is too afraid to speak out for what they want (e.g. high salary, more benefits etc.) because millions of people are literally fighting for the same job. Their desperation in need of a job is one of their weakness as to why they are being exploit, not just child labour but also for people who work in sweatshops (for example). If these companies are not willing to spend even 0.1% of their profits to improve the conditions and raise the salaries of the poor! What exactly can we do to help the poor? Within 3 months, we will be helping the poor in Fiji! On the surface, we may just be providing them education but at the same time, we’re also providing them a chance in the future to stand up for what they want, we’re giving them the power to face these large companies and giving them the knowledge so they can speak out loud !

Global Perspective is definately a unique program that is perhaps the key to stopping exploitation and the key to breaking the cycle of poverty around the world!!!

Hissssss…
Mmmmmm…

~EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING TIME~

Our first class after the winter break started with us all lining outside of the classroom waiting to enter but only to encounter our teachers hiss-ing and mmm-ing at us when attempting to step into the class. They pointed at our shoes and hissed, “mmm-ed” when we took off our shoes…in the end, it turns out all girls had to take off their shoes and stand, while all the guys kept their shoes on and were allowed to sit. At first, it was uncomfortable since there seems to be an issue with gender inequity where the males appears to be more dominant and had more authority, while the females had to follow their orders however I seem to have applied our own western culture to this scenario. From a different perspective, it could’ve been interpreted that by having the female population take off their shoes, it signifies their importance and how much they are valued because it could be a sign of care since the ground is much safer than perhaps wearing shoes. That day, I believe the most interesting thing learned was that we shouldn’t apply our own western culture to Fiji, or any other countries. Instead, we should learn to understand and try to accept other cultures and not be offended by them due to differences. Also, language barrier may also be an issue when we get to Fiji, but there are other universal languages that we can rely on – body language, facial expression and sound ! With the teachers constantly hissing, mmm-ing, pointing, making angry faces etc. at us, their message was at first confusing but later understood by us all ! MMMMmmmm…communication!