Flag Raising Ceremony Students’ Sharing 2025-4-3

Lucas and Boris, students from Form 3 Juniper and Form 5 Juniper respectively, gave a post-trip sharing. They went to two different places during Creative Week: Okinawa and Iceland. In their speech, they shared their most memorable moment in the trip and reflected on their learning journey.

Written by Lucas Wong (Form 3) and Boris Tin (Form 5)

Boris: 大家早安，我是中五龍柏社的田宇軒。

Lucas:Good morning everyone, I’m Lucas Wong from Form 3 Juniper.

Boris: 上星期是我們的啓思週 (Creative Week)，相信大家不僅獲益良多，更重要的是玩得愉快，也豐富了人生經驗。

Lucas: Yes, it  is surely a captivating experience that only our school has.  We have a bunch of different places to choose from, including Asian countries like Japan and China, with western countries like Spain, Iceland and more.  

Boris: 今年的冰島之旅確實非常難忘。那天早上，我們一班朋友懷着興奮的心情搭船出海觀賞鯨魚。上船後，大家第一時間跑到甲板上，靠著欄杆，迎著海風，望著眼前一望無際的大海，心裡期待着見到鯨魚跳出水面那壯觀的景象。我們聊聊天，欣賞着沿途的風景，半小時便過去了。過了不久，我們終於看到了第一種海洋生物——白喙斑紋海豚（white-beaked dolphin）。它們在水中暢泳的姿態真的非常優雅。然而，真正的主角-座頭鯨（humpback whale）還未出現，我們需要再耐心等待。沒想到等了大半個小時後，鯨魚還是沒有出現。隨著天空漸漸烏雲密布，並開始下起毛毛雨。後來，雨勢變得愈來愈大，我們只好回到船艙避雨，渡過餘下的時間。這次與鯨魚無緣，又不知將來還有沒有機會再次出海觀鯨，我心裡感到失望又沮喪，彷彿浪費了一次千載難逢的機會，行程顯得不夠完美。

然而，坐在船艙內，我開始思考，其實大自然的事物並不是我們可掌控的。「天氣不似如期」，雖然最主要的目標沒有達成，但至少我們能夠近距離看到野生海豚，實屬難得! 而且，上半部分的旅程天氣良好，我們身在大海中，能夠感受著周圍的寧靜與自然的力量，其實已經相當不錯了! 同樣地，人生總是會有許多始料不及，這個世界也沒有所謂的「完美」，無法一切都如我們所願。因此，與其花時間抱怨為何得不到自己渴望的東西，不如用心去欣賞自己已擁有的一切，留下一個更美好的回憶給自己，這樣不是更好嗎？原來懂得知足，生活真的會過得更開心。

To recap briefly in English, although we could not catch a glimpse of the humpback whales in Iceland, we shall always remember that every cloud has a silver lining. Some things will often be beyond our control, so we must learn to accept imperfections in life and appreciate what we already have. Once we become grateful, we would be able to pay attention to life's many great offers which we might have previously neglected. 

Lucas:It’s really sad to miss that wonderful chance of seeing the whales in the wild, but I am pleased to see how you turn this experience into a moral lesson. Talking about sea animals, my five-day Okinawa trip was also very educational. My most memorable moment was visiting the Ocean Expo Park and the Churaumi Aquarium. The aquarium was filled with a variety of fishes. But the thing that made the aquarium unique is the famous whale shark and many rare deep-sea animals. Looking into the aquarium, packed with different types of fishes; some big, some small, all with their unique features and patterns, they all look beautiful! It is like an epitome of the society; although we may be just a small fish that could rarely be seen, we are all unique. Everyone can shine in different ways. 

Boris:

我很同意啊! 每一件事物都有其獨特的美，等待我們去發掘。這也是我們出國旅遊的原因，因為只有親身感受，才能體驗到世界每一個角落所蘊含的美。在冰島，其中一個在香港無法欣賞到的美麗景色就是北極光。其實，我們差點就要取消最後一晚觀賞極光的行程了。由於冰島連續下了五天的大雨和大雪，看到極光的機會變得很渺茫。坦白說，當我看到天氣一天比一天差的時候，心裡不禁想到：中三和中四的同學在行程的第二天便成功地看到綠色和紫色的極光了。作為中五學生的我，明天這個時候要留在學校閉關溫習，不能再參加啓思週了。如果今年看不到，就真的再沒有機會。我真希望上天不要對我們那麼殘酷。

世事往往就是這般奇妙。我們行程的最後一天早上，天空竟然放晴，變成藍藍的天空! 船公司還提前和我們的領隊確認晚上出海觀看極光的船會按照原定計劃出發。那一刻，我真的如釋重負。當天晩上十點，我們準時登上船，在船頂選了一個較佳的位置，設置了腳架和相機，等待著極光的來臨。最終，我們拍到了很多令人驚豔的照片! 有時候，我們甚至不需要透過相機，憑肉眼便能看到天空中迷幻的藍綠色。此外，我們還能用肉眼看到了火星、木星，以及著名的織女星和北斗七星。整個景觀令人陶醉，讓我暫時忘記了要考期終試的壓力。

這次經歷告訴我，希望原來真的在明天。因此，未到最後一刻，我們千萬不要輕易感到絕望，要保持樂觀的心態，因為有時候真的會有驚喜。

To sum up in English, after five consecutive days of heavy rain and snowfall, the ideal clear blue sky we all longed for finally arrived on the last day of the trip, the day when our Northern lights ship tour was scheduled. This reminds me that not until the very last moment, we shall always remain optimistic and hopeful, because sometimes, our wishes do come true. 

Lucas: Seeing the Northern lights is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, you are very lucky, Boris! You can witness that in Iceland. It must be a spectacular view. I wish I could visit Iceland one day, after listening to your sharing.

To visit other countries also serves the purpose of learning about things we don’t have in Hong Kong.  In Okinawa, we also went to a seawater purification plant, we learnt about how people in Okinawa purify water by using the reverse osmosis method, which is to let the water go through a semipermeable membrane, in simple words, letting seawater go through a filter that separates approx 98% of other substances from clean water. I could make connections of how Hong Kong could learn from their technology in order to make the resources we have more sustainable. Sadly, glass recycling in Hong Kong glass recycling isn’t very popular, only a few % of waste glass is recycled.  We can learn from Okinawa, trying to turn waste glass into art pieces or accessories, thus further reducing waste in Hong Kong.

Boris:

沒想到日本在環保方面如此用心，希望香港也能借鑒一下。相信大家這次和好朋友一起旅行都留下了畢生難忘的回憶，這也是啓思週最希望帶給大家的。最後，當然要感謝我們的老師，為我們悉心安排了如此豐富的旅程，並努力滿足和照顧我們的需求。

We would like to sincerely thank our beloved teachers for their endeavors in arranging such amazing and unforgettable trips for us all.  

Lucas:

No matter what, to have a beautiful memory with our friends on the trip would be a memory of a lifetime, this is what Creative Week is all about.

Boris & Lucas:

That’s the end of our sharing, thank you!