Page 4 - Abingdon News

News
4 January 2013
Studying in
Honduras
Trekking in the rainforest, climbing
40 metre trees to get the view
from above the canopy, sleeping
in hammocks, eating round camp
fires, close encounters with strange-
looking animals and insects, and with
barracudas, rays and turtles – was all
in a day’s work for the fifteen biologists
who went to Honduras last summer
to assist scientists from Operation
Wallacea with ecological and
conservation research. It was very
much a once-in-a-lifetime experience
that the boys will never forget. n
Experiencing India
Lower-sixth geographers spent ten days
in India last summer visiting Delhi, Agra,
Jaipur and Mumbai, acquiring an insight
into this fast-moving country and seeing at
first hand the quality of its education and
the ambition of its students. They also
saw something of the challenges caused
by rural poverty and deprivation and by the
extremes of weather. n
Lessons in Greece
The large party of 59 classicists who went
to Greece over half term spent eight days in
glorious sunshine visiting many of the major
sites of antiquity – Athens, Delphi, Olympia,
Epidaurus, Mycenae – all with a remarkable
absence of other visitors. At a number of the
locations the boys were given a talk about
the site from one of their group – which
certainly concentrated the minds of those
doing the talking! n
Diving in Egypt
An underwater group photograph of the
boys who went on a diving course in Dahab
on the Sinai Peninsula last summer. The
aim was to complete their PADI instruction
courses, which they all achieved. n
Learning About China
Third and Fourth-year linguists studying Mandarin visited China during half
term and saw for themselves both its ancient and its modern cultures. They
stayed initially at the university in Xi’an where their morning routine began
with an hour of Tai Chi followed by two hours of Mandarin. Whilst in Xi’an
they visited the Terracotta Army, took a bicycle ride along a section of the
ancient city walls and practised their haggling skills at local markets. In
Beijing they visited the Great Wall and the Summer Palace and were all very
interested to see the Olympic Park. n
‘Usain Bolt’ and ‘Mo Farah’ at the
site of the original Olympic Games
“They say travel broadens the mind; but you must have the mind.” GK Chesterton 1929