Field Trip to Vietnam 2013

Overseas Field Trip Magazine

CCSC GEOGRAPHIC

SAPA

A ! touch of nature

Co-organized by Geography Panel & Community Services Team 27 APRIL - 2 MAY 2013

1

IMAGES OF VIETNAM

ON THE WAY TO SAPA

EVERYONE IS A MILLIONAIRE IN VIETNAM

A VISIT TO CHILDREN’S CENTRE

MAIN STREET IN SAPA

VILLAGES IN SAPA

A SEAFOOD MARKET IN SAPA

7

A STREET VENDOR IN SAPA

WINE-TASTING IN SAPA

VISIT TO A PRIMARY SCHOOL

A WALKING TOUR TO SAPA VILLAGES

FLAG-RAISING CEREMONY IN HANOI

COFFEE BREAK IN HANOI

OUR TOUR GUIDE IN VIETNAM

1

HANOI Hanoi is the capital city of Vietnam, as well as the second largest city of the country. It has a long history of development, which had long served as the political center of Vietnam since 1010. Hanoi was occupied by the French in 1873. With the days elapsed one after another, Vietnam remains its tradition with a slight character of French culture.

VISIT TO ORPHANAGE

The problem of orphan is serious in Vietnam where more than 14,000,000 orphans were found in 2009. Nevertheless, the Vietnamese government is not setting great store by solving the social problem because the situation keeps happening. Luckily, in this oversea field trip, we had a chance to visit the SOS Children Village. It is a village that gives the orphans a shelter and at the same time provide them with kindergarten education and entertainment facilities like slides and swings. It impressed me a lot.

Before the trip, I thought the children in SOS Village were ingoing and quiet. One of the reasons was because they were orphans.

They didn’t have enough parental care from adults even though 16

they were living in the SOS village. Upon our arrival at the SOS Children Village, we first had a discussion with the supervisors about the history and work of the SOS Village. After that, we played games with the children. They were all excited and innocent. Although there were language barriers between us, we still had a meaningful moment. They just acted like normal children with happiness. You can imagine the children getting warmth and care in the village.

After this visit, I found that the facilities of SOS Children Village were good but there are still room of improvement. Compared to Hong Kong, there were rules forbidding the abandonment of children. Through legislative ways, a lot of procedures are required.

Then the children are sent to some charity groups like Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and receive complete tend from kindergarten to secondary education. In SOS Village, there is a kindergarten only, while public primary school is found in a 10 minutes’ walk.

The education facilities for orphans were not enough and I think the Vietnamese government should pay more affords in dealing with the orphan problems. But overall, visiting SOS Children’s Village is a new and meaningful experience.

Ivan Lo Chun Hei, 5C 17

2

HALONG BAY

Physical landscape of Halong Bay: Limestones and Karst Landscape

It has been a nice trip to Vietnam, doing services to Vietnam children, visiting all those breathtaking scenic spots, such as the karst landscape in Halong Bay, terraced fields in Sapa and limestone monoliths of Tam Coc. Among all these activities, to me, the most indelible one is the sight-seeing in Halong Bay. I have been studying Geography for 5 years, but most of the time I was only learning from books and some photos taken by the others. Without having a REAL site visit to the geological features in person, you can never imagine how shocking and touching they are! The naturally formed limestones in the tropics are unique. Hardly can you see similar 19

landscapes in other places. It is like a ‘rock forest’ on the sea. Rocks with vertical cutting are settled in mosaic pattern on the sea.

The karst caves are very intriguing too. We have visited two karst caves where one of them less developed. We could then enjoy a more natural view of karst cave. Those stalactites are in different shape. Some are interesting with fascinating stories made by local people. You can even use your hand to touch those stalactites, feeling the texture of them.

This is probably one of the most meaningful experience engraved in my memory. Hope we may have more chances to have such an educational exploration in the future to learn more about geography.

Herman Wong Hon Man, 5B

20

3

SAPA 380 kilometers north-west of Hanoi, Sapa is a frontier town and also the capital of the Sa pa District.

It is close to the border of China. Unlike the urbanized capital city, Sapa is a rural mountainous area.

Many people still work as farmers to make a living.

Here in Sapa, you can take a deep breath of themountain air and enjoy a slow pace of living with the spectacular view of terraced farmlands surrounding you.

Victor Ma Ka Wai 5E

A field trip should be a chance for us to learn, to experience and to feel. Undoubtedly, the Vietnam Field Trip has given me this precious chance.

In the first place, the local Vietnamese’s enthusiasm and devotion to life really touched me. No matter in Hanoi or Sapa, you could see no beggars on the streets. Conversely, you could see people peddling their wares, selling different sorts of commodities, varying from authentic Vietnamese snacks to daily necessities. This implies that no Vietnamese would give up their life easily. They worked hard to earn a living but not stolidly indifferent to life, hoping to escape from reality and adversity. Even kids needed to wander on streets to sell their wares at the expense of their time to play and learn.

Thus, it induced me to introspect my own life. We should treasure the time we have in such prosperous city with quality education and high living standard. We got no worries for

22

food and clothing as our parents have already prepared everything for us. We choose to evade ourselves from difficulties as we still haven’t realized success originates from our effort. How about the local Vietnamese? They know the road ahead is lined with obstacles but they choose to stay strong because they believe no matter how long or hard the journey is, hope and perseverance will prevail in the end.

The Vietnam Field Trip was a memorable experience in my lifetime and I surely gain more than I gave in this trip.

23

Vietnam is a special place where you can enjoy modern city lifestyles and traditional lifestyles at the same time, as you can find a lot of cities and local villages in this country.

Before this trip, I have never thought about the living condition of the local villager in these villages can be so uncomfortable.

On the fourth day, we went to Cat Cat Village. Before entering the main village area, I was shocked that we have to buy tickets for entrance. It was really strange that we have to pay for the visit. However, after the visit, I think I have understood the reason behind.

Tommy Yeung Chi Hin 4E

We visited a family living there. My first impression to the house they are living in was really‌dirty. The house is mainly built by timeber and the environment inside was dim as only one light bulb was installed. I think it is due to the limited electricity supply there and the villagers

24

may not be able to pay for it. However, on a closer look, the setting of the house is in fact quite systematic. The toilet and pig-keeping area was located outside the house, while the ‘living room’ and ‘kitchen’ was found in the centre of the house. One special thing is that there are lots of dried corn hanging on the roof of the house.

They are used as a reserve of food. If there is not enough harvest for living in the year, they can still get something to eat.

So, after the visit, I think that the entrance fee we paid is probably a source of income for the villagers. If most of the money go into the villagers’ pocket, I think the visitors will not mind paying it, as it can help improve the living condition of the villagers.

Besides the Cat Cat Village, we also visited the Ban Pho Village after going to the Bac Ha Market near it.

As time was limited, we just went to a house near the entrance of the village. The house looks a bit better compared to the one we visited in Cat Cat village, but it is still simple and crude. The owner of the house, Uncle Li, was very nice and cheerful. He immediately performed some local arts just like dancing and playing music instruments to us when we had arrived. I enjoyed his performance so much and I realized that not all lifestyles in the local villages are the same. The villagers can also be happy although they are living in such environment. Before we leave, Uncle Li even took out the corn wine brewed by himself and invited all the boys to drink. However, I did not drink it as all my friends who have drunk it looked…..

25

On the second last day of our trip, we went to the Lao Cai Village. This village is also located in Sapa and it is quite special. Besides the houses that the villagers live in, it also consists of a primary school and a secondary school.

Unlike our two previous visits, we visited the primary school called the Lao Chai Primary School.

The school was not big and it just got some simple but enough classrooms. The main building (I think) is better equipped and built with cement while the others are just built by timber and metal

sheets. Although the school was not big and well-equipped, the students were happy studying there. Their outlook was not really tidy and some of them were even bleeding. However, I can feel their passion of studying during the visit.

During the visit, we taught them to sing and dance ‘Head and Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ and ‘London Bridge is Falling Down’. All students were eager to learn and all of them smiled joyfully.

26

After that, our group went into a classroom and observed their lessons. The students were very attentive and they listened to the teacher throughout the lesson. Moreover, they also performed some dancing to us and we enjoyed so much!

Then, they started to have their lunch. Yet, most of them just ate little and then went outside to play. Before we go, we took some pictures with the students and I think all of us enjoyed the morning so much.

It was really nice to have the opportunity to visit the local villages overseas. The lifestyles of the villagers in the villages we visited are totally different compared to ours. Most the Vietnamese villagers do not have a very luxurious lifestyle. They usually live in a simple and easy way. They perform farming in the terraced farmland and the crops are basically they main source of food.

Also, most of them keep pigs or oxen for special festivals or occasions.

In Hong Kong society, we may feel joyful when we got more income or some great stuff, including the newly-introduced cell phones, the newlyreleased game, some beautiful clothes, etc. However, the villagers in Vietnam will feel happy not because of the materials they can get.

I met a local villager named Lily when walking into the Lao Cai Village. She followed me to walk from the mountain-top to our destination – the foothill. Why did she follow me? The reason is so simple; it was because she wanted me to buy some souvenir from her. At first, I was still thinking how to deny her request and keep asking her to find me later. But finally I was impressed by her and buy something from her. Although she left me immediately after getting my money, I could still see her face smiling. I really appreci-

ate her action and surprisingly I did not feel annoying though Lily was following me all the time.

Maybe I have treated her as my friend already, haha!

In addition, I have also started to feel grateful as I can enjoy the chance to study in a school. Unlike in Hong Kong, free education is not a must in Vietnam. The poor in Vietnam may not be able to afford the educational fee of their children and thus educational opportunities are precious. I could see the smiles on the students’ faces in the Lao Chai Primary School and I thought that they are really happy and greatful that they can go to school to learn.

All in all, it is time for me and you to think about our own lifestyle. Are we living too luxuriously? Is it really that important to own the so-called great stuff? Is happiness so hard to be obtained? I can tell you. The answer is NO. Happiness can be easy and simple. That is what I learnt most in the service trip.

Lastly, I need to thank the school for organizing this service trip which offered me an unforgettable opportunity to do volunteer works in the local villages in Vietnam and the chance to enjoy the wonderful scenery in Vietnam.

The 7-day field trip to Vietnam gave me a big chance to experience a very different lifestyle.I really impressed by this country,especially Sapa.

27

Sapa is a beautiful and mountainous town in northwest Vietnam. Since the vast majority of the land is mountainous, the local people farm in terraced fields. It was my first time to see large pieces of land that are covered by terraced fields. I will never forget the marvelous sceneries in Sapa.

Sarina Or Yuen Lam 4E

Besides, the visit of Lao Cai Primary School in Sapa was very unforgettable. The children gave me a new introspection on happiness. During the visit, we sang some songs and played a game with the children. Before the visit, I did not expect that those children would be so cooperative. Fortunately, all of their reaction were beyond my expectation. They were so cooperative, lovely and pure. What I learnt from them was that happiness can actually be very simple. Those children were having a big smile when they sang the song with us. They were happy just because of the songs, games and our friendly greetings. Although they

28

were poor and in lack of materials, their life is meaningful and happy. At that moment,I realized that there are lots of things in my life are worth happiness. I should not always grumble at petty things.

After this trip, I have discovered that happiness can be found in simple life.

Although Vietnam is a less developed country, the Vietnamese are content with their life. They use their own way to enjoy and appreciate life.

29

4

SOCIAL SERVICES

PUTONGHUA TEACHING IN SAPA

When I realized that we need to have a PTH teaching with nearly 20 cafĂŠ waiters and waitress who are between 16-18 years old, I was quite nervous since we only have 10 days for preparation.

However, under the leadership of a senior form group-mate, Jenny Chen, we had division of labour quickly. We had prepared some simple vocabularies of food and drinks (e.g. chicken, beef, pork, fish, water, juice etc.) in 3 languages, English, Putonghua Pin Yin and Vietnamese. Besides, we had prepared some basic words (e.g. hello, welcome, restaurant etc.) as well as some phrases (e.g. May I take you order? etc.). We had also designed some worksheets for them as revision. I was quite worried we could not teach well because we did not have much time for 30

preparation the day before.

On that day, there were only 6 “students” joining us. One of them was the Café Manager! During the teaching, they were very attentive. They followed Jenny to pronounce the wordings step by step. Sometimes, they found it difficult to say some words, but they did not give up. They kept on trying and trying, I felt touched when I saw this and made great effort to teach them. The activity just lasted for about an hour only and I thought it was not enough at all. With their kind and nice smiles, I felt so warm that they found this activity very enjoyable.

Suki Tam, 4E

The trip to Vietnam gave me many unforgettable memories; especially when we went to the Baguette & Chocolat café.

When we first arrived at the restaurant, the manager welcomed us warmly at the entrance. He brought us to walk around in the Café and Bed and Breakfast inn including the kitchen and the bedroom upstairs. The décor was comfortable and relaxing. There was a small room with some chairs and a table, which was for the waiters and wait-

resses to learn and study. The Café provides cooking and servicing training for ethnic youngsters at around 14 to 17 years old. English is also taught to improve their communication with foreigners. After the on-the-job training, they would be sent to other workplaces or hotels to work until they turn 18 years old.

Our major task at this café was to teach those waiters and waitresses some simple Mandarin. I was one of the teachers and got an opportunity to lead the teaching process. Through the teaching, I’ve learnt how to be a teacher and it is not an easy job. There was a language barrier between us as they could only speak a little English. However, we tried our best by using body language and repeated the words slowly for many times. Surprisingly, they learnt very fast and well. They were very hard-working that they tried again and again and they never gave up. Especially the Café manager, he was so excited and always shouted out the words loudly! We were so happy to see the results at the end as they really remember the words we taught. Although the lesson 31

was short which only lasted for 1 hour, it was very successful.

The students were attentive and eager to learn. Time flew so fast that we had to say goodbye after we took our lunch.

I’m so glad to be their teacher because I had learnt a lot from them. We should always encourage and help others if we have the ability to do so. And we should also learn from their excellent attitude towards studying and treasure what we have. In Hong Kong, we have many chances to study with a good environment.

We may take all these for granted. Comparing with people in Vietnam, we are very rich and fortunate. Therefore, we should value what we have now and focus on how we can contribute in the future.

Jenny Chen Ying Chen, 5E

32

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

After visiting Vietnam, I am looking forward to seeing northern Vietnam become a major tourism region in Asia in the future.

The most famous tourist spot in northern Vietnam should be Ha Long Bay, which is a world natural heritage. The special limestone landscape created beautiful scenery and it is rare in the world. Another city Tam Coc, which also has this special limestone landscape, impressed me even more. We travelled along the water channel by a boat rowed by local people and watched the great scenery there. This unique local culture is one of the most unforgettable experiences in the trip. Through more worldwide promotions, these places can be developed into major tourist attractions.

However, northern Vietnam still have much to improve in different aspects before turning into a major tourism region. First, the transportation and infrastructure must be improved. Airport in Hanoi is not large in scale and cannot handle numerous aircrafts and tourists at the same time. The transport network is also quite poor. Roads in Hanoi are sometimes narrow and the railway system is old and ineffective. The government needs to improve and

33

modernize the transport network and infrastructure to cope with the increasing pressure on the transport system due to the increase in tourist.

Northern Vietnam can also make use of its cultural diversity. There are many ethnic groups living in the region and these places can become cultural attractions. It can develop water sports as it has a hot weather and is located near the sea. This would attract tourists who want exciting activities.

I hope when I visit northern Vietnam again in the future, it has already become a major tourism region in Asia.

Franco Lee Ming Hon 4B

Vietnam in practical but not only getting information on the internet. However, I think that northern Vietnam cannot become a major tourism region in Asia.

In terms of geographical location, northern Vietnam is located at the center part of Asia. Tourists can travel to the region in a short time. For Hong Kong, it only takes 2 hours. For some economically strong countries like Japan and China, it takes around 4 to 6 hours without any flight connection. It may attract tourists in Asia as the fee of traveling is relatively cheaper. In addition, northern Vietnam is connected with the southwestern part of China, Yunnan province. If northern Vietnam cooperates with China more, they may set up some tourist zone for tourists traveling both sides.

After visiting Hanoi and Sapa, the northern part of Vietnam, I have known more about northern

34

In terms of transportation, those in northern Vietnam have not been well developed. There are only three railways in northern Vietnam, so tourists need to spend a lot of time in traveling. Also, the roads are quite narrow. Apart from using coach, train is an alternative for longer distance journey. However, the frequency of the train is low, with only one train in a day. The speed of train is also quite slow with 60km per hour. The train is an old model, which is similar to the train used for KCR in the eighties. Thus, the undeveloped transportation can hardly satisfy the large amount of tourists.

with the buildings in Europe. Besides, Vietnam has a blend of different cultures, such as France, China and Vietnam. For example, there are many temples in northern Vietnam which are used for worshipping in Chinese traditions. Vietnam has its unique culture such as music. In the Sapa area, we can see lots of Vietnam traditions. There are many different ethnic groups which own their unique culture. Also, as a communist country, lots of communist elements can be seen in their daily life. We can see propaganda everywhere and the people in Vietnam respect Mr. Ho Chi Minh, who had united the whole Vietnam.

In terms of tourism resources, there are many tourist attractions like Ha Long Bay, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The limestone in Ha Long Bay has gone through 500 million years. Also, the architecture style in Vietnam is very special.

As a colony of France in the 1980s, the buildings, including the residential houses, are similar

Although northern Vietnam has some room for improvement, it still gets the potential to be a major tourism region. Thus, the government should put more effort to develop tourism.

Alex Wong Cheung Tsin, 5E

35

Vietnam is a very nice place that has a preservation of a lot of culture and there are both positive and negative impacts on tourism development in the country.

Bac Ha Market people trading their goods 


Vietnam will benefit much in economy, society and culture from the tourism industry. For example, tourism can help create employments in Vietnam. As tourism is a highly labor-intensive industry, direct employment (e.g. hotel staff) or indirect employment (e.g. bus driver) can both be boosted.

For the negative impact, commodification and mass production of the handicraft may occur as the tourists may buy the handicraft without knowing the meaning behind. In addition, the natural scenery of Vietnam may be spoiled as the special landscape of Vietnam (e.g. Terraced field) may be destroyed to make way for tourism development.
 I think it is a pity if Vietnam develops tourism too much because the ethnic culture and customs may be changed without any proper conservation and preservation.

Charlene Chong Wai Tung, 4E

36

There are some impacts of developing tourism in Vietnam. First of all, developing tourism in Vietnam can create employment for the accommodation we stayed, the transportation we took, the food services we enjoyed, etc. All the sectors we contacted with depend on a lot of people with different skills and abilities. By providing job opportunities, local people can earn more money and have a better living standard in order to boost the economy in Vietnam.

the streets. These transportations emit large amount of exhaust gases which affect the air quality. Also, the local people always wear masks on the street. They suggest us to cover our nose and mouth when the cars pass by. Actually, I think there are too many tourist coaches, the air pollution in Vietnam becomes more and more serious because of the development in tourism.

Yuki Cheung Cho Yuk, 5E

However, the air pollution problem is serious in Vietnam. I saw many motorbikes and coaches in 37

VISIT TO LOCAL VILLAGES

When the plane landed, I wondered if I was really in Vietnam. The living style and the fashion in Vietnam are quite different from that in my mind. I think most of us thought Vietnam looked just like 80’s China but cleaner. Vietnamese wear old-fashioned clothes like Chinese people but not the traditional ones. In addition, motorcars are everywhere. I wondered if we were in China rather than Vietnam!

All in all, it is the most fantastic trip I have ever had, especially participating in voluntary service overseas. It was a big challenge to me because of the language barrier. We speak in Cantonese and they speak in Vietnamese. It became the main problem in communication when we were doing services. We totally could not understand what the Vietnamese were speaking. Yet we could still communicate, which was so amazing! Maybe it was because of body language and smiles.

38

I would like to say the most memorable parts are come from Sapa. Sleeping overnight with our group mates in train, trekking in terraced fields and walking around in the Bac Ha Market, etc. are all deep in my heart.

When we arrived at Lao Chai, it was just five o’clock in the morning. We went to Sapa by minibus immediately and it took nearly two hours. In the meantime, it meant that I had to wait for two hours to answer the natural call. Luckily my attention was diverted by the gorgeous scenery. It really attracted eyeball. Beyond expectation, the tour guide in Sapa could speak very fluent English, of course, better than us. We don’t regard learning English as really important for it is just our second language. To the people there, English is an important means for them a make a living. They just try their very best to learn the language though the learning environment is so poor and difficult. We should be ashamed of ourselves. Although we can study in such a good environment, we don’t treasure it.

On the fifth day, we visited an ethnic village, Ban Pho Village. It is the most unforgettable experience. Everyone in the trip knows it. I was kissed by a man in a passive way. The man with whom the house we visited was so enthusiastic. He played a traditional musical instrument similar to “Sheng” by blowing air in it. After that, he invited me to come out and play this instrument that he had played. Hey! It means that I have to kiss you! I played it and I … Nevertheless, he invited some of us to drink some strong home-made wine brewed by sweet corn. God bless us! Luckily, no one had done any foul or weird action.

local school there. When we arrived, I was astonished. The school was dilapidated. When the tour guide said what they needed were pencils, I wondered as it seemed to be impossible. When I realized that it was true, I really hope I could do more for the students from poor families there.

Pencils are inexpensive in Hong Kong and we seldom use pencils now. But it is such a rare item there. I should have bought more stationaries for them. Meanwhile, we taught the songs ‘Head and shoulder’ and ‘London Bridge is falling down’, with same melody but diffident lyrics.

Some of the children learnt the songs seriously and memorized it quickly as they tried to grasp every chance to learn English. It was touching and I nearly cried.

Nowadays, most of the children in Hong Kong can get whatever they want. Compared to the children in Sapa, we are really fortunate. You may say it is so old-fashioned, we always hears this, but it is true. Once you have experienced the life of the Sapa children, you won’t think it is annoying anymore. Treasure our life and also what we have! I bet you won’t be unhappy anymore when this philosophy has taken root in your heart. I always think practice is important, so try it and check it out!

Edison Ngan Kei Yin, 4B

It was the last day that we were in Sapa and the trip was nearly come to the end. We visited a

39

This trip gave me a totally different feeling about Vietnam.

Kevin

My first impression of Vietnam is a less developed communist country which is similar to Mainland China in the past. However, this trip, especially the part in Sapa, gave me a totally different feeling.

Sapa is not a big city with a lot of entertainment. It just looks like a peaceful small town mentioned in some fictions. Not being a busy and crowded city, this town makes me feel comfortable and relaxing. This also brings a great contrast between Sapa and Hanoi. The small villages of the ethnic minorities around Sapa are even more beautiful and impressive, not only because of its amazing sceneries but also the ethnic groups there.

The living environment may not be so good there. There aren’t any electrical devices but only some traditional tools for farming, etc. but they are even happier than the people in Hong Kong. In Ban Pho Village, a group of people was repairing the roof damaged by a hailstorm which occured before. The villagers helped each other and the relationships between them are really harmonious. This can rarely be found in Hong Kong nowadays. I may not even know my neighbours’ names, not to mention offering each other with helping hands when needed. During the trip, I can observe that they are friendly to each other. Although I

40

! don’t know what they are talking, I can still feel their friendliness to each other.

Moreover, their passions for their own culture are very strong. The tour guides and the old man in Ban Pho village are willing to show their customs to us and tell us more about their culture and history. They have a traditional lifestyle and this help them conserve their traditions. Although they don’t have a modern life, which seems to be necessary to us, they can still have fun with each other. It’s not necessary to have luxurious lifestyle to make one happy. We should appreciate them and learn from them. I have never thought that such a traditional village can be that wonderful.

Kevin Wu Ho Man, 4A

41

SCHOOL VISITS

I went to Vietnam during the Easter holiday in 2013. It was an unforgettable experience. This was the first time that I travelled oversea without my parents. That made me feel excited.

We had visited a lot of places such as the Municipal Puppet Theatre and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex in Hanoi. We also paid visits to schools and local villages there. This helped us know more about the culture and the life of the Vietnamese. Although there were some communication barriers due to the difference in languages, everyone of us still tried their best to communicate with the students by using body language.

42

The trip in Halong Bay and the visit of Laochai Primary School have impressed me a lot.

We headed to the Halong Bay on Day 2. We took a yacht to go sightseeing and had lunch on board.

That was the best view I had ever seen. Rocks together with mist created a nice picture in my mind.

Later on, we went to see the karst landscape there. We went into those limestone caverns to see how weathering processes carved the rock. It was so amazing as the sight was impressive. We have to experience different things by ourselves so as to know how amazing the world is. The nature is magical and mysterious. You will never know what surprise it will bring to you.

We visited the Lao Cai Primary School in a poor village on Day 6. They lacked many daily necessities such as towels, toothbrushes and combs. They studied in very small classrooms. I met a girl called May. She could chat with me with some English vocabularies. Her English level was much higher than other students. She learned English due to the influence of her life and family. She understood the importance of English as it would help her make a living in the future. I was deeply impressed.

Nowadays, we receive free education for 12 years. We can learn different languages and study different subjects at school. But I can see that many of us didn’t cherish the chances as we have taken it for granted and we don’t need to worry about that. No one knows how hard it is for the children living in mountainous areas to get a chance of learning.

Nothing is inevitable. We have to cherish what we are having now or we will regret in the future.

Melissa Lui Po Yee, 4C 43

“It’s a trap!” at least 4 to 5 students said they regretted to join this Vietnam field trip and thought that they had wasted $7000 and their Easter Holiday. I had the same feeling of falling into the trap too at the beginning but after this 7-day-trip, I discovered what I gained in it are some invaluable experiences and tons of philosophy of life. So let me share my most unforgettable ones with you.

Schoolchildren really enjoyed the “Head and Shoulder” song!

In Sapa Lao Cai Primary School, about one hundred Vietnam children followed Miss Kong and us to dance, sing and they laughed happily.

“Head and shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes, knees and toes…” At first, I worried that there would be communication problems since I was new to overseas volunteer work, but when I tried to put myself into their shoes and just smiled from my heart, I knew that the children were happy to learn new things.

44

In our childhood, we would be extremely happy after receiving a sweet. We laughed on normal things.

Don’t you think that happiness can be simple? Vietnamese children don’t have iPhones, computers and good-looking clothes like we do. Yet, they always wear their big smiles on their faces. They got a happier life than us. Health, family and friends are much more important than luxurious goods, we should be contented and grateful but not just rely on luxurious goods and feel dissatisfied on your old smart phones. We have families to love, delicious foods to eat and all the things we need. But Vietnam’s children only got a few or even less. We should treasure the people loving us and things we have.

After singing the “head and shoulders song”, I had to lead the next song “London Bridge”, I didn’t do any preparation since I didn’t know the exact game we would play with the children until the moment came. I improvised some dance steps in ten seconds time. Although the dance was weird, but I could still accomplish the mission successfully. I didn’t trust my ability before and didn’t have enough confident on myself. But now, I got it!

May is one of the children we met in the visit. She speaks English fluently. I think other children will forget what does “head” and “shoulder” mean or even forget the dance since they only thought we were playing with them. May took the initiative to ask our teachers how to speak those English words and she could dance and sing the whole song by herself once again. We talked and she said that she spent 2 hours a day to self-learn English for a better ability to get her future work. She lives in a little village and suffers every day but she still lives happily and even put her mind on learning English. Reviewing myself, I have much better living standard and chance of learning, but I am lazy that I always do my homework in the last minute. I do regret, not regretting to join the trip, but regretting I had wasted my 14 years because of laziness. I would change my mentality and attitude to life like what May does in the future.

I also learnt to be strong to face problems without the protection of parents and be assiduous. The unexpectedly poor condition on train, the exhausting hiking, sudden rainstorms during the activities of visiting the terraced farmland made me tough and mature. Being mature is my expectation of this trip and it seems that I have achieved it! Vietnam field trip is not a trap, it is a training for me!

Natalie Yeung Tsz Ching, 4E

45

5

REFLECTIONS

In this trip, I have learnt a lot. The most unforgettable experience was teaching some teenagers Mandarin. They were having training in the cafĂŠ. When I saw them entering the room, they all took a notebook and pen with them. The manager there was one of the ‘students’ and I felt nervous at first. The manager was very friendly and my nervous feeling soon disappeared. He tried very hard to pronounce the word and practiced several times after learning a new word. He also encouraged the waiters and waitress to participate actively and spoke more. From this experience, I could see how hard working they were and their desire to learn new words. Also, from the manager, I also learnt that a leader should take care of others and should not just order others to do things. He should be a good example for others to follow.

The visit to a school in Sapa was also a good experience. The children there were not rich, the environment they had was not as good as us. However, they always had big smiles on their face. I thought that when I could be grateful, I would be as happy as they were.

Franco Lee Ming Hon, 4B

48

This 7-day Vietnam field trip is unforgettable. I have gained a lot of valuable experience and I deeply understand the philosophy of “happy is so simple�.

Vietnam is a less developed country which relies a lot on tourism industry. Tourism offers better employment opportunities that may draw farmers or fishers with positive effects on income. Thus, local people can enjoy improvement in their quality of life. As tourism is so important to them, they try to promote tourism as much as possible. For example, they will try to let tourists pay for a visit in the village.

Although most of the people there are poor, we cannot find any beggars throughout the trip. They have uphold their dignity with self-respect. They would rather sell their handicrafts to the tourists and be self-sufficient. Consequently, when we get off the bus, they tried to rush towards us. When we declined to buy anything from them, they followed us all the way. I appreciate their effort very much.

On the fourth day, we visited a home in the Cat Cat Village. The condition was much worse than I thought. They only had some extremely simple basic furniture and not even the washroom. The ceiling was blackened by soot as they usually cooked inside their house with charcoal. Moreover, there was only a dim light for the whole house. I hope their living environment can be improved as soon as possible.

49

!!

On the sixth day, we visited a primary school in Sapa. I found out that most of them enjoyed their school life very much and were eager to learn more, especially for the girls who had no idea when their last school day would be. Their happiness was reflected by the smiles on their faces.

Besides those visits, the scene that the villagers build houses was also memorable. Just before we arrived at Sapa, there was a hailstorm. As the houses were built by timber or weak metals. A myriad of rooftops were damaged and plenty of houses had collapsed. The villagers were trying to rebuild those rooftops and houses. However, the pace was slow as besides the dredging machines, they didn’t use any other machines. This was amazing!

In addition, it was a great opportunity to do voluntary works overseas. Though there were unexpected obstacles and difficulties, we could still

handle and overcome them. Although I was not an experienced one, when I tried my best, I could also succeed.

Development has a price and planning is important. For example, there were only few traffic lights with a large number of motorbikes in Vietnam. This increases the risk of having an accident. In the 7-days field trip, we had already seen two traffic accidents. It was horrible. I hope the Vietnam government can pay great attention to this serious problem.

Nowadays, I am living in a developed country. I should treasure what I have right now and don’t blindly pursue material life. Lastly, I would like to thank the school for giving me a chance to join the field trip. I had had a great time.

Jackyln Chan Yui Yin, 4E Vietnam is one of the less development countries in the world. Through this field trip, I can know 50

more about the local culture and social problems that happen in Vietnam.

In the seven days, I realized that Vietnam has many similar buildings design and life style with France. For example, the local love to enjoy a cup of coffee in the afternoon. This is one of the culture introduced by the French when Vietnam was one of the colonies of France during 20th century.

Besides, there are many beautiful scenery in Vietnam. And my favorite place is Sapa. Sapa is a place that located at 1600m above sea level and it is at the north of Vietnam which is closed to China. In mountainous area, the weather changes very fast in a day. The tour guide told us in Sapa, people can experience four seasons in a day. It is spring in the morning, where the weather is wet and warm. Afternoon is like summer, it is very hot. The temp can rise up to about 35C. It is autumn in the evening and it is winter at night. It can be very cold down to below 10C. We have experienced that in there. The mountain view is very memorable in the trip.

51

In first six days, I have experienced the voluntary works. At that moment, I think the whole north Vietnam is relatively poor than HK. Their schools were old and the meal is very simple everyday. But in the seventh day, I realized that Vietnam has the same problem with HK--------------extreme disparity between the rich and the poor. In the last day of the trip, we visited an international school in Hanoi. The school area was very large and are well-equipped with all sorts of facilities. We can see the difference between this and the schools in rural areas. The fee is about 50000HKD per year, which is a large amount of money to most of the people in Vietnam. Only a small group of people can enjoy the quality education in the international school. It is unfair to the poor kid because the government policy is not well enough to let them enjoy the education.

Although Vietnam is a LDC, I realized that the people there are very happy. The daily life can fulfill them although without the physical product. Compared to those in HK, although we have a better economic environment, most of the HK people are not happy due to high pressure of working. I think this is the most that Vietnamese can obtain more than us.

Sam Wu Ming Sum, 5E 52

After going to the 7-days Vietnam Field Trip, I did learn a lot. Not only some geographic knowledge I had seen from books, but also made me reflect about my own life.

It was my third time joining overseas field trips organized by our school. Unlike the previous ones to Japan and Malaysia, this field trip was also a service trip, which means we were going to work as volunteers during the trip. Maybe many of the students might think that this was going to be harsh, "why am I going to pay to work for the others?”. However, it was in fact a brand new experience to me.

Seldom had I engaged in voluntary works, I was really looking forward to helping the others in Vietnam!

We visited the SOS Children’s Village on the very first day of our trip. It is a village that provides a place of living for the orphans. The organization's work focuses on helping abandoned, destitute and orphaned children requiring family-based child care. The SOS village tried hard to build up a “family” image for the kids. Being the leader of the trip, my job was to organize games for children to play and also coordinate my schoolmates during the visit. Before the visit, I had done a lot of preparation work. I had planned what games we were going to play with the kids and how to communicate with the Vietnamese since they were not quite good at speaking English. However, as it turned out, the situation was totally out of our expectation. We realized that our target of service was not 13-15 years old teen-

53

agers, but some 3-5 young kids! I felt completely helpless at that moment. Everything we had planned became useless. How could we play some difficult English games with them? They weren’t even able to speak their own language well! Luckily, as the proverb goes,music is the universal language of mankind. I was so glad that we found out many of the kids knew how to sing the song “Gangnam Style”! We all had a fun and enjoyable afternoon singing and dancing “Gangnam Style” in the playground of SOS Children’s Village! It is really better to give than to take. When we gave the kids some little presents(water bottles & toothbrush) before we left the village, the smiling faces of the kids really touched me. It was a smile of true happiness.

They all had a simple but happy childhood. Even they were orphans who lost their parents since they were born, they appreciated everything they had. They appreciated the village giving them a place to live, and they appreciated us playing with them and giving them gifts.

What also impressed me a lot was the visit to Cat Cat Village in Sapa, which is located in the Northern part of Vietnam with an altitude up to 1600 meters. It gave me another special experience since we were travelling to Sapa from Hanoi by an overnight train! In the afternoon, we went to the Baguette & Chocolate Café, which was about 5 minutes from our hotel. The café itself is a project managed by a NGO to support disadvantaged and disabled tribal youth who are interested in tourism and hospitality training. During our visit, our job was to teach the teens there some simple Mandarin. Although they have never spoken in Mandarin before, they tried really hard to learn the new language. I could see on their face that they yearned to learn very fervently. After visiting the Baguette & Chocolate

Café, we went into Cat Cat Village to experience the life of the villagers. Most of the villagers are poor farmers, they grow crops to earn a living.

The crops they grow are separated into two parts, cash crops and food crops, which cash crops are used for selling in order to earn money while food crops are for themselves to eat. We went into some houses of the villagers. Many of them are living from hand to mouth. The condition inside the houses were really bad. In one of the houses, children were playing in a tremendously small area which was near to a fire, while the other part of the house was used to feed live stocks like pigs. Many of the villagers were really poor and their income was only enough for them to support their own life. Visiting Cat Cat Village brought me a reflection on my own life. Most of the Hong Kong people are too materialistic, it seems that money can bring happiness to all Hong Kong people. However, the field trip to Vietnam had changed my point of view. Many of the Vietnamese, especially the villagers, are not earning as much money as we do. Their quality of life isn’t as good as ours as well. But they are much happier than us. We can always see a hearty smile on their face. After this trip, I think I know the true meaning of happiness. I learnt how to be grateful and appreciative. We are living in a much better place than many other people all over the world.

Lastly, I would like to show my gratitude to all the teachers in the trip, the trip would not have been so satisfactory and fruitful without your participation. Thank you :)

S5E Anthony Fung 54

AN EXTRAORDINARY TRIP Talking about trips, most of people want to have a view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris or the Statue of Liberty in New York, while others may want to pay a visit to Japan, watching the magnificent Fuji Mountain or the lovely cherry blossoms. This time, however, our school chose Vietnam to be the destination of our field trip and this trip was absolutely not an ordinary one.

Old airport, rude people, broken roads and disordered traffic were what I could see immediately after we arrived at Hanoi. At that time, I wondered why my parents need to pay almost eight thousand dollars for my trip to such a poorly developed country and it would not be a suitable place for my friends and me to enjoy a happy Easter. Luckily, after this 7-day trip, I think that the answer was all too apparent: I could learn a lot which I would not be able to get from my textbooks and I had a new valuation towards Vietnam. Indeed, Vietnam is a funny place with a mixture of old, archaic and modern buildings, and people there are diligent.

On the fourth to sixth day of our trip, we spent our time in Sapa and it impressed me so much.

We first visited the HamRong Mountain. The misty and foggy view together with different kinds of colorful flowers there made me find myself in the midst of a veritable fairyland. We also visited Cat Cat Village, Bac Ha Market, Ban Pho Village, Laochai Primary School, Lao Chai Village and Ta Phin Village in Sapa. Among these places, Ban Pho VIillage and Laochai Primary School impressed me the most.

Uncle Li, one of the residents in Ban Pho Village, was very nice and friendly with great enthusiasm. When we arrived at his home, he danced and played music for us with a unique and traditional musical instrument that I had never seen before. Despite the poor living conditions and the lack of facilities in Ban Pho Village, every moment, Uncle Li showed us his joy and happiness with his sincere smile. Being a seventy-year old man, I guess, he could still jump and shout energetically, with full vim and vigor. I realized that happiness could be very simple and everyone had a chance to get it. The prerequisite to be happy is that you should live with a positive life attitude. At the end, Uncle Li took out a bottle of wine and shared it with us. The visit to Ban Pho Village ended with laughter.

Not only the visit to Ban Pho Village benefited me, but also the visit to Lao Cai Primary School was thought-provoking. Unlike the classrooms of schools in Hong Kong that were well-equipped with technological and up-to-date facilities like computers, projectors and loudspeakers, there were only a blackboard with few chalks in each of the classrooms there. Therefore, students in Hong Kong should be contented with their excellent and comfortable learning environment. In spite of the poor and filthy campus, the students there were all happy and I could clearly feel that their strong eagerness to learn. Concerning their clothing and appearance, they wore old and dingy clothes and their bodies were grubby with stains. However, students in Hong Kong have contrasting living standards, with neat and tidy clothes and clean bodies. That’s what the stu55

!

dents in Vietnam can never get and Hong Kong students should treasure it and be thankful for everything we own. When learning how to sing the song ‘ Head and shoulders knees and toes’ and playing the game ‘ London Bridge is falling down’, their laughter once again let me understand that happiness could be very simple.

In the end, I want to thank our school for organizing this meaningful trip and giving me a precious chance to be part of this trip. I hope that students in Hong Kong can learn from people in

Vietnam and be satisfied with what you own and enjoy your lives.

I am sure that the beautiful sceneries in Vietnam like the bright green terraces, and the positive life attitudes of Vietnamese will be in my mind forever and ever and this trip is undoubtedly an important and crucial part of my life Kobe Chan Hoi Yiu, 5A

56

In this field trip, I experienced a lot, such as Vietnam’s local custom, food, natural view.

Besides, the overseas voluntary works are one of the new experiences to me. When we were visiting the SOS Children’s Village, we could see that the children were very happy because someone is going to play with them. Although they were orphans, they showed their smiley face when they were playing with us.

Villagers sell souvenirs to make a living

In Sapa, we also visited some the minority nationalities in Cat Cat Village. Some of them were poor and lived in wooden houses built by them. I saw there were not enough furnitures inside their homes. They need to sleep, play and eat in the same area. However, I saw the people living happily though they were poor.

57

Moreover, the visit of Lao Cai Primary School let me know about children in Sapa. We did the exercises with them in the morning. They felt nervous when they could not follow us, but they were laughing loudly while doing the exercises. They enjoyed their moment with us a lot.

get the things we want easily and get happy enough. Shall we be content with one’s situation?

Rachel Tsoi Wing Tung, 4E

Although Vietnam is a less developed country, the Vietnamese are enjoying their life and feel satisfied most of the time. It is a simple life only.

There is a stark contrast between us and the Vietnamese. Hong Kong is a prosperous city, we can 58

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Š Cheung Chuk Shan College Geography Panel All texts are written by students joining the study tour. The materials are proof-read and edited by the tour leader, Anthony Fung (6E, 2013-14) lix

CCSC GEOGRAPHY PRODUCTION 2013