Canuck's May Holiday trip ... part 1
I have been blackmailed!
Our dear Pan told me that he would watch over our forum while I was away for a short trip … but only if I wrote something about it here when I returned. So here it is. (please know, I am joking if any of you think I am serious and angry)
A tourist agent employee asked me several weeks ago if I would accompany him and
a group of students on a bus trip to Urumqi and the area around Urumqi for 6 days during this May holiday. The ages of the kids convinced me to turn down his
offer. There would be 23 kids aged 8 to 12 years and I was to encourage them all to speak as much English as they could with me, to entertain them and to teach
English songs. I cannot speak Chinese, do not like to sing and to properly deal with young students such as these it is actually necessary, in my view, that the teacher speak Chinese along with English. I suggested my wife as a member of
their group rather than me but he made it clear that the parents wanted a foreigner for their kids. The critical point for the trip was the presence of a foreigner.
A week later I got another call.
"David, please come with our group! The foreign teacher that I had found suddenly declined at the last moment!"
I still turned him down. I was not interested in sitting on a bus with 23 young kids, especially during the holiday period when all tourist facilities in China are overloaded with travelers.
Then on the night before his bus was to leave, another call. "David! Please, you must help me. You must save my life! I found another foreigner who, too, declined after agreeing to come, but at the last moment. It is now only YOU who can save me or tomorrow morning I must return all the money to the angry parents,
pay the deposit for hotel rooms and the bus … oh, oh, save me! My boss will be
so angry!"
It was 3:00AM on the same morning that the children and parents were to gather and embark on this trip when I agreed to go along with my wife. I would have all
my expenses paid along with a small fee and my wife would come too and also receive a small fee along with all expenses paid.
The next morning I stood in a light drizzle alongside the bus as the parents brought their children to the gathering place. It was important for the parents to
see the foreigner was real so my clothes were to become damp and I was also the
last person to enter the air-conditioned bus. This was not a good beginning in
my opinion.
-to be continued-
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