In keeping with their tradition of encouraging independence from a young age, Dulwich College Suzhou organizes China week trips for the students - starting with an overnight sleepover at school for Year 3, moving up to a 3 day outing for Year 4, to 5 day trips for the Year 5 and Year 6 students. Year 5 usually goes to Nan Bei Hu - a scenic lake located about 100kms from Suzhou, a 2 hour bus ride. Manasi and all her friends were on this exciting adventure last week - but here's the best part - Manasi has graciously agreed to write about her China week trip for the blog!! So without further ado, over to my first ever guest blogger - Nan Bei Hu in Manasi's words!!
Day 0 - Sunday
It was an awesome day today - my mom helped me pack for Nan Bei Hu. I was a little sad to leave my mom because my dad is in America, so she would be alone. I will be sleeping with my friend Edna at Nan Bei Hu. We are going to have a great time!!! I am sooo excited!!!
Day 1 - Monday
Our bus took 4 hours to get to Nan Bei Hu because the driver took the long bridge when he shouldn't have. When we got there, we ate lunch - there was french fries, apples, oranges, rice, coca cola, sprite and fantastic noodles. Then we started games.
'Capture the Flag' was the first game. By the way, at Nan Bei Hu, all the Year 5 students were split into 6 different groups. I was in Group 5, with Mr. Mellows, who is also my class teacher. So, 'Capture the Flag'. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were Team 1 and groups 4, 5 and 6 were Team 2. The game started. The aim of the game is to get the other team's flag without getting tagged by the other team. Team 1 won 2 times, and our team lost both times.
Next, we played a game with water balloons. 1 person has to get the balloon without using hands and the second person in line has to pop the balloon, and collect the water. The first team to get the bucket full is the winner. In this game, our group won twice! Then we had to go for a shower before dinner time!
Dinner was ok - I was missing home food. After that we had to make our flag. It took us 10 minutes to think of a name. It was an awesome, fantastic name! It was.... "THE GODS OF AWESOMENESS"!! Then we started designing and making our flag. After 1 hour, it was time to go to bed.
We got journals to write in every day. They also introduced the points board - we were in the 4th place. We had to vote for a team - so that they could deduct points from that team. I didn't really like that. "Purple people" got 20 points deducted because everyone voted for them. Now they are tied with another team. Going to bed now.
Day 2 - Tuesday
It was very rainy today. Me and Edna woke up at 6:30. In our groups, we ate breakfast. There were banana pancakes and orange juice - well, that's all I ate - there was lots more food.
After breakfast, our group made a rope stretcher. We did it in 10 minutes, so we got 100 points. Next we did shelter building. We used sticks and super glue. The aim of the activity was to build a small model shelter. The glue was soo sticky! Finally, it was lunch - apples, oranges, dumplings and soda - that was a good lunch!
Next stop, Leap of Faith! I was soooo excited!! There was the cargo net too. Another team went first onto the Leap of Faith. So our team went on the cargo net. When it was my turn, I was scared to go on the other side of the net. But I did it - and then again, one more time. The second time was fun. The other group was done, so our turn for the Leap of Faith. When I was in line for the Leap of Faith, I gave my camera to Mr. Mellows to take pictures. The whole point of Leap of Faith is to climb this big pole, get to the top and then jump and try to get the swinging trapeze. It was my turn now, I wasn't that scared. I could do it! I started to climb. I reached the top! The pole was wiggly - I just needed to stand up. I jumped, grabbed the trapeze and held on with one hand! It was an amazing feeling! Mr. Mellows got lots of pictures!
Dinner time! Rice, noodles and watermelon!! After eating, we went to set up a campfire. The fire was so big. We all sang songs. We had to copy the instructors. We headed back to the hotel after that. We saw how many points we got. We were second place!!! Today everyone voted for us to deduct points - we had 430 and now 410 points! 20 points lost. I felt so sad. Well going to sleep - tomorrow is tomorrow!
Day 3 - Wednesday
Today after breakfast were the sensory activities. We had to learn to use our 5 senses. First activity was that you had to take off your shoes and smell it, feel it and use other senses to it. Then, close your eyes and the instructor will hand you one shoe. Using your senses, try to guess - if it is your shoe, keep it in front of you. If not, you have to pass it the person on your left. I found my shoe! Next activity!
This activity was the real sensory trail. You were blindfolded and you had to try to get a letter from a maze. The rope will lead you to the letters, so you have to feel the rope. I found the letter 'K'. Then, when everyone got a letter, we had to open our eyes, see all the letters and put them together. All the letters together spelled 'Teamwork'. Next - lunch!!
Next, it was rock-climbing. I was so excited!! There was an easy side and a difficult side. I was a little bit scared, so I did the easy side first. I touched the top - I was so happy!! Then, I did the difficult side and I reached the top for that too!!
We did low ropes after that. You had to take a bucket of water across a small river on a rope. We got 60% of water to the other side - so we got awesome amazing points! Not just 10, 20 - but 60!!
We went to take a shower after. Then we played ambush. Group 1, 2 and 3 went first. They had to put arrows of where they were hiding. But they can misplace 1 arrow. If the hiding group scares the finding group, they win. If the finding group finds the hiding group, they win. Group 1,2,3 scared us and we scared them too.
I am so tired! Time for bed.
Day 4 - Thursday
We had breakfast and then headed on to a good day. It was catapult building first. We made the catapult out of bamboos. Then, we had to fire water balloons at the the other team. Our best one was when the other team was standing under a tree and we fired the water balloon in the branches and everyone got wet! In my opinion, it was AWESOME!
Next, it was laser tag. You had a fake gun and a helmet. The aim of the game was to shoot the other team. That was really fun. I 'died' lots of times. We played 6 games - and it was lunchtime!
After lunch, we went raft building. Using the equipment that is given, you had to build a raft and then test it. The girls made one raft and the boys made another. Our raft was made of bamboo, ropes and 3 barrels. I was in the middle. Then, we put our life vests on. The girls and boys were ready to sail! It was so cool! The boy's raft was better than the girl's raft because it was more stable. Overall, we got 100 points altogether!
For dinner, we went for a BBQ. I ate mostly chicken and vegetables. At the end, we had marshmallows - I had 3! Disco time now! We started the disco! Sadly, it only lasted 20 minutes. That's 4 songs. After the disco, they were going to announce the group that had won. Drum roll please...
It's PURPLE PEOPLE!!! I knew it! We came 4th. Purple People got a T-shirt. Lucky them! Oh well, I am sleepy. You know the drill - brush your teeth, put on you pjs, and go to bed! I'm going to do just that! Good night!
Day 5 - Friday
I am going to see my mom today! We had breakfast and then went for a hike! We saw a shop that was taken by trees and we saw some cool plants. From up top, we could see our hotel. After 1 hour of the hike, we went to the hotel and ate some lunch. I wanted to see my mom and dad, but I was going to miss Nan Bei Hu.
I don't want to leave!! I'm on the bus - it is going to leave! I loved the experience and all the activities. Going to Nan Bei Hu taught me to overcome my fear of heights. It taught me to be brave about leaving my parents. Bye bye Nan Bei Hu! Bye, bye!!
Day 0 - Sunday
It was an awesome day today - my mom helped me pack for Nan Bei Hu. I was a little sad to leave my mom because my dad is in America, so she would be alone. I will be sleeping with my friend Edna at Nan Bei Hu. We are going to have a great time!!! I am sooo excited!!!
Day 1 - Monday
Our bus took 4 hours to get to Nan Bei Hu because the driver took the long bridge when he shouldn't have. When we got there, we ate lunch - there was french fries, apples, oranges, rice, coca cola, sprite and fantastic noodles. Then we started games.
'Capture the Flag' was the first game. By the way, at Nan Bei Hu, all the Year 5 students were split into 6 different groups. I was in Group 5, with Mr. Mellows, who is also my class teacher. So, 'Capture the Flag'. Groups 1, 2 and 3 were Team 1 and groups 4, 5 and 6 were Team 2. The game started. The aim of the game is to get the other team's flag without getting tagged by the other team. Team 1 won 2 times, and our team lost both times.
 |
| Capture the Flag |
Next, we played a game with water balloons. 1 person has to get the balloon without using hands and the second person in line has to pop the balloon, and collect the water. The first team to get the bucket full is the winner. In this game, our group won twice! Then we had to go for a shower before dinner time!
Dinner was ok - I was missing home food. After that we had to make our flag. It took us 10 minutes to think of a name. It was an awesome, fantastic name! It was.... "THE GODS OF AWESOMENESS"!! Then we started designing and making our flag. After 1 hour, it was time to go to bed.
 |
| Making the flag |
 |
| "Gods of Awesomeness" |
We got journals to write in every day. They also introduced the points board - we were in the 4th place. We had to vote for a team - so that they could deduct points from that team. I didn't really like that. "Purple people" got 20 points deducted because everyone voted for them. Now they are tied with another team. Going to bed now.
Day 2 - Tuesday
It was very rainy today. Me and Edna woke up at 6:30. In our groups, we ate breakfast. There were banana pancakes and orange juice - well, that's all I ate - there was lots more food.
After breakfast, our group made a rope stretcher. We did it in 10 minutes, so we got 100 points. Next we did shelter building. We used sticks and super glue. The aim of the activity was to build a small model shelter. The glue was soo sticky! Finally, it was lunch - apples, oranges, dumplings and soda - that was a good lunch!
 |
| Rope stretcher |
Next stop, Leap of Faith! I was soooo excited!! There was the cargo net too. Another team went first onto the Leap of Faith. So our team went on the cargo net. When it was my turn, I was scared to go on the other side of the net. But I did it - and then again, one more time. The second time was fun. The other group was done, so our turn for the Leap of Faith. When I was in line for the Leap of Faith, I gave my camera to Mr. Mellows to take pictures. The whole point of Leap of Faith is to climb this big pole, get to the top and then jump and try to get the swinging trapeze. It was my turn now, I wasn't that scared. I could do it! I started to climb. I reached the top! The pole was wiggly - I just needed to stand up. I jumped, grabbed the trapeze and held on with one hand! It was an amazing feeling! Mr. Mellows got lots of pictures!
Dinner time! Rice, noodles and watermelon!! After eating, we went to set up a campfire. The fire was so big. We all sang songs. We had to copy the instructors. We headed back to the hotel after that. We saw how many points we got. We were second place!!! Today everyone voted for us to deduct points - we had 430 and now 410 points! 20 points lost. I felt so sad. Well going to sleep - tomorrow is tomorrow!
Day 3 - Wednesday
Today after breakfast were the sensory activities. We had to learn to use our 5 senses. First activity was that you had to take off your shoes and smell it, feel it and use other senses to it. Then, close your eyes and the instructor will hand you one shoe. Using your senses, try to guess - if it is your shoe, keep it in front of you. If not, you have to pass it the person on your left. I found my shoe! Next activity!
 |
| Blindfolded! |
This activity was the real sensory trail. You were blindfolded and you had to try to get a letter from a maze. The rope will lead you to the letters, so you have to feel the rope. I found the letter 'K'. Then, when everyone got a letter, we had to open our eyes, see all the letters and put them together. All the letters together spelled 'Teamwork'. Next - lunch!!
 |
| Same lunch everyday! |
Next, it was rock-climbing. I was so excited!! There was an easy side and a difficult side. I was a little bit scared, so I did the easy side first. I touched the top - I was so happy!! Then, I did the difficult side and I reached the top for that too!!
We did low ropes after that. You had to take a bucket of water across a small river on a rope. We got 60% of water to the other side - so we got awesome amazing points! Not just 10, 20 - but 60!!
We went to take a shower after. Then we played ambush. Group 1, 2 and 3 went first. They had to put arrows of where they were hiding. But they can misplace 1 arrow. If the hiding group scares the finding group, they win. If the finding group finds the hiding group, they win. Group 1,2,3 scared us and we scared them too.
I am so tired! Time for bed.
Day 4 - Thursday
We had breakfast and then headed on to a good day. It was catapult building first. We made the catapult out of bamboos. Then, we had to fire water balloons at the the other team. Our best one was when the other team was standing under a tree and we fired the water balloon in the branches and everyone got wet! In my opinion, it was AWESOME!
Next, it was laser tag. You had a fake gun and a helmet. The aim of the game was to shoot the other team. That was really fun. I 'died' lots of times. We played 6 games - and it was lunchtime!
 |
| Laser tag! |
After lunch, we went raft building. Using the equipment that is given, you had to build a raft and then test it. The girls made one raft and the boys made another. Our raft was made of bamboo, ropes and 3 barrels. I was in the middle. Then, we put our life vests on. The girls and boys were ready to sail! It was so cool! The boy's raft was better than the girl's raft because it was more stable. Overall, we got 100 points altogether!
For dinner, we went for a BBQ. I ate mostly chicken and vegetables. At the end, we had marshmallows - I had 3! Disco time now! We started the disco! Sadly, it only lasted 20 minutes. That's 4 songs. After the disco, they were going to announce the group that had won. Drum roll please...
It's PURPLE PEOPLE!!! I knew it! We came 4th. Purple People got a T-shirt. Lucky them! Oh well, I am sleepy. You know the drill - brush your teeth, put on you pjs, and go to bed! I'm going to do just that! Good night!
Day 5 - Friday
I am going to see my mom today! We had breakfast and then went for a hike! We saw a shop that was taken by trees and we saw some cool plants. From up top, we could see our hotel. After 1 hour of the hike, we went to the hotel and ate some lunch. I wanted to see my mom and dad, but I was going to miss Nan Bei Hu.
I don't want to leave!! I'm on the bus - it is going to leave! I loved the experience and all the activities. Going to Nan Bei Hu taught me to overcome my fear of heights. It taught me to be brave about leaving my parents. Bye bye Nan Bei Hu! Bye, bye!!
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