Back from China!
10:06 PM
yo! (: back from china. hahaha, gosh, i dont know what to say, whether i'm happy or sad to return back! but in any case, it was a delightful and super fun trip! there were so many insights, such as interacting with a new teacher i have not talked to before, Mr heng, and basically just venturing to discover a whole new breed of students, whose similar age to ours speaks nothing of their different cultures and values! i shall go on to talk about my trip.
Day 1 was the most tiring day for me! Because we had to reach the airport by 5.30 which meant i woke at about 4 something! Then after taking off from Changi airport, we reached Guangzhou airport at roughly 1pm+. Then, we realise our flight to Hefei was delayed by an hour, so in the end we arrived at Hefei at 9 at night, roughly 3 hours late according to our schedule! Poor Mr yang, the school's vice-principal, he waited 3 hours for us!
The next day, we were introduced to the students of my buddy's class! and catch this, there were 71 students in the class! so it was super duper squeezy haha. so they taught their lessons in chinese, so naturally, i could only follow up to a certain point for subjects such as physics, chemistry and history! The school, named hefei number 45 middle school, ( note that the schools there do not have names such as "cedar, ang mo kio", or anything, but they use numbers, as there are just too many schools! i heard there are even 3- digits schools in the middle level. and take note that there, primary school is the same, 6 years, but secondary school is 3 years, then junior college 3 years! yup XD )
After having lessons at the school, we proceeded to our buddies's house to stay over for the weekend! my buddy's house is freezing cold okay! because they dont turn on their heater, and they leave their windows open! haha, but after a while, i became used to it, so it was fine. most of the time, i was using the computer at the house, and talking to his parents! my buddy was just doing his work, because for your information, i shall breif you about the educational system there. For them, school starts at around the same time as us, at about 7. Their lessons are not back to back like ours, meaning each lesson lasts 45 minutes, then the students are given a 15 minute break, to go toilet and all that, before the next period starts, this way, the students have no excuse to go to the toilet! smart right? haha. okay, so their lessons start at 7, and finish at 11.45. then, they go home for lunch and prepare for the next part of the day. they come back to school again at 2 and have lessons all the way till 7++. Insane right? and their homework is crazy okay. My buddy told me every day, every student has to stay up till 12 just to finish homework, that means no time to watch television or do anything else. that's why, in singapore, we should count ourselves lucky! when i told them about our studying curriculum, they really envied us.
So for the rest of the days, we would attend two classes in the morning, then return to the hotel for a break and lunch, before visiting a place in the afternoon. the places we visited were Hefei ecology park, BaoGong ancestral temple, An hui museum, Synchrotron radiation accelerator of the university of science and technology of China, hefei wildlife park, binhu new district and former residence of Li Hongzhang. haha yeah!
But basically, i really felt the words came through, that for us to be successful and to survive, we have to go out and embrace these different societies and cultural experiences, if not, we will always have the mindset that the world revolves around singapore, when its the other way around. i feel lazy to blog, so i shall upload pictures the next time round (: see ya.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
what's life without tennis`
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