Living the 22nd Year of my life

May 4, 2018

The Green Lion

“The experience from Yin-tong, China”

We are in our early twenties which is an awkward age. We seem to have seen through life. We seem to have everything but nothing in essence. Our inner ambitions have to be down-to-earth. I have seen a passage on an author’s blog and I really like it so far. It said ‘at 20-year-old, what kind of person is regarded as a delicate girl? It is to live a little better than others, it is to travel more, and read more.

At college, we often hear our seniors say that when they get to society and work, they will have no time. And even when they are at college, they still don’t have time.

Well, finding a few good books to read is an easy task, but traveling is a harder. Since I have been a basketball player for years, I had to take classes and attend training every day, even on Saturdays and Sundays. I did not have Holidays. So last year, I made a very important decision – I quit basketball. Although basketball had slowly become a part of my life, I wanted to use my best years to do something more and experience life differently.

I joined with The Green Lion in travel project. This allows travelers to learn in the trip and in the meantime give something back to the society. It first originated in Europe and in the United States. This has already become a very popular way of traveling around the world, and now this culture is slowly spreading in China too. This time I came to Maldives – a country commonly known as the paradise. It is located in South Asia, a stretch of islands in the Indian Ocean.

We took an international flight from Beijing to Male which took 8 hours and 50 minutes to Maldives International Airport. When we arrived in Male, The Green Lion Staff was already waiting for us at the airport.

We stayed in Hulhumale Island, Maldives, which is a residential island. This Man-made island has even buses on the island and, as the locals say, this will continue to expand and get more territory in the future. Our accommodation was in a special place near only 15 minutes by car from the airport. The accommodation was really beyond my imagination. It had everything we needed! This time with me there were 4 participants, all of them from China. After arriving at the accommodation at three o’clock in the afternoon on Sunday, my companions fell asleep because of airsickness. However, I was too excited and went to the beach by myself, which was just behind the accommodation. I felt the sea breeze and felt more closer to nature.

I enrolled for the Kindergarten teaching Program which is not the same as our usual teaching programs. The target of teaching is not the children of primary schools but the children who are in the kindergarten. When I first learned that my students are of an average age of 2-5 years, I was a bit worried because children at this age were not even fluent in their native languages, let alone in English. There were countless times of thinking about how to get along with those kids, or what if I will not be able to communicate with them? On the first day, after breakfast, we worked together with MAYA to sign the agreements and documents required of the international participants and went to visit the local kindergarten.

In the afternoon we went to the beach, since it was our free time. There were so many things which we could do during this time. In the evening, as per our program, Maya took us to walk around the island of Hulhumale. The island is not large. Most of the women here dressed amazingly like Middle Eastern women. I was astonished to believe that the people in the island are 100% Muslims. Here, we cannot wear bikinis on the public beaches. The residents are not allowed to see anyone wearing bikinis. They can be fined if they see anyone in a bikini.

There is a special note to make regarding the clothes. In kindergartens, participants should wear long skirts or pants, it is advisable to take trousers, long clothes and collared T-shirts.

As it was winter in Beijing when I left, fortunately afraid of cold on the plane I brought a pair of trousers. I had to wear these trousers for five days since I had only these. So when you pack to come and teach in the Kindergarten in Maldives, make sure to pack long clothes!!!

On the first evening, Maya took us to visit the entire Hulhumale Island, to experience the local culture. After walking around the Island, I discovered that it is different from what I had imagined. In fact, the living conditions of Maldivian residents are very backward. Their local restaurants have no air conditioners and the varieties of fruits and vegetables are also pitiful.

On Tuesday after breakfast, we came to the kindergarten early. This was my first day of teaching. At first I was super nervous! Since I was from a business background, I had searched about some online preschool pedagogical programs, but I did not have any practical experience in teaching. So I felt so nervous. However, when I entered the classroom, I saw their cute smiles, and I suddenly melted.

Since this is a Muslim country, before each class, it is necessary to say a prayer. At the end of lessons, they have free time, where they can play with toys. They were playing with clay and I started to talk to them, but they did not mind me. So I made a little bird with clay, and after they saw what I made, everyone came to imitate me. Then, I was rushing to show them the birds that I could make so well. After that we gradually established a connection and they began to talk to me. Then, as the bell rings, we started the lesson. I was responsible for teaching them English. Another participant was teaching math. Although they do not know where China is, I still taught them some simple Chinese phrases, for example, hello and thank you.

Here, it is beautiful almost every day. In the morning after teaching, we have free time to do other extra activities. For example, on the afternoon of Wednesday, we went to the seaside to experience speedboats, banana boats and surfing. It was really exciting! ! ! One evening we took a ferry to Male, the capital city of Maldives for a visit. Although it is the capital of a country, it does not have the high-rise buildings such as Beijing, Shanghai and New York, nor the busy atmosphere like in big cities. It takes only about two hours to visit the capital completely.

We also did a beach cleaning project at the beach. We went to the beach to clean up the trash. Although Maldives has seemingly pure white beaches, we have to say that there is really a lot of rubbish due to the visitors coming to the beach.

In our free time from teaching, we did some different things. One day, we went to see the dolphins and do snorkeling, but watching the dolphins actually needed some the luck. Unfortunately, we did not see many dolphins on the day we traveled. We went in a very small boat, the sea is very large, I sit on the second floor of the roof looking at the vast sea, deeply afraid. You realize how tiny you are when you are among these gigantic spaces of nature.

There were other people from other countries on board, and I talked to two people from Switzerland, a son and a mother. It is amazing how we communicate with each other and share interesting things of each country. We visited the island of Maafushi. After lunch, we did snorkeling next to the island, this has always been one of the things I wanted to do. Of course because I cannot swim, I saw the fish only from afar and they seemed small but the sea is really beautiful! After the snorkeling experience I decided that must learn to swim once I go back to China! It is a blessing when you think of all the fish of different kinds and rotate around you.

On our free day we did something else. If you come to Maldives and did not visit a resort island, that is a pity. With the help of the locals we could find the cheapest day trip to go to a luxury island. It was simply a paradise for vacation, offering a variety of services on the island. Surely, I will come back here when I have a boyfriend, ah, surely.

I think there is a different definition to travel in everyone’s heart. Some people travel to see a variety of scenery with their own eyes. Some people travel to meet people. Some people travel to photograph all kinds of things and people. Some people like to eat different kinds of food. If you ask me why I travel? I thought of thousands of kinds of answers, but it seems that I cannot express the answer in my heart. At the embarrassing age of 20, we do have some confusion and helplessness. But at the moment when I carry my luggage, I realize that there are things that if I do not do them now I will never have a chance to do them.

One of the most interesting things about traveling is to talk to travelers from all over the world and become friends with them. In fact, the scenery is not important. This time it was not just a trip so simple. It taught me a lot. It told me that there are people in this world who live in different ways. They have different values. It made me see the world more complicated and yet interesting.

I may have not met them if I didn’t travel, and I may not have felt these feelings without traveling. The more you have experienced, the more you know about the depth and diversity of the world. The more you see the world, the more you can face your ordinary life in a tolerant and peaceful manner. While in travelling to find ourselves, let us experience together, grow together, meet others, and let us become better human beings.

The Green Lion

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