Hello my lovely readers! I am back in Hong Kong! Well, well… the last weeks have been so busy that I simply didn’t have time to write, but my second year at LPC has started! Unbelievable how fast last year and summer went by! I have been back at Li Po Chun for almost three weeks now. The first two weeks passed by with many hugs, tea-nights and stories of our summer experiences. Ploy (Thailand) and me are sharing a room again and spent about four days decorating our corners and carrying up our boxes from the storage room. Finding your own boxes amidst 200 others felt like conducting an archeological expedition. I have corner by the window this year and coming back to it after a long school day feels like coming back home. It’s a little oasis of peace and lights on the oh-so hectic LPC campus. 🙂
During our second week in school, we had a science fieldtrip and together with my Environmental Systems and Societies class, we hikd up the forest near Ma On Shan mountain to take soil samples and gather data for analyzing the differences between a natural “climax community” ( a biological community of plants and animals and fungi which, through the process of ecoogical succession reached a state of natural equilibrium) and a man-made forest right beside it to see how species best adapted to average conditions of the foreign environment. It was absolutely lovely and we had constant company by big yet friendly spiders!
After two weeks of classes, it was also time for our Theory of Knowledge Presentations. Together with Malika (from Pakistan, cuddling in my bed in the picture below), I gave mine on the influence of social dynamics on taboos, with a special focus on the topic of placentophagy and cannibalism. Probably one of the most intriguing and enjoable presentations I have done here so far!
With the spirit of UWC in mind we also had many lovely tea nights, the latest one being our Turkish-Armenian gathering during which we established the similarities in our language and shared quite a lot of laughter when talking about words such as “aburcubur” or “apir-zipir”. We also had a large variety of tea from all over the world at hand: Turkish apple fig tea, earl grey, spicy apple and camomille tea, Black Sea tea, Armenian pomegranate tea, green tea with lotus and orange and many more! Only Chai was missing.
Two weeks passed with the blink of an eye and before we could even realize it was already time for the firstyears to arrive! The bus going to the airport from Wu Kai Sha was filled with happy secondyears wrapped in colorful clothes and flags. Everybody arrived safely and Orientation Week is almost over already!
The opening ceremony was just as spectacular this year as I remember it from my orientation-week with dragon and lion dancers amazing the audience with new stunts.
A few days ago we held the Quan Cai Fair in an effort to showcase the variety of afternoon activities at LPC. All secondyears set up booths for the Quan Cais they were leading and decorated them with pictures and posters from past events. To get the attention of our firstyears we became quite creative: the workout QC showed muscles in the courtyards, Kayak Polo made a big splash in the pool, Dragon Dance showcased their talent, and the First Aiders delivered CPR on the grass. It was a huge success and many QC leaders went back to their rooms with full sign-up lists.
Yesterday we departed for Camp. After a beautiful hike through Hong Kong’s lush forests and meeting cows at the most unexpected places, we reached our hostel: a lovely little place in the shadow of Sharp Peaks, one of Hong Kong’s most popular hiking destinations, located right by the water. The evening passed quickly with an initiation ceremony with songs and colors by the Playback group followed by a Playback theater session after our late-night BBQ. Playback is on improvisational form of theater theatre in which the members of the audience tell tories and watch them enacted on the spot by the playback performers which tend to specialise in one of several roles – conductor, actor, and musician. It is one of my favorites from Orientation Week – I still remember when I was the one going through the same initiation ceremony (sitting in a circle with eyes closed and listening to the playbackers sing, as well being painted on my cheeks and hands and leaving a “mark” on an empty canvas – a symbol of a new start that was filled with handprints of all year one students after the ceremony).
Camp was absolutely unforgettable – amongst a night full of music and emotions, there were also great conversations and thoughts stirred up. The next morning we hiked to Tai Long Wan beach (check out one of my previous posts called “Surf n’ Turf”). The beach stunning and once again I realized how much peace the ocean radiates and how calming it is to listn to the sound of waves.
Covered in sweat an sand we went back to the school on a boat that took us from the pier by the hostel close to a pier by LPC. After having a quick shower and a nap we proceeded to our rehearsl: tomorrow is ICE! So stay tuned and wait for the next post!
Hugs,
Arzu
