The day to do some touching up for the final OIE presentation for the IS module due on the next day. It was tougher than the first presentation as it also included the creation of one video and more slides and information to remember. As usual, my slides focused on the main points of what I want to say while the rest of the information comes from my notes held in hand. Even though I had experienced for myself the different ways of presenting done by the other groups, I still stick to my own way of presenting as I do not have confidence to incorporate their way of presentation and make it as part of my presenting skills. The other skills that I’ve learn can be kept for other presentation or when I have more confidence to use it without stumbling over my own words.
Day 37
The final OIE presentation. For the first time, I felt really unprepared as I get this feeling that my notes were very messy. I re-did my notes twice and then I felt the edge of panic just after 2 groups did their presentation. This is seriously horrible timing. It took Yee Tat several minutes to get me to calm down and look through my notes again. During the presentation before mine, there were 2 curious China students who I guess heard the chatter coming from our class when walking by and they entered the class to see us present. From the excited (well, they look excited to me..) look on their faces, I’ll say that they either had never presented before (which I doubt so) or they have never heard foreign students present in fast and smooth-flowing English before. It was interesting to see their reactions and that kind of calmed me down enough for my presentation.
When it was my turn to present, I realized that it was silly of me to be afraid that my notes will mess up. It was like the usual presentation, looking at the rest of the class, saving the bulk of the attention for the lecturer and it was going pretty well, except that Dr. Tan made me laugh with a sentence and after that I forgot to say a bunch of information. Thinking back, I realized I was feeling intimidated by the presentations before mine. The year 1s were really great in their verbal explanations and as a senior, I expected myself to do better than them. The year 2s were really creative in using videos and interviews to highlight their presentation. Edah’s group was unique as their entire presentation was video-tapped beforehand and was really interesting as they were more relaxed and natural in the video. I guess that was all the stress I was giving myself, to want to be better than them as my group was the only group consisting of all year 3s. Can’t really be of lower standard than the rest of the groups. Oh well.
Day 38
The shopping trip where we are all relaxed and playing around as there is no more presentation to prepare! Fine, except for the report that I have yet to start on. It was a trip with just Calista, Yee Tat and I as we made our way into 光谷 yet again. This time, our objectives were clear; grab souvenirs and presents for friends before heading back to campus. We found that a new part of 光谷 had opened recently and we trooped happily to check the place out. Clearing our shopping in less than 3 hours due to our fast walking speed, we stopped at a modern tea shop to take a rest and enjoy the ambience. Calista and I agreed with Yee Tat when he mentioned that it was the only place in China where it felt really like Singapore due to the ambience.
After leaving the tea shop, we decided to go to the salon when we made up our minds to either pamper our hair or change the hair style. We entered “Yes I do” hair salon where we each went our different ways; Calista for her hair treatment, me for my rebonding and Yee Tat for his dye-ing of hair. Yee Tat did not manage to dye his hair until I was done, whereby we waited for his hair to turn to brown while talking to him for about an hour. Tons of fun today and we went back to campus with plenty of time to spare. =)
Day 39
Day 40
Woke up late today and just remembered that there was to be a some sort of farewell dinner for us in the night. Yee Tat and Calista came back from光谷 in the afternoon and visited me with some nice food. Apparently, they went to try out the BT chicken wings which were spicy like hell. They ordered for me to try and it was just as it’s name suggest, extremely spicy.
Nearing the time for the dinner we went to change our attire to make ourselves look a little more presentable. Upon reaching, we realized that we were actually crashing in with a Chinese wedding. It seems that there was a miscommunication between the manager of the restaurant and the dean of the foreign school. Well, since there is no other choice and we were all already gathered there, we continued in. This is the first wedding that I attended where its procedures were, well, a little different as compared to the weddings that I attended in Singapore. Well, at least it’s another new experience for me. It’s simpler as compared as the Singapore weddings but it’s still touching to see.
Frantic packing. Shouts down the corridors. Begs to borrow luggage spaces. Same old, same old. I didn’t remove much of my luggage throughout the time in Wuhan, so there’s no rushed packing for me. Went over to Yee Tat’s room to wrap my dear books to minimize damage to them. Off to Tony’s room to aid him in his battle of squeezing everything into his luggage. It was a fast game of rolling clothes and stashing them in available spaces. We went off to the bakery we frequent outside the campus to say our farewells. When we mentioned that we were leaving, all you can see in their eyes is just pure sadness. We had become friends throughout the 40 plus days we spent in Wuhan. We were reluctant to leave and they were trying to give us farewell gifts. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the bakery. Seriously, there was no faking the emotions that they were showing. They were genuinely sad that we are going and the care and concern they showered us with was real. Unlike in Singapore where most people would not show these expressions unless you are close friends with them, they are true in making friends and are not afraid to show it. This is really something different and again, something that I can learn from.
Day 42
A day of farewells, tears and hugs. In the wee hours of the morning, Edah, Hajar, Siti, Tony and I went to visit some of the muslim stores that the 3 girls have been frequenting. The proprietress usually opened the shop at 8am but when they know that Edah and the other girls were leaving at 9am, they opened their store earlier and invited them for breakfast as a farewell. I really could not express my feelings at that moment. It was a teary moment for all them when they said their goodbyes and left the store.
Leaving the hostel was a chaotic business. As many of the girls were outfitted in their prettiest (or sexiest in some cases) and wearing heels, many of the guys have to help them with their luggage. Arrival at the airport was the same scenario. Finally, we reached Singapore without a hitch.
From this trip, there are many things learnt and experienced. I would be lying if I say that I do not miss anything in China. I miss the friends made in the bakery, miss the weather there and many more. Everything that we saw and felt will always be remembered. There is no way anyone would forget the memories that we made in Wuhan. During this trip, I received help from many people, learnt tons of things and new principles in life, found new friends, found differences between China and Singapore and realized that there were many things that I took for granted back in Singapore. This trip is really memorable and there is no way that I’ll forget it. Ever.
A day wholly dedicated for doing my work. Nothing much to comment on except for the fact that I have to start managing my time more effectively. I’m starting to be lagging behind in terms of my work and this really sucks. =X
Day 32
We met up with Yee Tat, Tony, Dr. Tan, Ryan and Chen Wei for lunch at Ajisan. The menu has a wider range of varieties as compared to its counterparts in Singapore. After attacking our lunch there, we returned to our shopping and only met up with Yee Tat and Tony when we were done. For the clothes sold in China, there were no such thing as the S, M, L, XL sizes and instead, all the clothes there were all sold measuring either your height for tops, and waist measurements for bottoms like skirt or pants. It was difficult to get used to it as we were asking for sizes like we did in Singapore and then the salesperson attending to us will give us a queer look before we realized our mistake.
Shopping took up the bulk of the time and then we headed for the Karaoke that was nearby. The songs were not as updated as the one in Singapore but the presence of touch screens to choose the songs covered up for that. The facilities in the karaoke were pretty advanced if I were to compare it to the karaoke that I frequent in Singapore. It was late when we left the place and it was nearly our curfew to get back to the campus. Make haste! We got back just on the dot, which was lucky, else we would have been locked out of the hostel.
Day 33
Another day of hiding in the room to complete another report while the rest of my friends headed off to 书城街. Well, it was a pity I couldn’t join them as I really love books but well, my work comes first. =)
Day 34
The last day for us to do last minutes touch up on our CM presentation. Consisting of Jehanne, Hajar and me, we were to work on Pilates, which is similar to yoga in some ways but emphasizes more on the stretching and the correcting of postures of the spine. We had to prepare our notes and re-arranged the slides to make the presentation flow. Went to look at the other’s group’s presentation and saw that some of them were actually rehearsing and making sure that they do not exceed the time limit. I remember that I used to do that with my group when we were in Year 1, but as time passed, we abandoned that practice and let nature take its own course. Looking at them reminded me of the times of when we were Year 1s and the confusion and fear we felt when we knew we had to do presentations in front of the whole class and eventually adapting to the changes. Sure brings back memories.
Day 35
Presentation day. Simple and sweet. The only fault is that we do not have a projector screen and so our presentation was screened on the white wall. Seriously, they need to revamp the place. Not all the classrooms have projectors and the screen. They are still using blackboards and chalk. Apparently for China, modernization occurs outside in the world, not in their classrooms unlike Singapore, where modernization works inside and outside of the class. This presentation was easy as there are lesser slides for me to memorize and explain to the class. There were many new questions raised and I was able to see the way different people presents. Other than the few familiar faces from my class (which I already know their presentation habits), there were new habits that I saw and new ways of presentations that I can learn and apply in the future. Take Ryan for an example, his voice was clear and steady and he was speaking about the future business prospects of magnetic therapy (if I’m not wrong). Using business terms was his strong point when he explained to us his ideas and using graphs to show us the statistics. Not only that, they even went further and even had more points that what was expected of us. Really, we cannot underestimate the power of the current year 1s.
Another weekend trip but it seems to be the last one that we are having, this time, we are heading towards Wudang Mountain. The bus journey is a total nightmare. 6 hours worth of bumpy roads and windy paths. I decided to take some medicine and I crashed for the entire 5 and the half hours. Another half hour to see the sights of the scenery and of the lolling heads of my sleeping friends. =)
We did not head straight to our destination as we first had to fill our tummies and take an internal bus service to the various places of interest before going to the main attraction, the Wudang Mountain, better known as 武当山. Our first stop was at 太子坡 where we had to take several flights of stairs to head to the temple that was housed within. Nothing much to note about this place except that it was restored back in the Ming Dynasty. Next up was the 紫云殿. This place was much more interesting as compared to the temple at太子坡 as there were more activities going on there. When we got there, we were pretty fascinated by the guide. Okay, not as in like the guide was really super pretty but as in when she talked, there were clouds of evaporation coming out of her mouth. Hot air from our bodies evaporates when it meets the cold (LITERALLY) atmospheric air around us due to the height of the mountain we were on.
Moving into the temple itself, the first thing that caught my eye is an exquisitely craved urn standing in the middle of the courtyard and is filled with water. There was a craved tortoise in it and is surrounded by many coins. It was said that it doubles as a wishing well. One only has to wish hard and drop a coin into the urn. If the coin falls and stays on the tortoise, their wish will come true. Counting from the number of coins that fall on top of the tortoise, I’d say that only 5 of them had their wish fulfilled.
Moving away from the courtyard, a thousand year old room beckoned to us. No water was to be brought in as it was really old with its original design and structure still intact. It filled me with a sense of awe to be able to see such a ancient structure and it makes me wonder, how did the architects managed to build such a building that is hanging on the side of the mountain. It seems, tough.
We left the place really carefully and were then ushered into a room filled with the scent of tea, the room called 茶道. There were many ladies dressed in traditional costume and were all brewing tea and at the same time, trying to promote and sell the various types of tea that they have in stock.
Once we were done, we left the place and headed to the last place of attraction. It was simply really far by foot and there were stairs EVERYWHERE! Well, it seems that wishing trees are still popular in this part of China as I could see red wishing ropes hang on huge trees here and there. One more lesson learnt is that past Chinese emperors loved to have statues of tortoise in the temple or around the place. Tortoises symbolize longevity and well, which emperor wouldn’t like to live long during his reign?
Day 27
The day I was not really looking forward to, even though it was the day we were to make our way back to campus. We were to tackle the武当山 today, climbing to its peak to enjoy the scenery. It was a daunting 5161 steps to challenge. The night before, it was freezing and since I didn’t pack in warm clothing, I had to suffer for a bit and endure the biting wind. Even though this was the case, I was actually enjoying the cold as this is something you don’t experience in Singapore, so why not make the most out of it? Besides, I love to be out in the cold environment. =)
We begin the climb promptly at 7.30am and it was a smooth descend to the foot of the mountain. It was there when the horror started. I didn’t have much of an appetite so I didn’t have a good breakfast even though I know I was going to be climbing later. So, the lack of sufficient food finally got to me and I developed a headache and hunger pangs. Since there were no way I was going to give up halfway and turn tail, I decided to press forward at a slower rate. Well, I could enjoy the scenery around me too. The air was fresh and cooling, the surroundings were quiet, occasionally broken by the clucking of the mountain hens. Climbing up the steps was tedious as due to the wet weather, the steps were slick and it was broken off in some areas. To me, climbing these steps was akin to walking through life. In life there were many obstacles to be taken in stride and even to overcome. Like what the proverb would say, “A journey begins with the first step”. The first step is the most crucial point but so are the subsequent steps after it. It’s no use taking the important first step only to give up and falter at the next few steps. This is really a life principle and it was because of these thoughts that I persevere and managed to reach the top despite the headache and all.
The peak of the mountain is known as 金顶. The stairs leading to金顶 had handrails which are all covered with locks. I found out that the locks were placed there by hopeful couples who wished that they would have a lasting and loving relationship and that when they return a few years later, if they can still find the lock that they had placed, their wish will come true. Sounds like a plan to get people to come back repeatedly to 武当山. 金顶 is actually quite a small area which consists of places to get souvenirs, the couple locks and a central building where there were bamboo poles boarding up the windows. It was said that if one touches all the bamboo poles surrounding the building and then get a 1 yuan coin to remain on the window of the building, wealth would come their way. It seems to me like a joke but it seems like there were many believers.
Leaving the place behind, we went to take the cable car down instead of walking down as it saves a lot more time and effort. I never liked taking cable cars and especially not this time as it was really shaky though I’d say that the view is magnificent.
All in all, it was a fruitful trip. I have a better understanding on the principles in life and at the same time, managed to train my stamina (if you can call walking 5161 steps training stamina) and enjoy breath-taking views. Got to know many different beliefs of the locals and saw different places of interest where I cannot find in Singapore.
Day 28
A day trip to the nearest pharmaceutical company near to the campus. We were excited to see if there are any major differences in the pharmaceutical companies in China and Singapore. Upon reaching our destination, all of us noticed the lone buffalo in the middle of a field with a man standing beside it. Upon closer examination, I realized that the buffalo employed to plow the fields. Apparently, our guide mentioned that the buffalo was there to plow the fields to prevent the accumulation of the dust on the dead field which might spread to the surrounding buildings where they are doing experiments to create new medicines. However, if they want to talk about hygiene, they shouldn’t even be bringing in the buffalo to plow the fields. By plowing the field, they are raising the dirt and dust from the grounds which may then spread to the surrounding laboratories.
Well, due to the fact that the company does not want us to reveal any secrets of their company to the outside world, we were not allowed to enter the buildings and instead, we started to play merry-go-round around the compound. The place we were allowed to enter is only the warehouse on account that we do not take photos inside the warehouse. Talk about hushing everything up. Everything on the perimeter of the compound are just like the normal stuff we can find in Singapore’s pharmaceutical company. We were not allowed to have a closer look at the cleanrooms nor are we allowed to view the processes that goes on inside. To sum up, I was pretty disappointed. The whole point of coming to visit the pharmaceutical company is definitely not to just take a walk around the perimeter and then go home. Oh well, just as a country has its rules, a company too, have its own rules to abide by. Guess it didn’t matter. I’ll just imagine that it looks like Singapore, though it is very obvious that the cleanroom are way larger than those found in Singapore.
Day 29
A free morning to go whatever it is that we please. Afternoon’s lesson was on the clinical trials and Dr. Tan gave us medical journals to read and then to comment on why it is concluded that the trials mentioned in the journals failed and what are the suggestion we can come up with to improve the trials. It wasn’t too bad even though I managed to pick the longest essay to read. My group and I managed to have fun while doing the mini discussion.
After dinner, there was an interaction between the local students and us and it was in the form games organized by them and song and dance from us. There was nothing else to do but either participate in the games, sing along with the songs being played or just watch quietly from one corner. There was only interaction between students that went for the immersion trip and little interaction between us and the students organizing the event. Despite that, it was an enjoyable night though the only regret is not being able to play alongside with the organizers.
Day 30
Last IS module for the entire 6 weeks we were going to stay in Wuhan. Happy to clear the IS modules but not really glad to have the dean teaching us again. Fine, I’m going to stay positive. Nothing interesting happening today. The only thing that was miraculous to me was that I actually managed to stay awake in his class. It was that boring, because I have had that lecture of Buddhism since I was young even though I am a free thinker.
Another day of IS module, only this time, it is a slightly different experience. We were told to dress more appropriately as this class is taught by the dean of the foreign language school. We decked out in our finery (okay, to tell the truth, I really couldn’t be bothered) and trooped off to class early. The classroom was filled as we were sharing this class with students of the MDE course. This IS module was about the history of China and also about the analects written by famous historical people of the past. I would say, like any other history class that I have attended, the lecture was really dry and boring. The slides were crammed with words and the dean actually took the bulk of the lecture reading out all the words on the slides and explaining it all to us. Seriously, it was different from the lectures in NP as the slides mainly contain main points while we take down notes on the explanation. This gives us something to do rather than staring at the lecturer with a goofy blank look on our faces. I believe I was showing that face (okay I admit I WAS showing that face and trying to cover my yawns) and it was really hard to concentrate. However, this is the way how the students in China learn their lessons, by looking at the slides and listen to the explanation of their lecturer. If it was me, I would have slept probably a thousand times, as I tend to be very restless and need to write notes in order to concentrate on the lecture. On the other hand, it seems that the students’ studying method were different as when I took a peak into their classes, none of them were taking notes and were all instead paying utmost attention at the lecturer.
Day 22
A day of leisure as there was no class to attend, however, it does not mean that we have free time to go out. Why? We were to set off to one of the coca cola factory to take a peek at the processes that go on behind the scene. Once again, transportation by bus took us around one and the half hour to get there. Another horrible journal full of horn blasting and bumpy roads. We alighted at one of the larger factory and spent several minutes under the scorching sun while waiting for the staff to bring us in. We were somehow, in my opinion, treated like primary school kids as we were told to stand in 2 rows and pair up with each other. Hello~ This treatment is usually reserved for kids in primary school and not for students like us. Seriously.
Anyway, we finally made our way into the building and were escorted straight into one of the rooms where a huge screen awaited us. We were told that each of us were allowed to take a glass bottle of coke while watching the screening. Glass bottles! How long has it been since we last saw coke in glass bottles? It was a surprise for me to see drinks still packaged in bottles and took several sips even though I do not fancy carbonated drinks. Usually in Singapore’s market and probably in other developed countries, one rarely sees coke or carbonated drinks in glass bottles as glass bottles were really bulky and harder to dispose of compared to the thin metal cans we have now. The screening was about the history of coke and how it expanded to different parts of the world and even how it was linked to the recent Beijing Olympics. It was quite fascinating to watch despite it being all in Chinese and that we were busy translating the screening for Edah and Hajar.
Once the screening is over, we headed off to the manufacturing plant and on the way, we were given brief details on how each of the processes are conducted and why so. We were not allowed to take any photos while inside the manufacturing plant, however I feel that the processes in the manufacturing plant for coke and the other drink products were somehow similar to the processes in which drugs are produced. Perhaps all manufacturing plants are around the same.
Next in store for us is another room whereby it’s filled with previous endorsement products that had been used to promote coke. Glancing around in the room is like a walk into the past, with its various promotional ideas, one could easily feel the nostalgia. Pictures were allowed and so camera started flashing here and there. It was really a place where one could go back in time (just for a while) and experience the successful promotions once again.
Day 23
Another early day. I really loathe people who spoil my mornings but in this case, I’ll overlook this fact. At the same garden where we had our BBQ student interaction, there were a bunch of zombies slouching around and the only few perky zombies were the lecturers. I have no idea why but that’s just the case. For today’s event, instructors from the student army (?) came and took over but giving us commands in Chinese. Seriously, no one is fully awake and thus, our reactions were like snail-cum-tortoise speed. Another thing is that I have totally no idea what is he shouting; it took several minutes and more repeats of his commands before I knew it was to line up in 4 rows. Baahhhh~ We were brought to a shelter and then commanded to be separated into groups and to start a mini “tribe”. I believe the main purpose is for the bonding between each of us.
Pharmacy Science consisted for one group and we tackled our task dutifully. First, we had to elect a tribe leader (in this case, it was Ernest.), following that, we had to make “clothes” (out of newspaper -.-) and gown up our leader and everyone else. Last but not the least, we had to design a flag to symbolize our tribe. Naturally, we thought of our Dr. Tan and we designed a flag after him. (Okay, not really exactly his face; we cute-ify his face? ) Ta-da! We were done ^^. It was really fun to enjoy ourselves like this once in a while. It was like we were transported back into time where all everyone knew it to have fun and play to the max. Now that’s really something I miss and one where I don’t mind happening once again. This is a lesson where I have to learn not to always take everything so seriously and sometimes, having fun is part of the process. Now I really know that one have to enjoy the process to fully savour the results.
Off we go for the next 2 activities, the trust fall and the leap of faith. The former is something I never liked as there was once when after I fall, I was literally dropped to the ground. So this time round, I was really freaked out when one of the instructors pointed at me and asked me to try and everyone encouraged that. I was literally screaming inside my mind, but my body didn’t listen and went up the ladder. In the end, I regretted the bravado and had to take a rest to calm myself. However, it was better this time as no one let me fall to the ground. =) The leap of faith was easier as all I counted on was my own strength, which was easier to trust. However, my aiming was off and my body weight was not centered after the leap and I fell. Oh well, I could always try this again later. I always know that these activities make sure of trust and teamwork. For someone like me who seldom trust others, it was a difficult process for me to endure. I could not trust them enough to catch me even though I know that all of them have the ability to do so. Another hurdle that I have to get over. Sooner or later, I know I can do it, but probably in another way, not repeating the trust fall again.
There was a more exciting program in store for us after our lunch. First, we had a little warm up game. It’s a little like the games we play in LSCT society so it was really easy for us to adapt to the game. What’s more anticipating is the event after it. Rock climbing! Yet another challenge for me to see if I have the strength and courage to hit the top of the wall. The sheer height of the wall was daunting and it was after a few minutes before I walked up to the instructors for a trial. It was not the height I thought I could reach; I only reached halfway before my arms can’t stretch any further for the next stone to grab on. There seem to have no improvement from when I last took on the rock wall challenge in Secondary 3. Perhaps there is; the wall I went on in Sec 3 was a purely straight wall while the 2 walls I went here was of a much difficult standard. For the rock wall, there has to be planning before moving on to the next step. This is so alike life, whereby it is always safer to plan first before moving on to the next step in life.
Day 24
Finally the day arrived. Today was the day of our CTCM common test. For a week before this day, I was busy trying to cram all the information inside my brain. I hope I did okay. As usual, I was the first to leave the class by speedwriting all my answers into the paper. I had to do that so I can leave early. Apparently, if I were to stay longer than half the time allotted for a paper, I would start to panic and lose my confidence and start to change all the answers in my paper. I know that when I leave early, people would start to panic thinking that I completed the paper early because it was easy. Well, it’s not. =)
Day 25
Another IS module, this time about business etiquette. Our class was held in one of the classrooms with computers. However, it seems that the keyboard was not used for very long as there was a thick layer of dust on it. Guess the students only looked at the screens and didn’t even bother to touch the keyboard. Well, one thing that is surprising here is that the main computer (the lecturer’s) is the brain behind the rest of the computers. It is more effective in this way as the students are forced to read the slides that the lecturer is showing on their individual computer, however, if there are students that do not like to be bound in this way will try ways and methods to overcome this. One way is to disable window explorer. =) Okay, I really shouldn’t be giving away methods to help students to slack. =X
As I read really fast, I was over the slide before the lecturer even reading the first point. It was the same method of teaching, just like the dean on the IS module on China’s history. I’m not going to repeat the same points I’d made when commenting on the dean’s teaching. In conclusion, I can only say that the teaching methods between the two countries is really like the difference between heaven and earth.
After lesson and lunch, we continued on our Ayuveda lesson and had a show on yoga. It seems that yoga is getting more and more westernized, which to me, is a good thing. Yoga, a form of exercise, is one way of distressing and keeping fit at the same time. I believe that it is actually a good thing for it to be spread to the western countries even though it originated from Asia. At least we know that everyone is getting their needed exercise. XD
The next half of the journey was spend in the similar way I had spend in the first leg of the journey; sleeping. I was rudely jotted out of my sleep by laughter that was rolling around the front end of the bus. Shaking off the lethargy, I went about checking about what happened. It turned out that Tony was trying to learn basis Japanese and they were laughing as he started to repeat the greetings to Dr. Tan. It was finally lunch time at 12 noon, a whole 5 hours from the time we left the campus. The lunch here was much better than all the other lunches or dinners we had in Wuhan combined. After the satisfying lunch, I almost fainted when I learnt that there was another one and half hour more journey to the expressway for the Three Gorges Dam. According to the guide, this dam is directly under the control of the Central Government and thus, the security there is pretty strict. To enter the dam, one has to pay either a student price or the normal adult price. This is unlike that of Singapore where the concession on prices only applies to a certain age range (e.g. zoo entrance fees) or to a certain height like in the case of the MRT. I didn’t think that there would even be concession for students as I had thought that it was usually for a certain age group like for 15-18 years old. In a way, this is really something new for me because in Singapore, there are little places of attraction whereby there are concession for those group of people named students. As long as we were over a certain age, we were declared as adults despite having students as our occupation. Another difference in this learning trip that once again made me think about why these differences existed.
We headed to the first destination on the internal loop service and saw some of the dam gates we were to pass in the later part of our journey when we get onto the cruise. The first destination was the three gorges project model room where they had a huge model showing the different gates and the dam itself. Our guide started to explain to us about how the dam operates along with the 6 controls room and many more. I was really fascinated about the portion on the gates. But from what I inferred, it will take an extremely long time for one cruise ship to enter and leave a gate. The guides in China really do try their best to get to know at least some of us. Apparently, they liked to make new friends and share different knowledge. This is one side of them where I think is worth learning. They can overcome the barriers between strangers and start talking like long-lost friends. I think this is really the basis of making friends or even just acquaintances and is something which I think I’m really lacking in. I guess I do not have the courage to make the first sentence for I’m really afraid that the reply I get will be something I will not be able to catch up.
Exploring of the park that is just next to the model room was a much more enjoyable experience. The air was much fresher as compared to the places in China and even that of in Singapore. We walked through the other attractions and then left for the final destination which is a garden where one can see the front of the dam. In the garden, there were many pyramidal stones which were said to be used to stop the flow of the currents and there were also heavy machinery which were said to be used in the construction of the dam. It was a first to know that pyramidal stones can be used to help to reduce and stop the flow of the heavy currents. Up till now, I have always thought that squares or rectangles are the most commonly used shapes for this type of construction materials. It was only until the guide explained this fact to us that I realized how out-dated I was (in a sense =X). This shows how advanced and different architecture can be. Another learning point to remember!
Leaving the garden behind, we set off towards our next destination, one of the smaller restaurants near the outskirts of town to have our dinner. Having satisfied our tummies, we headed for the cruise boarding port. As usual, the place was choked full of the hard-to-breathe tobacco smoke and was really crowded. We huddled near the ticketing booth as the air around there seems slightly filtered and safer for breathing. As like all the things that usually happen in China, the ship was late, this time for one and the half hours and by then, our group was going pretty down in dumps as we were all pretty tired and we loathe waiting for such long period of time. When we finally boarded the cruise ship, I was thinking that the main lobby’s decorations were still pretty nice and that this could probably still be a not too bad cruise after all. However, all of our opinions changed when we entered our rooms. The air of the room was stale and it stank heavily of a pungent odor similar to that of animals. The toilet was much better in the sense that it is much more similar to the toilets we have in Singapore, aside from the fact that the water is probably not filtered properly. The reason why I say this would be that the water running from the sink is not clear and instead, of a murky color which puts all of us off. The room was not really clean and it was difficult to breathe in the room. Coming from Singapore, we were really used to clean environments and better quality of life. This is where it kills us, because we have to adapt to the different environment here and it’s hard to the change the mindset that we have for the (what?) last 16 or 17 years or even more. But it’s kind of good in a sense, in the area where we are able to see, learn and experience first-hand on how different things are in different countries. This way we will not become detached from the rest of the world and whatever we learn we can apply in the future.
Day 19
Woke from my slumber to the sound of the door being torn down. Fine, it was not being torn down but the wild knocking made it sound like it was being removed from its hinges. So was the shouting behind the closed doors. Decided to open the door in order to shut up the knocking and shouting. Ushered the rest of the people in my room back to their individual rooms and started to wash up using the mineral water that I have. I really can’t stand washing my face or brushing my teeth using the brown murky water. *shivers* Comparing the cruise (e.g. star aquarius) and this cruise, the difference is great. Casting the issue of cleanliness aside, the way of wake-up call holds a great difference. Though I would say the cruise here had a more effective way of waking me up, in a sense, this way of waking people up is ruder though it was a call for breakfast.
Breakfast was, not too bad. There was nothing that was oily or salty, which was really great! We had been warned beforehand that the standard of the food might not be of our usual standard that we have in Wuhan, but I thought that it was still decent enough. At least it fills the tummy.
The first place we debarked for is 白帝城 which was made famous by Liu Bei and then by Du Fu. It was a place of great historical value and this place has been linked to the three kingdoms of the past during the warring period. That aside, the flights of stairs were really horrible. There were no railing and the steps were almost corroding. A misplaced step will probably send me plunging down and then the domino effect will start. Due to the change in the weather, the whole area was cloaked in mist, which gives the whole place an aura of mystery and tranquility. Walking on the bridge towards the mountain where the 白帝城 is situated, flags with Liu, Guan, Zhang written on it were lined up on the 2 sides of the bridge. It really brings a feel of the past where battles took place and the flags were really there to boost the morale of the soldiers. The climb up near to the peak was smooth and we reached the gate of the mountain fort. Another 400 steps we reached the main compound. As usual, another temple greeted us and we entered to see the various sights it has to offer. With a quick glance, we descended and made our way back to the loop service bus and back to the cruise ship.
The next scenic spot we made our way to is the Shen Nong Stream, the place where the legend of Shen Nong taste 100 herbs originated from. To better enjoy the scenery, we changed to a smaller mode of transport. On the way down the Shen Nong Stream, I managed to catch a glimpse hanging coffins. It seemed to be a custom of the Tujia tribe who were living in this region. Apparently, hanging coffins from a high area means to 升官发财 (being promoted and raking in wealth) if my memory still serves me well. We ended up getting on shore to change to an even smaller “sampan-like” boat. All the rowers were of the Tujia tribe and most of them were in their late fifties, however, their back muscles were all well developed. Our guide told us that the rowers for a single boat were guys of the same family. They row these boats until the day they can no longer pull it, which can be at an age of 70. The sampan is their mode of transport from shore to shore and to town and it can be considered as their tradition. As tourists, this is probably the gist of what we wanted to see. However, if we were to stand in their shoes, is this really what they want to do, showing us and spreading their tradition by the word of mouth? For me, if this is a tradition of my tribe, I probably would try to keep my tradition to myself because it being sacred to me, I would not want others to criticize on it.
Aside from rowing the boats up and down the stream, the rowers also have another job; pulling the boat through upending currents when rowing upstream. This is where we saw how tiring it could get. Seriously, there is no way to describe the turmoil of emotions when I see that they were starting to pull the boat and they are just doing this because there is a bunch of tourist who are here to see them pull the boat. As our boat turned back towards the starting point, our guide, who part of the Tujia tribe motioned to us the place where he stayed and briefly mentioned about some of the culture they have there. He talked about the age of marriage in his tribe, where the customs states that one have to marry before the age of 20 else they will be exiled from the tribe. No idea why this is so, but it seems to have been passed down from generations to generations.
We headed back to the Golden sun cruise ship we came from and we sailed off once again toward the Three Gorges Dam. The sun had already set when we reached the first gate of the dam. I was dragged out of bed to see the “spectacular” view which is merely the closing of the dam’s door. There was nothing much to see except for the water marks on the wall of the dam when the water is slowly removed and I decided I had enough of the day and went back to my stinky room and drifted reluctantly off to sleep on the lumpy bed.
Day 20
Woke up the same way as yesterday, except that was aroused from bed by my friends who were worried that I didn’t make it back into the room when I left alone last night. A quick breakfast and we were off the cruise ship. Good riddance. Took the tour bus back to campus and once again experienced the 5 hours ride whereby I was out for the better parts of it. However, during the moments when I was awake, I was pondering about this tour trip. All in all, I did learn some new information, especially about the customs of the Tujia tribe and narrowed down the fact that the standard of living in China varies greatly in different places. Naturally, in the more rural areas, the standard of living is slightly lower. However, the opposite might not stand true for the urban areas. It may look like those living in the urban areas have a better standard of living but hidden in dead-ends and deep corners are dilapidated houses which looked like it will come crashing down at the slightest of breeze. It would appear that the standard of living is really not evenly spread out among the different provinces in China. I believed that Singapore is similar to China in a sense, though in a minor sense. Singapore, too, has certain housing districts whereby the houses look ancient and is less developed. However, unlike China, Singapore government is trying to spread its resources evenly among the country. Building attractions near the districts and setting up posh shopping centre to meet the needs of the locals living in that area. China probably could not adopt the approach as I have to admit, their country has a simply humongous land area and it’s difficult but not impossible to tend to the different provinces. Sooner or later, I hope this problem could be solved.
A beautiful Saturday morning with a slightly lower temperature as compared to the day before. The sky was still a little dark as it was only 5+am in the morning and I was having the time of my life; trying to battle my fever. I lost the battle and watched as all my other friends set off to explore Wuhan city. It was really hard trying to persuade myself to stay back to try to recuperate. When they knew that I was sick and not going to be with them for this trip, they were asking how I felt, bringing their own store of water and food over for me, trying ways they know to bring down my temperature, easing my discomfort, all that the expense of being late for the weekend trip that I know I will miss. I felt really bad for making them late and I wondered if any of them received any scolding. Throughout the day, they were sending regular sms-es updating me about where they were and at the same time, I was informing them about my condition. It was only around 4pm when they sent me a sms telling me they were on their way back. They then reached the hostel and came in to check on me. Yee Tat and Tony were the first ones to appear at my room’s door and the rest followed after. At that moment of time, I felt safer to know that they were back. They then started to update me on what they did during the trip, showed me photos they took, explained to me some of the history that they had learnt.
Apparently, their first stop was East Lake and from what I inferred, the scenery was spectacular. With the rows and rows of willow trees and ancient structures lining the lake, the pictures that they took depicted such serenity that made me wished I had tagged along despite the fever. I wouldn’t have minded sitting at the side of the lake and enjoying the peace and tranquility for a short period of time. With the huge expands of trees, I would have believed that the air was fresher than anywhere else in the city. The breeze there would have been light and cooling too. I believed that this is one good area where they have invested in. In SG, having a garden with such a huge lake would have been impossible due to the space restrains. However, inside China, a country with bustling and polluted city, a garden with that many trees is literally like a god-sent from heaven. A place to relax and unwind and to escape from the pollution within the city. This would have been tough in SG, where the land is limited.
Their second stop was the Hubei Museum. The artifacts in the museum depicted the rich 5000 years history of China. From what they told me, some of the artifacts in the museum are unable to be duplicated even using the current modern technology. This fact itself awed me because in my opinion, with current technology, almost everything can be done. However, with the fact that the artifacts from the past can’t be duplicated now makes me wonder how the locals in the past managed to create the artifact with tools that are even more primitive than ours. Not mentioning the fact that there was such tight security in the museum as no one is allowed inside the museum without doing a full body scan. The artifact I always wanted to see was the two-tone set bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng. It was said to be the one of the greatest musical treasure excavated from the past and needed more than 3 people to play this instrument. I wondered how the musicians in the past felt when they were hypnotizing others with the beautiful music from this instrument. I believed that if I was one of the musicians, I would have burst with pride to know that the instrument that I’ve learnt to play is now current on exhibition thousands of years later. In another portion of the museum, there were showcases of porcelains that have been unearthed from various sites. From the brochures Tony had gotten for me, the porcelains displayed were all of different variety e.g. cups, vases, ink slabs and many more. All of them were well preserved and were adorned with intricate designs which made me ponder yet again, how much effort went into each of the works and how they managed to do it better than us with our current technology. It was really tough to imagine such pieces of arts being molded from scratch by the hands of the ancient people. There were also various types of weapons being displayed which can tell us more about the wars and blacksmiths of the past.
Ending the day’s trip was a visit to one of the more famous icons in Hubei, the Huang He tower or better known as the Yellow Crane Tower. It was said that this tower once acted as a watch tower in the olden times and was destroyed and rebuilt seven times throughout the entire history. The entire tower consisted of five stories. From what I’ve seen from the blogs, pictures covered almost every plane of wall in the tower and there were many stores selling souvenirs which included stamp making, wooden fans and many more. The climb was arduous but the view from the top was magnificent as it allowed everyone to have a bird’s eye view of a portion of the city below the hill of which the tower was situated on. I wondered how the guards felt like in the past when they were keeping watch on the tower itself and if they even wondered about whether people in the future would be able to experience for themselves the feeling of standing nearly at the top of hill. I really wished I had gone to at least seen for myself the beauty of the place and experienced standing on the very top of the tower. I’d this feeling that even though it would be a placebo effect of being at the top of the world, at least it is one experience that I’d had and would treasure.
Comparing the richness of the culture and the history between China and SG, China would probably win hands down. With its multitude of place of interest and history, China is like a heaven for tourists and locals to explore and know more about the history of China though it might take quite long periods of time to get to the different places and an even longer time to visit every site of historical value. There is one thing similar about the two countries that I can safely conclude; both China and SG put in quite a good effort of preserving the natural beauty of their places of interest which is good so that the future generations be able to enjoy these beauties, learn more about it and appreciate the goodness of it all.
Day 13
Another day of visiting and this time we were supposed to go to Hankou, a famous place for shopping and many more. I was still having fever and feeling unwell, but decided to stubbornly go on ahead as I didn’t want to miss out on another day of weekend trip. Hankou is said to be business district so it is not as developed as the Wuchang or Hanyang. It was quite the early trip due to the long bus journey. I really loathe the long bus rides whenever we have to leave the campus for weekend trips due to my recurring motion sickness. It was really terrible trying to tolerate the jerkiness the bus, the blasting of the horns and the long hours we were cooped inside the bus. The long hours in the bus is due to the distance large area between the provinces and the humongous land space that is built for travelling. It then becomes really tough to concentrate on the roads that we passed to spot the difference in the different provinces at the high speed that we are travelling at. Then there was no choice but to try to rest and resist moving around to take photographs. Somehow, we managed to make it to our destination with our tour guide talking about the various historical places with vigor. It was a vague memory but she spoke about how Hankou was really famous for floods and the villagers decided to build a temple to try to pacify the dragon lord of the river. It seems that the concept of praying to gods and building of temple to ward off catastrophes is similar in China and SG. However, due to the fact that the China government wanted the space on which the temple was built to further expand some of its business, the temple was torn down and buildings were constructed in its stead. It so happened that a flood occurred two years after the temple was torn down and people, being the superstitious species that they are, started to panic and worry that the dragon lord is angry that its temple was torn down and summoned a flood to punish them. The premier of China even came down to Hankou to reassure the hearts of the locals. The locals and the government then fork about a total of 1.2 billion yuan to build walls to help to protect future floods around the area of the previous dragon lord temple. It makes me wonder how far the power of superstition will push one to. Just because of fearing the purported “dragon lord’s wrath”, they forked out such a huge sum of money to build barriers around the original site to nullify the “wrath”. I guess superstitions are around everywhere in different countries. I’m skeptical when it comes to superstition though I understand that it is easier to just believe in mythology. Sometimes I think it’s just hard to push everything to superstition just because we can’t find the science behind it.
Anyway, we reached our destination, 汉口江滩 which translates literally to Hankou’s river beach but let’s just call it Hankou beach for now. It’s like being transported through time and space. The city was replaced by the scenic river side /beach where a cool breeze was constantly present. There were barges on the huge river and kites shop can be seen nearly everywhere. The constant wind makes it possible to fly kites and sure enough, most of the people were having the time of their lives letting the kites fly.
We explored the place further and headed back to gather and move off to the next area. Our tour guide brought us down the dusty streets to the start of the Walking Street where there were shops galore. We then broke off into our different groups and my groups of friends and Dr. Tan went off in search of the Xinhua, one of the bigger bookstores around this area. The four levels were linked by a spiral staircase, filled at the sides with children and adults alike reading books. I’ve always thought that a bookstore is a place to purchase books, not a place to read the books and then leave. Another point of difference between China and SG, and one that receives quite a high marks in my list of favorites. If only the books there were in English. I would probably go there every single day and spend the whole day there. We left the bookstore and started the hunt for food as everyone’s tummy was literally roaring. We by-passed all the packed eateries and ended up in a quiet and decent looking eatery, HCC. Regretfully, at that moment of time, I couldn’t enjoy my time there as my fever came back in full force. Yee Tat kindly helped me order pork ribs soup as I could barely eat anything else. The wait for his food was long though, and when it finally arrived, the order was wrong. Hallelujah. He tried to explain it to the waiter but apparently the waiter was at a loss at what to do and Yee Tat gave up and went back to tackle his food. After cleaning the plates, we left and then walked back to wait for the nice air-conditioned bus to take us back to campus. Sometimes, it was hard to even know whether the locals can understand us, what with their accent and all. It was hard to understand what they are saying at times too, so I guess I would have to try harder to pay attention to what they say, though it’s tough, since the environment is noisier.
Day 14
Today was another day for importing information into our brains. We brought forward tomorrow’s lesson as it will be a whole day of student interaction with the local students. I’d said that Dr. Tan’s lecture is really interesting. There is a low possibility of me, a sleepyhead, to even fall asleep in class. He brings in the most entertaining yet relevant examples. An example will be when he’s trying to explain the concept of the flow of Qi in the body during one the TCM lectures, he brought in the example of Naruto, a popular anime/manga which most of the class is familiar with. It was really fresh because I rarely had lectures that use examples from our student life. It was quite sudden but then, it seems like the studious and dull atmosphere in the classroom was lifted, bringing a fresher outlook to the whole class. I felt lucky that Dr. Tan came along with us to this trip, because being taught by him is totally a new experience.
Anyway, for the first time today, the temperature started to plummet. The first step out of the dorm caused me to fall back into the warmth of the dorm and head back for my jacket. The sudden change of temperature took us all aback and I couldn’t adapt that fast. Thus, my nose started to give me problems and I almost had to stuff my nose with wads of tissue paper. We left for dinner outside the campus and ended up with overly salty and oily food and that was when we asked for lesser oil and salt. I really cannot imagine what will happen if we didn’t voice out our requests. My food in SG were usually bland and I’m really have difficulty accepting the food here and so does my stomach. I’m kind of afraid that I would wind up with kidney failure soon and stroke or something along those lines. Due to the cold weather, we decided to hurry back to the warmth of our dorms after the dinner and went back to dealing with our assignments.
Day 15
Today is the day that we have been anticipating, the day where we are having interactions with the local students and we were to make our way to a tangerine farm in a suburb area.
We left quite early in the morning to beat the traffic and reached the farm with plenty of time to spare. On the bus journey there, we were briefly told about what can and cannot be done in the farm. We were allowed to pick the tangerines there and consume it on the spot, but we have to pay 1 yuan per 500g of tangerines we bring out of the farms. This brought to surface the question that was in my mind; why is the consumption of tangerines in the farm free and one only pays when he intends to bring the tangerine out of the farm? This question was voiced out but none of the students can give us an answer so we decided to leave this question alone. Upon reaching the destination, we headed off in different directions to explore the huge plantation. The farm stretched for miles and miles apart and I could barely make out the perimeter of the farm. We spent half the afternoon there and some of us ended up sitting by the small pond near the entrance of the farm. The tranquility of the pond and the clucking of the chicken nearby actually helped to sooth my erratic thoughts and brought calm to my emotions. In the end, I sat there and talked to Edah and listening to music playing via her phone and watched the water surface, spotting the occasional fish here and there. All in all, it was a calming and peaceful place to just sit and talk. However, as Chinese saying goes “天下无不散之筵席” which means there is always an end to all the good things, we were to bade goodbye to the tangerine farm and make our way back to the campus for the second round of the student interaction. We took a break in our individual rooms before gathering down at the lobby of the hostel to move off to the next location.
We were to have a barbeque in the training park beside the campus. As the night was more cooling, I switched my jeans for a pair for shorts which later I regretted making this decision. We followed the local students through the training park and ended up in a miniature field where we all stopped in surprise. There were no BBQ pits available and in its place were something like over-turned broken pots where stones were placed in. The students the supplied us with what was meant to be the pit on which was placed on top of the over-turned pots and charcoal was placed inside.
One thing I really find astonishing was the fact that the fuel was dried grass and twigs/sticks. It took a really long time for our guys to set it up and get the fire going. I believe that during the process of getting the fire started, there was severe smoke inhalation by the guys who were trying to get the fire going. There were no such thing as fire starters and it was almost like stone age all over again. I believe this is a valuable lesson to learn because it shows us how pampered and soft we are. Here in China, there is no such thing as fire starters as the locals knew of ways to start a fire even though it would take a much longer time. I’d admit that I was too pampered in Singapore such that I was actually shocked that they were using the primitive way of getting a fire going. It was only until now that I really realized that I have been taking things that are always within my reach for granted. In a way, this interaction helped wake me up to the harsher reality.
We were all gathered around the pit and were watching the students talk to each other. Their BBQ food is also different from ours. In Singapore, meats like chicken wings, stingray and many more were cooked while this BBQ consists mainly of vegetables. They had brought their own spice and condiments and were slathering the vegetables with the spices and then offering it all to us. We broke the ice and started to converse about the difference in the schools in China and Singapore. There was music blasting through the speakers someone had decided to bring along and loud conversations can be heard over the music. The appearance came so suddenly that many people were stunned. Fireworks, not 500m away from us, were sent up into the night sky. This greatly surprised me as fireworks were banned in Singapore unless its National Day and even if it is, only trained personnel are allowed to send it up into the sky in s secluded place. Comparing it to China where as long as it’s nearing their National Day, and in the law-specific place, anyone can send fireworks into the sky. At first, it seemed like a novel idea to send fireworks into the sky so close to us, however, as more and more of the fireworks are sent into the night sky, illuminating the area for a little while before it fades away, the once-spectacular scene cease to interest us. So once again, we fell back to talking to the local students and exchanged ideals and differences we see in our individual countries. Nearing 8pm was the signal for all of us to leave. Our group was the smallest as many had left way before the fire was set up and some of them left during the BBQ and so the clearing up was faster. We then made our way back to our hostel, pausing to buy some food as most of us were still hungry. This then marks the end of our day of student interaction.
Day 16
Was an IS day whereby we learnt about the Chinese wedding and the fengshui. Not particularly interesting, yet I jot down notes along the way, with the sole purpose of letting me stay awake. The way of teaching is unheard of in Singapore; the lecturer speaks through a mike he placed near his face. Sure, we have had teachers in secondary schools doing that too, due to the fact that they have a sore throat and couldn’t project their voice well enough. Apparently, the lecturer for this IS class was a man of soft voice and he had to speak into the mike. The more interesting thing is that, we were all told to pick up the headphones to be able to listen to his voice clearly. This is really something new. How often do you see students in Singapore listening to a headphones that do not play music of their own choices and instead, the monotonous soft droning voice of the lecturer? Some of the students, me included, refused to put on the headphones due to 1) hygiene reasons, 2) it would probably lull me to sleep. It seems that we are unable to escape from the main points of TCM; there were mentions of yin/yang and the 5 elements everywhere!
The afternoon class brought us closer to the end of the TCM chapters and also a yawn when we found out about the test dates. Apparently, tests and exams not longer brought the sense of adrenaline rush or in my terms, the panic button. It was just simply a yawn and an “okay” as a response to test dates. Probably due to the fact that we had faced too many tests along the poly life. Life was getting smoother as we started to adapt to the surroundings. It’s really nice to be in a area where people knows you by face e.g. bakery and student diner and started to have a conversation with you, trying to learn more about Singapore or just trying to keep up with the times.
Day 17
The day where there were no more TCM chapters! Not exactly happy about it, since that was the bulk of the reason why we were here for but, I’m not going to complain about studying less. =) There was discussion set by Dr. Tan today. Listened to his explanation of what is to be done and off we start. Jotting down the points was easy but not the churning of the brain. We were all still pretty stoned and at first and I swore my brain told me to stop thinking and to start sleeping in a tiny weeny voice at the back of my head. Anyway, when we were done, Dr. Tan told us about him trying to book a room for yoga classes next week. Urgh. To me, yoga is fine, with a yoga mat. I really can’t imagine doing yoga on a floor where no one knows the last time it had been cleaned. Doing yoga on those floor is almost equivalent to helping them to mop the floors, with our nice clean clothes! Shall not think about it, shall not think, not think…
Dr Tan teaching us about the basis of TCM on the blackboard.
In the afternoon, we went on a tour of 2 schools, Information Engineering School and the School of Sciences.
Anticlockwise: 1. First stop was at the Information Engineering School 2. The different panels of buttons and werid stuff the students made and press for their assignment i guess. 3. The computers in one of their rooms that they use. Another similar point that can be found in SG's secondary or even primary sch. I would have thought that the students would get their own laptop instead of still having to go to the computer room to use the computers for projects. 4. A detailed diagram showing the network of computers. Something that gave me a headache when the student was trying his best to explain. 5. The HPLC found in the labs when we went to the School of Science. Compared to NP, the equipments looked weird and old and in some cases, one of the equipments found in NP is actually 3 equipments in the China school labs. It feels..unsettling. 6. The last photo is the picture of manniquins in bed and I'm thinking its probably used for demostration of the ways to take care of patients. It seemed to be more appropriate for the nursing course and in this way, quite similar to the Nursing course we have in NP.8th Sept 09
Another day of lessons and today we were taught on the basis of yin and yang and the 5 elements. Nothing new to me because I've read about it before in martial arts novels. We finished the lessons early and went back to the rooms. On the way back to the rooms, we passed by a huge group of soldier like people. At first glance, I thought that it was most probably a CCA group. However, I later found out that they are actually not students from this campus but are only here for military training. Perhaps its due to the huge space found in this campus. After that, Yee Tat, Jehanne and I went to watch the guys play basketball. There were more basketball courts as compared to our NP campus. I've heard that it because there is enough space to construct and another thing is that this is one way they encourage sports in the campus.
9th & 10th Sept 09
Another day of lessons. Nothing much to comment. There were videos about TCM to watch too. However, the projector location is not as well placed as those in SG. The projectors here are placed on the left, making it difficult for the students sitting on the right to have a proper view. SG's school's projector are all suspended in the centre of the room, making it easier for the whole class to see. Our IS lessons are repeatedly being cancelled due to the fact that the lecturer is hospitalised. This brought the rise of worries that we might not be able to complete our IS module fast enough. I really hope that he really gets well soon and hurry return to teach us. If not, we might really have to retake our IS module in the next semester.
11th Sept 09
Finally! Our first IS class! Taught by Anna or 谢老师, she covered on the culture of Hubei and Wuhan. She also spoke a little about the history of the famous places found in Hubei and Wuhan. She described the food and the famous ancient people. All in all, it was a pretty interesting class. Another fact to note is her English. She sounded like she had spent her whole life growing up in the United States. That's nearly how perfect her English is. From my observations, their method of teaching is similar to our teachers in SG. They made use of resources effeciently like videos and maps to explain their lessons. However, I'm still astonished when i see the other teachers explaining in Chinese when they are supposed to be teaching English. I doubt I can get the link here. Oh well, tomorrow's going for weekend trip. Looking forward to it. =)