A Field Trip
We have our field trip today, and the whole school is going, that means more than 100 people! For us, it is a big thing. The place for our field trip is the creek behind the village. Sometimes we go there, but never with the whole school. So, it's quite exciting for us. When we gather in the morning, the teacher looks at us with her signature "surprise" look.
"Do you bring anything for the field trip?" she asks.
"Yes, I brought this and... this." Kwang shows her a box of matches and a pocket knife.
"Why are you bringing these?" again, the teacher is surprised. "It's dangerous, playing with fire and knives, don't you know that? You don't bring snacks for field trips like chocolate or cookies...?"Here she comes again! she really doesn't know anything! We don't have money for those things! and the river will give us things to eat.
"Don't you worry, teacher, later the matches and the knife will do the snack tricks. You just wait and see."
The teacher frowns. We know she doesn't believe us.
When we arrive, we see the principal and the janitor. The janitor got two big food containers on his motorbike, insides are the boiled eggs we normally have (a part of the nutrition plan provided by the government). The principal gives each of us two oranges (from his own garden), one bun, and some cookies. After that, we are dismissed.
Yeah, we can't wait to take off our clothes and jump into the river for a good swim or water fight. The peaceful water is quickly churned up with splashes, laughters, and noises. The girls are shy to take off their clothes. They just sat on the big rocks and chat. Some are catching crabs.
The teachers get together for their own barbecue. With a quick grip, Teacher Tien quickly catches two frogs from under a rock, and within a few seconds, the frogs are stretched for barbecue. He did it so fast like a show that all the other teachers clap and cheer. The smell of the barbecue makes us hungry too! Some boys from the senior class start to catch fish. They use their clothes as fish nets and hold hands to form a circle. The fish are now trapped in the circle. Then they narrow the circle to catch the fish. They give us some fish. We dig up taros and give them some, too. The knifes are used to cut the food, and the matches are now helping make the fire. When we start our own barbecue, our teacher comes over to check on us.
"No wonder you don't need to bring snacks." She smiles, her eyes twinkles with admiration.
We give her the biggest crab. She says this is the field trip with the most "wild fun" she has ever had. "wild fun? what is that?" we ask.
" It's the fun you can get from the wild. But you are sort of living in the wild, you probably won't feel the fun I'm having now."
"So what did you do on a field trip?" Kai asks.
"Mostly we just fill up our backpacks with junk food and lunch. Then we finish all the food in an amusement park. After we take all the rides, roller coaster, bumper cars...then we go home."
"Wow!" everybody cries out, "so cool!"
"Really? I love to go! But we don't have any amusement park here," Dan said, and everybody sighs.
"Don't be silly!" the teacher tries to cheer us up, " Your field trip is a real one. A knife, some matches, and you have all the fun in the field...Kids in the city will never understand this fun..."
"But...we like to have your field trips, too!"
"That's true, different kinds of fun," said the teacher, her voice trails off.
The teacher looks far into the surrounding mountains, then sees us gathering around the dying fire to dry our clothes. She mumbles, "if Han kids get lost in these mountains, they won't be able to survive. But you will and I admire that. These mountains are your amusement park."
Wouldn't it be nice if we can swap our trips? We'd love to go to their amusement parks and have their snack, and I believe they'd enjoy the "wild fun," just as much as our teacher did.
遠足 （校外教學）
今天我們全校要去遠足， 一百多人喔。遠足的地方就是村子後面的溪邊，雖然我們有時會到溪邊玩，可是從來沒有這麼多人一起去，所以還是有點興奮。早上集合的時候，老師問我們怎麼好像甚麼也沒有帶，謝光正說：“有阿，我帶了這個和這個。“ 原來是火柴和小刀。老師有點驚訝的說：“你們為甚麼要帶這些東西，佷危險耶，你們遠足不帶零食阿？像乖乖啊 ，巧克力阿？“
老師又來了，她真是甚麼也不懂，我們沒有錢買乖乖啊，而且要吃的東西河裡都有啊。俊凱告訴老師，不要擔心，等一下火柴和刀子會幫我們會變出東西吃。老師皺著眉頭，好像不太相信我們。
到了河邊，校長和工友伯伯已經在那邊等我們了，他的摩托車帶了兩個大餐筒，裡面應該有我們常吃的水煮蛋。 校長發給我們每人兩個柳丁（他自己種的喔），一個饅頭，和餅乾。然後我們就解散了。耶！我們一個個脫了衣服，跳進河裡游泳，打水戰。平靜的河水， 一下子濺起一叢叢的大水花，水聲、笑聲，好熱鬧。女生不敢脫衣服，他們坐在大石頭上聊天，有的捉螃蟹。
老師們開始烤肉，添福老師還在河邊石頭旁捉了幾隻青蛙，利落的刀法三兩下就把青蛙處理好了，其他老師們都拍手喊讚。烤肉的香味傳出來的時候，我們也餓了，大哥哥們開始趕魚，他們把衣服當魚網，幾個人一起圍圈圈把魚圈起來，然後圈圈越縮越小，魚就被抓住了，我們也分到幾條魚，然後還有人去挖芋頭，要烤芋頭，還有大姐姐給的螃蟹，我們開始升起火來的時候，老師走過來看，看我們有那麼多東西吃，她高興的說：“難怪你們不用帶零食。” 我們給老師一隻最大的螃蟹，她說這是她參加過最有“野趣”的遠足，我們問老師什麼是野趣，老師說：“就是野外的樂趣阿，不過你們本來住在大自然裡面了，應該不會像我這樣覺得有趣!”
俊凱問：“ 那你們遠足都做些甚麼？“
老師說：就是每個人把背包裝滿零食和午餐，到遊樂園把零食吃光、午餐吃光、坐雲霄飛車、碰碰車，把所有遊樂器材都玩過，然後回家。” “哇！” 大家一起驚呼，“好棒！”
進貴說：“有這樣的遠足阿？! 好想去喔！” “我們花蓮都沒有遊樂園， 只在電視上看過。” 大家一起嘆口氣。
“傻瓜，你們這樣才是遠足!一把刀，一盒火柴就玩得那麼高興。” 老師說。
“可是，我們也想要你們那樣的遠足!”
老師愣了一下，說：”說得也是！遊樂園跟這裡是不一樣的樂趣。“
老師眼睛看向四面圍繞的高山，看到我們圍在餘火旁邊烘衣服，她有些喃喃自語：”如果漢人的孩子迷失在這山裡，大概活不了，可是你們卻一定有生存下來的本事，老師很佩服你們呢！這些山就是妳們的遊樂園啊。 “
我們從沒有把這些山當成遊樂園，但是老師這麼一講，好像很有道理，雖然還是很羨慕去遊樂園的遠足。希望有一天學校的遠足可以交換，漢人小朋友到我們的遊樂園體會一下“野趣“，我們去他們的遊樂園坐雲霄飛車，那就太棒了！
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