The Long March: Guan Ya’s Kunming Study Tour

长征：冠亚昆明冬令营

From January 14 th to the 20 th , I had the good fortune of being the team leader for Guan Ya’s Yunnan English Study Tour. When asked to do this, my first thought was: “Kunming! Great!” “Sun!” “Palm trees!” “The tropics for one whole week!”

My second thought was: “But, AGH! I have to baby sit 18 kids!”

1月14日至20日，我有幸成为冠亚云南英语冬令营的带队教师。当得知这件事时，我的第一个想法就是：“昆明，太棒了！”“阳光！”“棕榈树~”“整个一星期都生活在热带！”

接下来想的是：“但是，唉，我不得不照看18个孩子！”

Having worked with children’s camps in Canada years before, I thought that I was in for a rough week. I could picture it: the crying for mothers, the name-calling, the hair pulling, the whining, the complaining, the “are we there yet?” and the frequent washroom breaks.

Oh, the horror!

也许由于几年前在加拿大曾经从事过照顾露营的孩子们的工作，我认为这一个星期不会太好过。我甚至在头脑里一直描绘着这样的画面：哭着找妈妈，点名，梳头发，哭诉，抱怨，“我们还在这儿吗？”以及频繁的上厕所。

哦，太可怕了！

Count my lucky stars! This group of 18 turned out to be the greatest group of kids I have ever traveled with, thanks to Joy Zhao as my right hand-teacher!

All of us had the time of our lives!

但是我真的好幸运！这18个孩子组成的旅行团是所有我带队过的最棒团体，当然，在这里我要感谢赵杰老师成为我的左右手，是我们共创造了这段精彩的时光。

To give you the low-down on our adventure:

下面你看到的就是我们的冒险旅程。

Day 1: On our day of arrival, we went to Cui Hu Park in Kunming city. Here, the kids threw pieces of dried bread at hundreds of seagulls as they flew, very closely, by their heads. This entertained them for a good hour! From there we climbed 95 stairs up to the Yunnan University campus. The campus is very old and earthy. In old China, this was where the academics from Yunnan province took their entrance exams for the imperial court. Then if they passed these, they journeyed on foot to Beijing to take the final exam and perhaps meet the Emperor.

第一天：在到达的第一天，我们去了昆明的翠湖公园。在这里，当数百只海鸥飞起来的时候，孩子们在它们头顶扔下了很多干面包。这让他们兴奋了一个小时。从那儿我们爬了95级台阶到了云南大学校园。校园古老而简朴。在旧中国，这里是云南参加朝廷的科举考试的学院。如果他们通过考试的话，他们就要徒步去北京参加最终的考试，很可能会遇见皇上。

Day 2: We got up at the crack of dawn and went to the Stone Forest where we frolicked along the paths and crept through caves and crevices in one of nature’s wonders. In the late afternoon we set off to Jiu Xiang. We climbed through the karst caves and mesmerized ourselves by gazing at a waterfall.

第二天：天刚亮我们就起床向石林进发，在那里我们沿着小路在神奇的石林、石洞和峭壁间穿行，感受着大自然的神奇魅力。

在下午的晚些时候我们出发去了九乡。我们爬过喀斯特岩洞，凝视着瀑布而陶醉其中。

Day 3: On the third day we visited Kunming’s Ethnic Villages. In this park, 24 of China’s ethnic minorities display their songs, dances and ways of living. After that it was non-stop, to the site of the International Horticultural Exposition of 1999! (It was a cultural extravaganza for the crew today!) At 9:30pm we flew to Xishuangbanna.

第三天：第三天，我们参观了昆明的民族村。在公园，24个中国的少数民族展示了他们的歌舞和生活方式。之后，我们又马不停蹄地去了建于1999年的世博园！（对于今天的所有人来说，它简直是一个丰富的文化杰作）晚上9:30我们飞往了西双版纳。

Day 4: Sancha Nature Reserve. Here we trekked through the jungle, fearlessly. The grande finale of the day was the not so wild, “Wild Elephant Show”. 6 elephants amused us by doing unnaturally human things.

第四天：到达野象谷自然保护区，我们艰苦跋涉，勇敢地穿越丛林。一场“驯象表演”结束了伟大的一天。6只大象为了取悦我们做了一些不同于本性的事。

Day 5: On the 5

th

day, we went to a Dai House (No, not Da Hai’s house!) and a Buddhist Temple. Actually, the highlight of the day was the FOOD! We ate fruit and barbeque galore! We filled ourselves with fresh mangos, pineapple, papayas, watermelon, and bananas! We had barbequed fish, tofu, pork, corn and chicken! Oh yeah, we also saw a bamboo house and drank tea.

第五天：在第五天，我们去了一户傣族人家（不是大海的家！）和一个佛教寺庙。事实上，这一天最精彩的是食物！我们吃了大量的水果和烤肉！我们用鲜芒果，菠萝，番木瓜果，西瓜和香蕉填饱了肚子！我们吃烤鱼，豆腐，谷物和鸡肉！当然，我们还见到了竹屋并且在那儿喝了茶。

That afternoon we went to the Botanical Gardens. Truly stunning! A guide toured us around the immaculate gardens and pointed out the many native species of plants and trees and told us something interesting about each. At night we went to the Xishuangbanna Dancing Show. There they served us a great feast of barbequed items, glutinous rice and fruit. After dinner, the spirit of the forest moved us and we danced around a fire!

在那天下午，我们去了植物园。真的是好极了！导游带领我们在这个完美的花园四周漫游，指出了许多自然界的植物和树木种类，为我们讲述其中的种种趣闻。晚间我们去观看了西双版纳歌舞表演，他们用丰盛的烤肉、糯米饭和水果宴招待了我们。晚饭过后，森林的热情感染了我们，绕着篝火我们跳起了舞。

Day 6: On the sixth day we climbed a mountain. We even held races up and down the mountainside! For dinner, we had a picnic and watched another not so wild, “Wild Animal Show”. Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!

第六天：第六天我们先爬了山，甚至举行了上、下山的赛跑。我们的晚饭是野餐的形式，并且观看了另一场“驯兽表演”，狮子，老虎，还有熊！哦，我的天！

Day 7: And on the 7

th

day we came home for a rest!

第七天：第七天，我们回家休息啦！

I figure that in total we had walked about 100 miles on this trip. We “Long Marched” ourselves a great adventure: We raced up and down mountains, hiked into and around slippery caves, crossed rickety bridges, rode elephants, hugged wild tigers, freed ourselves from a boa constrictor who wrapped itself around our necks and had birds dancing on our heads. We saw monkeys riding bicycles! We were the honored guests of a marriage ceremony between 2 bears who walked on 2 legs/paws, followed by the dowry-carrying goat! We ate the most delicious fruit of the earth! We were tribal as we danced around a blazing fire! But let us all not forget, the piece de resistance…the battle extreme…the Dai Water Splashing!

我算了一下，我们在这次行程中徒步走了近100公里。对我们自己来说，这次“长征”是一次很大的冒险：上、下山的跑步比赛，在光滑的岩洞里和周围远足，走过摇摇摆摆的桥，骑大象，拥抱野生老虎，把我们从缠在脖子上大蟒蛇和头顶跳舞的鸟中解脱出来，我们还见到了猴子骑自行车！我们有幸成为2只熊结婚典礼上的客人，它们用2条腿走路，后面还跟着一只运送嫁妆的羊！我们吃了地球上大部分的美味水果！当我们围着炽热的火焰跳舞的时候我们感到我们好像生活在一个原始部落！这次旅行真是太刺激了，其实每次活动都像傣族泼水节那样令孩子们兴奋，令我们所有人难以忘怀！

All this and English Lessons, too!

所有的这些，还有旅行中的英语课！

Oh, the honor!

这真是大自然对我的馈赠！

（摘自《冠亚资讯》第十期，作者冠亚外籍教师Trayah Zinger）