It has been an absolute pleasure to take this group of students away from the comforts of their homes and families and offer them the opportunity to travel in Vietnam. We have witnessed so many positive changes to every student. We have seen students mature in the way they take responsibility for themselves and each other. We have observed a shift in mindset from a holiday away with classmates to a rich cultural experience that has left them wanting more. While the early part of the trip was filled with questions such as, “When are we going shopping?”, “When is lunch?”, and, “when are we going shopping?”, these evolved into more thoughtful questions such as ,”When exactly was the feudal time in Vietnam?” and, “What’s the difference between communism and socialism?”. Vietnam Grey is a close knit group that have fully immersed themselves into Vietnamese life and participated in every activity with enthusiasm. They were guided by the knowledgable and entertaining guide, Hai, who was assisted by the man with a heart of gold, Quyen.
Our trip leader, Nicole Hutchinson, has worked tirelessly in the build up to this trip and throughout the trip. She has put so much thought and care into ensuring everything went smoothly and safely and we can safely say she led a well-oiled machine that went from strength to strength. Thank you Ms Hutchinson!
The students on this trip have been battered and bruised from hard work and the usual rigours of travelling through a developing country, but our medical officer, Joss, has handled every situation with care, compassion, and copious amounts of creams and capsules! We have remained happy and healthy throughout the trip because of Joss’ incredible efforts to look after us.
Our bloggers have been assisted by our photographer extraordinaire, Mr Hyde, who has ensured plentiful smiles and happy faces due to his jestful nature. He has also played an incredibly supportive role to both Nicole & Joss in their roles and has been a delight to work with. Even at times when we were all feeling utterly exhausted, his humour kept us laughing and happy.
We also want to thank everyone back at St Leonard’s who have given so much support both before and during the trip. We look forward to seeing the happy parent faces at the school gates at about 10:30-11am Thursday morning.
Farewell from Vietnam Grey 2016
Nicole, Joss and Chris
