7th Grade Field Trip

Riding the bus

7th Grade Field Trip, just think about it for a second and you might agree with my initial reaction, DON'T DO IT.  Both my heart and head said so but it seemed I had little choice.  Shooting off my toe, jumping in front of a tuktuk, getting stranded on a tropical island;  none seemed to be a viable options.  It was either get on the bus or lose your job, and I am making over 57,000,000 a year, so on the bus I went. 

Early on there were some encouraging signs,I was to go with the 7th grade and I really like the 7th graders and the other three staff members, Gayla, Joey and Sambath are all pretty cool.  So off we went at 7am the first day back from vacation on a seven hour bus ride into the provinces.  Only 12 of the 24 7th graders could make the trip so there was plenty of room and once away from Phnom Penh the country side is really beautiful.  Rice fields and small farms all with wandering cows and tall palm trees.  Our destination was Jombok Haos and the theme was team building through activities that included some pretty challenging stuff.  Jombok Haos is part of an NGO that owns hundreds of acres of forest and is set up to accommodate groups of up to 50 people.  It is not club Med by any means but built and maintained in a very environmentally friendly way.  The sleeping areas are up on stilted buildings and underneath the largest were tables where we ate and next to that a fire pit and than a outdoor kitchen.  Not so much different from a summer came in the U.S.  "Showers" were just a big cistern of water with a screen in front. A pitcher of water gets you wet, soap up, then rinse off.  Don't use too much shampoo was the advice which didn't apply to me so much.  Kind of primitive but ok, mattresses on the floor and mosquito nets. The generator come on at 6 and off at 10.  We arrived and got settled and then played some games that all revolved around principles, like communication, trust, cooperation etc.  The kids were very reserved and kind of quiet and cautious.  There was a blind walk activity and a swinging bridge that was kind of scary.  I'd say that after the dinner everyone was tight and tired.

Heading up to the Gibbon's Swing

The next three days' activities all required harnesses because we were going up high.  I'm not too sure about this forest but I think it would be called an open deciduous tropical forest.  Deciduous is what a dentist would call your baby teeth because they fall out, so too with the leaves.  In the northeast they fall because it gets too cold, here in Cambodia because it gets too dry.  It hasn't rained since November and won't until March, the forest is very dry and lots, not all, trees are dropping their leaves.  Open because it is low growth interspersed with just massive beautiful trees. They won't have their first branches until 100 feet up.  Most of the platforms we did our activities from were maybe 60 feet off the ground.  That's really is pretty high and the climbing up is kind of scary and strenuous.  "I (We) can do it" was the theme and I really wanted to.  The kids were all supportive of each other and kind of protective over me because I was "old",  "I'm not old I would say, just older than you, and I can do it."  On one platform you had to jump to a wooden bar and hold on and swing, very scary just to be at the edge of the platform and then to jump into space. This was called the Gibbon's Swing.  Then the Giant Swing.  Using a pulley system everyone pulls one person up to maybe 40 feet off the ground and then they release.  A really thrill and you can't help but yell or scream.  MAMA seemed to be a common exclamation that would get us all laughing.  Gayla, our trapeze performer, did the Gibbon's swing hanging from her knees and the Giant Swing superman(woman) style.  Show off.  There was an incredible zip line that was just a thrill, next time I'm going to open my eyes. 

At the beginning of each session we played some warm up games that really started to make us laugh.  All these levels of competency were starting to show.  We had to maintain a clapping rhythm and when called on answer a question or answer yes while nodding no.  Well although I am pretty good at identifying bird, none of my Irish genes prepared me to keep a rhythm let alone answer questions in time.  How we all laughed when we couldn't respond to the simplest of questions and to the back of the cue we went.  Makes me think what it is like when I call on someone in class.  Hey it was ok to get it wrong, it was about participation and trying.  I remember in graduate school a study of wolves asking the question, what made the alpha male and alpha female dominant?  The answer has always stayed with me; it was not strength alone but caring and kindness.  They would spend time with lower ranking members of the pack and play fight, protecting them, including them.  Their high position came from a sense of themselves, how they would be aware of the other members and be inclusive.  Well our little pack was learning about looking out for one another, accepting and appreciating strengths and weaknesses, kindness and cooperation; so nice to see and feel these important qualities emerge. 

View from a treetop platform with the larger trees towering above

I'm not going to mention any kids names for fear of getting a story wrong or leaving someone out but I found out so much about my students during our short time as a pack.  And without having to ask a lot of stupid annoying questions. And they wanted to know about me too! I do have to mention Joey, computer teacher, 24 years old and just a star to all of us. (Reminds me of my son David).  Did all the activities one handed so he could video, found snakes and spiders and can speak Khmer and the kids all loved him.  Then there was Sambath, the first person I met at the airport in August.  PE teacher, maybe 25 but 14 at heart.  Super athlete but not so good at heights.  On our last night we played a dancing game where we all had to dance then stop when the music stopped.  Well Sambath is a great dancer, and funny and dances way too fast and would never stop when the music stopped.  He had us laughing and laughing and trying to copy him but he was way too good for me. 

The 7th Grade and some of the Jombok Haos staff

The final activity following the dance was up at one of the swing areas in the dark.  We sat with the largest tree.  We first asked the tree if it was OK and how old are you?  It answered so slowly we figured it was trying to tell us it was pretty "old", I had to add, "not old, just older".  Then Gayla lead us in what she calls "mindfulness" in her life skills classes at school.  In the dark we sat there, all together and by ourselves.

After 30 years of teaching I think more now than ever about what is important to learn.  Of course the Kreb's Cycle in aerobic respiration is near the top, but there are other things too.  Information and skills will take you places but what will you be like when you get there?  We are taught a lot that helps us succeed but where are the instructions to make us happy?  Thank you Jombok Haos and the 7th Graders and Gayla and Joey and Sambath for sharing with me a wonderful week of lessons in happiness.