Eunice's Daily Reflection

E and C week

Day 1:

We stayed mostly in classrooms, learning different skills of Chinese culture. They are paper cutting, fan drawing and writing with brush. I feel that paper cutting was the easiest among all three because nowadays we also got familiar things, like cutting drawing block. As for the other two, I have never tried it before. It was a fun experience. Especially drawing on a fan, I felt very accomplished I finished drawing. Because it actually looks like a bird (the creature I was trying to draw). Through all this skills, I definition learnt more about Chinese culture. One of them is they were very artistic last time! Haha 

Day 2: 

We spend most of time in the hall, because the school has invited people from outside to give us talks. One of the talks was about storytelling on the spot. The crowd will shout out some words that the actors need to include in the act. The actors will choose 5 of them and they will have 5min at backstage to think of what to act. I'm amazed by how creative and flexible they are when they were acting. They acted very naturally as if they were the characters themselves. They were also very brave, they acted out without minding the fact that around 250 people are watching them. It was a fun and enriching experience watching them act. 

Day 3:

We went to different 会馆. I remember vividly that last year i also went to a 会馆 but i do not remember which one i went. This year i went to 海南会馆. I learnt a lot about the past of 海南 people. They came to Singapore to work and earn money for their families back in China. After they arrived in singapore, they would visit this 会馆 which was mainly for 海南 people, to find jobs. I am awed by how persevering they were, despite coming to a foreign country, far away from their homeland, they still continued working very hard, not giving up during times of difficulties, just so that they can earn more money and let their family live a better life. However nowadays, people are no longer that giving and selfless. This world is now a selfish world whereby old people are abandoned when their children do not have the money to take care of them. Hence we should reflect, change and learn to appreciate our family, appreciate the riches that we have. 

Day 4:

It's the start of Chinese cultural camp. One of the highlights was watching a movie called '上学路上‘ . This movie was about a poor girl around our age, who is earning her own money to go to school. It was a heartbreaking movie as we watched the girl go through many tough challenges to earn money. Through this, I learnt how blessed I'm, to be able to attend school every single Day and to even have monthly allowance of $180. Thus I learn to be grateful of what I have and at the same time to donate to the poor.

Day 5:

It's the second day of Chinese cultural camp and also last day of E&C week. Today is something like a closing ceremony. We were in the auditorium most of the time. First half of the Day was sharings by seniors who are in bicul. They were sharing about their trips to different parts of China and what they have learnt during the trips. After that there was montage of what happened during the camp. 

In conclusion, although I did not go to China for oelp trip, I still learnt a lot during E&C week.

Chloe's Daily Reflection

Day 1

The day to finally embark on the trip to Shanghai and Yangzhou finally arrived. I was feeling overwhelmed with excitement as I made my way to the airport for the long awaited trip. After bidding my parents goodbye, as a class, all of us made our way into the departure hall. A 6-hour flight from Singapore to Shanghai was worth it as we departed in the latter's airport. The atmosphere felt different because after all, all of us are far away from home and a new adventure awaits us. We waited at a corner for the tour guide's instructions while writing down our goals for this trip. Next, we proceeded to the Bund (外滩), which was filled with skyscrapers. It was a very beautiful sight. We also have a little insight of China's past, including the post World War II. It was getting late hence, we made our way to have dinner. Immediately after dinner, we went to Huang Pu Jiang (黄浦江) and I promise, the lightings were amazing. From this boat trip, we learnt that the lightings and commercials on the buildings were to attract tourists and this could largely increase the economic status of Shanghai. The whole layout of this boat trip was literally the best feeling ever! No wonder it plays a huge part in the income of Shanghai just by the tourist attractions. We made our way back to the hotel to rest and that basically sums up our whole day. 

Day 2

After consuming our breakfast in the hotel, we boarded the bus which brought us to the French Concession (法租界). Based on the first look, I was amazed at how the architectures were being built. It gave off a very antique yet mysterious feeling based on the brown coloured walls and the trees that paved the way. I noticed that there were new cafés, such as Starbucks situated in the French Concession as well. That's when I learnt that this was to attract people of all ages with shops which are in the trend and this would help the economic status in Shanghai. Next, we made our way to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall where we got to learn about Shanghai's growing infrastructure and their effort to preserve China's cultural aspect. We spent 1-2 hours there and the most memorable part for me was the 3D effect in these art zones, where they showed an eagle-eyed image of Shanghai. After visiting the Exhibition Hall, we went to Hai Di Lao (海底捞) for our lunch. I was amazed by their service, especially when they were all smiles to serve us. They were waiting at the doorstep of the restaurant to lead us to our tables and they provided us with necessities to ensure that we are comfortable. They would also strike up conversations to make us feel at home. From this, I could really see that they place their customers as the first priority and make sure that we have one of the best dining experience. Overall, I would rate their service as one of the best I have ever encountered, without much flaws. After that, we made a 4-hour bus ride journey to Yangzhou, ate our dinner there, and settled down in a new hotel to rest for the day.

Day 3

Instead of eating breakfast in the hotel, our tour guide brought us to 冶春茶社 to have a traditional Yangzhou breakfast. Normally, the people in Yangzhou would consume two meals a day, therefore their breakfast would be really heavy. There were many locals sitting in the restaurant when we enter and they were chatting happily. Seeing a big difference in culture because Singaporeans would usually be really tired in the morning, I was looking forward to the dishes that were going to be served. No doubt, it didn't disappoint me as there was a large amount of food served. My favorite was no doubt, the big plate of dumpling that contained soup inside. Drinking soup with straw, a new experience indeed. Following that, we visited the 瘦西湖 and the 24 bridges, which was connected together. The place was really crowded, showing the popularity of this tourist attraction. I brought some souvenirs there and the trip throughout was really relaxing and traditional. The tour guide continued by bringing us to the paper cutting museum. I saw how block printing and paper cutting were evolved. I even get to see experienced block printing artists writing in wonderful Chinese characters. It was an eventful experience. The tour guide mentioned that these occupations are gradually extinct because of the advance world we are living in today. It is such a pity because this cultural aspect is one of the important few that makes China stands out as a country. After that, we went to 东关街 to watch the 扬州四大美女 play and it was the first time seeing this sort of art, hence I was impressed. We got to shop there for 30 minutes before making our way back to the hotel and call it a day. 

Day 4

It is the long awaited day where we get to go 扬大附中东部分校初中学部 to interact with the Yangzhou students. The main reason why I was excited for this interaction session was because I wanted to take this opportunity to make friends with people from overseas. Waking up earlier in the morning, we consumed our breakfast in the holiday inn we were staying and immediately made our way to the school. After reaching there, I saw many students running towards what I think is the assembly hall for morning assembly. We entered a room with some teachers and students from the school which applauded loudly upon our arrival. We were being introduced to our buddy and we had some conversational time with them. My buddy was a boy who looked really smart and quiet. He was really shy at first but we managed to strike up different conversations which made both of us more comfortable. Both he and Yixuan's buddy introduced us to the school's landscape. It was a really important moment for me as we get to really interact as friends through that short tour around the school. We exchanged emails and promised to meet each other the next day. The class also managed to observe the Yangzhou's students way of studying, which we realized, was very different to Singaporean students way of studying. After the wonderful school experience, we went to Lushi Old Mansion to have our dinner. It provides a cultural theme environment for us to experience while eating dinner, making it a meaningful and new chance for all of us to try. The purpose of these restaurants is to combine China's traditional themes and scrumptious food as a whole for their customers. Next, we took a boat ride on the Yangzhou River and sadly, it was not as anticipating as Shanghai's boat ride. However, it is still different, in a good way. Ending our day, we headed back to the hotel to take a good night sleep.

Day 5

We needed to wake up early again to go to the school hence I woke up around 6.30 a.m. After breakfast, we proceeded to the school. The same image depicted in my mind yesterday appeared in front of me as I took a good look at the school layout. It is going to be the second and the last day for us in this school. Instead of observing lessons and communicating with our buddies, today's curriculum was different. We were given the chance to have first-hand experience on paper cutting, egg holder necklace and rice dumplings. We also performed a piece of dance to them to prove appreciation for the company we had on these two days. I parted with my buddy and this concludes the whole learning exchange opportunity with the Yangzhou students. The teachers were happy with our performance so far, hence they brought us to the supermarket where we bought many goodies! Later that night, we went to a bookshop to shop for books. Thinking back, I used to think Singapore's education system was very tough and boring, especially when we are required to learn 7 subjects and we have long school hours. I also used to think that this system gave us no freedom because we need to go through the same routine every single week, during the weekdays. But now, I think Singapore's education system is very carefree and beneficial. They provide shorter school hours and weekend to recuperate and rest as compared to the China students. The facilities provided to us are also much better than that of China's. (etc. toilets, canteen, classrooms). This is how we ended such an unforgettable day.

Day 6 

After breakfast, we went to the Geyuan Garden (个圆) and Daming Temple.  In the Geyuan Garden, there were many natural features such as the bamboos. In Daming Temple, we learnt about the Buddhism culture and personally being a Buddhist, it was a great opportunity to respect this form of religion in China. After lunch, we were brought to the Volkswagen factory. No doubt, Volkswagen has never seems to disappoint me! We were given a tour of the manufacturing process of these cars and to me, it was my favorite part of this entire trip. I learnt that the effort they put in to make the cars and the efficient service provided by the workers contributed to the success of this company. Volkswagen is managed professionally, by using the best equipment  sand service to produce cars, which allowed them to be such a successful company. By living up to their mottos too, it also helps this company to be such a success not only in China, but worldwide as well. It was the second last day of the entire trip and I can't help but think that it was such a pity that I did not fully appreciate the first few days of the learning journey. We were given a heart warming talk by our teachers in the holiday inn and to conclude the day, we wrote postcards to our parents back in Singapore. It was the last day and all of us felt a little unwilling to leave such a beautiful country. 

Day 7

I was dreading for the last day of the entire learning journey. However, good things always must come to an end. I guess this is the day where our lives are going to return to normal. I was somehow unwilling and satisfying by the entire experience. Mixed feelings, I guess. After the last breakfast in the hotel. We went to take the bullet trains to Shanghai. The locals were really helpful as they provided us with directions to the toilet when we asked them. We were also allowed to consume food, which really surprised me as we were not allowed to do that in Singapore. After reaching Shanghai, we ate our lunch and made our way to the airport. Flying back to Singapore, I re encountered whatever we had experience throughout the one week trip and I am sure this will be one of the best experiences I could have in River Valley High School and I am thankful for being able to have this opportunity to have fun, make friends, bond with my classmates, learn their culture and most importantly, appreciate what I have back at home. The story of my trip finally comes to an end. Good bye Shanghai. Good bye Yangzhou.

Chloe Sim (5)

Yuan Lin's Daily Reflection OELP

ODay 1:

  It was finally the day my class and i leave Singapore for Yangzhou for OELP trip. We took the Singapore airlines which was very classy. I am very excited for this OELP trip as i never been on a learning trip with all my friends overseas other than Malaysia. However, i will miss my parents for a whole week. Temperature at Shanghai was cold compared to a tropical country like Singapore, but i liked it. We meet with our tour guide when we reached Shanghai. He was a handsome middle-aged guy. In the bus, our tour guide kept introducing Shanghai's culture and some famous places to us. We went to a scenic place where there were many skyscrapers. After that we went for dinner, but all of us does not seem to get use to Shanghai's food yet. After dinner, we went on a night cruise along the Bund but we took a long time due to heavy traffic. At the Bund, all the buildings were lit up with lights. Commercials were everywhere. The night breeze was very soothing and we took many pictures. After that we went to our hotel to debrief and rest.

Day 2:

  We woke very early and had breakfast. We went to the French Concession after breakfast. We were all pleasantly surprised as we did not expect a European building built there for a long time. We had another surprise when we saw a starbucks store near it. A modern building built there could attract more tourists especially youngsters to the French Concession i guess. We went to tian zi fang which was named after an artist. There were many art work on display. They were all very nice. After that, we went to a post office where we were treated like uninvited guests. The tour guide explains to us their poor attitude and we were fairly surprised as in Singapore there is no such things. They work under the government, they will still get their pay even if their attitudes are bad. In Singapore, you would already be fired regardless you are working under the government or not. We also went to Shanghai Urban planning Exhibition Hall. Shanghai was very big, Singapore is nothing compared to Shanghai. We can also see that there are many modern buildings built in Shanghai. After that, we went to Hai Di Lao to eat hotpot. Their service was flawless, they helped a lot in the cooking. They provided a lot of materials like apron to keep ourselves clean. Most importantly, they are all helping us wholeheartedly, not for the sake of work. After that, we had a long ride to Yang Zhou.

Day 3:

  We went to try out Yang Zhou's breakfast. There were many different kinds of buns. All of them were delicious. I liked the one where we use a straw to suck out all the juice. It was quite big but not the biggest i seen. We learn that Yang Zhou people usually have a heavy breakfast which includes buns noodles and more, as they usually have two meals a day. Their lifestyle is very different to us Singaporeans as we have three meals a day. After breakfast, we visited the 瘦西湖 and the 24 bridges. The lake was very clear and peaceful, what a spectacular sight. The boat ride was relaxing as we got to enjoy the quiet scenery of the lake and the bridges around. The boats and the buildings were all very old. However, i dislike one thing: there were too many bloodsucking insects around which was very irritating. After this, we went to the block printing and paper cutting museum. I never have any talent in type of work. I was very mad while cutting as its simply impossible for me. Now i know the hardship of paper cutting. Nowadays, there are less and less people taking up these kinds of jobs as they lack patience.

Day 4:

  It was the first time i been on a exchange programme at a overseas school. I was pretty excited. Our buddies came to welcome us. My buddy was a girl around our age by the name of Liu Chang. She was a quiet girl but we got along very well. She introduced me to her school's cultures and some places. They had a warm welcome for us, they tried to speak in English for us to understand better and i can see the efforts put in. We attended some of their classes including music class. It was quite fun as we get to see some students dancing including my classmates. Through these classes, i learn that the students were very obedient and quiet. They do not talk unnecessarily and their sitting posture was very straight. Unlike Singapore, students sometimes fall asleep in class which shows their attitude towards learning. Yangzhou students were all very hardworking. They also have ten minutes of rest between each lesson where they can take a short nap. I think this is very effective for learning as students can rest their eyes so they can concentrate on the next lesson. Studies shown that a avergae student can concentrate up to an hour. When the teacher asks a question, most of the time all the students were all eagerly raising their hands to answer. We had a scrumptious recess including chicken wing. However, my buddy told me that they usually have a simple recess. It was only at times like overseas students go to their school and they are allowed these delicacies. In contrast, Singapore schools have many varieties of food we can choose from and they are all very delicious. At noon, there was a long break for students. It was a important time for our buddies and us to interact. We joked around and played many games like arm wrestling and chess. In the evening, we went to Lushi Manshion to jave our dinner. It was a traditional restaurant which serves traditional Yangzhou food. There were many appetizer which was very delicious. After dinner , we went to take another boat ride around the Yangzhou river. Comparing the night scenes between Shanghai's Huang Pu Jiang and Yangzhou's Grand canal, Shanghai is more modernised than Yangzhou. Yangzhou scenery was mush more traditional and simple. This allows China to preserve its tradition and at the same time improve its economy. 

Day 5:

  Its the second and last day of the exchange programme. We had some activites today we have never experience before. We made a egg holder necklace which mine failed terribly. Also we had a rice dumpling making competiton, it was a fun competition where we bonded together as a team and learnt how to make rice dumplings. However, when i went to the toilet, i was devastated at the sight. The toilet was dirty and unkempt. There was no tissue paper and there was only a bucket for big business. This is a whole world of difference in Singapore clean toilet. I learnt to appreciate what we have in Singapore school. Even the teachers in Yangzhou are a lot more times scarier than Singapore teachers.  We also had paper cutting lessons and chinese painting where we learn a bit during Rv literature. During the afternoon break, we did our last practice on our dance which we were preparing to showcase to the Yangzhou students and teachers. We spent days to practice and needless to say, we did a great job. We also managed to get to see some of the performance put up by the Yangzhou students. Including dancing, singing and chinese orchestra. After that, we went to a bookshop to shop. I bought some books as souvenior for my family. I can clearly see that all the books were organised very well, but to my dismay almost all the books are in chinese.

Day 6:

  Today we went to the Volkswagen factory. Its my first time in a car factory and i am very interested in cars. We were prohibited to take photos in the factory to my dismay but i understood the importance of keeping it secret to other companies. I was amazed at how clean the factory is, there were many machinery parts. It was a very rare sight to see all the machines. Now that i think about it, i seen most of Yangzhou's car is Volkswagen, i guess its the most trusted brand and in Yangzhou. There will be more investment in China Volkswagen as human labour is cheaper and there is less competition in China among the different brands.

Day 7:

  Its the last day of the OELP trip, time sure flies fast. We took a magnet train from Yangzhou back to Shanghai to leave for Singapore. The train was very orderly and timely. In contrast, Singapore's train are all late and people are always pushing. Ther magnet train was very clean and the seats could be rotated and there are some people selling commercial items and food during the journey. It was a very pleasant ride.

Charmaine's daily reflection

 Day 1:

It was finally the day of the long awaited trip to Yangzhou and Shanghai. Being an introvert, I could not bear to leave my parents. I had mixed feelings for this trip. On one hand, I was excited because I have never been to China and it was a rare opportunity to travel overseas with my classmates and friends. But on the other hand, I was apprehensive as it was the first time I was traveling without my parents. I got really emotional and teared up.My friends comforted me, saying that they will be my mummy and daddy for the week!😂I stopped tearing up after awhile. However,my mood did not become better as I was not looking forward to the 5-6h flight because I have motion sickness and I dislike the feeling of wanting to vomit.😖

Touching down in Shanghai, I was anxious to get wifi or 3G to contact my parents.😩The weather was cooling but it was not what I had expected😅 I imagined that it would be much colder. When we boarded the bus, the tour guide started introducing Shanghai to us, telling us it's history, economy and etc. The ride to the bund was quite long but I was kept occupied by the views of Shanghai.

                                       

Reaching the Bund! The tour guide explained that the Bund was less crowded then usual because it's a weekday. If we were to go to the Bund on a weekend, it might be a lot more crowded. There were people taking wedding pictures there because of the beautiful scenery and some photographers started taking photo of us.😂

                            

After that, because of the heavy traffic, we had to walk quite a long way to board the bus. Our next destination, DINNER!😍 I was quite hungry already because we had an early lunch on the plane.  

                            

The dinner tasted like the food we have in Singapore. It tasted really good! Then we made our way to HuangPuJiang for our boat ride!

        

        

The night view was really spectacular sight! It looks a lot better than when you look at it in daylight because at night, there's a lot of different lightings that lights up the place. The lightings there were for advertisements, to attract tourists and to promote products. It reminds me of hong kong's 新光大道 and Singapore's Marina Bay sands and gardens by the bay.

       

       

As there was a delay in the flight, everything else was delayed and it was quite late when we reached our hotel. The bus ride from HuangPuJiang to our hotel was again another long ride. When we finally reached our hotel and got our room cards, we hurried to get to our rooms to turn in for the night because it was quite a long day. However, we had to wait for one another because there is only one lift. We didn't unpack much because we were only staying one night. I feel that the room needs to be brighter! 

       

Day 2:

Waking up to the sound of my alarm clock, I groggily switched it off and went back to sleep. However, LiXian woke me up and refused to let me go back to sleep because I had to shower in the morning and it would take a while so there's no time for me to sleep for another 10min.😞 During breakfast, I realised that I was the only one who didn't wake up with the sun at 5.30.😂 Lixian, Yixuan, Clarissa Neo and some other friends woke up with the sun at 5.30. Breakfast was okayy I guess. I rarely had time for a proper breakfast because normally it was too early to eat so I just drank milk and made my way to school. After breakfast, we checked out and went to the French Concession. The French Concession had really beautiful architecture!

There was also cafés and restaurants such as Starbucks and Haagen-Daz ice cream. Starbucks had a additional product in their menu which was Chinese tea. Chinese people like to drink Chinese tea so Starbucks added tea to the menu to attract Chinese customers. 

We also visited the shanghai urban planning exhibition hall, where we got to see the rough 3d image of the whole of Shanghai. The tiny 3D building of Shanghai was magnificent. From this, we could learn that Shanghai is currently building a lot of modern buildings to keep up with the mordenization of the world but at the same time, is trying to preserve the cultural heritages of China. 

         

After the visit to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition, we went for our Lunch, at the HaiDiLao.（海底捞）😍 The service by HaiDiLao was Spectacular! Before we even reach the restaurant, they has people stationed outside to bring us in. They provided us with spectacle clothes, aprons so that we do not dirty our clothes, and hair tie so that our hair does not get in our way when we are eating. Their service was perfect! I feel that Singapore restaurants should learn from HaiDiLao. Before this, I use to think that China people were arrogant and rude but after this experience, I realised that not all China people are the same. There are actually friendly people in China. The food was great! But after adding the mutton, the soup tasted like mutton too.🐑🐑🐑 So it wasn't that nice after that. 😅After that filling sumptuous meal, we started on our four hour trip to Yangzhou.

 

                 

             

             

                                                           HaiDiLao also provides service for painting of nails! 

Day 3:

 We went to the 冶春茶社 for our breakfast to have a real Yangzhou Breakfast. It was really heavy and I wasn't used to the food because the dim sums we normally have are 虾饺，叉烧包，and etc. But there are none of these in Yangzhou. They had buns but they had different fillings inside that buns which I have not tried before. However, I enjoyed the special dumpling which is huge that had soup inside which we had to use a straw to suck it up. Local Yangzhou people eats heavy breakfasts because they only have two meals a day. Breakfast and dinner. So they have to eat more in order to not get hungry during the afternoons. 

                                   

                                   

After which, we visited the 瘦西湖 and the 24 bridges, which was actually connected. It was just like the internet has said, it was a picturesque sight. It really feel as though I was back in the past!🏯 There were a lot of people there and it was quite crowded but we got to enjoy the quiet scenery in the boat during our boat rides. 

Oops it's slanted😅

After this, we went to the block printing and paper cutting museum. I learnt how printing was made in the past and I admire them for having the paitence to carve each word slowly on the wood because it's a really hard job. If the carver were to carve a wrong word, he has to redo the whole thing! Of course there is another type of block printing which is the one word per block printing. It makes things a lot easier for the carver but the printer will have difficulting looking for the word he needs because there are a lot of Chinese characters.😰 These are the dying occupations because not many has the patience to sit and carve out each word. We interviewed the people there and asked them why they would want to work in this line and they said that if they didn't work in this line, there will be no one else to continue on and the future generation would not be able to see how it is done. Moreover, they liked their occupation a lot. 

In the evening, we went to the dongguanjie to watch the 扬州四大美女show and got to shop there for awhile. 

There were the sugar art peddler and the clay portrait peddler at the dongguanjie. It was also a diminishing occupation as little of the younger generation have the passion and paitence to learn and continue the occupation. 

Day 4: 

We had to wake up earlier because we'll be having our exchange programme today.😩 At first, everyone was just awkward but after a while we got familiar with our buddies and started opening up abit more. I realised that students in Singapore are more fortunate than the students in China because our curriculum hours are way shorter than than the schools in China. Also, cca is not compulsory for them as the school wants them to focus more on their studies. They only have ccaa on Saturday which they get to change every week. The students there are also very hardworking and obedient. They are very self-disciplined as they do not play with the things on their table, talk in class or sleep in class. They pay full attention in every lesson and are very pro active, fighting to answer the teacher's questions in class. During the debrief, my friend, Yixuan shared that her buddy said they had army training during the holidays ensure that they are disciplined and obedient in class. In my opinion, I really think it's unnecessary to put children through such trainings because children should have their childhood and be happy. Their lunch was also really sumptuous, with chicken wings and prawns. However, we are told that normally they do not have such lunch. They never had prawns or chicken wings during their lunch before. It would be vegetables, rice and soup that tasted bland with a bit of veggie in it. I think the school should not treat us differently and provide us with chicken wings or prawns because we are there for and exchange programme, to experience their school curriculum and learn their culture. Going to the toilet was a shock beacause there was no toilet bowls for us but a drain that is connected through the six cubicles and the cubicles are no taller than our waist. Also there was only one flushing system. But I soon got used to it because when you got to go you got to go😂. The toilets as compared to our school toilets does not have mirrors because the school doesn't want the students to spend time on vanity so they did not put mirrors in the toilet. 

After that we went to the Lushi Old mansion to have our dinner. 

It was a traditional building which looked like the buildings of the Qing dynasty on TV😂. It was one of the famous restaurants in Yangzhou. This restaurant is famous for its traditional architecture! The food they serve are also really nice! This restaurant is able to preserved the traditional architecture and also earn through making this a restaurant. It is a great idea and maybe Shanghai can use it preserve their culture heritages. Through this dinner, we were able to experience eating in a traditional place. There's also a back garden with a zig-zag bridge. Our teachers told us that the bridges wer made for two reasons. One, it was because the people believed that there's ghosts and that the ghosts could only walk straight, so they built a zig zag bridge. Two, it was beacause by walking zig zag, we would be able to see more things.

Day 5:

It was the second last day we would be going to the Yangzhou School. We learnt how to make dumplings and an egg holder necklace for the dragon boat festival, 元宵节. In Singapore, we just eat the dumplings and have a dragon boat race during the festival but in Yangzhou, they have a lot of other traditions that they have to do. They even take time to make their own dumplings! My grandma used to make them but she's grown older and does not have the strength to make them so she buys from the supermarket. Moreover, my family doesn't really like to eat the dumplings. BUT I DO!😅 We also learnt how to make Chinese knots and the traditional paper cutting. We actually had these activities in school during the RV lit lessons in year 1. I thought it would be easy since I have done it before but I was wrong!😔 For paper cutting, we were normally given a picture to staple onto the red paper but we weren't given a template and weren't sure how to begin. But the teacher told us that we can draw on the paper and then start cutting and it was a lot easier with a guide line. It was a tedious job. The lines were too thin and the paper felt as if it would tear any moment. It requires a lot of patience and skills to finish the cutting. If the petals of the flowers were too thick, it wouldn't have looked as nice as what the teacher had showed us. If we cut the petals thinly, the paper would tear and we would have to redo it. It was very irritating. Today, I also learnt that the students in China weren't allowed to bring electronical devices to school because the school wants the student to focus on studies. So no phones or iPads. Moreover, some students aren't allowed to have phones until the age of 18 because their parents don't allow them to. I think it's abit too extreme to treat their children that way. They should give children some freedom so that they can relax after a stressful day in school for example. One of the many friends I made in China said that they had extra activities on weekends as well. I thought that the extra activities would be hobbies such as piano, guitar or ballet. But it was tuition for the subject that my friends was the weakest in. From this, I have learnt to cherish my parents because they do not force me to go for things that I don't want to go for. I feel that they parents in China are abit too hard on their children.

Day 6:

Today, we went to the Volkswagen company. We had to travel in a tramp. I think it's a tramp😂. It was damn fun! Reaching the Volkswagen factory, the sun was scorching hot. It was like when I was training during my cca! It was my first time in a car factory and I always thought that a car factory would be quite hot because of the weather and dirty. However, the factory was really clean and it was air conditioned! It was really a rare experience to enter a car company factory. The workers there were kind of surprised to see us. I think they rarely get visitors😅 During that debrief, some of my classmates mentioned that they observed that most of the cars in Yangzhou were Volkswagen cars. I think that Germany would want to work with China and invest in China because China is really big so there would be sufficient land to build their factories. Also China has a huge population, thus the large amount of manpower. They can hire more workers and give them a lower wages so the company can earn more money so it would be an advantage for the company. Also there are less car brands in China to compete with Volkswagen as compared to Singapore. So Germany would rather invest in China than investing in Sinagpore. 

Day 7:

It was the last day of the OELP trip. I was anxious to return to see my parents but also sad that we had only 7 days in Yangzhou and Shanghai and soon we had to return to reality and face our pile of homework.😂There was still so much that we have yet to see in China. We took the maglev train from Jiangsu station. I was exited to travel on the bullet train because it was another first time. It is said to travel at a really fast speed. Before we boarded the train, the tour guide told us that the chairs on the train were reversible because in the past, people like to talk and chit chat with one another or play card games throughout the journey. It's damn cool!😂 I assumed that the interiors of the bullet train would be like that of Singapore's Mrt train. But I was wrong again. It was like the interior of our Singapore airplane! The chairs were cushioned and were able to lower the chair for us to lie down and there was a person pushing a trolley and asking if we wanted a drink like the air stewardess would. Throught the trip, I have learnt to become more Independent and to appreciate Singapore.