5BONNACI

5BONNACI

Tuesday 17 June 2014

My general reflections for the OELP trip to China, Anhui:

CID reflection Day 1:
In the morning, the breakfast we had was terrible to me because everything taste weird, except for the bread. After breakfast, we took the bus to take the high speed-rail from Shanghai to Hefei. During the high speed-rail trip, it was quite interesting for me as it was my first time on such a train, same to the others. As there was not much to explore in the train and the journey took a long time, most of us fell asleep. Then, we had lunch at a restaurant called “美味厨酒楼”. Almost all the dishes contain vegetables. Some of us do not like the food as it does not taste nice. From this, I learnt the different cultures between Singapore and China. The toilet was the worst because it smells. Following that, we went to a 2 hour exploration of 三河古镇. The tour guide showed us the different places we had to visit and we learnt a lot of things about the past. We went to dinner after that. It was the best meal of the day because the dishes contain more meat than before and it taste better. I am sure everyone liked it very much. After finishing dinner, we went to the hotel that we are going to stay tonight. 


CID reflection Day 2:
The breakfast we had in the morning today was satisfying because the food taste nicer than yesterday's one. Next, we took the bus to a school called 合肥45中. We had lessons with our buddies after we reached there. I totally did not understand the lesson because everything was in Chinese and all the teachers talk too fast. During the break between each lesson, I went to the toilet. Before I even go in, I was horrified by the smell it emits out. The toilet is so smelly that I forced myself not to go in there. After about two lessons, we went out for lunch and went back to the school to have lessons again. When all the lessons have finished, at the end of the day, the class gave us a warm welcome through a performance and singing songs. Their teacher told us to sing a song and we sing "Let it Go". Then, it's dismissal time for their school, it is around 5pm. My buddy brought me around the place near their school and we had lots of fun. I get to know him more personally. 

5 things I love about RV and why:
1. Toilets. The toilets in 合肥45中 are very smelly and dirty. However, the toilets in RV are not smelly, and they are very clean too! I learn to appreciate the toilets we have in RV and I am grateful of how clean the toilet in our school is. 

2. Canteen. The canteen is a place for RVians to eat during recess and lunch time. However, 合肥45中 does not have a canteen and the students have about 2h break time to go and have their lunch outside school. I am very grateful that our school have a canteen and we do not need to waste so much time going outside to eat.

3. The number of students in each classes. In 合肥45中, the average number of students in each class is about 60+. However, in RV, the average number of students in each class is about 30+, that's a great number of difference!!! The fact that their class can squeeze such great number of students is because each table is shared by two people. Even though the table is a bit longer than ours, when I sit beside my buddy for lessons, I can feel how squeezy it is. I am glad that we have enough spaces for everybody in the class. 

4. Better facilities. In 合肥45中, there are very less facilities, not like us in RV. Their fitness corner only have some bars for them to do some exercises, however, the fitness corner in RV has more things for us to do more exercises. 

5. The time spent in school. In RV, the dismissal time is usually 2:30pm, excluding remedial and CCAs. However, the students in 合肥45中 have to go home at around 6. I am shocked when I found out that they have to go home so late, because there would not be enough time for them to do any homework!!! It would be even worse if their home is far away from their school, like my buddy.


CID reflection Day 3:
Today, after having breakfast, we went to the Anhui museum. We learnt a lot of things there, for example China's past. After that, we went to 中国非物质文化遗产园. By the time we are there, we went to watch dogs and horses racing, chicken fighting. During the chicken fight, I kind of enjoyed it a lot but what made me frown is that the chicken is too violent. Instead of fighting, they pluck each other's feathers until it's red bloody skin is revealed, it looks very disgusting. Next, we went to see the circus. We saw tigers and bears being tortured just to give a performance for the audience during the circus time. I feel that animals are like humans, they have feelings too, therefore I think what they are doing is wrong and they should stop it. Perhaps we can write letters to the government to ask them to stop these actions against animals, it is simply animal abuse. 

Colour:
Red

It shows the significance and importance of the Anhui museum and it shows the cruelty of the people abusing the animals performing in the circus.

Symbol:

This symbol shows that we need to preserve the Anhui museum and protect the animals from being abuse. 

Image:

This statue was on one of the walls of the Anhui museum. The bright colors of the statue and the carvings show the importance and lavishness of the Anhui museum. There is also an animal that looks like a chameleon carved onto it, which match with what I learnt today: we should not abuse animals. 


CID reflection Day 4:
Today, we had a 4 hour+ bus ride to the famous Huang Shan. The bus driver stop halfway near a supermarket for us to buy something to eat, in case we get hungry in the bus. Then, we took the cable car. On the cable car, I was amazed by the beautiful scenery of Huang Shan. I also learn that some people in our class are afraid of heights. After that, we had to climb for about 1.5 hour to our hotel. Although it was very tiring, we had lots of fun talking and encouraging each other. We get to know each other better too! Sometimes, we stop halfway to take some picture of ourselves taking jump shots. During the climb, we saw a lot of monkeys. There is one lucky woman because the monkey posed beside her and someone took a picture of it!!! All we did today was mostly climbing up and down Huang Shan to view the nice scenery. Furthermore, the cold and nice weather in Huang Shan make the journey up there more enjoyable. I had indeed a great time today. 


CID reflection Day 5:
Yesterday, we stayed in the hotel at Huang Shan. At first, when I went into the room, I was quite sad that there was no air-conditioner, but when we went back at night to sleep after the climb, I was shivering because the natural air in Huang Shan is very cold at night. The only thing that I don't like is that there are many bugs inside, all sorts of bugs. However, they did not disturb me much and I had a good night sleep. We wake up early at around 4:30 a.m. just to see the sunrise. After having breakfast back at the hotel, we went to Huangshan again to climb. Then, we said bye bye to Huang Shan and our next destination is Hongcun. The place is very beautiful. The lake is so clear that you can see the reflection of the building, even yourself when u look into it. Over there, we can see the people selling things we have never seen before. We also learn about the history of that place, for example, the person who built it. 


CID reflection Day 6:
Today, we went to a lot of places. They are 西递, 徽商大宅院, 徽州古城 and 棠樾牌坊群. We learn a lot about their historical backgrounds. All the places we visited are almost the same. They have pictures of old historical people pasted to the walls. I went to take a picture of the pictures on the walls and the guide told me not to do it. There is a reason behind it: the people painted in the pictures were dead ones, if u were to take a picture of it, u will be "cursed". Although the weather is very hot today, we had a fruitful day because we learnt a lot of things. After going to all the places, we were dead tired. However, we had to go to a seminar about Anhui's culture by a professor at the end of the day. I feel that the seminar had gave us a lot of information about Anhui's culture and we all benefit from it. By attending the talk, we get to learn more about the different culture of China.


CID reflection Day 7:
Today is our last day in China, Anhui. We also went to a lot of places today:屯溪老街, 船游西湖 and 岳王庙. As today is our last day, we went shopping at 屯溪老街. We were given limited time, so we went around like crazy people and buy things that we would like to bring back to Singapore. For me, I bought traditional food from different shops to bring back home for my family to have a taste of China. I also bought a 扇子 with my name on it written as a poem. Everybody bought so many things that sitting on the bus is very squeezy because the things that we bought have taken a lot of space. After that, we went to 船游西湖. We sat on a boat for about 20 minutes. Apart from visiting Huang Shan, this is also another part that I like a lot in this trip. All of us get to relax and enjoy the cool breeze while sitting comfortably on the boat, enjoying the scenery. As the boat moves very slowly, it is very stable, so no one is scared. We took the boat to 岳王庙. It was a temple dedicated to 岳飞. At the end of the day at night, we went to the airport and got ready to go back to Singapore. I learnt a lot during this OELP trip. Not only did I learn about the difference of culture between China and Singapore, I also learn more about the people in our class, getting to know them better and bonding with them. I was quite sad at the end of the day because we are going back to Singapore, I really wish there will be another OELP trip next year for us. I really miss it very much even until now.

Malvin (27)
2E

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