Unique Smiles

Unique Smiles

            Invading the noiseless, wide road beside terraces, our trip members killed the silence.

            “HELLO!” The students behind me shouted as they waved at the little kids.

            “AHHHH!” The kids roared at us in reply, behind their glassless windows, trying to create a warm welcome for us.

            You can’t be serious. I whispered to myself as I gaped at the crowd of kids shouting, waving, jumping up and down, and releasing their excitement into the atmosphere. Am I able to teach these kids successfully? I asked myself as I stepped into the gate, into a refreshing atmosphere, and started to wave at the kids, with a beaming smile on my face.

            “NIHAO!” I roared back at the crowd of little kids with my pathetic Mandarin skills.

~

            The class screamed at us, acting like little monkeys, begging for just a little soft ball. Alex, one of my teammates in my teaching group, started laughing so hard, entertaining the class like he promised.

            “Who wants this ball?” Alex cried as he raised the ball high up into the air to get the students attention. Every students started screaming and jumping again, wanting to catch the normal soft ball. I stared at Alex with amazement; he not only can entertain us effortlessly, but also the little kids. I joined the crowd of kids, screaming with them, and jumping to reach the highest throw of all.

~

            Speaking in a volume louder than I usually would, I asked the kids,

 “How much percentage of water is in your bones? Anyone wants to guess?” Half of the class raised their hands up and some mumbled numbers quietly to their tablemate. I walked down the row of tables, picking on kids that were usually quiet or naughty.

“Pick on that guy,” José, the “police” of my teaching group, pointed at a silly little boy near the back of the classroom, who is laughing with his tablemate. I began to walk towards where my target’s located. As I got closer to the silly little boy, I could feel his attention on me and how his laughter died when I got to his desk.

“What’s your guess?” I asked with a warm smile on my face. The silly little boy hesitated as murmured the number quietly.

“What?” I asked him again.

“Sixty!” He stood up as he reiterated his answer with a louder voice.

“Nope, it’s lesser than sixty.” I turned my attention back to the whole class and scanned through the classroom for any volunteers desperate to be chosen.

       ~

I found myself fooling around with the local kids during recesses; running, jumping, acting like a little kid. My stomach grumbled quietly, a sign warning me that I need food by the next twenty minutes or so. As I scrutinized for food, I discovered an amicable boy walking in to the classroom with a piece of orange in his small hands.

“Ahh….” I opened my mouth as I glare at the orange. The boy looked at me surprisingly, split the orange into two halves and insert one of them into my mouth. I tried to smile happily as munched the big chunk of oranges. 

“Thank you!” I shouted across the room for the boy to acknowledge how important that big piece of oranges were to me.

         ~

Today would be the last day I am able to enter this school, I was surprised that I found it really hard to say goodbye to the kids. The kids were asking us to sign our signatures on their English textbooks or random notebooks. For once, I felt like I am a star, someone who’s got enough fame to walk on the red carpet. For once, I felt that I finally accomplished something that helped the community. For once, I felt both the difficulties and the enjoyments of teaching kids.

I stepped out of the school full of lively kids, waving back at them as I shouted, “BYE!” I turned around, walking in a slower pace than normal, attempted to store their vigorous farewell in my memory.

~

 As I looked at the school we taught from the bus, I let myself sink into my deep thoughts. I decided to sacrifices more of my free time to help the community. The community that had given me so much, and I decided to pay the community back.

            I scrolled through my photos in my camera, looking at the playful kids in each of the photo, focusing on their smile. Each child in the photo smiled in unique ways, the kind of smile that I would always espoused. I closed my eyes and knew that this experience would never be forgotten within my life time.

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

Please give me some useful feed backs about this travel essay. This is my first time writing a travel essay. English is my second language so don't be so hard on me.