Final Trip Reflections

With everyone now back at home and wrapped up in their winter woolies, these are some final reflections on our time away that were not included in the earlier blogs. I am so grateful to the whole team for their co-operation and care throughout the trip. We are now looking forward to planning for our 2015 Service Trip.

Alex: The most valuable part of the trip has definitely been talking to people (students) that I would have never have thought to speak to, such as those in younger grades.

Sarah: The best thing about this service trip is being able to talk to and meet new people from different grades and different ages that we see everyday at school but never think twice about talking to.

Stuart: The most significant thing that has happened to me was after the service we did. I went and spoke with Able (a Crossroads volunteer) and when he told me his story it was inspiring and told me so much about God and why service is good.

Lachlan (Mac): The service trip has been a great success in the sense that everyone has participated in all the activities and has done so with excitement and enthusiasm. The participation from the students has been phenomenal and is a product of the teachers great encouragement to get involved. All up, the service trip has exceeded my expectations in the amount of fun that has been had and the impact we have made on the lives of the less fortunate.

Daniel E and Nick W: So far in the service trip we have had a lot of fun meeting the Crossroads people and having the chance to help them out with different things. It has been a good experience to learn more about the challenges that people in this world face day to day, especially through the simulations run by Crossroads such as the blind experience. It has also been exciting visiting the markets and trying to bargain with the stall owners for random souvenirs.

Zoe: Looking back on our time at Crossroads I have found that the simulations we did had the most affect on me.  Through them we experienced blindness, aids, poverty and explored Fair Trade. The reason these had such an effect on me is because the stories and issues became real through them, I got to see what the people we are helping go through on a day to day basis. I also realised how glad I was to live in Australia and not to experience any of these situations. 

Lachlan Mo: On the service trip, one of the important activities we did was the poverty experience at Crossroads. In the activity we had a full on simulation of what it's like to be in the poverty cycle. It meant a lot to me as I tend to not realise what I have and am often ungrateful for the things I am able to do because of my parents hard work. It was a great experience.

Josh: During my time in China and Hong Kong so far I have found it really exciting to be embraced in the culture. I have really enjoyed stepping out of my comfort zone to try new foods and new experiences while I've been here. It's not every day you get to go on a trip like this so for me, it's really exciting to be in a place like this. To be more specific, I really enjoy the food because it's not just individual meals for each person but there is a variety of foods that we all share. It's really new to me and is an amazing experience.

Steph: I found that the experience at Crossroads, Hong Kong, impacted me in a number of ways. Personally, I found the real sense of community at Crossroads so encouraging and inviting and I loved the fact that I felt a part of the community, even after only being there for a couple of hours. The other aspect of Crossroads that has been particularly important to me was the service that I was able to partake in. I had the opportunity (with the rest of the team) to pack containers full of furniture and clothes which would then be sent of to third-world countries, such as Zambia, and benefit those in need. It is so humbling and brings such joy to know that what I am doing is going to help so many people that are less-fortunate than myself. 

Anonymous: The reason I came to crossroads was to help people who have less than me and, while that's not a bad reason, I didn't fully understand what they needed. It's not money or sympathy, it's education, empathy and understanding. After this trip I have a deeper desire to help anyone who is in need, no matter the problem or how long it might take to fix, I have seen the effect that I can have and the effect that many people can have on such a complicated issue as poverty. Before this trip I didn't think that I believed in God, but after seeing the compassion, empathy and willingness of the volunteers at Crossroads, to give anything and everything for people who they don't know, it's hard not to think that there is someone working through these people to make the world balanced and fair.

Ben: Visiting the Xian International Boarding School in China, we listened to an interpreter talk about the history of the school and how it developed over time. Mr Fowler took part in a traditional Chinese gift exchange with the principal of the school which was a very exciting experience for me as it shows how nice the people are to their guests and how much respect everyone has for each other seeing as they treasure what they do have and how they are willing to share their personal items with others.

Lachlan Mat: I was shocked in Hong Kong while I was testing electronics for Crossroads, because even though we were in the trade and technology capital of Asia, there was still very primitive technology there for us to be testing for local use. It really made me realise how lucky we are in Australia, as we can easily and cheaply get the latest gadgets, without the help of others. 

Sam: The Terracotta Warriors were the most interesting for me because of my love for Ancient History and for the fact that the warriors were made by real people centuries ago and most of them are still intact today.

Nick B: Throughout this trip there have been ups and downs but what stood out most for me was the care and compassion that each of my fellow trip members had to the people who cared for us, the people we worked with and the people around the world we were helping. The blind experience at Crossroads really changed how I feel about people in need and how we should help them and I would urge anyone who wants to help others around the world to come on the service trip 2015.

Day Twelve

Our final day commenced at a leisurely pace as our group worked out how we were going to manage our bags. Following our final devotion with Mr Conoulty, we were off for an early lunch for our final banquet meal.

Then off to the airport. After some farewells to our guides George and Tom, we went through for a very thorough security check. A bit of time for last minute shopping and disposing of any left over Yuan and then we were off for our DragonAir Flight to Hong Kong.

We are now in Hong Kong Airport, awaiting our final flight to Sydney and several of the group are craving western food! We are looking forward to seeing our families at the airport in the morning.

It has been a great trip, and we are really looking forward to telling you of our adventures.

Day Eleven: Our last full day in Beijing

Our group were allowed a sleep in today. The wake up call came at 7.30am and we were off to Tai Chi lessons at the Temple of Heaven. Firstly our group were given a lesson by the Tai Chi Master and his class, then we were split into groups and taken through the movements. We all discovered that Tai Chi is a lot harder than it looks and requires enormous self-control, inner strength and smooth movements. There were many recreational pursuits, mainly for older people in the parklands around the Temple of Heaven and some of our students participated in hakky sak with older gentlemen. One of our more reserved students, Connor,  also danced some salsa with a local as well. 

The artistry and architecture of the Temple of Heaven were magnificent. Our guides, Tom and George, explained that many couples come to the Temple of Heaven for their wedding photos. 

Following lunch, we visited what the locals call the "fake-fake" markets. This could be best described as Parklea Markets on steroids. Our group had a great time bargaining with the very determined dealers and buying "brand name" products for extraordinarily cheap prices. It now becomes a challenge for many to work out how they are going to fit their purchases within their luggage. 

Our next stop was a church in the centre of Beijing. This was a Catholic Church that was first constructed in 1640 and still conducts services today. We then went for a walk around the retail zone in the centre of Beijing and also to a food market where they offered some delightful specialities including scorpions on a skewer, beetles on a skewer, larvae on a skewer, squid on a skewer and even snake on a skewer. Needless to say, these were for our viewing only. 

The next scheduled activity was an amazing acrobatics show, which included contortionists, bicycle tricks, unusual forms of juggling and motorbikes in a spherical cage. The show was extraordinary and had all of us on the edge of our seats. Our final dinner was to include the local specialty, Beijing Duck, known in Sydney as Peking Duck. We greatly enjoyed this meal as a special time to thank and celebrate with our guides, George and Tom. Shalea has learnt how to count in Mandarin and counted our group back onto the bus using her new language skills - very impressive! 

Our students have returned to their rooms to repack their bags in readiness for our departure from the hotel at lunchtime tomorrow.

We have included some further student reflections from our time at Crossroads and other parts of our trip:

Connor: During the Hong Kong and service leg of the trip I have learnt that the struggles of having AIDS, living in poverty and even blindness are very real, and that we cannot let people go unthought of and uncared for. I have enjoyed the being able to help practically because through sweat, hard work and a lot of fun we have made changes for the benefit of others. I would be very happy to do more work like this either with Crossroads or any other similar charity.

Shalea: During our visit in Hong Kong, we stayed at Crossroads where we met lovely people, saw new and different things and challenged ourselves, whether that was eating new and different foods or pushing through the heat. I liked all of the activities but the two that really stood out to me the most would have to be the Blind experience and packing the shipping container for the less fortunate people in Zambia. These opportunities made me realise how hard people have it when they're blind and gave me the chance to help poor people in Zambia.

Casey:  What stood out for me in China was The Great Wall of China on 4th July.

We walked about 2.5km and over one thousand stairs in about forty five minutes, we also took a shuttle bus then a chair lift up and then started walking and enjoying the amazing view, then when we finished and all merged up again we each rode a toboggan down the mountain.

Day Ten: And another bucket list item bites the dust .... The GreatWall of China

Some would say it was an audacious plan to have teenagers ready to leave at 7am but it was impressive to see that all were able to achieve it! The students have worked really well over the last ten days and continue to do so.

 

It is a two hour journey to the Great Wall but our guides had plenty of knowledge (and jokes) to share along the way and keep (some of) the students alert. We can now say with certainty that the purpose of the wall was not to keep the Mongolian rabbits  out of China.

 

After a short cable car ride and walk up the mountain you are greeted by this magnificent structure that is the Great Wall of China. The sheer scale and undulating pathway leaves you wondering in amazement how something such as this was created. To walk the wall it can take hours so we did what we could in the time trying to take in the natural beauty of the mountains along with the craftsmanship of the guard towers and stone paving. Simply awesome. Our visit ended with a race down the mountain on Tabogons before we headed off to our next stop.

Following our amazing, yet exhausting time on The Great Wall, we were back on our coach and on our way to lunch which was provided in a restaurant attached to a government owned jade factory. Following our lunch, we were taken on a short tour, to provide us with a background on jade and to gain an understanding of the manufacturing process. We were then shown through to the showroom, where many of our group made various purchases.

After the Jade Factory, we were off to the Ice Cube and the Birdsnest, the Olympic sites from the 2008 Beijing Games. We were taken on a short tour of both sites, marvelling at the spectacular architecture of these structures. 

We were then off to the Summer Palace, the summer residence of various emperors, particularly the Empress Dowager, also known as the Dragon Lady. Some of the features of the Summer Palace were: the man made lake, which compares in size to Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin; the worlds longest corridor (in the form of an outdoor covered walkway) which included incredibly detailed artwork; and, the marble boat with a similar design to a paddle wheeler, built to impress visitors to the Palace, though does not float because it is made from marble! 

What a day! Quick dinner and then back to the hotel for a shower and bed! 

I have included below an email received today from the team at Crossroads in response to our visit to them in Hong Kong:

Hi Peter,

 

Just wanted to say a HUGE “Thank You” to you and the team.  We were so blessed by your time here, and I continue to hear great things about the team, their work, and your visit in general.

 

Greene, Abel and Julie were saying that Saturday was a record for finishing early with the container loading, which was a real blessing for them. They were so impressed by how hard everyone worked despite the heat.

 

Your team pitched in whole-heartedly, served with humility, engaged with sincerity and were a real blessing to the team here, as well as those we serve!  The way the students acted was also a testament to the leadership of your team, so be blessed and encouraged. We’ll be “chatting” that the rest of your time away goes smoothly, particularly as tiredness sets in, and that you are able to finish up well.

 

Looking forward to seeing you next time!

We have also included below a couple more student reflections on their time at Crossroads.

Student Reflections:

Ben: Something that has really stood out for me over the last couple of days has been the love, enthusiasm and encouraging attitude that has been shown by both the team and the Crossroads staff. It has been so awesome to work with such a fantastic group of people who are so passionate about changing the issue that is poverty. 

Kathryn: People in Africa become blind from insects in the river, girls get kidnapped into sex slavery, and AIDS kills off mothers, fathers, sons or wives just because of faulty or contaminated blood transfusions. This trip has showed how many flaws there  are in our world, but until we learn to work together and be generous, grateful, and compassionate, we will never be able to see a world without these flaws.

Day Nine: Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Hutong Village

After getting accustomed to the breakfast arrangements at our Beijing hotel, we were on the bus to join the city peak hour traffic on our way to Tiananmen Square. While most Australians would know Tiananmen Square because of the student riots where hundreds of students were killed, we heard none of this while we were on the square. Instead, we heard that it is the largest city square in the world and can accommodate one million people. We observed many Chinese nationals queuing to enter Chairman Moa's mausoleum. The Square was a hive of activity with hundreds upon hundreds of tour groups visiting at the same time.

From Tiananmen Square we proceeded through to the Forbidden City, home to the emperors of China since the time that Beijing was established as the capital city. The Forbidden City would be familiar to those who remember the movie, "The Last Emperor". Again, we battled amazing crowds to weave our way through this fascinating city area that contained 999 rooms across many buildings. Nine is a perfect number that is reserved for the Emperor and many features of the Forbidden City reflect the number nine. We were on our feet for three hours from the time that we entered Tiananmen Square to the time that we left on the bus for lunch.

We left the Forbidden City with some tired feet and we'd worked up an appetite so it was a good time for lunch. We were fortunate enough to be eating in a small local restaurant which was run from the owner's home, better still was the family name, Mr and Mrs Fun. As we ate some delicious food we also enjoyed the very cosy seating and met their pet Grasshopper.

After lunch we were treated to a lesson in Kite making and Calligraphy. The Kite lesson was given a really friendly man who didn't speak a word of English so some translation was necessary. He helped us make and decorate our own small triangular kites that could actually fly. Among the named creations we had 'Con-air' (Connor Wares) and "Gerald" (Travis Heather). The Calligraphy lesson was given by the 'Master' who also doubled as the chef of the restaurant. He showed us the main brush strokes along with how to write Beijing and Sydney.

 

As we left we were stormed by a group of street sellers trying to sell us their chop sticks and $40 Rolex watches. We quickly made our way to the Rickshaws which were taking us to our next destination. We wound our way through back streets past small homes and corner stores that gave us an insight into how some people live in Beijing, and it was an eye opener for what we consider to be a well developed city.

 

After a rest at the hotel we were off to dinner and a Kung Fu show. The show was quite impressive, showcasing the strength and agility of some very talented martial artists. The show finished with an opportunity for photos with the cast which a few of us took up.

We can't believe it's getting close to the end but we're getting the most of out of each day.

Day Eight: Terracotta Warriors and Banpo Village

Our day started with an early breakfast and check out from our amazing hotel, then we were on our way to see the Terracotta Warriors - now known as the eighth wonder of the ancient world. Firstly, we visited a centre where we were able to watch people making terracotta warriors, both life size and gift size, using the same techniques as those used during in Qin Dynasty 2200 years ago. We also had the opportunity to make some purchases of replica warriors.

Then it was on to the warriors themselves. They are located some 1.5kms from the actual tomb of the Emperor, and act as guards to his tomb. There are three halls where the entombed warriors are located, the first of which is the size of a football stadium. The face of each warrior is unique. Each warrior also had to be reconstructed from the smashed pieces that have been recovered by archaeologists, as they were destroyed by soldiers during the Han Dynasty. We visited each of the three halls and also visited a shop where we were able purchase a book on the warriors which was signed for us by one of the four farmers who discovered the warriors in the 1970s. We also enjoyed a very nice lunch at one of the restaurants at the site of the Terracotta Warriors.

Our last site for Xian was to be a Neolithic village called Banpo. One of the particularly unique characteristics of this 6000yr old village (that the girls were very excited to learn) was governed as a matriarchal society. They learned this from the finding that the women of the village had been buried together with clay pots and the men thrown into a ditch. We were able to see the remains of some of these bodies along with their tools and a reconstruction of parts of the actual village.

It was time now to say goodbye to one of our Xian guides, Nancy, as we head off to Beijing. Our flight went by quite quickly and we were landing in Beijing by 7:30pm to meet our new local guide, Tong. Having lived in Beijing for 8 years he has a lot of experience and knowledge about the city which he's already sharing through interesting personal life stories. He's also recounted some of the grand history that we are about to see for ourselves, but first we were to stop for dinner. Our dinner is worth noting because unlike the restaurants we have typically been to, tonight's meal was a 'stronger' experience into the joy that the Chinese seem to have for making food spicy... and I REALLY do mean spicy!

We then headed off to our hotel and we are now getting rest for the first day of sightseeing in Beijing.

Day Seven: Xian - Ancient Capital of the Great Chinese Dynasties

Our trip to date has been full of incredible insights and experiences that have opened the eyes of each member of our group. Over the next few blogs, we will be sharing some of the insights and reflections that students have submitted for the blog. 

Crossroads Reflections (Day 1-4)
Erik: In the past few days I've experienced something completely surreal as I helped pack the container that will be sent to Zambia. It didn't feel like a chore, it felt like a privilege that I was part of this experience that would impact the lives of countless people. Overall my stay at Crossroads has been one that I will remember forever.

Travis: When we were working it was good because we were doing something helpful for others and it wasn't something we had to do, it was something we wanted to do.

Shari: The highlight of the service trip so far would have to be working with other people from different grades to serve others and volunteer our time together to help those who really need it the most. 

Day 7 - Xian (Today's adventure through the eyes of students)

Stop #1-International School: Kaitlyn Smith
I really valued attending the Bodi International School because I was able to experience real life in China, not just it's ancient history or it's tourist attractions, but real people living their everyday life.

When we arrived at the school, we were greeted by the school principal and his translator, Iris. After an interesting speech about the schools' history and achievements, we were given the chance to attend a Year 9 English class. The RHAC students tested the knowledge of the international school students and Ben Razey and I had a conversation with some of them in front of the class. I met two girls, Zhou Jing and Wang Ziwei. They taught me some Chinese words and characters and I taught them some Australian slang and animals. These girls had been learning English for five years, so they really enjoyed being able to teach me about their own language. When our time was up, we exchanged contact details and gifts from our respective countries. Finally, we received a short tour of the school and played ping pong in their table tennis training academy.

Stop #2- Wild Goose Pagoda: Meg Brown
Peculiar in name yet able to be a spiritual connection. The origin of the pagoda is derived from legend of a monk who was to travel from India to China delivering highly sought after Buddhist relics. Passing through the desert he came across a goose, which in his time of desperation offered its blood for his famished state and flesh to consume, only requesting that the monk fulfils his quest in delivering the sacred relics. So, on his return to Xian, he named the pagoda after the wild goose as he believed it's offering was a sign of Buddha's spiritual presence in a time of need.

It is such a belief as this that has allowed individuals to overcome barriers such as language to join in the meaning behind its existence. The pagoda itself offers Buddhist statues and temples available for exploration in the extravagance of gold and jade. It was a sight all were absorbed within, allowing individuals to give their respect. With famous figures such as Confucius, the Jade Emperor and Buddha, fortune, future and truth are all aspects of a belief with the capability of blessing and further insight for all, with observation of other religions allowing insight to an altered ideology to a culture stereotypically classified and misconceived. From mental to physical, this was an experience and exposure to a site uncommon from the home of our own.

Stop #3- Shaanxi Museum: Benjamin Razey
This afternoon we also visited the Shaanxi Museum. The museum aimed to highlight the significant differences and similarities between each of China's major dynasties and also highlight major events/major practices that occurred within each dynasty. The museum was split into three large sections/dynasties: Qin, Han and Tang. Of all of the sections within the museum, I found the most interesting to be the Tang Dynasty as it had a large replica of a Grotto with a large Buddha statue in the centre, highlighting the religious background of the Chinese culture.

Overall, today was completely and utterly exhausting, but was also so interesting and fascinating. Not only has this trip been an amazing opportunity to serve and help those less fortunate than ourselves, but it has also been an incredible opportunity to learn and immerse ourselves in different cultures.