Sunday, December 2, 2007

Welcome to my blog

Hi, I am Kevin from 3N2. I posting reflections from my trip to Li Cheng Er Zhong, Jinan

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

trip to jinan

tuesday 20 november 2007
day 1----4th november

it was a tiring 6 hours flight from singapore to beijing.when we reached beijing airport we got a chance to exprience the wheather in china,we also got a chance to see the sunset at around only 4 pm singapore time there is no time difference between china and singapore.

Then we took another plane this time jinan.upon arrival at the airport,the tour guides and 2 of the school teachers were there to receive us.After that we checked into our hotel and had our dinner.

day2----5th november

After we had our breakfast,we went to LiCheng ErZhong which was a 40 minutes drive away . The first thing that caught my sight when we entered the school was a red banner that says 'welcome students and teachers of chai chee secondary' and we were surprised that the school is very big and we also saw the students running in a very disciplined manner.After that we went to meet our buddies .i was surprised that our buddies spoke to us in english as they welcomed us.The school organize a welcome ceremony for us they also left us some time to interact with our buddies and exchange gifts.My buddy also told me that their school is very strict with rules as their school is one of the top schools in jinan i joked with him saying that im glad to be a singaporean.

After we had lunch with our buddies.We had a tour of the school compound by liu yang and xue qi the school tour guides.They brought us around the school such as classrooms ,school hostels , school's garden and even the schools minimart.

After the welcome ceremony and school interaction , we had a welcome dinner organise by the school and it feels like we are being treated like VIPs.


day 3----6th
november

we attended
poetry lessons and later joined in the morning run but with our own singaporean style of running in which the licheng erzhong students laughed at us. we also learnt about chinese calligraphy .

we learn how to crave our surnames on marble and it was hard as you need to be focus on what you are doing. We also learn how to make pottery in which you need alot of time to think on what you want to make before you start doing..


day 4----7th november

we attend a chinese lesson on china's history and then later joined in the morning run.Then we learnt about wushu the chinese martial arts.we learnt alot about wushu and the moves of wushu.












Later we went to Baotu Springs and quan Cheng square where we learnt alot thing about these places. Baotu Springs is also known as the fountain of youth as we saw a elderly refilling 3 big bottles of spring water.Then we later went to Quan Cheng square where we saw the monument of jinan.later we also visited damling lake and also visited the amusement park at the lake where we played dragon boat.












day5----8th november

This was the day we went to mount tai (taishan).we went up the mountain in cable cars as the stairs up the mountain were very steep and you could lose your step at any moment and fall down the mountain.As we reached the top of the mountain it turns out it wasn't that cold at all as it wasn't winter but the view was fantastic as you could see the surrounding area and it just takes your breath away. Then we also ate ice cream up there and some of the china people thought we were crazy to eat ice cream in such cold weather. Then we went to que qi hotel a 5 star hotel in qufu.











day 6----9 th november

This is the day we went to confucius temple where we learnt alot more about him and how he looks like as well as his home. Later we went to confucius grave sit and other important people buried during his time. We also paid our respects to him before we left the cemetery. After we had our lunch we went to confucius instuition where we got a speech from doctor zhang and understand how he lived and how he became famous in china history. We also bought some books from the instuition where got even more information about him. Then we went back jinan and went to sleep and got ready for they days ahead. (p.s i never took any photos on this day.nobody's perfect)


day 7----10th novmeber

We went back to LiCheng ErZhong ,we went to a classroom where we learnt about poems and we also got a chance to see how students study , learn and behave during lessons. After the lesson we did our morning run and later
went to learn how to play chinese instruments.

We also made friends with all of the instructors how taught us how to play the chinese instruments.





After that we then had lunch with our home visit buddies and then we later had some free time to spend with our first day buddies at the school basketball court . Then at about 3 pm we went to visit our buddies house that was the same time the students finish their afternoon nap .we were taken to our buddies house by their parents as the house we went to were very near. We got a chance to see how a china family home looks like from the inside and we were surprise that the houses in china are big the family of our buddies welcomed us warmly as they shoot those party poopers and took video of us in the house . We had a conversation with the family we told them about life in singapore and they told us about life in china also. After the conversation we exchange gifts i gave them a gold plated goldfish.Later we learn how to make dumplings but ours were not as good as our buddy mother as hers was better . After we made the dumplings we went outside for a while as the mother needed some time to cook. Then we went back to have our dinner with the family and the food was delicious and we got to eat the dumplings we made. After the dinner the family gave us gifts and then we went back to the school and said goodbye to our buddies and later went back to our hotel.

day 8----11th november

we attended a english lesson for sec 3 the english lesson are the primary school standard in singapore as they do not speak much english and their english is not really good as they spell headmaster as 'headermaster' and they spell our school name as chan chee secondary.





After the english lesson we had the morning run with the students and later learn how to play drums with the students .Drumming turns our to be difficult as your hand movement needs to right and you need to get the rythm right . Then we did chinese dancing and it was pretty fun some of us anyway.











After the drumming lesson we had lunch and after lunch we went to a vegetable farm where we see how fruits are grown in china and we also found that cotten also come from a plant.












After we had visited the vegetable garden we went back to the school to have our ping pong tournament and spent the time at the school till 4pm . Later we went to visit shandong university and the cathedral near by. At about 6pm we had dinner at shandong university restaurant . We later went back to the hotel and got ready for tomorrow.

day 9----12th november

This was the last day we went back to the school . We had a math lesson in a secondary 1 classroom and learn about angles. After the lesson we had the morning run and treasure every moment of it as it would be the last time we would be running in cold wheather . Later we went to learn to make chinese knots and like the lesson very much as we met our friends again . We spent alot of time making knots and taking pictures with them . Then we went to have lunch and that was the last time i saw them we gave them our email addresses to keep in touch with each other .

After we had our lunch we went to meet our first day buddies
he took photos and exchange email addresses with one another and gave each other gifts before leaving the school.































After we left the school we went shopping and later went back to the hotel.

day 10----13th november

we went to visit yellow river and later went to shopping nothing to talk much about anyway.

day 11----14th november
TIME TO GO BACK HOME HURRAY!