Field Trips

December 6, 2010

So far the school has had two field trips. On the first field trip we went to a museum on the Opium War with Great Britain. For a pretty obvious reasons the museum had a fairly negative view of opium and Great Britain’s role in the war. They also wanted you to walk away with a strong commitment to never use illegal drugs. We then went to this sketchy amusement park. The students could buy little chicks and bunnies. I am not a member of PETA or anything, but I have decided that giving small animals to children without their parents’ consent is a bad idea. I looked into one trashcan and there were a few dead chicks on top of the trash. The place was packed and unhygienic. To make matters worse it was raining that day. I went through a haunted house that was packed with small children. It was dark, and I just kept running over small people and into walls. It smelled like stinky feet. Yuck.

The second field trip followed the same pattern: museum in the morning and amusement park in the afternoon. This museum was about the war between China and Japan before and during World War 2. The Kuomintang, the group that ruled China before Mao and then ran to Taiwan, was discussed as well. There was a good amount of nationalist artwork. I wish I had taken some pictures of some the statues and artwork. It was interesting, and I would have liked to have had a little more time.

All the teachers ate lunch together, and there was this teacher named Mr. Chen who was so funny. He really wanted to drink, but I think he felt uncomfortable drinking alone. Apparently only Chinese males play drinking games, and at our table there were only American, Mormon males. He kept of trying to bate them by saying things like “you are not a man if you don’t drink.” He offered to take them to a popular bar, and one person offered to take him to Dairy Queen. One teacher, Ron, said “I am a real man; I have five kids. How many do you have?” Mr. Chen was a little tipsy.