This was a time when I could have gotten a serious head injury, or worse, died. This was also a time when I had the greatest discovery of my life. This is my experience of a trip to Tibet.
Last Autumn, my family raised money to help build a Kindergarten and Elementary School in Tibet, and bought coats, scarfs, mittens, and snow boots, and sent them to the Tibetan students. We made essential oil soup to give to everyone who donated money, and raised an amount of over 10 thousand RMB. When the school building was finished, my family and I decided to go have a look. We took a plane to Xi An, transferred to Xi Ning, flew to Yu Shu, and than drove to a Local Tibetan Village, which was more than 4000 meters in elevation.
On the whole journey, all I did was complaining. At the Shanghai Airport, I complained to my mom that it was too hot and she shouldn't have made me put on so many clothes, now I had to hold my jackets. I complained to my dad that they were too slow and we came out too late, just like all the other times, so we had to rush to the Airport and not have a proper meal. I also complained about the food at the restaurant being too expensive and the Airport being too big, so it was hard to find our way.
When we arrived at the Tibetan airport, although it was the exact opposite of Shanghai airport, I started complaining about how cold and it was, how uncomfortable the plane seats were, how small and dirty the Tibetan airport was, and although the hamburgers there were very cheap, I complained that they tasted like plastic...When I looked out of the window, all I saw was white snow. This gave me another chance of complaining about how the snow hurt my eyes and how it gave me an headache.
Later, the Tibetan Monks greeted us warmly and showed us the cabin we were going to stay in. It was a tiny rectangular room with a low ceiling and no windows. Surrounding the room, were 6 wooden sofas with blankets on top of them, and a low table in the middle. The head of the Monks, La Ma, told us this was the teachers' room, and that they all went home for the Winter Vacation. He showed us pictures of the students wearing the clothes we bought. The children were dancing in front of a tiny cabin a little smaller than our classroom, which I later knew as the school building we raised money to build. At first, I thought the clothes were very ugly, and they wouldn't like it. However, their charming smiles told me otherwise. How could they live in such a terrible environment and still be that happy?
It was very, very cold, and they had no electricity, so the Monks were burning shard to keep warm. We took out two huge cases of medical and teaching supplies we brought from Shanghai, and passed it to the Monks. Although this was just a crystallisation of a little help from everyone, but the Monks were very, very happy. When I wanted to go to the restroom, I had to leave the little cabin, and walk a long way through the snow. Inside the women's restroom, there were simply long, rectangular gaps on the floor where your waist goes through, and nothing to separate the gaps. There wasn't even a door, best not fall down. I don’t know why, but I didn't complain this time, maybe it was because the thin air drove my head crazy, or maybe...maybe it was something more...
As time passed by, I couldn't resist the thin air anymore, and got an unbearable headache. The oxygen generator did not help at this altitude. At night, I wasn't even able to move a muscle. With a slightest movement, my head felt like it was going to crack open. That was the hardest and longest night of my history. The situation was getting more and more dangerous over time, so we left in the morning. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the students or the school building. To go back, we had to pour hot water on the cars to get the snow down. The roads were frozen with ice and snow, so it was very dangerous.
At the Tibetan Airport, I thanked my mom for making me bring so many thick clothes, because it was still very cold. I thanked the food for being so cheap, and also thanked the airport for being so small, so it was extremely easy to find out way, and we didn't even need to walk much. When I looked out of the window, what I saw was the same. It was still only the white snow. It covered the lands, the roads, the roofs... everything in my sight. Although it was so pure and white and simple, it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen, the rays of light so bright and dazzling I could hardly keep my eyes open.
When I came back to Shanghai, I thanked the food for being so delicious, thanked the weather for being warm, thanked the airport for being so enormous and beautiful, and thanked my family for being late again, so we didn’t have to wait for a long time.
You know? Although the trip to Tibet was difficult, it taught me more than I could ever learn in school. One of the most important thing I learnt was how easy it was to be happy. The Tibetan kids live in such a bad environment, and are short of so many needed supplies, yet have you ever heard them complain? No. We live in one of the best cities in China, have everything we need, sometimes a lot more than that, but we still can't stop complaining. A few days ago, I finally found out what was wrong with us- we always complain about what we don't have, yet we never stop and think of what we already have. Every time we receive something, we only want more. It's just as if the little monster inside us never gets satisfied.
This discovery changed my whole life. I changed my concentration to the things I had, and not the things I didn't have. Before, when I saw a half-filled cup, I would only see the empty part, but now, I see the the part filled of water. This made me feel satisfied and thankful all the time.
One question kept bugging me. Why did the world change for me after I came back from Tibet? No, the world didn't change, it never does. The only thing that changed was me. All I did was use a different pair of eyes, and the world shone to me.
It was so bright, so dazzling...