Riding elephants and lessons on how to bargain

On Thursday, March 17, 2005, the seven eighth grade students from Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School traveled to the Philippines and Thailand with their Geography teacher, Mr. Sean Maycock, and their principal, Mrs. Barbara Maycock, for their annual 8th grade class trip. The students had been studying Southeast Asia in their Geography class, and this trip was their opportunity for a hands-on, real-world learning experience. The students kept a daily journal, and below they’ve recreated some of their entries to tell the story of their trip.

The students left Saipan Thursday evening and arrived in the Philippines around 8:30pm. They proceeded from the airport to their hotel, the Century Park Hotel.

Friday, March 18, 2005
Manila, the Philippines

Today we went to Fort Santiago. At Fort Santiago I saw cannons and horses, and we took a picture in front of Fort Santiago. We went to Rizal Park where we also took pictures. We saw Lapu Lapu. The statue of Lapu Lapu is big! In the afternoon, we went shopping. We split into two groups. Group 1 was Mr. Maycock, Ray, AJ, and EJ. Group 2 was Mrs. Maycock, Xian Xian, Min Su, and me. Mrs. Maycock and Xian Xian bought so many slippers and bags but Min Su and I could not buy anything because we had to stay with them. I felt bad about that. Tonight we flew to Bangkok.
–Yong Jun Cha

Yong Jun is the newest member of the 8th grade class at the Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School, having moved to Saipan from South Korea five months ago. Yong Jun is the only member of the class to have visited Thailand before this trip, but he doesn’t remember much from his first trip as he was very young at the time.

Saturday, March 19, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand

Today we went to Ekemai Seventh-day Adventist Church in the morning. After church, we went to an Italian restaurant in our hotel, the Amari Watergate Hotel, and we ate some Italian food. I ate spaghetti! After lunch, we swam a little bit. I ran around the hotel with Sarwan on my way to the swimming pool, because she and I both pressed the wrong floor number, so we spent about five minutes to get there. Sarwan had fun. Sarwan was a student in our school—she is also in the 8th grade—but she moved back to Thailand this year before the class trip. But we saw her again. I’m happy!

Around four o’clock in the afternoon, we went to this English school outside Bangkok to teach kids English. I really enjoyed teaching them English, and after the teaching we had a potluck there.

After the potluck, we played some instruments. I played piano and drums, and Raymond played [electric] guitar. It was very nice, but I don’t think people liked my drum playing because I didn’t know how to play it. I just hit it!
And then we got back to our hotel, and now I’m so sleepy.
–Xian Xian Cui

Xian Xian came to the Saipan SDA School from China in the middle of her fourth grade year, not speaking any English. Now three years later, Xian Xian has learned English and skipped a grade. She is also 8th grade class president, and ever since her friend Sarwan Khantarak moved back to Thailand, she has been the only girl in her class.

Sunday, March 20, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand

Today we went to Dream World. Dream World is a recreation park. Riding a go-kart was so much fun. We also watched a show called Hollywood Extras. Then we went to Snow Town [Snow Town is a warehouse-sized refrigerated building with real snow for park guests to play in.]. I also enjoyed riding down the hill on a sled and having a snowball fight. It has been so long since I’ve seen and touched snow. Then we went to the hotel. After that we went shopping.
Min Su Cho

This is Min Su Cho’s first year at the Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School. He joined the class in September when he moved here with his family from South Korea.

Monday, March 21, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand

Today I woke up at 6am in Thailand (9am on Saipan). I got a present ready for our former classmate Sarawan ‘cause today was her 15th birthday. While I was getting her present ready, I saw that it was so bright outside. I could see the building lights. When I was done we ate at the Promenade, a breakfast restaurant in the hotel. We met Sarawan after breakfast and went off to the Grand Palace. We left about eight in the morning. When we got there we saw that there were temples made of gold. Mostly everything was made of gold. There were monks at the temples. While the incense was burning, they gave their offerings. We saw the Emerald Buddha [the most sacred Buddha in all of Thailand], and took pictures outside the temple, because you can’t take pictures inside the temple. When you go in the temple, you take off your shoes. You can’t bring food or water. You have to leave it on the bus. Most people wai or bow before they sit down to look at the Emerald Buddha.

After that we went to the Rose Garden where they put on plays about Thai culture and myths. They showed an elephant show. At the end of the elephant show the elephant shot water out of its trunk at the audience, and I got wet.

Before we went shopping tonight, we ate at Thai on 4, a restaurant at the Watergate. Thai on 4 was great! We ordered a cake for Sarawan’s birthday.

Tonight we went to a market called the Lumphini Night Bazaar. They had a lot of woodcarving stores. It was so cheap. In Saipan it would be $10 [U.S. currency] for a small dolphin, and in Thailand it would be a large dolphin [for the same price]. To bargain, you want the price lower, so if something is 450 baht [the Thai currency], say “300 baht” over and over and they will give it to you. Or they will give their price, like maybe 375 baht. You say 300 until they say “okay” or “never mind.”

We shopped until ten in the night, then we went back to the Amari Watergate Hotel. We arrived back about 11pm and had a meeting. After the meeting everybody fell asleep. That’s all.
–Fredo Paez

Fredo was born and raised here on Saipan. He has been a student at the Saipan SDA School since Kindergarten. He is seasoned traveler having toured Chuuk, Pohnpei, Palau and Guam with the school drama team over the past two years. He is the 8th grade class treasurer.

Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Bangkok, Thailand

We woke up very early. At 5:30am! We woke up early because it was a long trip. When I woke up, I went to take a shower and brush my teeth. Then went to eat breakfast, and then we waited for the bus to come. When it came, we went to Kanchanaburi [a province in Western Thailand, near the Burmese border]. But first we had to go to this station to switch buses. After we switched bus, we rode on the bus for what seemed like forever because it was a long time. We went to a gas station to stop for the bus, and we went to the store. It was super-cheap! The most you could spend there was $5.

After we went to the gas station, we went to the River Kwai. We saw the bridge over the River Kwai. We rode on bamboo rafts on the river. After that we rode on elephants for 30 minutes. It was so fun. After we rode on the elephants we watched two elephants doing tricks like walk on two legs. After that we went to eat lunch.

After that I saw this huge elephant made out of wood. First it was 1,000 baht (about $27.02), then I bargained for it and I got it for 800 baht (about $21.62). I got it for my mom. Then we rode on the Death Railway train [a railroad built by allied prisoners during World War II] to go to our tour bus. Then we went back to the hotel.
–Raymond Santos

This is Raymond’s third year at Saipan SDA School. He was born and raised on Saipan. He’s traveled to the Philippines and the U.S. mainland before to visit family, but this was his first trip to Thailand. He is the 8th grade class pastor.

On Wednesday morning, March 23, the 8th graders said goodbye to Thailand and boarded a flight returning them to the Philippines. They arrived in Manila that afternoon, and rushed out to do some last minute shopping before everything shut down for the Holy Week observance.

Thursday, March 24, 2005
Manila, Philippines

Well, today is March 24, 2005 and it’s too early for me to do anything. Once we eat, we’re gonna take a ride to Tagaytay City and do some sightseeing. It’s a long ride for us to even fit in a small vehicle that isn’t a jeepney. I never woke up at 6 o’clock before.

When we reached there, it was cool. The wind carried cool air, which was soothing. When we reached the Palace in the Sky we went straight to see the cliff and the Taal Volcano from afar. It was beautifully green, and it did not have much pollution in the air, unlike our hotel in Manila. We walked around the place and bought some stuff. Everything was nice. I felt calm, not tired from traveling even though we did so much. After that we went to the zoo in Tagatay. The zoo was really something different to me. The place isn’t very big but there but there were animals I thought I would never see ever in my life in person. The zoo had a lion, tigers, a bear, and my favorite: reptiles. They had all sorts of reptiles, from big and colorful to small and thorny, they had it. We petted a young tiger. After the zoo, we stopped to eat and then went back to our hotel, and started packing. It was our time to leave, to go back home. We left the Philippines at 10:45pm.
–EJ Bautista,

EJ has traveled to Palau and Guam with the SDA School drama team, and has visited the Philippines before with his family. He is the 8th grade class secretary.

AJ Babauta, our 8th grade class vice-president, was not able to submit a journal entry for this article as he was absent on the two days we collected material from the students.

The 8th grade class at the Saipan Seventh-day Adventist School would like to express their appreciation for the assistance of the travel agents at Pacific Sky Travel who made the arrangement for the trip. They would also like to thank all the individuals and businesses that contributed to their fundraising efforts.