Today is my second day hanging out with these mainland Chinese friends (if you notice, I do not call them students anymore, but friend). I feel there is a strong camaraderie between all of us. Whenever we eat together, someone, somewhere, will be cracking some jokes that cause others to laugh uncontrollably. For example, a friend had us a picture of a girl in his wallet, and all of us were thinking it was his girlfriend. Then suddenly another friend rushed out and was wondering what we were looking at. He realized that we were looking at the picture of his girlfriend, and snatched up the wallet and were furious at the first guy. Boy, we were just cracking up dying laughing.

Jokes aside, again, I was impressed on how easily we can get along with each other. Lodging yesterday was not the best, but the next morning, one guy already bought breakfast for all of us. The boat ride was quite eventful, too – especially during the beginning of the ride where the boat rocked dangerously because it slammed into a hidden sand mound in the lake caused by sand-digging in the area. Whoever left the mound in the lake really need to take some ethics class. The boat could have easily flipped and our trip would have been cut short.

Then there is the outstanding work ethics in this group. For example, right now, all 12 of us are quietly writing our “diary”. Except for me typing on computer, everyone else is diligently writing about their perspectives about what they have learned today. In addition, we have started our surveying work. We have divided into 4 groups (fish group, water traffic bureau, land use bureau, schistosomaisis prevention office) to survey their opinions on biodiversity and gather some info about their perspectives on several government mandates such as “breaking dikes to return land back to lake”. Each group had to organized the info and present to the rest of the group. The team leader even provided suggestions to make the team more effective.

Well, I am quite tired from taking a boat trip, playing basket ball, taking a cold shower, washing my cloth, laughing my butt off, and working on my diary. I am ready to get some rest and sleep!

Howard Lin