Our Independent Young Lady
Amber went on a week-long school learning journey to Shanghai recently as part of a Cultural Immersion Programme. It is the same trip that Shannon went on 2 years ago. Ever since Shannon came back and told us all about how fun it was, Amber had been looking forward to her turn – right from the start of this year, she had been questioning when her Chinese teacher was going to hand out the forms and so on.
She thought she missed the chance. She thought it was only given to certain Chinese classes. She thought they gave out the forms when she was on medical leave. She thought they cancelled the trip, like they did last year for some reason or other. But it finally happened, she received the form, we filled it up and sent it back the same day, together with a cheque (not too cheap, but definitely worth it).
As the day drew closer, her excitement increased (“can we pack yet?”, “can you get the suitcase? It needs to be a 4-wheeler”) and our anxiety increased (“will she be safe?”, “can she take care of herself?”, “will she get along with her roommate?”). Having your 10-year-old away in a foreign land “alone” can be a bit concerning. The word alone is in inverted commas because, of course, she was not literally completely by herself – there were another 30 of more girls along with teachers and tour guides. Also, the students stayed in pairs in hotel rooms and teachers and guides were accommodated on each floor to ensure an adult was always nearby.
She called us every night on WeChat (because apparently, WhatsApp doesn’t work behind the Great Firewall of China) and told us everything she did. In the background, we could hear her roommate also chatting away with her parents. They were truly having a blast!
On the last day, I asked her if she wanted to stay on or come back. Sadly, she told us she wasn't in a hurry to return. Luckily she had no option to extend her stay.
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| Part of the fun of travelling on your own is trying to locate your missing passport |
As the day drew closer, her excitement increased (“can we pack yet?”, “can you get the suitcase? It needs to be a 4-wheeler”) and our anxiety increased (“will she be safe?”, “can she take care of herself?”, “will she get along with her roommate?”). Having your 10-year-old away in a foreign land “alone” can be a bit concerning. The word alone is in inverted commas because, of course, she was not literally completely by herself – there were another 30 of more girls along with teachers and tour guides. Also, the students stayed in pairs in hotel rooms and teachers and guides were accommodated on each floor to ensure an adult was always nearby.
She called us every night on WeChat (because apparently, WhatsApp doesn’t work behind the Great Firewall of China) and told us everything she did. In the background, we could hear her roommate also chatting away with her parents. They were truly having a blast!
On the last day, I asked her if she wanted to stay on or come back. Sadly, she told us she wasn't in a hurry to return. Luckily she had no option to extend her stay.