Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Non-Fiction 2018 | Page 33

My sister was crazy about the coconut flavor lip balms. She decided to get a few and send them back to
Hong Kong as Christmas presents for her friends.
My sister and I go to the Oahu Public school which is only 10 minutes walking distance from our
home. The school is a one storey tribal house located on a piece of grassland by the foot of Diamond Head.
It is a huge tribal house with 20 large rooms line with bamboo mats. All of us students enter the school bare
foot. That is something very different from what we used to back home.
Every morning, we sang the national anthem and chant a prayer in Hawaiian language. As my sister
and I are the new students in class, the friendly teachers offed us help, take us to tour the school ground and
let us know what to expect. We learn subjects as science, the Hawaiian heritage and culture, Math, English,
craft and music class. I have learnt that the Hawaiian people worship many god and goodness. They believed
that the gods and the goodness made the islands, the volcanoes, and the mountains. Our school lunch always
come with a generous slice of pineapple. The main dishes are sweet and sour pork, spam sushi or the Kalua
Pig. We have rice every day at school. It seemed that they have a passion of rice. All the students will sit
under the Palm tree and listen to the teachers playing some Hawaiian songs on their Ukulele.
The school trips are the best part of my school life. Back home, we have school trips once a year.
In Oahu, we have school trip once a week! Yes, every week. One week we will be Hanuman Bay
snorkeling and looking for the rainbow fish. The exit week, we will visit the volcano national park and look
at the craters. We also have a chance to look at how real lava flow in the Science Museum. Last Christmas,
the school took us on a whale watching trip. We left the Hilo Bay on a supersize catamaran, travelled two
hours out into the Pacific Ocean to visit the humpbacks. They were huge. The air comes from their bow
holes is so smelly and fishy. I have never imagined how big a whale can be. We saw six humpbacks whales
and a few dolphins on the trip. My sister and I felt exhilarated about the trip. Oahu is an island full of wild
creatures and greeneries. We also visit the Fern Grotto on the south side of the island. These are the
experiences we had never had in Hong Kong. There is so much to learn about and explore. We don’t just
sit at our desk and memorize facts and numbers anymore. Nature has become our classroom. Sea turtles, sea
stars and Leis are our companions. We loved Oahu.