Bubump.
My dad had not apparently realized that I was almost scared to death sitting in the back of our rented SUV.
It was Day Three of our long trip to Big Bend National Park. On Sunday (Day Two), my dad had gone to the Visitor Center and asked for good places.
The ranger there told us several beautiful spots: Ernst Tinaja, Grapevine Springs, and the Santa Elena (we were going river rafting there).
It was Wednesday, day five of my trip to Big Bend National Park. I looked on the big calendar I had hanging on the wall. It had everything we were doing.
Mostly it was just stuff like “Explore BBNP.” But today was special. There was nothing much on it: no back-road drives, no hotel moving, or anything like that.
There was only one thing marked in on that day. “Big Bend River Trip.”
Oh, yes. The special feature of the trip. We would be canoeing inside the Rio Grande / Santa Elena Canyon. Three miles up the river, and three miles back.
Your drill sarg’ here. Today we are going to debrief the trip. Codenamed DesertFlight, this is not so top secret… here is the data and plan of this trip.
“…and you know what?” cried one of the people on the stage.
“WE ARE… known worldwide… AS THE OTHER BROTHERS!”
I was at the Texas Renaissance Festival enjoying a show known as “The Other Brothers”, who were the two people who were standing on the stage.
During a camping trip at the beach, I seriously regretted choosing that day. But then again, maybe not. It was CRAZY fun.
It was midnight, and I was lying awake in a tent on a Boy Scout camping trip. There were three other people stuck in the same tent I was in: Mike, Rocky, and me. Continue reading
I’m in Lijiang, Yunnan, China in this story.
“
Those people, you see, those people. They are farmers. Farmers. They have been told to dance by an amazing director. This director has taught these people— five hundred farmers— how to dance.”
My mom continued, “Now, see the mountain behind the performance? That’s the so-called Snowy Mountain. Funny name, huh?
My mom continued, “Now, according to this brochure, this place is said to be enchanted, and we’ll see if that’s true or fal—”
Suddenly, strong music began to push my mother’s words away. The moves of the dancing men and women were beginning to change.
Thousands of years ago.
The making of the Great Wall.
Building material was limited and scarce.
Thousands of people died in the making. Those who died became part of the Great Wall itself. Translation: they were put into it and used as building material.
Ouch.
I have always wanted to make my very own special tee. One that I can walk around and glamour at my friends (which make me infuriate when they have something like a chapstick with “Microsoft Office” on it). One that I can actually wear, unlike the “Microsoft Kid” tee my dad bought when he went to Redmond. Continue reading
So, after the battle, we traveled to the other side of the Dalian Forest Zoo called “Phase B”. There, we bought tickets to see a “African Elephant Show”.
On the show, I sat down, ate some Cheetos, and watched the show.
First, elephants marched back and forth on three legs, picked up some people using the trunks, and did other exhilarating things.
“Are you leaving Xi’an so soon?” All the kids and teachers asked me on Friday while I was in school in China.
A lot of kids gave me gifts, which I stammered a thank to each. Some of the gifts I received were: a tiny clipboard, a pencil, a paper clip, an eraser, a book of ancient Chinese poems, a book with actual paper cuttings, a air freshener, a special crystal rock, and a lot more.
When it was English class, the teacher gave me a big surprise. “Brad, would you like to be a little teacher for English class?”
I was about to burst as a knot tightened and loosened at the same time. But everyone applauded and clapped, I was forced to go up.
I spent the next forty minutes explaining, telling, shouting, laughing, pointing, tapping, thinking, and doing everything I could think of to keep them entertained and alert.
Finally, the period bell rang. Quickly, I bowed, said “thank you” and shot out of the room, closely followed by the majority of the class.
The next period was Phonics, which is about the same thing. The teacher asked me, “Would you like to tell us a game you play in America?”
So I told them how to play Ping.
“Ping is like this: I call out a word, and the first person spells the first letter. The next person spells the next letter. This goes all the way until the word is finished. The person after that says ‘Ping!’. When you say Ping, you sit down, because everyone is standing.”
The game was ridiculous.
Why? Well, it’s designed to be played with about twenty or so people. Because Chinese schools are so full, the class had 49 students!
This isn’t the ridiculous part. The ridiculous part is it took the whole period for the game.
Ouch.
