Day 5 in Taiwan: Team-building activities, Kuanshan Par
Dr.Peng called this day a “Team-building activities” -how to work as a team and survive the rapids. It turned out to be the worst day of my life… Wait; don’t think that it has anything to do with falling into the water, paddling, and having tons of fun. It was fun until half of the group ended up with pretty bad sunburns! As it turned out later, mine was THE WORST. It’s called second degree sunburn which causes blistering… So now imagine a sunburn above your knees…Yep, I could barely walk next day…So I’m gonna have to skip Day 6 because while everyone went to the tribe, I had to stay on the bus because whenever I tried to walk, I was starting to pass out because of the pain. Not fun. I wish I knew we were going to ride for 3 hours. I though it was supposed to be 30 minutes and no one warned us about what kind of clothes we were supposed to wear. Everything had to be long…The sunscreen didn’t help much…and I didn’t even put it on my arms or legs because I didn’t expect the ride to be THAT LONG. However, I’ve learned a lot from this painful experience.
I am a junior at the University of Michigan-Flint, going for a Bachelor’s degree in International Business. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia. I made the choice to come to the U.S., even though I didn’t speak the language and found some of the cultural beliefs unique. I must say, I was overwhelmed at first by my new surroundings. I had to overcome my fears and start my life all over again. My inability to communicate with others due to the language barrier made me shy and self-critical. I had to expand my vocabulary by not only translating the books I had to read, but also memorizing words and comprehending concepts. Saying that it was hard is probably an understatement. Those were the worst days of my life and probably a chapter of my transition I’ll never be able to put into words. Sometimes I’d flip back the pages of my life and regret making the choice to come. However, each one of those pages filled with struggles, achievements, and different life experiences within the cultural paradox made me who I am today.
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