Yangtze River Headwaters Volunteering Day 3 长江源志愿工作第3天

This is a series of journals recording my days in the Yangtze River Headwaters volunteering project. I will try to update every day but there might be delays in the days I work in the wild without the internet. I’m also trying to write bilingual if time allows. Like it? Follow my Instagram (@anar.chica.yichenguo) for updates!
这是我参与长江源志愿工作的一系列记录。我争取每日更新，但在野外工作没有网络的那些日子会有延迟。在时间允许的情况下，也会尽量使用中英双语。喜欢的话，关注我的Ins账号(@anar.chica.yichenguo)获取更新吧！

I received messages from the dearest people in my life this morning as soon as I woke up. Another birthday has come, which means it’s been a whole year since I left my job. Looking back at the past year, I’ve been doing things as I want, exploring the world, and myself. I have a lot of thoughts and even finished writing a book. Still, as soon as I stop being busy, I start to feel the strong force of ‘reality’. Sometimes I miss the days when I had a stable job and look through job sites. But then I suddenly woke up at one moment, reminding myself of the lifestyle I discovered to be my favorite during this one year. If you give up your ambition because of the difficulties, then it remains a dream forever. Don’t make decisions that you’re going to regret.
一早醒来收到生命中最重要的人们的祝福，又是一个生日。也就是说，距离去年离职已整整一年。回想这一年，任性地做着自己喜欢的事，探索世界、探索自己。有许多感悟，也写成了一本书。而一旦闲下来就还是会体会到现实的力量之强大。偶尔也会怀念安稳上班的日子，时不时浏览些招聘网站，然后又在某一瞬间惊醒，提醒自己这一年来发现的自己真正想过的生活到底是什么样子。如果因为路难走就放弃，那么理想就永远是梦想。不要做出让自己后悔的决定。

Now let’s get back to the journal. I’m happy to be doing the environmental protection work that I like on my birthday. In the morning Duoduo explained to us in detail the facilities in the station and their functions. After lunch, Kang Kai introduced the working process in the post office and taught us how to make coffee with the professional coffee machine, so that we can serve the guests who come here. When we were in the post office today, there was a team of motorcyclers came to visit us. Normally we only asked if the car drivers would like to take a bag of trash. Surprisingly, these mid-aged papas strongly required to take trash. One bag per moto is not enough, they want two to take one on each side. They said happily, ‘Ayayay, it’s a very meaningful thing to do! Don’t worry, we promise to send them to Golmud!’ In the end, we felt bad to let them biking with discomfort, therefore gave them one bag per person. Besides, they also donated two hundred RMB in cash. There are many people supporting environmental protection. We meet them every day!
回来写日志。我很开心在生日这天还做着自己喜爱的环保工作。一早上多多给我们详细讲解了站里的各项设施以及保护站职能。下午恺哥介绍了邮局里的工作流程，还顺便教会了我们用专业的咖啡机做咖啡，以便游客来时好接待。今天在邮局里的时候，有一支摩托车队来参观。一般来说我们只会询问自驾车主是否愿意带一袋垃圾，谁料这些可爱的大爷们主动强烈要求带垃圾，一车一袋还不够，要两袋，一边绑一袋。他们高高兴兴地说着：“哎呀这事儿有意义呀！你们尽管放心，保证给你们送到格尔木！”最后我们实在不好意思让他们骑车太不方便，便麻烦他们一人带走了一袋。除此之外，他们还捐赠了两百元现金。支持环保的人还是挺多的嘛，每天都能遇到！

I feel very healthy today, and plus a cup of coffee by our coffee master Kang Kai, I was very energetic and start working in advance. I put on the little volunteer’s vest and went along to trash investigation. Trash investigation means picking up non-degradable recyclable trash while recording the numbers of each brand of the trash. We brought a speaker with us on the way, playing recordings to educate people not to throw trash everywhere.
今天身体感觉很好，再加上喝了咖啡师恺哥做的咖啡，经精力充沛，下午便提前上了岗，穿上志愿者的小马甲，跟着出去做垃圾调查。垃圾调查，实际上就是捡不可降解的可回收垃圾，并统计这些垃圾中各品牌的数量。一路走一路放着录音，沿街宣传不乱扔垃圾。

Around dinner time, I finally met the legendary Mr. Yang Xin for the first time. He’s been spending more time in Bende Lake and only comes back here from time to time. Thinking about my initial idea -travel to save the earth, Mr. Yang seems to have achieve it already. Hope there will be more opportunity to communicate with him later by Bende Lake. I’m sure he will bring new inspirations to the same goal that I have through different means.
大约在晚饭时间，我终于第一次见到了传说中的杨欣老师。他最近在班德湖的时间比较多，偶尔才回来。想想我最初想要做的事——发动旅行者的力量做环保。杨老师其实已经将它实现了。希望后期在班德湖的时候有更多的机会与杨老师交流，相信一定可以为我殊途同归的想法提供新的灵感。

After dinner, nature presented me with a birthday gift as well. There are three bar-headed goose families looking for food very close to our station, including six adults and nine babies, three for each family. It is almost impossible that someone comes here doesn’t fall in love with this beautiful cute bird. They are the highest-flying birds in long-distance flying. Every year they migrate through the Himalayas. They can fly for nine hours non-stop at 8000m above sea level. They are level two protected animal in China but already recognized as near-extinction worldwide. I look forward to ‘living with’ them by Bende Lake.
晚饭后，大自然也给我送上了生日礼物。有三个斑头雁家庭来到了保护站附近的滩涂上觅食。六只大九只小，每家三个娃。来到这里的人几乎不可能不爱上这种美丽可爱的鸟儿。他们是世界上长时间飞行最高的鸟类，每年迁徙飞越喜马拉雅山，可以在8000米高空连飞九个小时不休息。目前在国内他们是二级保护动物，而在全球范围已是濒危物种。期待班德湖边与它们“同居”的日子。

In the evening we celebrated my birthday in a container. Everyone sits casually on the floor (of course including the every-one-love Mo Jiecao). We eat and drink and play ‘who is the spy’. The last time I played games with a bunch of friends like this was half a year ago in the Amazons. It’s been so long. I’ve had the most meaningful birthday training, learning new skills, picking up trash, appreciating the view of Tuotuo River, and laughing with friends. As long as life continues, change continues. I’m not going to fail the times of the rest of my life.
晚上大伙儿在集装箱为我庆生，大家席地而坐（当然包括团宠漠节操），边吃边喝边玩谁是卧底。上一次这样和一群朋友玩游戏还是半年前在亚马逊深林里。真是久违。在培训、学习新技能、捡垃圾、欣赏沱沱河的美景，和朋友们的欢笑声中度过了人生中最有意义的一个生日。望生命不息，折腾不止，余生不负光阴。