Dian Lake Trip,Kunming.
I don’t really know where to begin and how to start to tell the adventure that I started on June 21st. After a tiring,long flight and several long layovers in boring airports, I arrived at Kunming. The first thing that I confirmed in my head was that “ yes, there were a lot of people in China” and maybe most of them were at the Kunming airport that day. My teammates welcomed me at the airport on a rainy, gloomy,and kind of a depressing day. I sat down by the window side in the car. I was already lost in thoughts as I was looking out from the window to this developing city, its high-rise buildings, its huge constructions, to its highways and its people. The only question I had on my mind was whether I will like this place or not?
It has been 10 days since I have stepped foot to the land of Kunming and I feel like I have been here for a month; living and studying like a local. We have done, learned, experienced and communicated with a lot of local people in less than 10 days that I didn’t feel like a foreigner at all. I love my program, I love my teammates, I love the cultural variety that the entire team offers, I LOVE that connection we have, and the fact that we have already created a strong foundation for a life-long relationship. I love the fact that I am a 24/7 learner, I love to feel empowered while doing my project and I love the fact that people are beyond friendly and hospitable. What more can I say? To accept one another as who we are and learn from each other’s practices, and work together towards eliminating all the misunderstandings that were shaped by a piece of paper is refreshing, liberating, and promising. I, once again, reminded that there is still hope to make this place a better place, to stop hatred between nations and the key is communication, patience and empathy.Yes, communication is essential but it can be challenging at the same time,especially in a setting like this. We experience moment when things get lost in translation and lead to misunderstandings and sometimes what the mind thinks can also be different from what the mouth says. However, it ends within the individual to overcome this barrier by keeping empathy and positive thinking in our perceptions and I believe ICKCBI team is doing a great job so far. Keep up the good work, team!:)
Group Love@the Green Lake Park
“Come, come whoever you are.
Wanderer,worshiper of fire, lover of living.
Ours is not a caravan of despair.
Come, and come yet again” Mevlana Jalaluddin Rumi