To Go Or Not To Go

WY has been most excited this year when we were informed by the school that there would be an Immersion/Learning Trip to China during the June school holidays! This is an integral segment of the BICEP which WY is in. BICEP = Bi-Cultural Education Programme, initiated and supported by SHHK.

The BICEP students from all the 5 SHHK schools would come together to form 3 Teams. One Team will head for Taipei, Taiwan whilst the other 2 Teams will head for Xi'an and Chengdu in China respectively. The students had to draw lots to see which Team they would be in; WY's turned out to be Xi'an (his favourite amongst the 3 destinations).

And so, WY has been very excited about the trip. He read up on Xi'an, checked out the various aspects of this magnificent ancient city and its rich cultural heritage, examined the city map etc.

It was quite amazing, in fact, that WY did so much homework that he was able to rattle on and on about the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, the Big Bell Tower, the Small Bell Tower (including their dimensions!) etc (contrast: I had never even heard of these attractions before!) and also the famed Museum of Terracotta Warriors & Horses. He shared with us much information of these attractions and the history of this grand ancient city eg, that Xi'an was also called Chang'an and it had been the capital city of many dynasties in the past etc etc.

Although getting his new passport ready took us some time and effort (mainly because of the exam period and logistics challenges), we got it settled anyway. I checked with the GP on vaccinations, and immediately after his exams, we got the vaccinations settled, too.

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Then suddenly, on 12 May, the Earth rocked..... There was massive loss of life and unaccountable damage suffered in the terrifying Richter 7.9 Sichuan Earthquake.................... From the media reports, this was truly a big disaster of mankind and a real tragedy for the Chinese, especially the commoners in all the various Sichuan disaster areas.....

I was rather shocked at the magnitude of the disaster - I thought, earthquakes are common in places like Taiwan, Japan and nearby Indonesia? But in China? I had never heard that the picturesque rural, mountainous places like Jiuzhaigou in Sichuan would be prone to earthquakes?? (Xi'an is the provincial city of Shaanxi, which is the Northeastern neighbour province of Sichuan.)

So, even though WY remained hopeful that the Xi'an trip would proceed as planned (because the teachers had said that in response to the Sichuan earthquake, only the Chengdu Team would now visit Xi'an on a different date), all of us adult at home were a little concerned whether WY should head for Xi'an afterall. I,myself, was quite confused; I didn't know if I should hope that the tour proceeds (so that WY will not be disappointed) or if I should hope that the trip will be postponed or changed (in case there are further earthqaukes or even aftershocks which affect Xi'an directly).

At the parents' briefing held at a sister school last Friday, the school and tour agency representatives took pains to reassure anxious parents that all would be safe. That it would be alright to go on as planned because they have verified with their contacts in the China city (including family of a teacher in WY's school who is a Xi'an native) that Xi'an has been spared from damage. They said that all there has been in Xi'an were some tremors on 12 May itself and some 'scares' amongst unnerved residents. No collapsed building, no death.

The 'conclusion' of that briefing was, in short, that it is safe and ok to proceed with the trip to Xi'an. WY was elated (very relieved!); I felt more 'reassured'.

And so, we decided to go on with the other preparation for the trip - buying a new luggage bag for WY, prepaid phone cards for him to use to call back home etc. Just yesterday, we spent the morning and a good part of the afternoon of our Vesak Day holiday packing the clothes, toiletries, medication, stationery, cameras, etc.

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Just minutes ago, WY called me from home. He told me in a very upset voice, "Mama! Today, 陈老师 just told us that now even the 西安团 may have to be postponed to another date!"

"Why?" I asked.

"She said because there could really be an earthquake again!" shot his frustrated reply.

I said in a most sympathetic voice, "Oh. Then it's ok lah. We'll plan something else for the holiday and go to Xi'an at a later date, lor."

"But we all are so disappointed! Tell us only today!!!" WY said, taking a deep breath (I can almost see those hot tears welling up in his eyes). "Ok, bye!"

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I hope China will recover from this disaster soon and the Chinese people will emerge a better people.

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I suppose the school will be getting in touch with parents soon? They have to - it's already 20 May today.