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      The game was finally over when the Virgin Atlantic Flight V200 landed on Hong Kong at 17:00 local time in the evening of the 28th of July 2000. We returned safe and sound after the long flight from England. When I looked back across the 14 days in England, I felt a bit torn apart and indeed I couldn't help bursting into tears. I did cry because it was indeed very hard sometimes to say 'Goodbye' to a place which you just started to know about, to people (host families) who treated you like their own kids, to teachers who had put their heart and soul into making this tour a success, and to every young face that eventually displayed strong unwillingness to leave so soon despite some complaints over the tremendous amount of walking in the first few days, and to few individuals who always competed for my attention throughout the journey.   I firmly believed that all participants in this tour couldn't tear themselves away from what they had gone through and this could be manifested during the prize-giving ceremony and during our final hour in England.


       On the return flight, one emotional student, who was sitting next to me, cried over my shoulder and I did share the feeling of helplessness. I told her that one would never know what things would mean to them until they're gone and one should cherish everything one had at the present moment. I also told her that the only way to maintain a strong emotional/sentimental ties with the host family was to write to them and remember them in her prayer. Indeed, life is always full of tough decisions and the moment of happiness can't always persist.


       To me, it was a chance of a lifetime and an honour to be entrusted with so many students. As you know,
it is sometimes very hard to put a person into a position of trust and I'm honoured to be trusted. Initial fears were overcome by relief because of the presence of another two experienced teachers, Mabel Chan and Amy Chan who have time and time again tolerated my silly mistakes arising from a momentary lapse in concentration. I have to express my heartfelt thanks to them for their assistance and most importantly, to the principal for her trust in me. On top of that, thousands of thanks have to be directed to the 31 Tsung Tsiners who provided us with the necessary co-operation throughout the entire tour so that we can complete our tour of duty with no regrets and apologies.

       I do hope that this journey can be an enriching experience to both teachers and students alike and can add a lot of dimensions to our life in the many years ahead.

"You will never know what you are going to miss out if you don't try"

It is indeed something that is worth trying and fighting (but not dying) for.


Lego K.Y. KOO
(English teacher -STTSS)

1st August 2000