Personal Narrative

Zai Jian (再见)

“Get ready. It is cold outside, and it is cold at the orphanage too, so wear your coat so you don’t catch cold,” said my mom wearing her scarf. I did not know that the orphanage was cold. I thought they would turn the heater on for the children. But I still wore a warm coat so I don’t catch cold while walking to meet people who we were volunteering together. We prepared to go outside soon and went outside to go to the meeting place. It was cold outside but luckily, I did not have to walk too long outside because the meeting place was near my home. Then soon after I saw Michelle coming to the meeting place. Lucky that Michelle was also volunteering. If she didn’t come to volunteer, I would have been so lonely watching children with people who I don’t know that well. When everyone arrived, we went on the small bus. I was not so excited to go to the orphanage during the winter break and just before Christmas.

 

The orphanage was not so bad, and surprisingly, it did not smell that bad either. But it was cold that I had to wear my coats. I looked around. I saw children running around in the small space. There were no toys to play with. Some were shy, some were more mature than others. Some did not smile well and some were smarter than other kids. There was one child who had only one short arm and two fingers. But it was amazing that he never gave up and he was a smart three years old boy. He was brave that he could speak loudly to the strangers. He also knew how to make his arm and his two little fingers stronger. Holding a pencil with his two fingers was hard for him. So he stuck the pencil between his shoulder and his cheek. There was also a kid who was seven years old, but he was smaller than the other kids who were younger than him. This amazing kid was strong and his feet were fast. He knew how to train himself and be strong like others were. He punched the balloons and ran around whole time. Another boy did not smile a lot, but later he smiled and laughed. Maybe he knew that we would go away after that day and never come back. All of them were amazing and happy no matter where they had grown up and how they grown up.

 

When the volunteering hour almost came to the end, we shared some glow-in-the-dark bracelets, and we also gave out hand made cookies and cupcakes. Then Michelle and I saw the three-year-old boy with two fingers go to his room. We followed him and we found out that he was trying to hide the cookie and the cupcake he received. We did not know why he was trying to save his treats. But what I thought was that the other kids took his food because it was hard to eat the treats he got with only two fingers. He should have eaten it slowly and because he ate slowly, other kids come to him and they will take his treat. I thought that he was smart. He knew how to solve this problem by himself.

 

Everyone got on the bus and the bus started driving off. The children’s voices and their last words “zai jian （再见）” echoed in my ears. I could see their happy faces and I could read their minds when I saw their eyes. It seemed like they were saying, “Come back”. We drove off, far, far away, back to our home.