Jin hui's Oelp reflectionss~~~

BY: JIN HUI

Day 1:

It was a long flight of around 4 and a half hours and when we finally arrived at Taipei, our first destination was the Taipei 101. On the way there, we saw many sceneries which were not often seen in Singapore.  There were hills almost everywhere,

 and citizens were fishing at nearby lakes, a sight uncommon to us. The hills were filled with greenery and we even saw a recycling and storage 'field'. However, there were many industries which released a lot of waste gases into the atmosphere. The water in the lakes were clear and transparent, and there were citizens leisurely fishing on a typical saturday. In comparison, most of singapore's waters are dirty and unclean, and the water is hardly clear. When we reached taipei 101, the first thing i noticed was the tall height of the tower, which we had already seen from far away.

 As we entered the building, it seemed nothing more than a mere shopping mall. However, after we queued to board the elevator, the ride up to the 89 floor was exciting. My ears were blocked by the pressure as the elevator travelled up at a speed of 1010 m/min, and reached the top in approximately 37 seconds. The scenery was amazing as thousands of bright lights lighted up the night sky. 

We took many selfies and pictures and the staff there even provided us with an equipment which gave a description for certain areas around the building. Afterwards, we went a few floors down, and saw the damper, which was basically a huge ball, that was built in to stabilize the building in times of earthquakes. 

Finally, it was dinnertime. We ate dinner, which was a tat bit salty, and went to a nearby seven-eleven. However, on the way there, we saw a man lying on the streets, seeming as though he was about to go to sleep. The sight was terrifying and sad, and it made me realise that there is indeed poverty happening around the world. 

Day 2: 

Today, we visited the national palace museum where we saw many artifacts from ancient China.

 Such artifacts include ancient bowls, plates, weapons, snuff bottles, caligraphy etc. There were many different carvings on most of them and some of the most commonly seen drawings were dragons and phoenixs. However, i learnt that the 审美观 of ancient China was different from our's. For example, 杨贵妃 was considered pretty and beautiful as she was plump. However, nowadays, we consider skinny people to be pretty. I learnt that people have different views and opinions of what 'pretty' is. Secondly, we visited the Shung Ye Aborigines Museum and as i saw how they were able to create things manually, i learnt that we do not need modern-day machines to survive. 

We should be more independent and not rely on machines to do all the work for us. Lastly, we went to Shifen to do something more 'touristy'. We lit our own sky lanterns:D

 

 (2H FTW!)

 and tried many taiwanese delights!!

 (OMNOMNOM:P)

 Also, the citizens there would promote their products aggressively/enthusiastically. On the other hand, Singaporeans would tend to their own stall or simply give out flyers. It shows how proactive Taiwan is compared to Singapore. 

Day 3:

Today, we visited Jian Guo High School, where we made friends with 'older brothers', who were welcoming and friendly. They prepared a lot to show and entertain us in order to let us feel at home.

(BEATBOX!!!)

 (MAGIC)

 From their warm welcome, i learnt that i should be more welcoming and hospitable to guests in order to allow them to feel comfortable in a new environment. They also bought us shaved ice to try

 (Eat, eat and EAT AGAIN!!)

My buddy was really nice as he taught yantong and me all about the school and led us around, holding the door open for us, putting our bottles away for us etc. 

We also visited the Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen memorial hall, where i observed that both memorial halls were very grand and solemn. The Taiwanese were very respectful to their national founders and had deployed guards to guard them in both halls.

 The change of guards every hour was also very grand and this made me learn that we should be respectful and grateful to our national founders that have thought for the well-being of the citizens and the country, and led the country to become what it is today. Comparing Taiwan to Singapore, we do have memorial halls too, such as the memorial hall for Lim Bo Seng. However, the memorial halls in Singapore are not as grand as the halls we have been to in Taiwan. I think that we, too, should have guards to guard the memorial halls as a sign of respect for our national founders and thank them for their contribution to the country. We should be thankful to the people that have led the country to become what it is today. FINALLY....we went to Xi Men Ding!! Ximending was all bright lights, music and shopping, and the atmosphere was really high! Like Singapore's Bugis street, we could munch on snacks as we shopped around for items and souvenirs and not to forget, FOOD!!:D In comparison to ximending, i think that Bugis street should have a higher atmosphere in order to allow tourists and visitors to be more hyped up, willing to open up their wallets and shop around. This concludes our adventure for Day 3. LETS LOOK FORWARD TO DAY 4!!

DAY 4:

Today, we attended lessons at JianGuo High School!! We were assigned to class 125,

 and they really welcomed us warmly.

 (Awww so sweet:')

 Hmm... Lets look at the differences between River Valley High and Jian Guo High. The students there were able to wear any school-based clothing everyday! The teacher stated that as they did lots of exercises each day and usually sweat a lot, the school allowed them to change into any school-based clothing at any point of the day. Why do we only get to wear them on Friday:'( Secondly, the students there were not scolded for coming late to class, sleeping during lessons, forgetting to bring their textbooks or even using their phones during lessons!! Unfair... They were also able to leave the school compounds during lunch to enjoy outside food. URGHH I'M GETTING JEALOUS. They also got to bring their food to class to eat, as they did not have a proper canteen with chairs and tables to dine on.

(YUMYUM:b)

To conclude these differences, the students there are given lots of freedom and have the freedom of choice. Definitely, having freedom is good, but is too much freedom really that good? In my opinion, having too much freedom isn't always a good thing. Being students, they may not be matured enough to know that they need to study in order to have a better or easier life in the future. Furthermore, they would not learn to be respectful to the teachers as they are not scolded for using phones while the teacher is speaking. Contrary to that, some freedom is also good, as students would not be too stressed out with demanding school rules and regulations, and school life would be more enjoyable. That concludes our visit to Jian Guo then...thanks for showing me around, I'll miss my buddies!! 

(Too short >_<)

Next, we visited the Martyrs' Shrine where we, again, watched the change of guards. There was no guided tour of any sort, so i guess we didn't really learn much there._. At night, we visited the Eslite Bookstore, which was very much like a HUGE but normal bookstore in Singapore. 

 (Ms Goh Qian Wei happily chillin outside the bookstore:P)

Day 5:

Today, we visited the aborigines school in Wulai!! It was a school that was different from Jian Guo High, filled with huge insects flying around everywhere. The insects were frightening:O This time, we went to a mixed school and met with 15 yr old buddies.

 They were friendly and easy-going, and i enjoyed my time there. Some differences that i observed was that they did not study with written-work, but instead spoken language. Their 母语, was not Chinese, but a different language known as atayal language. We went on a sort of 'hunt' with our buddies where we searched for cards with pictures of the animals we had learnt in atayal language today. We learnt the names of a flying squirrel, mountian goat(?), monkey, and a wild boar. My group then went up to read the list of animals we had found, and earned a prize!! It was a stack of cards for us to learn the atayal language. 

Lastly, i have to mention about the scenary surrounding the school. It.was.AMAZING. The mountains just beside the school filled with greenery was a SPLENDID sight. I was mesmerised by the scenery and the freshness of the air was great. 

Then, came the dreadful physical education lesson where we lost our faces haha!! The students there were skilled basketball players and they dribbled the ball and threw the ball into the hoop in perfect arches. Our skills were nothing compared to them. Hey! Let's compete on our flexibility skills, hmph! After a while, we had to leave our buddies and visit a museum nearby, which taught us about the different cultures of the aborigines tribe. On the way out of the village, i saw another amazing sight:) 

 (The gushing water was lovely...)

Afterwards, we visited the RAO HE NIGHT MARKET!! 

I was sooooooooo looking forward to our visit there! With all the good food, i was hesitating to buy which first. In the end, i ate a feast:D My belly was exploding! Haha  i ate fried chicken, shaved ice, spring onion biskets(direct translation. It tasted like roti prata), pancakes like what we find in Mr Bean(just that i tried the pizza flavour:P), and a lychee flavoured jelly. The food tasted AMAZING!! (thumbs up thumbs up) I had a wonderful dinner:')

Day 6: 

Finally, our last day in Taiwan arrived...... To head start our day, we visited the confucius temple, where we walk around the temple, learning about different features around the temple and its meanings. We then watched a 4D theatre movie, where i admit. I KIIIIIIIINDA dosed off:B BUT! I didn't sleep for long as there were constant (and random) effects throughout the screening. Almost immediately after i dosed off, my calves were hit by strings below the chairs(AND IT HURT REAL BAD). Another second, my face was hit by a typhoon of wind and the next second, water was splashed onto my face._. However, the strings were used the most, and the strings hurt the most awwww>_< however, I DID learn new meanings from the screening. I DID!! It was about 3 kids going to the temple to complete a report, and travelling back in time to meet 孔子 before learning new insights from him and returning back to the present....yeapp:) OKAYYS NEXT! We went to a pastry shop where i bought sun cakes, cheese popcorns and mochi for my family members (and me) to eat when i get back to Singapore. (The cheese popcorns are really amazing:)

We then headed down (or more like headed up) to Jinguashi, which was a gold mining site in the past. We saw all types of gold from sponge gold to fine gold and also some precious stones. We learnt about the equipment used to dig the gold such as oil lamps or helmets with headlights on them. Mehhh~~nothing much. We then went to JiuFen, our last and final destination in Taiwan._. I bought lots of jelly and face masks for my mother and relatives and friends haha^^ as they were really heavy, i ordered my TRUSTY RIGHT-HAND WOMAN, GOH QIAN WEI, to help:D The day ended quite badly as we went to the doctor. To report, on this trip, 7/26 of us had fever, with the remaining 1/4 suffering from cough and sore throat. I was one of the 1/4... The fevers went up really high to about 39.2 degrees and there was no choice but to visit the clinic._. Let's hope everyone gets better by tomorrow:')

Day 7 (the end):

EARLY MORNING....YAWWWWWWN...Zzzz 

We had to wake really early to get to the airport with our masks all worn. Haha we really seemed like terrorists at the airport.

We were really tired out and with the fatigue from the last 6 days, this happened hahaha^^

 With our OELP coming to an end, it was really a pity. I had longed for it so much last year, and now, it's over... I hope 2H would forever remember this trip to Taiwan together as a class, remembering how much we took care of one another, remembering the secret partys we had in the hotel rooms at night, chatting and hanging out like real buddies. It was a really fun trip:) Thanks 2H!! (The best class eva)