A trip to the farm!

AS part of the Winter holiday camp programme some of the kids had been invited to a farm for the day. I found out about this on Friday afternoon, when Charles was telling me about the games he had been organising for the trip. Then on Friday evening Rita asked what my plans were for the weekend... I should know by now - read between the lines - Do you want to come to Chaiyi farm? Meet at school. The bus leaves at 8am. Sigh. At least It'll be a nice day in the countryside I thought and Rita promised that I didn't need to do anything: just have fun.
I knew most of the kids on the coach. The driver played ice age 3. It started off in English with Chinese subtitles, then half way through the journey it changed to Chinese... very confusing. We were the last coach to arrive. There was one from each of the other 2 schools.
After a quick look round, it was apparent that this was an activity centre rather than a working farm. We were put into groups and then the fun began. We started with a few wide games and relay games with Charles; took me back to my school days running round the yard. After that the kids had to work together to get a ball along a series of pipes by tipping them at the right time. I was genuinely shocked when one actually got all the way along.
After that we went to an olde style oven: a big pit with a fire going. The kids were given a sweet potato to throw in after being told a bit about the pit by an old woman. I wondered if we would ever see those potatoes again.
After that we went to see how the traditional Chinese fans are made... printing the cloth with either a butterfly or tiger, then dry it. Then put the cloth against a thin frame and paste thin paper to either side of it. Charles and I were given the prize job of hair drying the kids art work.
After that we were all glad to hear it was lunch time. It was only fried rice and chips, but sooo much fried rice. The kids tried to keep up with me and Charles. We could barely finish it all.
After lunch we walked up to the top of a hill and saw what looked like toboggans with rubber tracks on the bottom. How on earth could they slide? we wondered. But the answer came: they don't they roll on Caterpillar tracks. I'd never seen anything so impressive. They were like mini-tanks!
The sheep from the goat were soon sorted. 3 kids sat down on the bench looking pale. The rest were racing to be the first on the sledge.
I was thinking how this wouldn't ever happen in England. No real barrier at the bottom, just a hedge over hanging a small cliff. No helmets or padding in case you fall out. The leader pretended to push someone down backwards. Me and Charles encouraged him, but he said "No; that would be dangerous!" I laughed a lot. Oh, that would be dangerous!
The teachers were all forced to have a go. I wasn't as scary as it looked, but then I do cycle down the mountain every day.
From the hill we went to a butterfly reserve to see how many different ones we could see. There were some amphibians on display but it was hard to tell if they were alive or stuffed or just dead.
From there we went to the hillside to look for worms or other bugs that bury into the ground. I think they were told "Dig a hole, pour some water down, look for a bug coming up, if no bug pour some more water on."
But what they heard was "Dig a hole, pour some water down, pour some more water."
Before long the whole hillside was flooded, and if any bugs survived, no body saw them.
From the hill we walked back inside into a big old-school games room. There was a giant pinball machine. marbles, skittles, things kids played before the gameboy was invented. Great fun!
After that it was time to head back home. We popped back to the dining area and to my surprise, we were handed the sweet potatoes that had been cooking all day. The skin practically fell off: best sweet potato I've tasted.
On the coach on the way home. We watched Shrek 3 in Chinese, although I drifted off for most of the journey.