OELP trip day 2

Today, we had left the hotel early in the morning as it was time to proceed to Yangzhou next. The bus ride to Yangzhou was approximately five hours long. The only break that we had on the way was to a minimart where we went to the toilet before buying some food for the bus ride. Finally, when we had reached Yangzhou, it was time to eat our lunch. Next, we went to Ge Yuan. There were many beautiful rock sculptures in the Ge Yuan. Following that, we went to the paper cutting museum. In the museum, there were plenty of intricate paper cuttings. However, some problems cropped up when we realised somebody else was still doing their paper cutting and we could not start yet. Hence, we decided to go to the Beijing-hangzhou Grand Canal first. After we toured around the entire Grand Canal by boat, we returned to the Paper Cutting Museum. Once we started to do the paper cutting, I realised that my initial thoughts of paper cutting were wrong. At first, I thought paper cutting was child's play. However, I found out paper cutting was a very hard thing to do and required a lot of patience. In the end, my end result was a very torn and tattered cat. Finally, we went to one of the local supermarket's in a shopping mall. China's supermarket were huge. There were practically anything in the supermarket, like food products, daily household items, electronics, shoes, and bags. Even Singapore's hypermarkets lose out to the supermarkets in Yangzhou. In fact, the supermarket was so big me and my friend ended up getting lost and we were unable to find our other group mates. Luckily, we still managed to locate them at the last minute. Basically, Yangzhou is also quite modernised, as it has new shopping malls. This was out of my expectation, as to me, I thought Yangzhou was a village-like city.

OELP trip day 4

Today we proceeded to Shu Ren School again. However, today was to the older branch. First, once we were at the school, we exchanged presents with our China buddies. While we exchanged presents we also talked amongst each other. In fact, we realised that we had one common topic with them , which was about games. After the students rushed off for their lessons, it was time for us to learn how to make something that seemed like a friendship band to me. However, they said that the band was meant for luck. After one and a half hours of trying to complete the band, it was time to go and perform for the students of Shu Ren School. We took turns with the students from Shu Ren to do our performances. All the performances done by Shu Ren School were splendid, which showed that they had put in much effort for the performance. Of course, we also did quite well. The whole thing was wrapped up with everyone singing the song "朋友” and we all squeezed on the small stage together. Before we left, they also gave us one salted duck egg each. Now it was time to eat our lunch. Of course, it was the usual like 狮子头 and some other food. Having completed our meal, we went for our next lesson which was on calligraphy. Basically, we wrote a few phrases like what we normally do in school during RV literature last year, as we were learning calligraphy. Finally, it was time for us to say good bye to the people of Shu Ren School. Thereafter, we went to Xinhua Book store. We realised that China's book store sold a wide variety lf things instead of just books. They also sold electronics and sports equipment. In fact, the book store was six storeys. Finally, we were allowed to roam freely in shopping mall. China's shopping mall is quite close to that of Singapore. It sold shoes amd clothes. However, the supermarket in the shopping mall was really very big. They sold practically anything that you would want or need. It was like twice or thrice the size of Singapore's bigger supermarkets.

OELP Individual Reflection

Day 1 (26^th May):

Itinerary

- Departure from Changi Airport to Shanghai
- Upon arrival, we met our tour guide there and went for dinner.
- went cultural visit to The Bund, Cruise tour to Huangpu River.
- Check in hotel in Shanghai
- Debrief (quite late)

Reflections (Economy)

After so many months, looking forward to this OELP trip, the day is finally here! I still remembered the previous night when I could not fall asleep due to nervousness! Although I was looking forward to this trip, I was a bit sad and reluctant to leave my family. Soon after we went to Changi Airport to meet our classmates and teachers, we boarded the plane. After a few hours, we finally reached Shanghai and met our tour guide there.

(class photo before departure)

(Night scenery of The Bund 外滩)

Afterwards, we went for dinner and headed to The Bund next. Once I reached there, I was impressed by the beautiful night scenery by The Bund located near the Oriental Pearl Tower. Our teachers warned us to be aware of our surroundings and not stray off ourselves as it was super crowded there. They want us to have situational awareness which was to look around us and to act according to the situation, which was to constantly keep a look out for our classmates and quickly gather when teacher tell us to do so. At first, we keep getting scolded as we were not very aware of our surroundings but slowly, we practiced situational awareness which i thought was very important in a group trip.

(Photo of ticket for cruise tour)

After that, we went of a cruise tour around the Oriental Pearl Tower which were very crowded too. I thought it was quite expensive as the ticket for each of us were about 30SGD and it is only one ride which lasted for 30 minutes and we have to squeeze in order to go outdoor of the cruise to see the beautiful scenery of The Bund. I thought this cruise was similar to the boat by Singapore River which also cost about 50SGD, just that the one in Shanghai was much more bigger. This brought me thinking of how this is a way for the tourism to earn money as i think they are just some what "cheating" the tourists money although this is a way of business.

After taking many pictures on the cruise for 30 min, we got down and headed straight back to the hotel in Shanghai. We went into the meeting room in the hotel for our debrief although all of us were already super drained mentally and physically. However, we still tried our best to listen to our teacher, Mr Dela Cruz. During the debrief, he questioned us on how does The Bund has to do with China's economy and how is it similar to Singapore?
On a first thought, I only thought that it was only a tourist attraction. However, after the debrief, I felt that the cruise we took is actually a source of income for Shanghai. Just imagine one cruise carrying about a few hundred passengers, how much would China have earn in one night with many trips around?

The river also signifies the growth of Shanghai over the years from a fishing village to a prosperous city. The finance departments such as the banks like DBS, HSBC and ICBC also contributes to China’s development. This can be compared to Singapore too. Like Shanghai, Singapore was a fishing village too. The Singapore River is like Shanghai’s Huang Pu River, whereby it signifies and sees Singapore through its growth in the past years, until now, a tourist attraction and for trading. I pondered for a while and realized that this similarity might probably be because of the similar geographical location between Shanghai and Singapore, whereby both countries are surrounded by the sea and allowing the trading business to be set up in both countries and thus cause us to prosper.

However, I still had some questions which are:
How is Shanghai’s development and geographical characteristics similar to Singapore’s?
Other than the Huang Pu River, what else contributes to China’s economy?
Will Huang Pu River continue to be China's source of income in the later years?
 

Day 2 (27^th May):

Itinerary 

- had our breakfast in hotel and travel to Yangzhou early in the morning
- Visit to Geyuan Garden
- Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal
- Chinese Paper Cutting Musuem
- Local Market Visit
- Debrief

Reflections (Heritage)

After a tiring day in Shanghai for the first day, we still had to wake up early in the morning to get ready to travel to Yangzhou as the journey would need to go early in order to avoid traffic jams due to the traffic conditions in Shanghai.

(photo with Yu Han at entrance of Geyuan)

After 4h of journey, we finally reached Yangzhou and the first place we got to when we reached there was Geyuan (个园). When i first arrived there, i didn't expect much as i thought it was just a garden with many bamboo trees. However, i was surprised by the size of it. It was previous owned by a rich merchant in the Qing Dynasty and i was impressed how China could still continue to preserve this place without demolishing it to build more infrastructures. I also came to realize the importance of the rich merchants in the past that contributed to China's economy. Therefore, i guessed this old 个园 was preserved in such a good condition due to the heritage value it has. This garden that holds historical value is of importance of Yangzhou as it is currently known to be one of the world's heritage site.

(Me doing paper cutting)

(Paper cutting that I did ;>)

We proceeded to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum afterwards. However, there were some confusing when we got there. Soon after we reach, we spotted another tour and i realized that our tour guides and the other tour's tour guide were in a heated argument and they were arguing with very loud voices. We were supposed to be cutting papers in the museum however, the other tour were inside. At first i thought it was quite rude of them as this would never happen in Singapore, if not, we would be on "STOMP"! However, this brought me thinking of the previous lesson when my CID told us that having loud voices is because of China's history whereby people have to shout across villages and these genes were passed down until now. This make me realized the difference between Singapore and China just with the way of how they fight, the louder they are, the higher chance they would win.

Therefore, we detoured and went to the next place which was the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. We went on a boat and toured around the Canal. As we were going around, i saw some bridges which were like the ancient type ones. Additionally, the whole feeling when i was onboard on the boat gave me a very old and relaxed feeling as there were no green metal barring like Singapore's canal.
Instead, they kept the design of concrete built barriers along the canal. Also, i saw many old people doing Taiji together by the side of the canal and people fishing. This reflects the slow pace of living that Yangzhou has, unlike Singapore's when put in comparison.
Although i did not really know what this canal was for, i knew this canal was of great significance to China's economy and had quite a long history in it. I was surprised how this source of income for trading became a tourist attraction with the boat rides which cost around 10SGD.

We went back to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum to carry out our paper cutting. As we started, I had difficulties cutting and also destroyed one of my work and restarted. I soon got impatient and complained why people had time in the past to do all these cuttings. However, i think i was wrong, this was part of their culture and heritage of Yangzhou and i should not say this kind of comments. Because those paper are cut by hands edges by edges, i thought it added value to the work rather than using machines in the modern days now.

After dinner, we went for a local market visit in Yangzhou. We were given a task, which was to compare the prices of the things sold in the market of Yangzhou and Singapore. After 1h with my CID group members, walking around and taking note of the prices of the things sold in Yangzhou, we found out that there were actually much more stuff sold there in a supermarket which is not sold in Singapore ones ranging from bed to live seafood to chewing gum and many more.
Some things that were found in Singapore were not sold in Yangzhou. Examples are Malay food and milo. I thought why don't they sell milo as it is such a nice drink and everyone drinks and love it. The only reason i could think of was that maybe there are too much substitutes that are similar in China that they need not import Milo that will increase the competition in the F&B industry in China. The things we noticed that were sold much cheaper in China than in Singapore were like cup noodles, chicken, tidbits.
I noticed that they reason why they were so cheap as compared to Singapore was that China do not need to import all these goods as they produce them, that's why they are so cheap.
Some goods whereby they import from other countries were like the water and chocolate were more expensive than Singapore too.

Through this trip to the local market, I saw the differences between the things sold and why that would lead to the question: Is China's cost of living higher or Singapore? Of course, i would say it is Singapore after the comparison as Singapore do not produce our own products and mostly import them, hence things in Singapore tend to be more expensive as compared to other countries.

In conclusion, in day 2 of this trip, i learnt the importance of preserving heritage like how Yangzhou preserved 个园 and the tradition of paper cutting. I was also told to notice the differences between Yangzhou and Shanghai and my conclusion was that i think the pace of living Yangzhou is much more slower than Shanghai based on the old buildings i saw, the old people i saw by the canal doing Taiji and the people i saw dancing yoga outside of the local market in Yangzhou. All these activities would be rarely seen in Shanghai due to the fast pace of living. Shanghai's fast pace of living is also seen through the more developed buildings and banks seen as it is a port city where there is strong economic potential. People in Shanghai were also seen rushing around more than people in Yangzhou. Lastly, comparing the number westerners, i think Shanghai has more as there are more business opportunities there as compared to Yangzhou whereby everything there is still not so developed due to the slow pace of living.

 

Day 3 (28^th May):

- School immersion whole day
- Debrief

Reflections (Education)

On the third day of OELP, we still had to wake earlier as we were going on a school immersion. Earlier in that day, the principal of the school that we were supposed to be going, Shuren School specially came down to the hotel we were staying at to wait for us to fetch us over to their new school campus in Yangzhou. I felt that this represented and shown the close relationship of the two schools and how much they cherish it with the principal coming down herself to fetch the whole 40 of us.

However, 2 of my classmates woke late therefore, our itinerary were pushed back. The 3 teachers were all very angry at them at first. however, we later found out that they couldn't wake due the fear of ghost therefore they on their tv so loudly until they couldn't hear their alarm and was late. Although this was not entirely their fault, the teachers still wanted to the 2 classmates to apologise to the whole class during debrief that day as they caused our itinerary to be delayed. Through this small incident, I learnt what is one for all, all for one. The whole class were scolded too. We did not take up our responsibility as their friends to help take notice of each others' presence and wake each other up. I truly learnt what teamwork was through this small incident of waking up late.

(Entrance of Shu Ren School)

As i mentioned earlier, our itinerary was delayed, so the part whereby we needed to tour the whole school were cancelled as we needed to attend a Chinese lesson as soon as we arrive at the school campus. Once i stepped in their school, we were warmly welcomed by the teachers and staffs of their school. I was also very impressed by their big campus as compared to RV as they have very good facilities like their indoor sports hall, their own park, basketball courts, etc.

Shortly after we took a group photo infront of their campus, we rushed to the observing room of theirs whereby they are having Chinese lesson.

(in the observing classroom looking into the class)

(Class listening to Chinese lesson)

I felt that actually the style of teaching is about the same whereby both the teacher and the students uses textbook as a lesson material. However, i think the only difference was that the students immediately responded to the teacher's question when called upon and their answers given were of quality unlike some of us in RV whereby we stammer and idle for quite awhile before giving an answer and some of us did not even give quality answers. One more difference i noticed was that i felt that the students in China have very high level of learning and absorbing the things that were discussed in class. i said this because i could not quite keep up with what they are discussing in class as the teacher talks 2 or 3 times faster than the teachers in Singapore. Hence, i assume that maybe this is because they were used to this kind of education and teaching.

(Class touring the park)

Next, we were given a tour by the school leaders of their school. I was largely impressed by the own park, not even garden that they own. I reckon that park is 9 or 10 times much bigger than our school garden. Then, i wondered why would they have so much money to spend on this park which would probably cost a lot. After that i came to conclusion that maybe its the fact that China has enough land, hence land is not as expensive as compared to Singapore's land. Therefore, the school campus is so much bigger than Singapore's, or rather RV.

Afterwards, we went to their coffee lounge to relax for about 1h+. There were also free flow of coffee. I was very envious of such facilities that their school had that RV doesn't have. i think this is because their school is rich.

Next, we had a small exchange programme with the students there. Our class had 3 groups, each introducing different topics about Singapore and i was in one of the group too and i was extremely nervous as i saw how confident the China students were when they were presenting about different topics and showcasing their talents. At that moment, i noticed the difference between the students in Singapore and in China. I noticed that students in Singapore like me are lack of confidence unlike those students in China. However, apart from that, i learnt a lot from the students that presented.

After the exchange, we had a friendly match of basketball with our Shuren School. I thought we shown much more school spirit than Shuren School although we lost by cheering for our classmates who were playing.

A day of fun filled with joy and laughter ended, however, i learnt many things from that day too. I saw how China's education system was like and also some culture that China has from playing the basketball.

 

Day 4 (29^th May):

- Went other campus of Shuren
- OELP performance
- Xinhua Book Store
- Supre Market
- Debrief

Reflection (Way of living)

On the forth day of our OELP trip, we went to another campus of Shu Ren School. That was the old school campus of Shu Ren School which was also the first campus that they have. It is built since the year of 1999. Although the old school campus was only a 5 min bus journey from our hotel, their same school principal still came to our hotel to bring us there. This further impressed and prove to me that Shuren and RV's relationship is so close for the principal to do that.

Once I stepped into the old campus, i felt that it was much more smaller than the new one. However, all the teachers and staffs there were still as friendly as those in the new campus. First, we went to a meeting room and heard a speech from the vice principal of theirs and we got to know of their school more. Afterwards, we had interactions with our China buddies. Besides exchanging gifts, we managed to have time to talk about each other's lifes in different countries and exchanged each other's contact method. Through my buddy, I realized how fortunate we were, because i heard from her that she has never went overseas with school. Upon hearing that i felt how lucky we were to be in RV to be able to travel overboard to experience all those and i learnt to cherish this opportunity too. My buddy also told me that it is actually quite stressful studying in China as the competition is very fierce. Unlike RV, Shuren do rank the students according to their academics in their classes. My buddy told be that its very stressful not only because of the ranking, they also have to stay back in school for a compulsory self study session whereby they need to finish all their homework. She even told me that some days, after the self study sessions, she still needed to attend tuition that her parents made her to. After listening to how she lives, i told her our lifestyles in RV and in Singapore too. She said that she envy such a life of ours whereby there are much more freedom and life does not only consist of studying. I do agree with her. I realized that i should be cherishing what I have now and not always complaining about the amount of stress from school because students from China experience them more but they face it and not complaining about it. Hence, through this session, i learnt a lot from them and we promised to stay in contact with each other through email.

After this exchange session, we went to attend calligraphy lessons and learnt how to 编中国结手链. Through these lessons, I also learnt a lot more about China's culture and history.

After this, we went for lunch and prepared for our long waited OELP performance!! After a few months preparing, today is finally the day! All of us were very anticipated, some nervous when we were having lunch. 

Very quickly, our lunch ended and both school exchanged our performing items. Our class prepared Chinese dance, modern dance, class dance, singing and skit. As we stepped on the stage the few minutes seemed surreal to us as all our hardworking were paid off. For the past few months, we had been practicing hard, either during our breaks or after school. I felt touch after our performance ended as i was one of those who leaded the class for the performances. It was not easy for us to lead the whole 34 of us, but we did it. Through all those practices, I learnt the importance of teamwork too. 

 

Day 5 (30^th May):

- Slender West Lake & 24 Bridges
- Former of residence Zhu Ziqing
- Dongguan Street
- Debrief

Reflection (history and culture)

Today, we went to quite a few places that are of historical values. Early in the morning, we went to the slender west lake and 24 bridges. We walked for 2 hours to tour around the whole slender west lake and 24 bridges. The scenery was very nice along the river and 

 

Day 6 (31^st May):

- Travel to Shanghai
- Shanghai Science & Technology Musuem
- Oriental Pearl Tower
- Old French Concession
- Tian Zi Fang
- Debrief

 

Day 7 (1^st June):

- Qibao Ancient Town
- Shanghai Musuem
- Shanghai Urban Planning Centre (didn’t go as it was closed)
- Left for the airport and waited for our flight back
- Debrief

OELP Reflections

Pre-tour

After months of anticipation, I was so excited that on the night before our flight, I could not fall asleep at all. I had travelled without my family before when I was chosen to go to Taiwan with my school mates in Primary 5.

This time, however, it was rather different. My company would be the classmates o have been with for more than a year. We had to prepare a performance for the exchange school, Shu Ren. We also had to research about the places of interest that we would be visiting.

I had hoped to learn about the traditions and culture of China. I also wanted to experience the way of life for the citizens and students. With this in mind, my excitement grew even further. 

It was really hard, as we had to meet up during recess and lunch breaks to practice, even resorting to staying back after school and using PE Lessons to do so. 

We had to choreograph dance moves, make up standing positions, write scripts for a skit and memorise lyrics. Even though the experience was strenuous and tough, it made us become more bonded as an entire class.

Day 1

Our flight was at 9.50am so we had to reach Changi Airport T3 by 7.30am. Changi Airport is really far from my home in Boon Lay, and my family did not have a car. It would take really long if i took public transport. I had been worrying about the issue but fortunately, my classmate and CID groupmate Kieren agreed to fetch me to Changi Airport, which saved me a lot of time and energy. :)

On the way to Changi Airport, I was a bundle of nerves. I rarely took a plane, and the last time I did so was terrible. I would get horrifying headaches that lasted the entire flight, which made me dread the plane journey to China. 

However when we reached Changi Airport and saw our classmates and teachers gathered together, I became much more optimistic about the flight as I knew I would be with close friends, even though my parents were not around. Although i was quite happy about the trip, I did feel a sense of loneliness, especially when I saw my friends with their parents. Mine did not come along to send me off, since it was not very convenient but at that moment I missed them badly. After a phone call to them, i felt more reassured. After we checked in, the excitement flooded me again, and I no longer panicked.

Class photo at Changi Airport 

As expected, the flight made my head hurt badly. The turbulence was pretty serious and I couldn't sleep well. It was really cold on the plane, and I ended up falling asleep. After a couple of hours, I woke up with my toes freezing and my headache subsiding. I was sitting next to Jun Jie and Sheng Feng on the flight, and we played a few games which distracted me from the pain. I won Sheng Feng at almost every game of Tetris, which made me rather amused at his expense.

We got off the plane, with my ears blocked and my headache back. The temperature was cooler than Singapore's, and the weather was wonderful. The cool air was nice for a change, and made my head feel better. When we came out of the airport, we were introduced to our tour guide and we boarded the bus that we would be taking for the next 7 days.

Full of excitement at Shanghai Airport

The beautiful weather in Shanghai, China

Firstly, we went to have dinner. It was a delicious meal and we tried many of Shanghai's delicacies.

Full of smiles after a pleasant meal 

After the meal, we boarded the bus and headed towards the Bund. The Bund is a waterfront area in Shanghai, where mang buildings and architecture is located. Some such buildings are the Oriental Pearl Tower, and the Bank of Taiwan. It is one of the most famous tourist destinations in Shanghai. 

When we reached the Bund, what greeted us was a magnificent view. The buildings were lit up with colourful words and images. The water rippled gently, and the wind calmed our hearts. Before I knew it, all of us were enthusiatically snapping photos of the wonderful scenery, wishing to capture the best of photos to remember this place. 

After which, we took a cruise, which allowed us to enjoy the cool night breeze as well as the magnicient view close up.

 Great size of the cruise 

We excitedly boarded the cruise. The close up view of the buildings and the cruise journeyw as extremely enjoyable. 

View from on board the cruise.

After that, we got off the cruise and prepared to leave. Before doing so, we took many photos again with the scenery.

Class photo with the amazing scenery 

Photos with friends :D

A rather failed jumpshot, but extremely memorable one.

We then left the Bund and went back to the hotel to rest.

Day 2

Early morning at 7am, we left Shanghai Holiday Inn for Yangzhou. It was an approximately 4 hours bus ride, and we spent most of the ride sleeping. When we woke up, we were nearing Yangzhou, where we would be living in for 5 full days.

Once we reached Yangzhou, we had our lunch, where we tried Yangzhou's famous dishes, such as Yangzhou fried rice and 狮子头. We then went to Geyuan Garden. It is a beautiful garden, with a long and deep history. 

Shortly after we entered Geyuan Garden, it began to drizzle. All of us were startled, and quickly took out umbrellas and ponchos. At this moment, I saw a side of my classmates that I have never seen before. Suddenly, we became more closer packed together, as most of us were sharing umbrellas. Classmates were offering to share umbrellas, or carry bags for each other as they opened their umbrellas. I feel that it was pretty special as we had never done that as a class before. 

Glass artwork hangs from above at the entrance

Our tour guide began bringing us around Geyuan Garden, introducing us to many different plants and flowers. He gave us a detailed introduction of each and every piece of architecture. I had the greatest impression on the residential housing in Geyuan Garden. It clearly showed the way of life for people in the past. Each and every brick was of such historical value, and I couldn't help but be memerised by the buildings. They may not have been towering skyscrapers, but it had its own beauty that captured my attention. 

Group photo! 

After that, we went to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, where we took a boat to appreciate the beautiful scenery along the canal.

View from aboard the boat

We then went to visit the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum, where we had a hands on experience. It was an excruciating experience for me. I had never been good or skilled woth my hands, so when it came to artwork, I would always be disappointed with my product. I realised that Chinese paper cutting was an extremely tough art, as contrary to my first impression of it. It required much concentration. The paper is extremely thin. Without proper concentration, the paper would tear and the image would not appear. It was also a truly painful process. The scissors was hard to grip on, and the curves was very hard to cut through. Although I did not successfully complete my cutting due to the lack of time, I realised that we should be more respectful towards the people who personally cut these pieces of artwork. It also made me understand why artisans were more highly respected by the society than the rich merchants. They contributed with their hard work beautiful pieces of art, which was a larger contribution than the merchants who would just sell the products of hard work by the people.

Working hard at the art of Paper Cutting :')

After which, we had our dinner and then proceeded to visit a supermarket. It was one the places we looked forward to most. We were extremely excited at the prospects of buying food to eat :D 

We were also very interested in the food brands in China. As expected, the moment we entered the supermarket, we saw many varieties of snacks and food products. However, we decided on stay on task and immediately delved into finding out the prices of certain goods for our research. We also kept a lookout on the types of products not found in Singapore and vice versa. 

Some examples of goods that could not be found in Singapore are chewing gum. On the other hand, we were unable to find goods such as sushi and drinks like milo. China's supermarkets also sell most stuff, such as cup noodles at a cheaper price than Singapore, since they are manufactured in China. One observation we made after calculations was that a 1L bottle of drinking water was oddly enough cheaper in Singapore.

Day 3

Today was the day we would finally be visiting our immersion school, Shu Ren! We received a warm welcome by the school. They even put up an announcement on a large LED board to welcome us. 

Firstly, we went to watch the students' everyday school life. We got the chance to observe them having a Chinese lesson. They were studying a story in their textbook, 散步. For me, i had once read it when I was in primary school. I was shocked that they were reading and studying a story at such a deep Chinese level. I realised that as China citizens, their chinese standard was way better than ours. The students, actively participated in the lesson, raising their hands to answer questions and discussing actively during group discussions. It was very different from the overall mood in our classroom, even though it was similar setting and a normal lesson with the textbook. I felt that we should learn their proactiveness from them and be as hard working as them. 

After that, we went for a Physical Education lessonin their school hall, where we participated in a wushu class with the students of Shu Ren. We also performed 立化拳 for them. After which, the students got to mix around and we chattered for a while. 

We then got to visit their garden. It was extremely large, about the size of our entire school compound! It was heavily invested in and was very pretty. We walked around the garden and took many photos of the scenery.

Following that, we went back to their school hall for a friendly match in basketball with their school basketball team. We had the guys team, then the girls to compete with each other. Their basketball teams were extremely talented and skilled. Although we were losing, we tried to ignore the exasperation we had and cheered nonstop for our classmates, who were playing hard in the match. In the end, our voices were hoarse, but the chanting never stopped. From cheers to chants, we did them all. As the words 立化加油 reverberated throughout the hall,  even the echoes seemed to reflect our never ending support for our friends. Although we did not win, we were happy for the Shu Ren basketball teams. Most importantly, we were proud of our classmates who till the end, never gave up. As they returned from the court, we were patting them on the back, giving them water, thankful for their perseverance and relieved that they were unhurt from the match. As students of River Valley, I was glad that we remembered to uphold these qualities even when in China. At the end, Shu Ren gave our players toys as thanks and we all took a group photo, along with the students of Shu Ren. 

After that, we thanked the teachers and principal who gave us such a warm welcome, before leaving for the hotel. At night, we had one final practice for the upcoming performance at Shu Ren the next day. We promised to show our best and not let our hard work in preparing the performances go to waste.

OELP Reflections

Celest Seah (19)

Day 1
At 6 o clock in the morning of 26 May, I woke up feeling very exhilarated. It is finally the day of the long awaited overseas trip! My dad offered to drive me to the airport, which had saved me a lot of time. At the airport, all of my classmates were chatting animatedly, excited to be embarking on this immersion trip. After a four and half hours flight,  we finally arrived at Shanghai. China. We went to The Bund (外滩）immediately after that. We were appalled at the amazing sight of city, with the skyscrapers, the river and the oriental pearl tower. It was a memorable jaw dropping night view. Everyone took a lot of pictures, especially group pictures and videos. Following that, we went on a cruise tour on Huangpu River. There were many locals and tourists taking photos of scenery, mainly the oriental pearl tower. The LED light on the oriental pearl tower at night made it look very magnificent and I unknowingly snap many photos of it. After the cruise tour ended, we happily went to check in to the hotel, where we will be spending our first night in Shanghai...

Our class photo  airport

Oriental Pearl Tower

Our first dinner in Shanghai

Day 2

Early in the morning, we went to Yang Zhou by coach. We first visited the Ge Yuan Garden (个园). It is a very beautiful place with the decoration of nature. As we were touring the place, it began to rain very heavily. It was actually a wonderful sight to see all the different colors of umbrella held by my classmates. Following that, we went to the  Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal(京杭大运河). We boarded a boat for a tour on the canal. We are allowed to open the window of the boat so the cool breeze was very refreshing. We made our way to the Chinese Paper Cutting Museum（剪纸博物馆）. We are given a scissors as a gift from the museum. This visit is interesting as we get to have hand-on experience of paper cutting. Lastly, we visited the local supermarket. It was very crowded with shoppers. Our form teacher gave us some questions:

• What are the items sold cheaper in China? Cup noodles.
• What are the items sold more expensive in China? 1L drinking water. 
• Items China have but Singapore don't? Chewing gum.
• Items Singapore have but China don't? Sushi, Prata, Milo.

After the supermarket visit, we check-in to the hotel. We are very excited for the next day because we will be visiting the local school. 

个园

京杭大运河

剪纸博物馆

Day 3

Today, we spend our whole day in Shu Ren School. When we arrived there in the morning, we were awed by the size of the school. The principal was very welcoming and she even went to our hotel to accompany us. The school had many events planned for us and the day was rather packed. I was quite touched by their efforts to welcome us and treat us like an important guest. Firstly, we went to observe a Chinese lesson. Their students in China are very proactive in answering questions. They are attentive and actively participate in discussion. I think this stood in great contrast to Singaporean kids. After that, we had many events planned such as both parties sharing the cultural in their country and learning Wushu.We took a tour in the school garden. The garden is big and beautiful. Sadly, the limited land space in Singapore don't allow schools to have such a big garden in them. Following that, we played friendly games with the China students. There are 3 games, first game we had to put a ball in 2 person backs and then run, second game we have to jump in a rice sack and the third game we had to throw shuttlecocks into a bin. The winners were surprised by the soft toys they give as rewards. Even though i did not participate in the games, i had a lot of fun cheering for my classmates. Last but not least, we have a friendly basketball match with their school basketball school team. I was part of the team, and i had a lot of fun playing the game. Our classmates cheered their hearts out and i was touched. In the end, we got a soft toy too as present. After everything ended, I can't help but noticed that our school spirit stood in great contrast with the China students. We were cheering for one another, shouting 加油 throughout the whole game, whereas the China students only cheered when their team scored. I feel that this is something we can be very proud of. 

Some observations:

What are things we have in RV but shuren school don't?

• Lightning alert
• School Spirit
• CCA
• Wifi
• More variety of foods
• Uniform
• Clean toilet
• Whiteboard
• Locker
• Fan

What are things they have in shuren school but RV don't?

• Chalkboard
• Garden
• Staff canteen
• Calligraphy Room
• Coffee Lounge
• Can draw on walls
• Indoor Carpark

In conclusion, I still feel that the overall facilities in RV are better and i should appreciate what i have.

树人学校

Staff canteen where we had our lunch

The school garden

Day 4

Today, we went to another school campus. In this campus, there are only seniors who are aged 16 and up. We proceed to learn knot tying. I think this lesson is fun and enjoyable because I really like my final product. At first, i face a lot of difficulties but fortunately, the teacher is kind to walk around and help those in need. Next, it is finally the time for the highly anticipated performance time. Before the OELP, all of our classmates practiced hard during recess and after school to perfect the performance. After the both parties exchanged performances, everyone sang "朋友" together. It is very touching song and i'm glad we have the opportunity to do an exchange program with them. I enjoyed all the performances and it was my favorite program of the day. 

Following that, we went to have calligraphy lesson. As we regularly have calligraphy lesson in RV, I do not face difficulties throughout the lesson. However, the biggest problem was that the China students couldn't understand what I was trying to say. It could be probably due to my lack of accent. It was very difficult commuting to them. In the end, I show her my meanings through actions. Lastly, we bade farewell to the school. I was genuinely touched by their warm welcome and our treatment as an important guest. The school principal was very nice to us. We proceed to Xinhua bookstore next. I bought a book there which seems interesting. Most of the books cost 25 yuan(5 SGD), which I think is cheap. The book store is very big, with 7 stories and a lift. 

Difference between Yang Zhou bookstore and Singapore (popular)

Things Yang Zhou sell but Singapore don't :

• Sport Equipment
• Rice Cooker
• Vases
• Children corner
• Lift

Things Singapore sell but Yang Zhou don't:

• Printing paper 
• Decorative materials
• English books
• Food
• Baskets

The last place we visited for the day was the local supermarket. I bought a lot of chocolates there because in Singapore, my mum would always limit the chocolate i buy. There was not much difference in the prices of the chocolate between Yang Zhou and Singapore. I enjoy the supermarket visit because of the variety of things to buy, but i feel that the duration given to shop was too short.

Photo with my 2 buddies

Dance performance that i took part in

Singing "朋友" together

Day 5

We went to Slender West & 24 Bridges (瘦西湖)in the morning. The place has magnificent scenery. I think that the 24 bridges is interesting as it is called by that name because there are 24 steps in the bridge and in history, there will be 24 pretty girls standing on each step. Next, we went to visit the former residence of Zhu Ziqing. There, it exhibits the poems and stories that he wrote. One of the shprt stories he wrote was “背影”。I have read this story before and i think this stories hold a lot of meaning. Actually, i have never knew that Zhu Ziqing was the author of the story until that day. After the visit, i immediately thought back to Singapore founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew. There are many talks around the country whether the government should preserve the house. Personally, i feel that his house should be made open to public and Lee Kuan Yew had mention before he wish to keep his house private after he passed away. 

Following that, we went to Dongguan Street, which is a shopping place. There are a variety of things sold there and the place is enormous. I bought a tea made locally from a tea house and some local handmade food. I can't wait to try it with my family. By the time we are done with shopping, my legs are extremely sore. Nevertheless, i feel that the time they had given to explore the place and shop was not enough. We went up the the tallest building there and took a group picture with the amazing view of the whole street in the background. I think this is a very good tourist place to visit which can benefit the country economically when tourist spend their money there.

Photos at Slender West Lake 

Group Photo at Dongguan Street

Day 6

Today, we travelled back to Shanghai. It was a rather busy and eventful day as i visited 5 tourist attractions. I was happy today as the class finally get a chance to wear our class tee because it is bright neon pink which make it easier for teachers to differentiate us in Chenghuang Miao, the first place we visited for the day. The tour guide only give us 1 hour to shop the huge place. It was very rush and in the end, my group only managed to tour half of the place. I was disappointed when i saw my classmates that went to the other half bought delicious food like mochi, as the side that we went to was mainly handcraft items and bags. Following that, we went to the Shanghai Science & Technology Museum. We went into the Animal World and the highlight of the visit was a short 20 min 4D animated film of how germs harm our body. Through this cute film, i have learnt a lot. Lastly, we bought a lucky clover necklace as our group identity. 

Next, it was finally the much anticipated visit to the Oriental Pearl Tower! The class went up all the way to a whopping level of 263! It is undeniable that my legs was trembling a bit at firstas i stared down below the transparent floor at the observatory. I feel like the floor is going to give way and then i will drop down from the tremendous height! ;p As glanced as the view from the top, it was truly an eye-opening experience! No words could describe the exotic view of Shanghai! I was so glad to have the opportunity to come up to the observatory. Even though i have came to Shanghai before, i did not managed to go up to the 263 floor. It was packed with tourists and the memory will definitely be etched in my mind for a long time to come.

We went to the Old French Concession next. It was just a short walk through of the place but i think the place hold quite a deep historical value. The buildings are traditional and in a french style. Lastly, we went to the Tian Zi Fang. It is a shopping place. I feel that the things sold there are very expensive, with 90% of the items are more expensive than Singapore. I was very curious as to why, because from what i have known, the cost of living in China are much lower than Singapore. It was a very hectic day and i have a lot of fun.

Chenghuang Miao

Queuing for the lift to go to 263 floor

View from 263 floor in Oriental Pearl Tower!

Day 7

I woke up with a very heavy heart today morning, knowing that this trip is coming to an end in just a few more hours.

The schedule was light as we only visited 2 places. Firstly, we went to the Qibao Ancient Town. It is a another shopping place! For the past 3 days, we have been endlessly shopping, and i actually enjoyed it even though i can almost feel a hole in my wallet ;_; Qibao Ancient Town is rather similar to Dongguang Street. There are a huge range of items we can buy. Finally, it is time for our last visit of attractions in China... which was the Shanghai Museum. It is a 4 stories museum and there are 16 exhibits halls in total. I managed to view around 10 of the exhibits. I think Singapore's museum is incomparable to China because China has a written history of 4000 years! My favourite exhibit was the ancient coin exhibit. There are so many different types of coin, some even as old as the BC and the AD era. 

Lastly, we had to go to the airport for our flight back to Singapore... even though sometimes i do feel a sense of homesickness, but i really do not want to trip to end so quickly. It was a very very incredible overseas trip. Most importantly, it is how my classmates have bond so well with one another over the past 7 days. I miss how we would play games during meal times and organize "illegal" meeting in hotel... I really love 2I and the 2 years we have been together was a fun filled times. I feel very lucky to be in 2I. <3 I will remember this trip forever !!!!!

 At QiBao Ancient Town

Ancient coins from Shanghai Museum

Byeee China :( 

ACTUALLY WE ORGANIZED AN OVERNIGHT CLASS CHALET TO CURE EVERYONE'S POST OELP DEPRESSION! :D