Day 23- IS

It’s our last IS lesson today, we learnt about the history of Chinese philosophy and culture. They have plenty practices such as the boss has to sit facing the door and the smallest staff have to sit back facing the door plus he/she has to foot the bill! This does not happen in Singapore, usually in Singapore, the boss will give the treat and they do not practice such seating arrangements.
After that we were given this worksheet, where we have to give perspective of different scenario, there was one scenario where this guy (the china guy) he plays host to this American guy, he does everything with him when the American guy was in china, but when the china guy went to America he didn’t get the same treatment and the china guy wasn’t happy with him and didn’t want to talk to him ever again. In my perspective I feel that it’s okay however in the perspective of China people, they want the same treatment as they give others and they feel that they are obligated to bring them all around and follow them wherever the visitor wants.

Day 22- written test and god listens

First written test here, it was pretty okay I guess. Now I’ll to wait for the results and I hope I don’t disappoint myself yet again. Receiving lousy results ain’t the nicest feeling you know you know!?
I’m really glad my prayers are answered! We didn’t stick to the lesson break lesson break routine! Thank you miss neo! Afternoon lessons were cancelled because we were rewarded for studying hard for her test! BIG JOKE HUH!
Lunch at a Japanese restaurant, one of the very few Japanese restaurants here, I must say that China is finally opening its doors to Japan ever since WWII. I heard from my local student leader he told us that the older Chinese people here in China do not to use Japanese products/items as they feel that the things they produce are lousy. This is a very narrow minded perception, just because they came and conquer them during the war they feel that everything they do or make is and will be lousy, but what happened in the past is the past. Thankfully only minority of the people here think like that( mostly the older generation) if not no sushi for me! ):

Day 21-lesson time yet again

• Complete our tutorials
• Practical
• Lunch
• Free to study for tomorrow’s test.
From what I know Wuhan is one of the more civilised and more developed states in China. Never did I expect people to stare at you when you eat! It wasn’t the first time, the last time we were there, we saw this little boy eating the leftovers of the patrons, he didn’t do much he just sat a corner, when people leave he’ll just check if there are leftovers or not.
It was different today! This time it was a middle age lady, while we were happily having our meal she kept staring at us with her huge eyes. Even as she walked she still manages to stare at us at the corner of her eyes. It’s not only scary but it also disgusting!
Reflection:
She was an able bodied lady, she could have looked for a job and support herself so she wouldn’t have to rely on leftovers firstly it is unhygienic, secondly MacDonald? It’s so unhealthy. A very popular American documentary “supersize me” where this guy ate MacDonald 3 times a day for 30 days straight not only did he gain 11.11 kg he experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction and fat accumulation to his liver! It took him 14 months to lose the weight he gained. I don’t think the lady knows that how bad MacDonald is to her health, if she were to continue for another 2 more months she might die of heart attack! ( if only i brought my camera, you would know who to beware of)

Day 20- we’re half way there

Same old nothing, the only difference was rain. Every time when it rains here in Wuhan I feel all annoyed and frustrated, it’s so different here because when it rains, it will rain the whole day plus it’ll be super cold to the extent that mist will appear when you speak and it’s super gloomy!

I remember the IS teacher mentioning that the weather here in Wuhan is really unpredictable one moment it can be hot the next its freezing cold! I’m experiencing it now so YAY ME L

Nothing much happened dinner at backstreet and back to the hostel .

Reflection

This routine of lesson, break, lesson then break again is really talking a toil on me, not only am I feeling more tired than ever, I am having difficulties with breathing much more here than back in SG. Even though it’s not as hectic but I just get use to such fixed routines.

Back in Singapore we never had such fixed timings; our timetable was more flexible, like starting at different timing everyday and also ending at different timings. This routine is making me feel like a prisoner, every morning wake up, breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, sleep, it’s so fixed so rigid.

I miss everything back in SG, another 20 days and we’ll be back in sunny Singapore.

This song really portrays what I’m feeling now.

Glee cast- I’ll stand by you

“ Oh, why you look so sad?

Tears are in your eyes

Come on and come to me now

Don't be ashamed to cry

Let me see you through

'Cause I've seen the dark side too”

Day 19 director visiting

Day 19 director visiting

We covered on how to do business in China for IS today. They have many do’s and don’ts here but it’s roughly the same as Singapore. Example: not staring at people, or not giving taboo stuff like clocks and shoes as presents. This really made me think, is it necessary to do business here in China when there are so many other markets out there?

Everyone says that China is one of the hottest markets in the world now, but size doesn’t determine how great the market is, it’s what they have to offer VS the size. A huge market doesn’t mean that they are good and a small market doesn’t mean that they are lousy.

After IS, Ngee Ann’s deputy principle came to visit us to see how we were, and if we liked Wuhan.  It was really nice of him to stop by even with his busy schedule. Photos taken and that was the end.

photos:

listening to the director

director

 

Day 18 last day of the cruise

Day 18 last day of the cruise

After checking out we headed to san xia, but this time from a different view, we were on top of it! It was way better than the just seeing the walls out of our cabin windows but because of the fog we weren’t unable to capture the greatness of the dams. The dams were also used to generate electricity for 3 states in China

Reflection:

If Singapore was as big as China we could build our own dams we not only have water we also can generate our own electricity and we would not have to rely on other countries and we could be more independent than we are now! However international ties are also important, because we are a small country, with diplomatic ties with other bigger countries will not only strengthen our position globally too.

After visiting san xia I’ve leant that whatever the Chinese put their minds to do, they will complete it even if it takes longer than expected they will complete it. It was sun yat sun’s dream to build something so huge back in 1919 and it was only completed in 2005, so time doesn’t matter, it’s the determination and perseverance that is most important.

 
hydroelectricity


the very nice little girl that allowed us to share seats with her


the dams


a little fun wouldn't kill!


a garden which holds momuments regarding the dam


the bulldozer they used to make the dam! super duper huge!!!!!


 

Day 17 san xia cruise

Day 17 san xia cruise

Waking up by 6 for breakfast was a TORTURE! Not only was the food terrible, we were so tired too

Everything tasted bland and oily :/ we can’t expect anything from a 2 star cruise, yucky food is better than no food. Many people all over the world are dying of hunger and here we are throwing food away like nobody’s business!

Sun rise

We docked after breakfast and climbed up to BAI DI CHANG to visit this temple. At the bottom of the hill there was this carriage service, where we could pay an amount and allow the carriers to carry us up! It might seem tempting and all, but thinking of it, we came all the way here, and we should challenge ourselves!


 

The tour guide told us a story, the story that left a great impression on me was the story on how they got the coffins up to the top of the mountains, they have different analogies of how they got them up, it was either carrying them up by hand or building some stairs structure and walking all the way up. The purpose of doing this is to show how filial they are to their elders, the higher up on the mountain they are the more filial they are. Till now they do not know how they got the coffins up so high.

Reflection:

Being influence by the western culture, we aren’t so superstitious all that we’ll do is to give them a proper burial, we’ll not go through the extend of carrying their coffins to the top of the mountain to show how filial we are, as long as you know you have done your best, your elders will know it and you do not have to put on a show to show to the world how “great” you are.

Back to the boat we go,

Lunch and followed by some sightseeing of the 3 gorges, it wasn’t as magnificent as what Mr Lim claims, maybe I’m do not appreciate such sights as much as he does? Cause as we cruise along the Yangtze River, the sight is exactly the same from the start to end.

Stopped over to take this little boat to cruise along the river, the most unforgettable event was the boat was manually rowed two of them in front and two at the back,( all of them were >50 years old)  there isn’t a need for them to row us but however it’s their way of living and they have been doing it all their lives. At one point the river got really narrow and that made rowing impossible so they had to pull us along the river. Even thought it was just a short distance, I could feel their effort and the amount strength they had to put in to pull us along.

 

I’ll never let my parents do such a thing; they shouldn’t be doing such strenuous stuff in their old age, they should be enjoying live, and not working their ass off.

At night, we were all geared up to enter the dam! It took forever to enter and it took forever to get out of just one gantry! However the experience was rather cool, I’ve learnt it back in school but to experience it was even better! First they release the water so that the water level will be the same as the next gantry and continuing for the next 5 gantries. We could actually see the difference, one minute we can see the sky the next we’re facing the walls of the dams!