Caleb's Trip

So I've been wanting to post something about Caleb's class trip last week.

Saturday evening Caleb, Seth, Scott and I sat together on the couch while Caleb talked us through a slide show of the 15o some pictures he had taken while they were in Yangshuo. There were plenty of typical junior high pictures of kids having fun on the plane, on the bus, in the hotel, etc. But there were also pictures of things like rice paddies, and cormorants fishing off of a boat at night, and kids repelling off of cliffs... and pictures of amazing landscapes.

I hope I have whetted your appetite for these photographs. They are coming soon!

Caleb was required to keep a journal during the trip. Over the weekend, after returning home, he was recording his final thoughts about the experience. I asked if he would mind if I read through the journal. He had no objections, and it was such a treat! Not only did I get the sequence of what happened when, I also got a little peek into how my junior high boy thinks about things. What girls were annoying. That he always thought he hated cooking, but that the Chinese cooking they did on the trip was so fun. That his knees felt wobbley before some of the challenging physical activities they did. That he was pretty pleased about his accomplishments, especially completing some of the rock climbing that was really tough. That junior high kids like to "hang". That "sick" actually means really cool. That he can have fun with a girl if they are playing the new card game that everyone likes. That the long, difficult hike they had to complete in silence was so worth it when they saw the view from the top.

Good stuff. I'm so glad he wanted me to know it.