Becoming eighteen is simply an involuntary act that requires seventeen years of practice. A gradual transition of age is nowhere near witnessing a sudden change in maturity level. To be particularly honest, I never thought about understanding the truth in reality such as figuring out the purpose of having to overcome countless obstacles and dealing with certain circumstances that I would usually pay no attention to. However, it seems that everything is slowly starting to make sense. This blog entry probably makes zero sense to some, but I’m crossing my fingers and hoping for others who do get it. It is quite an overwhelming fact to illustrate that this epiphany had only been triggered into my freakishly-immature brain only through the experiences that I’ve gone through Mongolia. Nevertheless, it wasn’t just the place that caused this sudden outburst of ‘aha‘ moment but the fact that I understood certain aspects in life that do exist outside my own little box. It opened my eyes and broadened my whole perception of reality. It made me come to a reasonable conclusion that there are greater problems around the world than little things I would usually consider as life-threatening dilemmas. There are greater problems around the world than an oral presentation that is worth more than my monthly salary. There are greater problems around the world than a cold lunch or a soup needs a little more salt. There are greater problems around the world than constantly struggling to bare with an unexpected heartache. There are greater problems around the world than figuring out which path to take as I start my life-long adventure after high school. We define these irritable situations as obstacles, but when you travel across the world and witness the life that people live in then you will have a better idea of what that word really means. Personally, I will forever stand by the truth that God won’t create obstacles that we cannot overcome. No matter how deep the pain is behind this crooked smile and partially-tanned face, the problems I presently face in life is something that will only make me into someone better. The lesson isn’t the measure of a particular struggle, but it’s the person we’ve become after overcoming a major difficulty. I must say, I feel a genuine rush of self-contentment and joy after realizing these facts about what life is all about. Moreover, I don’t know how much more I can ever expand over the fact that during those fourteen days I stayed away from home, I’ve finally come to value the nice warm air I breathe, the silent flush of a bathroom toilet, the ounce of pepper on my spaghetti and most of all, the people that I truly care for.
First of all,
Happy 18th birthday to my amazing Cuban bff, Miguel Madrid Andres.
I promised I would remember and even we’re 1000+ miles apart, it’s no reason to forget.
General highlights ( just because I only have 5 minutes to blog ) :
_ Today is officially our last day in Zuunkharra
_ We almost finished the school
_ Experienced Mongolian snow for the very first time!
_ Closing ceremony is also today at 2 : 30pm
_ We are finally off to another town to start our Mongolian tour
_ We leave at 11 : 30 pm to the train station
_ I haven’t taken a shower for six days and it feels so good..
_ My hair is very greasy and curly, no complain. I like it this way 
Mom Dad Josh Lola, you are truly missed.
This is it. The constant urge of pouring gallons of lukewarm water all over my frosted body and greasy hair definitely sets the bar even higher. Somehow, it makes me appreciate things that go by unnoticed. The involuntary act of taking a shower twice a day or even the fact that brushing my teeth that does not require opening a bottled water made me realize that even if I have all these luxuries at home, it’s not something that you take for granted. It’s only day three of working and I must say that I am quite proud of myself for reaching this far, that even the little things that once made my head crack is now something that is easy to bare with. The change that I see in myself may not seem quite drastic, but it ultimately opened my eyes into things that used to be so unclear, better yet, circumstances that had never crossed my mind. It’s safe to say that the gradual change that is experienced by the people in this trip is something personal, and it is also experienced differently by everyone else.
Looking through this 11-seater van as I waste my ten-minute blog time thinking of better things to write about, I see a foundation that is perfectly set. I see a school that is waiting to be finished. I see 14 wooden planks being nailed up, making the walls of the building. I see a space on the left-hand side for the window that is presently being installed. And I see students who are trying to create the most perfect illusion of what we call school.
After hours of delayed layovers and cancelled flights, we’ve finally reached our destination. From gradual transitions of topnotch, five-star hotels in Incheon, Korea to the traditional Mongolian ger filled with frozen sleeping bags and numb finger tips, the overwhelming amount of experience is outstanding. This trip not only opened my eyes on reality of a third-world nation, but I also discovered that it is possible to make a difference with thirty other people I barely know. Dad&Mom, you’re right. I promise not to clog our toilets with tissue rolls anymore. I now understand the pain and effort needed to make my cream-coloured toilet to work. It brings me complete joy and delight when I see a toilet that flushes.
Okay, ten minutes is finally up. Dad, Mom, Josh, Lola – I Miss you all !
bargain /b’ɑːʳɡɪn/
http://www.google.ca/dictionary?aq=f&langpair=en|en&hl=en&q=bargain :
- a formal business agreement, in which two people or groups agree what each of them will do, pay, or receive
- good value for money, usually because it has been sold at a lower price than normal
GlobalEd Class Version :
- a rude persuasion in which two people or groups disagree what each of them will do, pay, or receive
- value of money is agreed depending on the mood of vendor, usually sold at a much higher price than normal to fool buyers
It was quite interesting to witness another class experiment with eight bilingual students given a set of school supplies. As part of this group, we were to sell as much supplies as possible in order to provide food and shelter to our families. This meant that we had to aim for a high, yet reasonable price to sell the items with, hoping to prevent buyers from bargaining any further. However, this wasn’t even the catch. We were also told to speak in our own language. This was already a hard task considering the fact that almost every buyer was given only a quarter of the price demanded for each school item to start off. My school items, that is. This activity was actually quite effective in terms of developing our knowledge about reality. It gives us more of a practical and a much more convenient approach when it comes to saving our money and attaining financial stability. This activity, nonetheless, was not an opportunity to swear in a different language, but it serves a purpose on making a deeper connection with other people in the program. After all, we will end up spending fourteen days of icy, cold sweat and laughter altogether.
I’ve always wanted to bite an olympic medal. Not to mention, an olympic gold medal.
Once i got a hold of Daniel Igali’s gold medal in freestyle wrestling, there was no hesitation. I knew I was bound for trouble, but I decided to take the risk and plunged my teeth onto that priceless token just to get a perfect shot for the camera. That was only the beginning. It was pretty amazing sitting two desks away from a lightweight wrestling champ as he shared stories about his childhood and present life not knowing that he actually made an effort to tell us that he was, in fact, blown away by what we do as a class. It’s funny how a person like him would be so thrilled and overjoyed over grade 12 students who knew nothing about life but food and sleep. It’s ridiculous how he effortlessly returned the exact same reaction we had when we saw him, only because of what we do. It’s difficult to see how a person as powerful as he would be so kind-hearted to show up and speak about his history. He probably had a better things to do than sit on top of a wooden, unstable high school desk and speak to a bunch of teenagers who probably had their minds set on plans over the upcoming weekend. Instead, he was really friendly. He graciously took his time to speak about what he thought about our project and talked about his life-changing instances growing up. It was ultimately an eye-opening experience and I’m happy to have made a mark on his gold medal.
Having the ability to point out someone else’s flaws or external issues is nowhere near figuring out who they really are as a person. It may take a lifetime to be able to get along with someone who is ultimately different, nonetheless this should not be a reason to judge. Pictures reflecting certain stereotypes that may seem quite astounding in comparison to what is described as normal in today’s society were shown last Friday in class and the initial reaction towards this activity was not as surprising. We gradually had the idea that there was more to it than just pictures, and that the real lesson was to pursue more than what is seen externally. For instance, an image of an obese woman peacefully enjoying a hot summer day at a beach while wearing a red polka dot bikini may seem alarming to a few, however this shouldn’t give us any reason to judge her in any way. It’s rather difficult to take your eyes off of something that we consider different or rather, something that we usually don’t see everyday, and instead we continue to express interest and the first instinct would obviously be judgement. But seriously, think about it. Thinking about certain negative aspects about a particular issue or person brings no positivity towards anything. Really, it’s just a waste of time.
Once again, a life lesson unveiled. One down, and more to go..
I cannot bare to live knowing that I only have 50 years left to be alive. It’s like having an age set for your death day.
67 years is the average life expectancy in Mongolia. It may seem really far from now considering the fact that I’m only seventeen, but after comparing it to other countries, I can’t help but notice the huge difference it makes. Personally, it just makes me even more grateful to think how fortunate we really are to be living in Canada and that not a lot of people are as blessed to have the life that we live today. Some people can’t even afford to get clean water, while we carelessly leave the faucet on every time we brush our teeth. Some people can’t afford to get a proper education, while we carelessly ‘skip’ days off just so we could miss a huge math logarithms test or pretend to be sick to get an oral presentation postponed. It’s amazing how little things can make a huge difference. All the stupid mistakes we do and the problems we face every single day is probably nowhere near the level of poverty and hardships that people face on the other side of the world. In my opinion, it’s harsh how we live life not knowing that we basically have everything and instead we end up complaining about all the little things that happen when there are people on the opposite end of the world who worry if they could afford to live an extra day. It’s difficult to own up to it and think about how ignorant and selfish we’ve become when we don’t get things our way, but I definitely think that it is important to realize that it is not all about us. We need to be able to be aware that there are other people in the world who would give anything to have what have right now. Let’s not be blinded by ignorance.
To be quite frank, I never really understood the whole concept of the event – ‘IMPROVing Mongolia’, not to mention the name Tickle Me Pickle. I thought of it as one of those just go-with-the-flow type of event like how it sort of was at the Steve Nash basketball game. It was funny how nobody really knew what we had in store for us that day since we didn’t really know what our task was to begin with. This time, I think it would be a good idea to know about this event.
A benefit show. That’s what it is. Actors acting right on the spot with no prior knowledge of what they had to act about. Yes, now I get it. Plus, performances by RHS students to show their full support for our program. I’m truly grateful for the amount of support we get all the time. From sponsors, teachers, and even students from our school. It’s amazing how we take everything for granted and think that this program is mainly about us. Yes, it gives me that nice tingly feeling and it’s good to think that I’m actually doing something really good for once. But, that is no reason to let my ego take over everything. It’s really important to be reassured and constantly reminded that we are not doing this for the sake of letting people know that we are good high school students with big bucks who travel, but realize that there are lots of people in the world who don’t have what we have. It is up to us to promote that awareness and do something about it. It’s good enough that we know and that we are fully aware of the immense difficulties happening right now but knowing about it just won’t do it. It is up to us to take the initiative and figure out a better way to show that we truly care.
It’s insane how we don’t even realize that our brand new Nike shoes we get for Christmas had probably been in the hands of twelve year-old factory worker who’s just barely making it through life with a single penny. We take this for granted because the shrill gust of excitement we feel when we get these new things takes over the reality of its fabrication. It may sound like a complete nonsense to question each pair of shoe we get to raise awareness about this issue. As a teenage shoe-aholic, it will be impossible to turn down any good pair of shoe just because of the fact that 20 cents out of the whole profit of that particular shoe company was the only money used to pay the workers. No one would ever think of such an issue mainly because of the fact that we are getting brand new things. How could we possibly turn those down? It is almost unfair to think that a seventeen year-old girl is getting paid 15 cents to sew a pair of shoes and realize the fact that they are perfectly fine with that kind of money. As much as I would hate to think about it, it’s just part of life. It happens every single day. If I was put in such situation, I would probably end up quitting because 15 cents just won’t do it. We’re talking about my daily food consumption, and of course shopping sprees. It just won’t do it. Thinking about these circumstances makes me feel very grateful and fully satisfied with my life. However, it is also important to step up and promote awareness to people and help them realize that the shoes they are wearing now aren’t made from rubber that is automatically stitched and readily packaged.
