Blogging by Katie
After a night filled with giggles, playing hacky sack, and some sweet dance moves, all of the students, including the Hong Kong students from Ng Yuk Secondary School, drifted to sleep alongside the fish. Our experience waking up is as amazing as you can imagine. While most of the Hong Kong students slept in tents near the large tank filled with fish and rays, the the majority of the AYLP kids slept under a glass dome to awaken to the image of the ocean. As our eyes fluttered open, gigantic spotted rays and schools of fish glided above us. It was such a surreal experience; it was how I imagine what it would be like to sleep in the ocean. As an avid marine enthusiast, I was immensely excited by the variety of creatures we saw at the aquarium. Something I really value from this experience was the fact that we had this amazing facility completely rented out to our own privacy. There was a certain sense of serenity sitting within the nook of an angular shaped tank and journaling while listening to some tunes. At night and in the morning, we had the opportunity to wander around the aquarium and observed some of the animals. My favorite ones to look at included (but are not limited to) the giant pacific octopus, the pipefish, the milkfish, the eagle rays, and the spider crabs.
Shortly after, our conjoined group of AYLP and Ng Yuk Secondary School split off into two based on interest: Sustainable Seafood and Water Conservation. Given that it was a marine themed park located in one of the leading consuming nations of seafood, I figured a workshop on how to promote sustainable seafood would be worthwhile to attend. First, our educator, Candy, asked us to draw our favorite food that we would eat at a wedding banquet. We noticed that many Hong Kong students drew some form of seafood as their favorite dish. Next, she walked us around the aquarium and pointed out certain targeted marine life and how unsustainable fishing has caused a severe impact on their populations. For example, we learned that the Napoleon fish and the grouper are both fish that are targeted by fishermen as game, but also fish that are hermaphroditic, which means they can change from female to male during their later years. Because of the targeted size of a fish tends to be female, female populations are dropping drastically. In addition, we learned about shark fin soup and how the shark populations have declined by 98%. 100 million sharks are killed each year due to shark fin trade. One thing that stood out to me particularly was an excerpt of an interview from a shark fin seller. He said something along the lines of "Perhaps we have caught too many already". This resonated with me because it showed that change is coming and that people, even sellers, were recognizing the need for change. As a part of the workshop, we were asked to take our knowledge further and reach out to tourists in the park to talk to them about their seafood choices and ask them to choose in favor of sustainability.
Though we were supposed to explore the park and go on all of the rides, Typhoon Lafin rained on our parade and closed all of the rides. We bid our new friends farewell and retreated back to the Y-Loft for the afternoon to rest. Most students napped and took some time to relax while a few came to my room to watch a movie on a projector. We watched "White Chicks" and laughed our hearts out.
I cannot emphasize just how amazing it was to meet students from the secondary school in Hong Kong. As Antonio mentioned in the previous post, we were greeted with such enthusiasm and hospitality. Besides just a cultural exchange, we had a gift exchange as well. We paired up with another student from the Hong Kong secondary school and exchanged gifts that were unique to our area. Some gift examples exchanged from the AYLP kids included key chains, chocolate, postcards, pins, and t-shirts. Though this program is primarily centered around environmental sustainability within the context of cultural exchange, the global connections we made during this short amount of time will resonate for the rest of our lives. Despite a slight communication barrier, all students managed to connect with one another and create friendships. During reflection, Joseph said something immensely profound. Iris and Izzy asked us to partner up with another AYLP student and share their favorite and least favorite part of the day. The only restrictions were that we could not complain about the weather and the closing of Ocean Park. Joseph shared that the best part of his day was saying goodbye to all of the exchange students. At first, most of us were shocked by Joseph's statement, but as he explained his thought process, we all collectively sighed. He said that this was his favorite part of the day because he realized that he was sad to say goodbye to all of the students, which meant he made a strong connection. This is something we can all definitely attest to.
The wonderful refection session conducted by Izzy and Iris perfectly summed up the day. They both emphasized the importance of compromise and seeing beacon of positivity within darkness. Though Typhoon Linfa caused us to take a literal rain check on our plans, we still made light of this situation and managed to be flexible with the compromising experience. As an overall experience, AYLP has taught me so much already. Each day builds on one another and causes me to make connections between environmentalism, culture, and anthropology. It's been an absolute blessing and blast so far, and I can't wait to see what other adventures that Hong Kong and Guangzhou has for us ahead.
After a night filled with giggles, playing hacky sack, and some sweet dance moves, all of the students, including the Hong Kong students from Ng Yuk Secondary School, drifted to sleep alongside the fish. Our experience waking up is as amazing as you can imagine. While most of the Hong Kong students slept in tents near the large tank filled with fish and rays, the the majority of the AYLP kids slept under a glass dome to awaken to the image of the ocean. As our eyes fluttered open, gigantic spotted rays and schools of fish glided above us. It was such a surreal experience; it was how I imagine what it would be like to sleep in the ocean. As an avid marine enthusiast, I was immensely excited by the variety of creatures we saw at the aquarium. Something I really value from this experience was the fact that we had this amazing facility completely rented out to our own privacy. There was a certain sense of serenity sitting within the nook of an angular shaped tank and journaling while listening to some tunes. At night and in the morning, we had the opportunity to wander around the aquarium and observed some of the animals. My favorite ones to look at included (but are not limited to) the giant pacific octopus, the pipefish, the milkfish, the eagle rays, and the spider crabs.
Shortly after, our conjoined group of AYLP and Ng Yuk Secondary School split off into two based on interest: Sustainable Seafood and Water Conservation. Given that it was a marine themed park located in one of the leading consuming nations of seafood, I figured a workshop on how to promote sustainable seafood would be worthwhile to attend. First, our educator, Candy, asked us to draw our favorite food that we would eat at a wedding banquet. We noticed that many Hong Kong students drew some form of seafood as their favorite dish. Next, she walked us around the aquarium and pointed out certain targeted marine life and how unsustainable fishing has caused a severe impact on their populations. For example, we learned that the Napoleon fish and the grouper are both fish that are targeted by fishermen as game, but also fish that are hermaphroditic, which means they can change from female to male during their later years. Because of the targeted size of a fish tends to be female, female populations are dropping drastically. In addition, we learned about shark fin soup and how the shark populations have declined by 98%. 100 million sharks are killed each year due to shark fin trade. One thing that stood out to me particularly was an excerpt of an interview from a shark fin seller. He said something along the lines of "Perhaps we have caught too many already". This resonated with me because it showed that change is coming and that people, even sellers, were recognizing the need for change. As a part of the workshop, we were asked to take our knowledge further and reach out to tourists in the park to talk to them about their seafood choices and ask them to choose in favor of sustainability.
Though we were supposed to explore the park and go on all of the rides, Typhoon Lafin rained on our parade and closed all of the rides. We bid our new friends farewell and retreated back to the Y-Loft for the afternoon to rest. Most students napped and took some time to relax while a few came to my room to watch a movie on a projector. We watched "White Chicks" and laughed our hearts out.
I cannot emphasize just how amazing it was to meet students from the secondary school in Hong Kong. As Antonio mentioned in the previous post, we were greeted with such enthusiasm and hospitality. Besides just a cultural exchange, we had a gift exchange as well. We paired up with another student from the Hong Kong secondary school and exchanged gifts that were unique to our area. Some gift examples exchanged from the AYLP kids included key chains, chocolate, postcards, pins, and t-shirts. Though this program is primarily centered around environmental sustainability within the context of cultural exchange, the global connections we made during this short amount of time will resonate for the rest of our lives. Despite a slight communication barrier, all students managed to connect with one another and create friendships. During reflection, Joseph said something immensely profound. Iris and Izzy asked us to partner up with another AYLP student and share their favorite and least favorite part of the day. The only restrictions were that we could not complain about the weather and the closing of Ocean Park. Joseph shared that the best part of his day was saying goodbye to all of the exchange students. At first, most of us were shocked by Joseph's statement, but as he explained his thought process, we all collectively sighed. He said that this was his favorite part of the day because he realized that he was sad to say goodbye to all of the students, which meant he made a strong connection. This is something we can all definitely attest to.
The wonderful refection session conducted by Izzy and Iris perfectly summed up the day. They both emphasized the importance of compromise and seeing beacon of positivity within darkness. Though Typhoon Linfa caused us to take a literal rain check on our plans, we still made light of this situation and managed to be flexible with the compromising experience. As an overall experience, AYLP has taught me so much already. Each day builds on one another and causes me to make connections between environmentalism, culture, and anthropology. It's been an absolute blessing and blast so far, and I can't wait to see what other adventures that Hong Kong and Guangzhou has for us ahead.