In the morning of April 1st, students and teachers of SHSID were awakened by a pleasant alarm, with the sound of birds chirping peacefully in the sky. Outside, the dewy grasslands were still quite moist from the previous day’s rain. As the students stepped into the wilderness, the waves of delightful cool breeze reminded them to embrace the new day with youthful enthusiasm.

A day cannot be complete without a series of healthy exercises. As soon as they got to the greenfield, they began their set of a morning run. Jogging along the lake, they couldn’t help but be marveled by the beauty of the countryside.

At the same time, students in the cooking group went to the market to gather ingredients. With handheld sauces, vegetables, and meat, they poured their efforts into the busy kitchen. Different dishes’ pleasant aromas radiated out of the colliding pot and pans, and everyone’s faces were covered with smiles of satisfaction.

When some students were busy with fire and dishes, other students were busy with straw. They learned how to braid long ropes with hay and used them for a jump-rope competition. Their hands and muscles were sore from all the rubbing and jumping. Nonetheless, with their competitiveness stirred, they learned to appreciate everyone’s hard work and contribution. Afterwards, they went to the canteen and made dumplings for lunch.

They also went to the Chinese Medicine Museum and were assigned several games to win points for students’ classes. The trip to the museum was arguably the most interesting one of the entire day. Under the direction of the museum instructors, they made their own soaps and sachet bags using traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The process was creative and taught them greatly about traditional Chinese culture.

Finally, nighttime came, marking the end of the day’s journey. Before going to bed, students watched the microfilms that they had made for this Global Citizen Day event. The videos were extremely inspirational, not just in terms of the impressive editing skill that students demonstrated, but of the content themselves. They were inspired to step out of their circles of fear. They were inspired to pursue their dreams with discipline and perseverance. They were inspired to recognize that whenever they feel depressed, they are never alone.

On the last day, the students walked to a nearby planting spot to pick strawberries after their morning run. It is the season of strawberry harvest. When one enters the greenhouse, the humid air and the unique sweet smell of strawberries will leave him or her with a great impression. Carrying small baskets, students all spread out to carefully select the freshest and fullest strawberries.

Though tired from the eventful three days, what they learned from this time’s GCD trip was encouraging and motivating. Even far away from their accustomed city life, their days in the countryside proved to be meaningful.

(Written by Katelyn Guo Pictures by Hao Sun Edited and Supervised by Sijia He)