OELP reflections

Day 1 25 May 2014

Today, we all woke up early and we took the High-speed rail from Shanghai to Hefei. It was a really fun and interesting experience because it was my first time taking high-speed rail. It took around 4 hours and we spent time sitting in the train, talking with teachers and friends and sleeping. I was indeed surprised by the high-speed rail because it travelled many kilometers per hour, totally different from the trains in Singapore. After we left the station, I was shocked at the roads in china. There were so many cars and it was really dangerous if we walked slowly as the cars might just drive in. After that, we went to a restaurant to eat. To be honest, I disliked some of the dishes that were being served and mostly contained vegetables. I was kind of sad that many dishes contained vegetables and some of us disliked them. After eating, we went to 三河古镇. It is about 40 km south of the city lies Sanhe Ancient Town. With a history of over 2,500 years, the town has well-preserved examples of ancient architecture and streetscapes, and is also celebrated for its cuisine. We learned a lot of stuff and also took many photographs as memories to be preserved. We also learned about famous people such as 孙立人, who was best known for his leadership in the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War and 杨振宁 was the first Chinese man to win a Nobel award in physics. There were also people selling things like food to the tourists. After that we went to have our dinner and we enjoyed it more than lunch. 

Day 2 26 May 2014

Today we visited 合肥45中 and I met my buddy! She was the class chairperson and a very friendly person. When the teacher was having lessons, she would kindly explain to me what the teacher was talking about. We had Physics, Chinese, Music and history lessons together. However, I had a hard time understanding the lessons because the teachers taught the pupils in Chinese. This was different from Singapore because teachers in Singapore will teach the lessons in English except for mother tongue lessons. One thing I noticed about the students in 合肥45中 was they were very proactive in lessons. Whenever the teacher asked a question, they would shout our their answers. I felt that I should learn from them and try to be more proactive in lessons as answering the teachers' questions is also a form of respect to them.I love going to Hefei 45 Middle School the most, as I get to experience the education system in China. We learn to be appreciative of what we have in RV due to the better facilities in our school as compared to the schools in China. ( toilets, tables, chairs etc) the tables and chairs are small, sometimes unstable and some of the students even have to squeeze and share the chairs and tables. They also do not have as many facilities as compared to us. We should also learn from these students' studying attitude as they listen to the lessons attentively, strive to complete their work on time even if they have to sacrifice their sleep and they always have the determined mindset to succeed.

Also, I realised that when the students were having lessons, they would not switch on all the fans and lights to save electricity for the school. I feel that they were very responsible because they knew that they had to save electricity for the school at such a young age. It was indeed commendable. The school's toilets were smelly and we didn't dare to go into the toilets. Their lessons ended at around 5pm. It was so long. 

After that, we went to our buddy's house to look at life in China. I noticed that the roads were dirty and full of rubbish. I feel that we should not litter our surroundings as littering the environment is a very irresponsible act. In Singapore, first-time littering offenders who discard minor litter such a sweet wrappers improperly are liable for a $300 fine! Those offenders who throw larger items such as plastic bags can go up to a fine of $1000! The fine for repeated offenders may go up to $5000. This shows that singapore government is taking littering seriously and we should all strive to keep our environment clean. Littering has a negative impact on the people and the environment as well, for example pests transmit diseases which can make the people sick. 

From the trip to school, I have learned more about how the people in China study and some things that we should learn and not learn from them. When I went to my buddy's house, her parents welcomed me warmly and even let me try some food like 粽子. It was sweet and I had never tried it before. We then continued to talk and they asked me about crime rate in Singapore and taxes that we had to pay. Although we only met each other for a day, we got along really well. We promised to keep in touch by emailing one another when I return to Singapore. We had lots of fun and I knew an interesting fact. In a supermarket, they would lock the item so that it would not be stolen. For example, they locked the ferrero rocher chocolate to prevent it from being stolen. 

Group Photo with our buddies :-) 

5 things I like about River Valley☺️: 

1. Toilets. The toilets in our school are really clean as compared to those in China. I learn to appreciate the toilets we have in RV and thankful for the hard work our school cleaners who clean them. 

2. Class size is small. In 合肥45中, a class has approximately 58 to 62 students. However in RV, a class has around 30-34 students. I would prefer the class size to be small as the class will be very noisy if there are many students. Also, two students had to share a table and some other students had to share tables with more than two people. It was very cramped. I was happy that everyone in our class can have a table and a chair. 

3. Shorter school hours. We end school at an earlier time than the students at around 2.30pm excluding cca and stuff. However they end school at around 4:45/5pm. They will have very little time to complete their homework and rest. 

4. There is a canteen in RV . In 合肥45中, there is no canteen to sell them food during recess and lunch. Therefore they have to go out to have their own lunch before coming back to school. I find it very troublesome because you have to go back home to have lunch and to come back to school again. Thus I feel very grateful that we have a canteen in RV to sell us food, more convenient for us and we do not have to waste time going home. 

5. Better facilities. The school in China did not have much facilities and thus they could not experience more things. Therefore I am grateful that RV has many facilities, for us to experience new stuff and to gain knowledge. Having better and more facilities can also lead to more fun activities being planned and easier way of learning. 

Day 3 27 May 2014 

We went to Anhui Museum. We saw many antique objects and we learned a lot about China's past. Also we learned about Anhui Four Treasures of the study, the Xuan Paper ( Materials and making of the Xuan paper ). Brushes were made of horns of animals. A highlight of the exhibition is the Shang bronze unearthed in Anhui Province, such as an exceptional Shang bronze pot in the shape of an animal unearthed from the Cai Marquis Tomb of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC). The ChuDing, which is 113 cm high and weighs 400 kilograms, is the biggest and heaviest extant one of its kind since the Zhou Dynasty. After that, we went to 中国非物质文化遗产园. At first I was interested to watch the chicken fight as it was my first time seeing chickens fight, but I totally regretted when I watched it. It was indeed heartbreaking as using chickens to earn money was just so downright cruel. We also watched dogs and horses raced. After that, we went to a circus to watch stunts performed by both animals like tigers and humans. I was really shocked when I saw how the tigers were treated. The people mistreated them and hit them with a rod when they refused to perform. I felt that they should not do that because the tigers also and their own lives. They should not torture and abuse them just to earn money for their own interests and for themselves to have a better life. However I also understood that they needed to earn money, but they should have used other ways to earn money instead of abusing the pitiful animals. We should cherish the tigers too. I feel that China should start to ban these type of activities and let the people know that animal abuse is wrong. It was indeed a sad day as I saw animals being abused in front of my own eyes. We then went to a playground to play. 

Colour : RED because red symbolizes prosperity and China is very prosperous in the past. 

Symbol : 

This is a picture of one of the many types of different buildings in the past. It shows how it is being built and the design of the infrastructure. 

Image : 

A picture of how the people in the past work and I am grateful for all the contributions they have done for us. 

Day 4 28 May 2014

We went to Huangshan! All of us were really excited. The bus ride was around 4 hours and we even stopped to buy some snacks so that we would not be hungry in the bus ride. After we reached, we took the cable car. The scenery was so beautiful! All of us were busy taking pictures of the scenery. After that, we had a 1 hour climb so that we would reach our hotel rooms to put our bags in. When we reached our hotel rooms, we put our bags and continued with the climb. No doubt, the climb was really tiring and the steps seemed to be endless. However, all of us persevered and continued to climb. Nobody gave up. Everyone started cheering and supporting one another whenever somebody felt like giving up. We had lots of fun taking pictures and chatting. The weather was also wonderful, making the climb an enjoyable one. I enjoyed this climb a lot even though I felt that it was tiring. I learned to not give up easily, and persevere till we succeed. 

Day 5 29 May 2014 

We woke up at 4.30am to see the sunrise. It was really cold in the morning. I guess we were lucky especially because we got to see the sunrise even though we only had 50% chance. The sunrise was so beautiful and I am glad that we woke up early to see it. After that we also continued to climb to visit the scenic areas. We saw many monkeys and some people even took pictures with them. We also had lots of fun. Before we left Huangshan, we met an RV senior and sang the school song with him on the mountain. He still remembered the school song! I was really glad that we could meet our senior and even had the chance to sing with him. We then left and took the cable car again. We went to hong cun ancient village and learned a lot of nothing's about. Hongcun like who built it. It is a really beautiful place, with clear lakes and old houses. Hongcun was founded in 1131 by Wang Wen, a Han dynasty general, and his kinsman Wang Yanji, who brought their families from Qisu village to the upper part of the stream near Leigang Mountain and built 13 houses there. The village knew two periods of great prosperity, 1401-1620 and 1796-1908. The Wang family became officials and merchants and accumulated enormous wealth, which they used to endow their home village with many fine buildings. Around 1405, on the advice of geomancers, a channel was dug to bring fresh water to the village from the West Stream. Some 200 years later, the water supply system of the village was completed with the creation of the South Lake.

Day 6 30 May 2014 

We went to many places as compared to the other days. The first place that we went, Xidi Ancient Village. The buildings are also very old. We went to Huishang big house, Shexian, and Tangyue too. Xidi is actually very similar to Hongcun. Xidi was originally called Xichuan (West River), because of the streams that pass through it. It owes its growth to the Hu family from Wuyuan (Xinan), who adopted a son of the Tang Emperor Zhaozong (888-904) after the Emperor was forced from his throne in 904, naming him Hu Changyi. One of his descendants moved his family from Wuyuan to Xidi in 1047. The construction of a number of important private and public buildings began at around that time. I learnt  one type of architecture, which was called 马头墙 and was set up on the roof of all residences. The purpose was to prevent fire from spreading to other houses in case of emergency, when a fire happens in the vicinity or the neighborhood.After that,we listened to a talk about Anhui. I learned a lot from his talk and became even more fascinated about Anhui's culture. This had indeed widened my knowledge. We were grateful for the talk given by the professor. After that we had a class bonding time. We bonded more with our classmates and learned to support one another. 

Day 7 31 May 2014

It is the last day of our trip already. We finally got to shop! We visited  Tunxi Ancient Street to buy some stuff for our family and friends. I bought Chinese tea and some Anhui local food to let my parents try. After that, we transfered to hangzhou and took a boat across 西湖. The boat ride took around 20minutes. The water was about 1.5 meters deep, and the boat was also traveling slowly, making it a safe ride. We also took many photographs of the beautiful 西湖 while listening to the tour guide talk. After this, we went to Yue Fei Mausoleum and we learned that he was a hero who sacrificed a lot for his country. I guess people in china really admire and respect him that they specially built a temple about him. Then we were leaving China and going home. I really  missed the times we had together. I appreciate the school giving us a chance to go overseas with our classmates. In this trip, our class had bonded more and we supported one another in times of difficulty. We shared food, listened to each other's troubles, played together, had fun with one another. Anhui is indeed a beautiful place. I had learned a lot after going on this trip, for example, Anhui's food and culture, differences between China and Singapore's cultures, differences between people in China and us etc. I will want to go on such a trip again. 

In conclusion, we have learned a lot during this OELP trip. We learned about Anhui's culture, food, people, architecture and more. We learn to look at things in a different perspective. For example, we first thought that people in China talk loudly and that they are rude. However, they are not rude at all. They are just used to talk loudly. This is because there are about 58 to 63 students in a class. The teachers have no time to focus on every student and the Students have to fight to answer the teachers whenever they ask a question in an orderly manner. Thus the students have to speak loudly so that they will be heard by the teachers. Also, there are many people in China. If you are walking outside you are bound to be surrounded by traffic everywhere, which means that it will be quite noisy. To listen and communicate with someone effectively, even if they are right next to you, you need to raise your voice otherwise you will have to constantly repeating yourself. this shows that people in china are just used to talking loudly in public and does not necessarily mean that they are rude. 

We have gone to many historical places in Anhui which include San He Gu Zhen, Anhui Museum, Xidi and Hongcun ancient villages and more. We now know more about historical figures and their contributions (for example. Yue Fei )  and what they did in the past. However, Singapore does not have as many historical sites than China due to the limited land area. But both countries do have historical sites for the younger generation to learn more about them. We hope that Singapore can build more historical sites.

At Huangshan, we learn to be more determined and to always persevere even when we face obstacles. Indeed, Not everyone in our class is sporty and likes to exercise, and to these people, climbing a mountain is definitely a challenge. But, with perseverance and resoluteness, we managed to climb Huangshan as a class. We supported one another  when some of us felt like giving up while climbing Huangshan. We also sang songs to cheer one another up. We bonded as a class and this was definitely a good opportunity for us to forge new friendships and mend broken ones.This was also an important lesson as we learned that friends are important in our life and will always be there for us. 

We are thankful for the opportunity the school has given us as this was a good chance for us to expose ourselves to a different environment and broaden our knowledge. This OELP trip has also prepared us for the leadership opportunities in the upcoming years. We also have less homework and projects as compared to our seniors therefore we can have more time to discuss and reflect about the trip. this OELP trip has enabled us to be more mature, responsible as we take care of our partners and own valuables and to be critical thinkers. 

Yeo Yu Zhen (23) 2E