Day 8

Reading through all of our reflections you have probably started rolling your eyes every time anyone describes the past four days as indescribable, but believe us - it’s true. I never thought it possible for strangers who know nothing about each other, and are so different from each other, and can’t even communicate with each other without the help of a translator, to come to love each other so much in such a short period of time. These past four days have been so amazing. I have never felt so many different emotions at the same time; Spring Blossom has been, without a doubt, the greatest experience of my life.

- Nadia

Inexpressible, the first word I wrote on the label, usually, I can never express myself, but this trip has given me such a touching experience. I wasn’t really excited at first, to be honest; however there was this time, where I felt the transition which made me cherish every moment with the children. Since that moving “transition” I feel that this little help for children is nothing compared to how they are, and in which environment they live in. I believe that as my ancestors have been through all these hardships, their grand children of descendants will have an amazing and prosperous life. And having such an opportunity could give them a foot-up to a better life. Overall, Spring Blossom has enhanced my personality in lots of ways, which I can’t really describe and has been a life-time experience.

- Harsh

Everyone says that it’s easiest talking to strangers. I always believed that to an extent. And I can honestly say that I have never received the much love in my life time in the past four days. These girls have shown me proof that money is not at all needed in order to be happy. The last day with them was absolutely mind-blowing. The only thing I regretted was the end of the day. I remember praying time would go slowly. The smiles on their faces, the touch of their hands, everything felt so real. Before I end this, I would like to share one of my moments. As you know these girls o not speak English, these was one special girl who I was very fond of and I told her that I love her, she looked at me with a black face. Around five minutes later, she turned to me randomly, and said – I love you!

- Resham

Heartwarming. Through this experience I have gone through mixed emotions, of happiness, laughter and sadness. It has also been a time where I’ve learnt how we can still be happy with little actions, little words and little gifts. The smiles on faces can be easily seen and true happiness comes from the heart. The love and care from the Spring Blossom group and girls can be clearly seen and felt. Love is in the air.

- Michelle

It’s ironic how many of us would use the word “indescribable” to describe our Spring Blossom experience. It truly was amazing opportunity to see smiles on the faces to people you didn’t know. I never knew strangers could bond and love each other so much in a period of four days. As well as teaching me so much about myself, it also opened my eye, to the world around me. I don’t think I would swap this life-changing experience for anything.

- Vivian Chiu

Spring Blossom trips have a legendary reputation of breaking down the most dammed tear duets, especially on the last day. But I, was very, very happy. The thing is, the last day in Xian represented to me not the end of the cultivation of our efforts, but the start of their results. As impoverished as these children are, they are just children. Enthusiastic, full of hope, naughty and exuberant: I forget that they actually are poor. And when I see the, I see who they can be. My favourite girl: a politician, Liang Xing: a drummer. So I smiled, because the more I saw of these girls, the more I remember that in the face of their perseverance, there is very little standing between them and who they can one day be. So at the end of four days I just felt great; in the end, they will have to spread their own wings and fly. I’m simply glad we gave them a gentle breeze in the right direction.

- Rushabh

Although this trip is from a different light than last time, its still been just as eye-opening and rewarding as last time. Having little interaction with the girls the fact that some of these girls remembered my name makes me warm at heart. Being able to watch this group go through the emotions I went through last year makes me remember how much I valued my trip. But it’s honestly hard to put how I feel about the trip into words. It’s been just as rewarding as last year.

- Toni

The broken barriers in respect to culture, race and language has brought about the meaningful essence of this trip. It has been brought to life filled with, love, joy and happiness. It has been reinforced on this trip that the essential necessities of life come in the simplest form. I feel that not only have we enlighten the lives and increased the level of self-esteem of the Spring Blossom students, but all of the Spring Blossom leaders have moves up to a higher level of maturing, gaining more and more respect for what we have back home. My value for materialistic things has dropped, and instead my value for meaningful moments that motivate our self-development has been pushed up to a higher degree. May God bless these Spring Blossom students and may there be more opportunity as such for them.

- Sanam

This Trip was a life-time experience for me. Although it’s only one week, but it already consist of my happiest moment – when I see smiles on the girls’ faces, the most emotional moment- when I had to leave the girls and the greatest moment. The girls gained for us, but we gained more from them, each one of us grew from this trip. As a person from the modern city, I often forget how lucky I am. There are many less fortunate people in the world and going on this trip allows me to give them my love, my knowledge, my stories. It is an experience that I will never forget. It’s beyond what words can say.

- Catherine Chen

The emotions felt throughout this trip have been amazing. On the last day we had with the girls I felt both happy and sad. Sad because we were leaving the girls after forming such a close bond with them; happy because we know that we have brought smiles to their faces and warmth to their hearts. Being part o this trip has truly been life changing and eye-opening. Spring Blossom to me is irreplaceable, unbelievable, emotional, amazing and a wonderful experience on the whole. I would have never given it up for anything else.

- Debrina

To explain Spring Blossom in words isn’t possible. Being part of such a special trip is truly amazing. What really touched me was the care and love shown by the children. Likewise, bonding and forging friends with others meant everything to me. Spring Blossom has given me the opportunity to show others who I really am, and it has given me the opportunity to learn about others and myself. When we visited one of the primary schools, a banner which touched me was, “Hand in Hand, Heart to Heart. Our friendship will last forever.”

- Priyank Baid

I had never expected to learn so much in such a short period of time. This experience has truly been great, I never expected so much light and energy from the girls. Within these four days I can say that the girls have taught me so much more than I have taught them. I would also like to thank each and every member of this trip for making this trip so memorable.

- Natalie Chiu

BIG family.

- Kelvin Lau

For me this has been a fine example of the quote “Actions speak louder than words”. The last day with the Spring Blossom girls was unarguably emotional for all. Personally, to witness a bond forming with my girl in two days to such an extent that the girls kissed my gifted balloon that say “Wo Ai Ni”, and refused to look at me because I was going, doing everything she could to hide her tears. My comment on the first day described it as beautiful. The last was so beautiful, just a lot more.

- Hanisha

‘Love Love Love Love Love’. Those were the five words I used to describe the trip. Although it’s true that Spring Blossom is a guaranteed to be an emotional roller coaster with all its ups and downs, the love that could be felt during the trip was overwhelming. From the girls, from the teachers supporting us, and the people from the group, whom I have bonded with so much that I would consider each and every one of them family. What this trip has taught me is that there is an opportunity for love everywhere you go.

- Ingrid Lee

It’s true that one of the greatest joys in life is bringing happiness into the lives of others. Seeing the children just having fun and enjoying themselves brought a smile to my face everyday.  Some people may see these children as unfortunate or to some extent, very needy, but these children are so full of life, spirit and hope that there is nothing ‘unfortunate’ about them. Although many of these children experience hardships in their lives on a daily basis, they give off an amazingly warm and accepting vibe. If I was to pick one thing I learnt from these children, it would be the ability to love and trust unconditionally as they have shown towards us. I think I can say that this experience would leave a mark in all our lives.

- Gloria Yeung

Spring blossom has helped me understand and reflect on my life as well as helping the spring blossom girls. I truly felt touched by everything on the trip. The time spent with the spring blossom girls (1200 minutes) seemed too short. The four days spent with these girls was a time which I will never forget. We bonded with the girls through games, arts and craft, English, singing and dancing.  With my broken Chinese I still managed to communicate with the girls. Actions speak louder than words. Although there were obstacles it did not stop us from being there for girls. I will truly miss everything in Xian.

- Sadi