Learning Journey DAY 1 “Signages”

The moment I arrived at the resort, I was enchanted by the stunning beauty of mother nature – all the lush greenery and peace, a far cry from the hustle and bustle of the city. Our first activity of the learning journey is to create signages to boost the tourism of the villa. We were given a huge signboard, and an example of what to write on each signboard. At first, I thought it was no difficult feat to finish this with my group in 2.5 hours, but we realized how wrong we were. Writing using paint on the wooden signage is a whole world of a difference compared to writing on paper – whats’ written there could not be erased and overlapped (like using correction tape or fluid). Our group tried our best, but my handwriting was simply a mess. Luckily our handwriting was still legible, or we would have to do another signage. Looking back at our “masterpiece” we all felt a sense of joy and accomplishment.

DAY 2

Kicker start the day at 3 am, waited 4.5 hours till breakfast. The first activity of the day is to complete the signages that we started the previous day. I tried my best, but the output wasn’t great and I nearly ruined it. We then had to carry our signages to the respective destinations, my shoulders ached a lot as a result due to the heavy signage. On the way back while walking downhill, I fell down. 5 seconds later I fell down again. Oops. Thankfully I broke both fall with both hands instead of scraping my knees.

The whole day was pretty uneventful till the evening when we went swimming. The slides were epic, and I even conquered my fear of heights and jumped straight into the pool from a height of around 3 metres. This experience taught me how to be a risk taker, as no pain equals to no gain. I don’t have the picture of myself jumping off the mini cliff, but the angle of depression from the cliff to the pool as I jumped was approximately 45 degrees; and the trajectory of the arc of my jump nearly formed a perfect quadrant? (Questionable)

DAY 3

Woke up at 6, had breakfast at 7.30. Did trekking after breakfast, very arduous and tiring, to a waterfall. The waterfall was splendid, mother nature at her best. ventured into the waterfall, had a field day in the icy cold water, until I slipped and fell in the water, soaking both my shirt and pants. My phone was in my pants, thankfully it was not damaged due to excessive “water absorption”. The next activity was the selfie swing. I was hesitant about completing the swing as I was afraid of heights, but I somehow mustered my courage and completed the swing. Throughout, I learnt the IB values of risk taking and being reflective as I recall the “harrowing” events when I somehow conquered my fears, and how to maintain this positive mindset at all times.

DAY 4
The first activity was to go to a local school to teach the students there. Unfortunately there was a language barrier, so I found it difficult to convey what I want to say to the students. Thankfully my teammates explained to me what was going on, and I tried my best to contribute. I also learnt a thing or two during the short but meaningful teaching experience. Next, we went to a village to learn how to make handicraft. I admit that I am horrible at it, but I still managed to complete it. Afterwards, we went to a paddy to do some farming. This arduous experience taught me that consuming rice is all too easy, but planting rice is the complete reverse of it. Finally, we went to an orphanage. The sight of the homeless children made me realise not to take things for granted, and treasure them dearly. After the amazing performances, it touched me to see the orphans leap in joy when they received our donations. Even a small donation on each and our part can go a long way in improving the lives of the less fortunate. Throughout this day, I learnt the IB values of being caring and open minded as we lend a helping hand to the less fortunate. This day was definitely the takeaway of this learning journey.

DAY 5

The final day of the learning journey. Started the day by visiting a coffee plantation. At the plantation, I observed the different spices used in making coffee, and the coffee roaster used. Next we tried some coffee tasters, and I was amazed by how the various spices mixed together produced such a rich flavour to the coffee. The next activity was shopping, which was quite uneventful as I just sat at the waiting area doing my calculus worksheet. Finally, we went to the airport to conclude our 1 week learning journey at Bali.

#ComeToBaliGreen !!!