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What a Journey It Has Been

This was the essay that I submitted for admission to Ateneo. I thought that I already lost this file when my pc was reformatted, but fortunately, it's still here! I just want to share it to you....

What A Journey It Has Been

April 3, 2007- a date I will never forget. This was when a significant journey of my life began to take place. That journey served as one of the turning points of my life for it taught me a lot of things on how to deal with our life and what to expect from it. It also made me appreciate more who I really am. It was my first trip abroad and the destination was Xiamen, China, the land of my forebears.

The trip was sponsored by no other than Mr. Lucio Tan, a prominent Filipino-Chinese industrialist. He covered the plane, dorm, and tour expenses while we paid for our food, miscellaneous expenses and of course, the pocket money. It was not just an ordinary tour, but a study-tour for the young Filipino-Chinese students and pupils who showed good academic performances both in Chinese and English studies.

When my parents finally decided to allow me to spend my summer in China together with my cousin and some of my friends, I felt ecstatic and at the same time nervous about the whole scenario. I imagined what it would be like having no parents around. There’ll be no one who will impose bed time or no television policy, I can buy whatever I want with my pocket money, and I can hang-out with my friends whenever I want! But then, it dawned upon me how scary it would be because of all the responsibilities that I’ll have to take like budgeting my money and taking care of my belongings. I’ll be in a place where most people are strangers to me! Nonetheless, I thought of it as a challenge to myself, and a way of knowing myself better.
On board PR 332 bound for Xiamen, I was really excited to see China. At the airport, I was quite surprised to see how many of us were going there. It was the first time I saw a huge number of people who were like me, Filipino-Chinese in the stage of adolescence. When I finally said goodbye to my mom and aunt, I never really had an idea how the trip would affect my life forever. It took us about two hours to reach our destination. It was quite chilly when we reached there for the temperature was about 4 C. The name of our school was Xiamen University. There were separate dorms for boys and girls. The boys’ dorm was nearer to our school compared to our dorm. We had to take long walks to reach the Centre for Overseas Students building because the campus was very huge. We had to climb a stair which took us about a hundred and thirty-three steps! In Xiamen University, we had four different classes having different levels of difficulty depending on the results of the diagnostic test that was given to us during the third day of our stay. I was happy that I was in level three. We had different subjects in our course. We had speech, grammar, listening activities, music, and the wu shu or the Chinese Kung Fu. I learned a lot of things during our classes which start from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM. I get to bond with my new friends after the classes at the nearby lake.

It was during the Saturdays that we toured around the nearby scenic spots in Xiamen. There was a time when we went to the Huang Shan or the Yellow Mountains. It is famous for its scenic beauty and it is also called as “The Sea of the Clouds” because the peaks are already above cloud level. We had to ride a train in going there and we had to stay in that train overnight. That was really a fun experience for me considering that it was my first time to ride a train aside from the LRT in Manila! Sunday was our schedule for shopping. Aside from the SM Laiya, we also shopped at the night market just a stone’s away from our school. The goods there were much cheaper compared to the malls and there were also large varieties that we could choose from. But it was also in that area where we witnessed the flaws of China. Although China is now becoming a world superpower, it is not yet able to completely eradicate the problems of poverty. There were people begging for alms and most of them were the physically-challenged individuals or the handicaps. Some of them were very old, others were blind, some don’t have hands and feet anymore, and one was probably a fire victim as shown by his physical features as his face was completely unrecognizable. While asking for alms, they were playing the mandolin which is a Chinese musical instrument. These scenes that became almost a regular scenario for me while I was in there still remains on my mind. It made me realize that I’m so lucky and grateful that God bestowed me with this complete set of body which I can use in honing my skills and abilities, and maybe someday be used as a medium of helping these people. It made me fathom out the dilemma of these unfortunate people more profoundly. I know that there are people here in our country who also share this unfortunate condition but it was during my stay in China that I was really exposed to that problem.

The study tour gave me an opportunity to befriend people coming from different prominent Chinese schools not only in Manila but all over the country. I felt lucky that I was able to venture out to an unfamiliar society. I was able to mingle with people whom I have little in common with and people who have diverse attitudes and status in the society. I can really say that I was able to improve the way I interact with other people. Even my friends here in the Philippines noticed that. But what was really nice about my experience there was that all of us seem to be in the same boat, like each one of us is in the same status in the society. All of us, may it be probinsyana or Manileña, were able to exchange ideas and experiences living in a highly urbanized area and in a simple province. We were able to compare and contrast the way things were done in the different parts of the country. I was able to realize how hard it is for people living in war afflicted areas such as in Mindanao for I was able to gain some friends coming from there. They shared to us some sacrifices they had to make so that they can secure their safety, like changing their surnames to avoid attracting the rebels who might take them as victims because of their Chinese lineage as depicted by their surnames. I was able to appreciate more my home province because I can sleep soundly every night and not be worried about rebels attacking our place.

The study tour was dubbed as “Root Seeking Camp”. And indeed, I was able to seek and appreciate my roots. I was able to improve my Chinese-speaking skills and gain confidence in conversing with my fellow members of the Chinese community in the Philippines. It was only in China that I was really able to put into practice the Mandarin language that I’ve learned in school especially since the typical “Chinoy” only uses the Fookien language and not the Mandarin which is the official language of China. I now appreciate more the blood that runs through my veins. I was surprised when I was able to personally witness how China rose from the ashes of communism and the Japanese regime. We saw foreigners, including Filipinos and Americans, who were also studying the Mandarin, recognizing the fact that China is now becoming one of the fastest growing economies not only in Asia but all over the globe. The recently held Beijing Olympics was an evidence to that.

Even though we were not in our mother country, we also took pride of our being Filipinos in there. The Chinese people that we were able to encounter with were all impressed by our ability to speak English fluently. Of course, we felt lucky to be educated in the Philippines especially in our schools since we use a trilingual system which is composed of the English, Filipino, and Chinese languages. It hit upon me that we Filipinos are truly remarkable, for we can easily adapt to changes and be versatile which makes us globally competitive if we only persevere and believe in ourselves.
My trip to China will always hold a special place in my heart. It was through my experiences that I was able to grow as an individual. When I returned here in the Philippines, I knew that I would never be the same again and that I have become a better and more mature person because of all the things that I’ve learned. I realized that I can be responsible and independent individual considering that I was able to manage myself and my finances without having troubles and my parents guiding me. I gained confidence in my social skills. I’ve learned how not to doubt myself and my capabilities; as long as I have discipline and I continually persevere in improving myself I could achieve the things that I desire. My concepts towards the world that we are living in became more profound as I begin to be more conscious that there is a huge world yet to be explored by myself as an individual. And that it is my concern to be a productive part of it. Moreover, I was able to appreciate further the cultural heritages that are within me, both the Chinese and the Filipino culture. It is because these two cultures and heritages delineate who I am not only physically but also my beliefs and philosophies in life. This experience really helped me define myself as a person living in this world.

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