In general, I really enjoyed this OELP trip. Through this trip, I gained many experiences that I would have never gained in a classroom. I learnt many things about the culture and heritage of China. I am very thankful towards RVHS for providing me with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go overseas with my class. Not only has this trip bonded my class, it has also provided us with a wonderful learning experience.
From the wonderful plane ride to Shanghai to the flight back to Singapore, the entire overseas trip was an amazing experience. When we landed in China, I was expecting to see run-down houses accompanied with poor facilities. However, I was taken aback by the highly advanced technology in the airport. Not only did the building look fairly new, but it also had up-to-date facilities for us to use. Some more examples of the highly advanced technology in China can be seen on the high speed rail and through our industrial visits to iFlytech and Meiling. On the high-speed rail from Shanghai to Hefei, we enjoyed a very smooth ride and learnt about the advanced technology that China has. The train travelled at a mind-blowing speed of more than 200km/h, while a normal car only travels at an average of 100km/h. The ride was very comfortable, with almost no bumps on the track. We all managed to sleep soundly throughout the whole ride.Through our industrial visits to Meiling and iFlytech, we also learn about how China has developed as a country in terms of technology. At iFlytech, we got to fully experience a Samsung application in which we got to do many different things. That application was basically a Chinese version of Siri. Through the application, we got to translate from Chinese to English, or vice versa, accurately (which is rare). We can also make calls and text messages simply through speaking to the phone. The best part is, this application is free! There is also another version of this application, which can be used in a car. This is extremely convenient as through the application, we can get directions through simple voice controls. We had an amazing time in there. We also got to try a karaoke game, which was very fun. In Hefei, we learnt many things about the culture of China, such as 李鸿章's and 包公's contributions to the development of China. I learnt how they affected the future of China, through their unbiased, and innovative attitude. After walking through 三河古镇, I got an experience of how the Chinese lived in the past, and I truly experienced the rich heritage of China. The scenery was beautiful there, and I was amazed by how the residents of that area still chose to stay in there although the place was slightly old and run-down. The souvenir shops there sold cute souvenirs for insanely cheap prices. For example, a hat there would only cost 10-15RMB ($2-$3). I bought many souvenirs from there. In 黄山, we hiked more than 8km up and down many flights of stairs. Although all of us were very exhausted and our thighs ached, we still managed to climb to the peak and get a look at the beautiful, picturesque scenery of the mountains.The air on the mountain was fresh and smelt pollution-free, unlike the air in the cities of China. To me, that was the highlight of the whole trip to Anhui. The mutual encouragement among our classmates and the photo taking bonded us as a class. I thought that the place was also relatively clean and free of litter. That was amazing considering the fact that Huangshan is, after all, a tourist attraction. We also visited various cultural sites, which were very well-preserved and told a lot about China's history. One of my favourite cultural sites in Huangshan would have to be the Tunxi Ancient Street. There were countless numbers of rows of shops, selling various knick-knacks ranging from massagers to chinese bamboo flutes, or the 笛子。Another highlight of the trip would have to be the school immersion. Before the immersion, my impression of Chinese students was that they were boring, studious and would not be fun to hang out with. In fact, I was entirely dreading the school immersion due to the fact that there would definitely be an awkward language barrier between my buddy and I. Another reason behind me dreading the school immersion was that I would have to attend the classes in their school. However, when I entered the school, I was surprised by their warm and friendly welcome. All the buddies stood at the school gate and waved to us as we entered. All of them had welcoming smiles on their visages, and they treated us kindly and politely. My buddy, Yi Zhen, welcomed me with a warm smile and introduced herself to me. Although it was still a bit awkward between the two of us, she was nothing like I expected her to be. She was fun, outgoing, and to my surprise, talkative. The massive class size of 54 made the classroom really squeezy. Including us, there was a total of 60+ people in one tiny room. I'm honestly thankful that the competition amongst students in Singapore is not as bad of that in China. Otherwise, I would have 20 more classmates, which is unimaginable. The technology in the school was really advanced. In their school, they used a smartboard, which would allow teachers and students to write on the board. This would easily allow teachers to write down notes. The notes could also easily be deleted with the push of a button. This clearly facilitated the lessons very well, as it enabled the classes to go by smoothly. The students in China are also very healthy. They run 800m everyday along their school's track. This enables them to get their daily exercise that we all need. They also do eye exercises between a certain period. This will allow their eyes to take a break and relax, in order to reduce myopia and other relative eye problems caused by overuse of our eyes.
This trip in general was a really enjoyable experience. Despite the fact that some of the meals and hotels could be better, we still loved the trip and would love the chance to go overseas with the school again. Through the patient guidance of the teachers, we learnt many new things and had a whale of a time there
No comments:
Post a Comment