Day 1 jot
I hardly slept during the flight from
Hong Kong to
Johannesburg . Simply put, I was perhaps too excited to sleep. When our plane finally touched down we were treated to a visit to the plane’s cockpit. The controls in the cockpit were truly manifold. One could only imagine what prowess lies behind the smiles of the 2 pilots entertaining us there. After snapping some pictures, our bubbly bunch of 43 quickly left the plane. My first breath of South African air… Brrrrr…. cold!
Conversations with the other delegates were more casual now. Having met almost everyone at the
Hong Kong international air port yesterday, we were now more at ease with each other… and consequently noisier too. It was really fun to get to know all the delegates from the other countries as everyone was so interesting and special! The social and cultural differences were no barrier to us at all. In fact, these differences elegantly peppered our curiosity towards one another. For example, the Chinese from
Hong Kong , China , and
Taiwan were quite surprised that I could converse in Cantonese and Mandarin fluently as they thought that everyone from
Malaysia normally can only speak English and Malay. Also, most of the delegates have very interesting views about the world we live in and it was very inspiring to listen to them.
After handing over our passport and e-tickets to Miss Judy Kwan for safe keeping, we then boarded a bus and started heading towards Indaba Hotel. The bust trip was approximately 2 hours long. During that period, I was seated next to Robin Li, a delegate from
China . Although I’m Chinese by descent, there was still something special about Chinese from the republic of
China . Robin was very patriotic, I observed as he sang his country’s national anthem. I also got to know that during the selection period he made a presentation about how irresponsible farmers allowing their cows to graze everywhere eventually made the birds disappear as the food chain was disrupted. Well, this was something that never occurred to me. Our environment is extremely sensitive indeed. Anyway, it was here also that I started to know the South African delegates better and to be honest, I have never in my life struck up a friendship with an African or Caucasian before. So naturally, I had some prejudices initially but that quickly vanished as I realized how amazingly similar we are in so many things. So in between the laughter and fun, I managed to learn a South African card game called ‘magic 8’ too.
Time sure flies when you’re having fun. We finally arrived at Indaba hotel. The hotel was lush green and opulent with the sound of birds and colorful flora. We were ushered to a hall and there introductory speeches were given by Miss Tracey King and as well as Miss Hanneke Van DeMerve. After that was done, we received our Cathay Pacific jackets and hats, and after some light refreshments, it was time for the ice breaking sessions. In a nutshell, the icebreaking sessions were very enjoyable as it presented an opportunity for us to learn more about each other. We shared our dreams, visions, favorite food, favorite movie, ideas and much laughter as well. One of the interesting games we played was about collecting cards from other people by making them say either ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Being young and innocent teenagers we cheekily employed various tactics to get each other to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. It was very amusing, some of the delegates just couldn’t get it, and soon lost all their cards while I personally only lost one while gaining a few. It was very nice, and the icebreaking was generally a success as it started the ball rolling. As we set off now on the bus to Botshabelo, one could easily imagine, we were as noisy as ever.
When the bus finally reached Botshabelo historical village, we were at a lost for words in awe of the wilderness around us. Long brown grass… herds of gazelles… and seemingly never ending plains was truly a sight to behold. What normally only confined to television documentaries was now right next to us. We’re finally here.
After unloading our luggage we were given the direction to our respective dormitories. My dorm was at Parkendof house, room A and my room mates were Alex from
South Africa and Patrick from
Hong Kong . The dormitories were very interesting. Firstly, with names ranging from ‘Manual Labor’ and ‘Eiselen’ it wasn’t very hard to remember our dorm names and secondly, the dormitories we will be staying in were apparently built by Christian missionaries roughly a century ago. Wow, to think that we’re doing more than just visiting a historical site, we’re staying in it! Anyway, the delegates were also given some rules to adhere to. Most of them normal camping rules with the exception of a few… we were repeatedly reminded to keep our rooms locked as monkeys in the area are known to intrude into them and cause a mess. We were also reminded to not feed the monkeys, or they will be shot. Ouch. Also, we were instructed to assemble near the dining hall whenever the drum was played.
Basically, because the time was already about evening, we had no time to lose. The
Hong Kong delegates were already hard at work in the kitchen preparing a sumptuous meal while most of the other delegates were unpacking, taking showers and socializing. As the mapping of
Malaysia will commence later that day before dinner, Sanggeet and I were preoccupied with some last minute touch-ups on the map which we will present. It seems the days are shorter during the winter as it was already quite dark despite it being only around 6pm. When the rhythm of an African drum filled the air, we all quickly made our way towards the direction of the sound. Once we have all arrived, it was time for the mapping of
Pakistan .
It was unfortunate that
Pakistan lost their map in the
Hong Kong international airport but they were quick to create a new one using a big sheet of white paper. Though not as pretty they remarked, at least it will serve its purpose. It was a very entertaining mapping session by
Pakistan and Sheri did most of the talking. Next, it was
Malaysia ’s turn to do the mapping.
With a map and flag of
Malaysia hanging on the wall, we started the ball rolling with a brief introduction about
Malaysia and then Sanggeet and I took turns to elaborate the certain aspects of
Malaysia . The other delegates were quite inquisitive about
Malaysia ’s natural wonders as well as its tourist attractions. In the end, a number of delegates from the other countries expressed their interest to visit
Malaysia one day. Of which Sanggeet and I most happily welcomed, and offered to take them around a tour too if they ever drop by.
Soon it was dinner time, a
Hong Kong dinner to be precise. The
Hong Kong delegates prepared an opulent dish of
Hong Kong fried rice with pineapple and chicken. Hungry as we were, the food tasted delicious. Justin from
Hong Kong introduced to everyone the art of using chopsticks as we were required to use chopsticks for this meal in order to truly savor the taste of the food as well as the culture. Some of the delegates had some difficulties at first but in the end, everyone learnt quickly. After the satisfying meal we took turns to watch a movie about Cathay Pacific. Next we were all allowed to return to our dormitories to retire for the night. I initially thought that we were going to sleep out for all the 7 days… thank goodness I was wrong! We had nice comfortable beds with multiple warm blankets. We were even given a hot water bag made of rubber which we were supposed to fill up with hot water and hold on to it while sleeping. After gearing myself up like an Eskimo, I reflected on today as I slowly snuggled myself into bed…
September 26th, 2006 at 8:20 pm
nice reflection~~
September 27th, 2006 at 2:20 am
haha the words are arranged in a rather strange fashion though.. =D