OELP Reflections

25/05/14

It is finally Day 1! We took the high-speed rail to transfer from Shanghai to Hefei. I was very excited about it as it was my first time taking a high speed rail. When I saw the train, it looked really cool and the outside making me even more eager to take the ride. However, the waiting time was a bit too long. When I board the train, it felt more comfortable then I expected. The seats were not very squeezy too. Since the ride there requires 4 hours, I managed to catch some sleep. During the ride, there will be food services. There are also cleaners constantly cleaning the train. I went to the toilet and I was surprised to find out that the toilets are in the dirty mess. After seeing that, I ended up not going to the toilet. XD Throughout the ride, I spent most of the time sleeping and there was no entertainment at all so it was actually boring. Nonetheless, I am satisfied to get an opportunity to board a high speed rail. After that, we went to Sanhe guzhen. It was an old historical place and there were houses of the olden people. I learnt about 孙立人 and other history of the locations present last time. It was a rare opportunity to be able to visit these places. I was able to gain more knowledge through this trip and look at the historical places. After that, we ate dinner and returned to our hotel. I looked forward to visiting my china buddy's school.

26/05/14

Today, we are to going to Hefei No. 45 Middle School. I was very excited and nervous about my buddy. When we entered the school gate, a group of china students who were most likely our buddies. We took a picture together and were given a souvenir. Next, we went to our buddies' classroom and had lessons with them. We had physics lesson where the teacher taught a lot of different kinds of formulas to use when doing the questions. However, I wasn't able to understand. I realised that they had hung famous sayings or quotes on the wall to encourage the students to study hard. The class that I went to had the quote "不为失败寻借口，只为成功找方法". I find it very meaningful and maybe our class can have that to encourage everybody? My buddy is called Tao Ran and she is very friendly and open-minded. She told me that her class consisted 61 students and the whole level had 18 classes, thus it was very competitive. I realised that they china students are very enthusiastic and participated in the lessons actively. I think we could learn from their attitude towards learning and perhaps we would be able to perform better. There was a break for the students to go home for lunch at 11am till 2pm. And after that, they would resume their lessons till 5-6pm. At the last period, they would be given a time to do their homework. The class chairperson decided to give us the time to interact with the class. However, all of us didn't talk much and only gave a brief introduction of ourselves and answered their questions like "What do we do after school or during freetime". After school, we went to our own buddy's house. Her parents was very caring and friendly towards me and kept asking me to eat more at dinner so after that, I was already very full. My buddy also told me that she is very busy with schoolwork everyday. They had to continue to study or do their homework even after school till 11pm. I felt that they were very hardworking and led a stressful life. Also, even during holidays, it is like "extended study hall" for them and their parents would enroll them in more classes. Finally, it was time to say goodbye. She gave me a present and we promised to stay in contact. After which, we went to back to our hotel reluctantly.

5 things i like about RV and why:

1) Clean toilets. According to Mr Wong, the toilets were an "eye-opener" as it is very dirty. I went to a classroom which was near the boys toilet. Even at a distance, I can smell the disgusting smell coming out from the toilet and there were flies around. 

2) Not as stressful as them. After going to their school, I found out they were very stressed as they had almost no playtime or time to relax. They had to study hard in a competitive environment and for their future.

3) A spacious classroom. Their classroom size is okay however there are too many students in the class and I find it squeezy. However, our classrooms are big and spaced out.

4) More facilities. Compared to them, we had a lot of facilities that are catered to us.

5) Canteen. We have a canteen which sells a variety of food and place for us to relax but they dont have one.

27/05/14

Today, we went to Anhui Museum and I understood a lot about Anhui. I remembered the 文房四宝 which are something like the four treasures and they are the brush, ink,  paper and ink block. I also understood about the olden lifestyle of people from Anhui. We also went to China Intangible Cultural Heritage Park. We saw performances by animals such as chicken fight, horse race, dog race and a performance by tiger and lion. I was really upset after watching the chicken fight because they are fighting with each other until they are hurt and their feathers are flying all over and we could see their flesh. Also, this would be a very bad influence to the younger ones. We also saw the performance of the lions and tigers where they are forced to perform and was being shouted or beaten if they do not do it properly. This made me feel really sad for the animals as they had to be trapped there for their whole life. We left early as it was too inappropriate. Then, we had a great time at the playground.

28/05/14

Today, we went to Huangshan. We took a cable car ride to the top of the mountain and I was very eager to see the beauty of Huangshan. However we would have to climb Huangshan in order to take a look at the breathtaking scenery. After settling down at the hotel, we started climbing  Huangshan. We were told to be climbing for 2 hours long which was something I could not imagine. Soon, we started climbing. At the start, I was feeling just fine but halfway through, I already felt like giving up. But since I've already climbed halfway, I should continue or else everything would go into a waste. Everybody cheered one another on and after a long dreadful time, we finally reached the top. We took lots of photos of the scenery. The air was really fresh and I was glad I did not give up as the scenery was really beautiful. After that, we were given free time to explore more or go back to the hotel. Since my legs are feeling really tired, I decided to go back to the hotel. However, the distance back to the hotel seemed really longer and further than I though. It was then I realised how much I've climbed. We ate dinner that night and played games. Then, the day ended with more free time for us. 

29/05/14

It was 4am and we had to wake up. We had to climb a short distance up to look at sunrise. I had never seen the sunrise before so I was really looking forward to it. It was really cold in the morning and we had to wore big jackets to keep us warm. After making our way up, I was disappointed that there were already so many tourists crowding at the place. I was unable to take a look at the sunrise properly:( Then, we went back to sleep and went for breakfast. After breakfast, we took a bus ride to YiXian. We went to Hongcun and learnt more about the history. I loved the lake at Hongcun as it was really beautiful and peaceful there. There are also a lot of people drawing the scenery of the lake. Then, we went to eat dinner and went back to the hotel. I felt that today was quite relaxing for everyone.

30/05/14

Today, we went to a lot of places at. They are Huishang big house, Huizhou Ancient City, Tangyue. There were a lot for us to absorb that day and I found out that actually certain places looked alike. At the night, we had a lecture. I was able to learn more about Anhui in depth and it was a very meaningful lecture. At the end, we had our last meeting which was sad and Mr Wong showed us magic tricks and we were off to sleep.

31/05/14

Time passed very quickly and its already the last day. We went to shop Tunxi Ancient Street and some of my classmates went to buy tea. I went with some of my friends to the further part of the street but to my disappointment I was not able to buy what I wanted. I drank a big cup of bubble tea which is really cheap and delicious too. We went to Hangzhou and took the West Lake Cruise. Although this is my second time going Hangzhou, I still loved it a lot especially the Cruise. Next, we went to the Yue Fei Mausoleum where we left hurriedly after a short while. Since everyone felt like eating fast food, we left for the airport early and had more time to look around at the airport. After eating dinner, we had to get ready for departure. However, the flight was delayed and we were given a voucher to eat. Although we were very full, I went to eat Ajisen Ramen with my friends. Then, we went back to Singapore. This trip is really fun and it is definitely worth it. 

Teo Lian Wei Vesy(20)

2E