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The calligraphy lesson was very fruitful. Master Zhao is very experienced and explained well. He is also a humble guy doing calligraphy for his own interest in his free time as a hobby. I am surprised that even at his 70s he is still able to create masterpieces with trembling hands and it inspired me to be like that.

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we visited a school in Beijing. I realised the toilet doesnt have any doors as in the olden days people do not have doors in the cubicle.  In the six days in Beijing, I realised that the toilets are mostly squatting and do not have toilet bowls. I guess it is their culture. Their classroom do not have any fans too, their table and chairs were small. All they have is an air con behind the classroom, however it isn't very cold. the different between their school and our school is that the cleanliness in the toilet is poorer. It again made me reflect on how we take things granted when our environment is already very clean as compared to other countries. We are very privileged to have a clean living environment.Their education system is different too. Their canteen is different,they have limited type of food while our school have variety of food which we can order. The ccas offered in the school is also different. It include chines calligraphy and electronic cars. They have a car located in the school to give the students a better look of how a real car look like on the inside. On the other hand, we visited the hema supermarket, the technology there was advanced. The customer are allowed to take food and eat it straightaway example ice cream before purchasing it. This shows trust. If customers who are not honest and go against the law, and not pay, hema supermarket has a face recognition. This could catch the culprit easily. Back in Singapore, we had to purchase everything even before eating it. We started using a machine to insert money in. This can be part of our new revolution in Singapore. To sum it all, it was a memorable experience. We have grown to be a more improve version of ourselves. I learn that we should not be greedy, manners, perseverance, grateful, and many more through these educational experience. I must always remember what I have learnt in this six days.

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We went to 赵全营school today. Upon arrival we witnessed students doing their morning excercise. After asking my buddy it turned out to be their way of maintain a healthy lifestyle, same goes to the eye exercise drills they are required to do maintain their eyesight. I learnt that the school is a boarding school and most students live in the dormitory there. This is a rare sight for singapore secondary school as we can usually go home fast with public transport. I realise their 剪纸 is taken seriously there given it is a cca and there is a master, and it is way more difficult than the ones we do. It is their way of preserving their culture. The calligraphy lesson was very fruitful. Master Zhao is very experienced and explained well. He is also a humble guy doing calligraphy for his own interest in his free time as a hobby. I am surprised that even at his 70s he is still able to create masterpieces with trembling hands and it inspired me to be like that. I realise every stroke requires detail in 楷书 and tip is to be pointed at all times, it makes me appreciate calligraphy works more. I sat in their chinese语文 class where they do poem appreciation. It shocked me how they greeted the teacher, standing up quickly, straight beside their chair greeting loud and clear, it is definitely sometime to learn from. When the teacher require them to do group discussions, they immediately got into their group and discussion. In singapore we tend to be awkward or end up talking to our friends instead. Their level of participation is superb. Plucking out cabbage is a rare experience as i believe its a first for many. I like how it is part of the curriculum instead of releasing them and letting them play their phone.

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1. I learnt about the traditional Chinese culture for example Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting. During chinese calligraphy, I learnt from  赵善正 master that in calligraphy there is different strokes to it. During paper cutting, i learnt that they treated the culture so seriously until they have a cca for that.

2. We visited a neighbourhood school. I attended their science lesson. They held experiment in classes which is different from Singapore. In Singapore, we have laboratory to do experiment. I find it dangerous to do experiments in class.

3. I was inspired by how the students staying in the hostel and not meeting their families for 4 days. They have to stay in the hostel as they could not go home due to far distance from school to house.

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My experience at the middle school was much more enriching because we were able to spend more time over there. I really admire the students there because they are so outspoken. I am a little embarrassed because they are only 1/2 years younger than me and they are more confident and open in a class. Every time when asked a question, there will never be an awkward silence in between because at least 2 students will raise their hand up to answer. Even the staff there were very humble and warm. The principal shook each and everyone’s hands when we got down the bus. The teachers even help clean the tables after we made dumplings and the students were not hesitant to help. At the garden too, all of them put in effort and did not care about their clothes, shoes or hards getting dirty. Some of us don’t even want to touch the soil. The fact that they are in a same neighbourhood school as us really disappointed me because we are very different from them.

Also the Hema supermarket allowed me to look at another level of technology. They trusted their customers and they knew exactly how to handle those who break it. It would be more interesting of we were able to pay without cash. I think that Singapore is able to follow this supermarket since i feel that Singaporeans can be trusted too. Because of the strict laws we have, i dont think any Singaporeans would want to go against it.

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We went to a middle school and it was an eye-opening experience.Over there,we did a couple of activites such as paper cutting and caligraphy.I didnt know that paper cutting is so hard and it requires patience.My rooster cut out was the ugliest but i have tried my best.While doing the caligraphy,i was really awed by the master’s skills.He was really smooth with his hand skills.Although he is old,he still finds a hobby and a thing to do to fill up his free time.During the classroom observation, i really enjoyed the drama play that the students showed us.I was in an english class and they were doing drama to conclude the chapters in their english textbook.I find it very different from what we have in SIngapore as there,we only usually do mindmap to conclude the topics.This activity may boost students’ creativity.During the farm visit,i really enjoyed pulling out the vegetables.The students were really sweet and helpful.They even offered us to bring back the vegetables!So sad that i couldnt accept it.In the supermarket,I was really shocked by how technology can help us to that extend.All in all,i really enjoyed this trip and i hope to apply what ive learnt to be a better person.

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Went to the school today. We actually surprised by the warm welcome given by the school. I had to do a last minute presentation though it was a little bit not fluent and I’m very nervous but I learn that my eye contact given to audience is very important and it will let audience know that I’m confident. Although it was awkward at first when we doing communication, but I get to know my buddy and realise we actually share quite a number of same hobbies and things we liked it was a pleasant thing to communicate with the student there as it is like a cultural exchange where we tell them about our custom and they tell us about theirs. The dumpling, paper cutting and calligraphy was not my cup of tea as I’m not talented in art and have no much patient so I think I should reflect on this and work on the fact that I should be more patient. The lesson experience was quite a good one, I took up math, and I’m surprise that I actually understand what the topic is about and her teacher style resemble to my math teacher where they will urge students to be more initiative in learning. I’m also surprise by how students take up initiative to volunteer themselves and answer the question though they might be so sure, but they are willing to share and discuss the questions. This might be a rare sight in Singapore. I also think that having a farm in school is actually very very cool as u can actually eat what you planted and you will know that the food you take is actually very healthy as you won’t spay pesticide and harm your body. The farm actually also teaches students to take up the challenge to learn how to plant and not only about studying. Overall I’ve seen how hard working the students are here in Beijing in both schools that we visited.

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day five

Q1. today in the school, I learnt that the activities they planned for us is chinese culture related like Chinese calligraphy, paper cutting & wrapping of the dumplings. For chinese calligraphy, we had a famous chinese calligraphy to teach us about it like 横,竖,撇,捺,折,勾 and how we should draw it. For paper cutting, we had a 奶奶 to teach us how to cut the paper, she showed me on how to cut one of the petals and let me cut the rest. For wrapping the dumpling, we learned the steps on folding the dumpling.

Q2. In Beijing school , they practice doing the traditional stuff ( like chinese calligraphy) in school but in Singapore, we don’t really practice the traditional stuff.

Q3. I enjoy going to the supermarket today as we get to experience how it is like to be like in Beijing’s supermarket, there is like food “street” and chairs and table for people to eat at. when a worker from supermarket told us we could eat the ice cream before paying, i was shocked as I was thinking “wouldn’t anyone eat and throw it away?” then she said that there are CCTVs everywhere and it had face recognition so it would be hard for people to eat and not pay.

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1. When we go for school visit yesterday ,I learn that paper cutting is a cca in that school and they treat paper cutting very serious .when learning Chinese calligraphy which is 书法 I found out that actually even writing a vertical line there is skills into it .
I also learn that in that school they will plant their own vegetables and they will also collect it themselves ,after experiencing collecting of vegetables yesterday I found out that it is fun and enjoying ,this also can bond the class together .
We also went to Alibaba hema supermarket ,and the technology there is very high technique , they have a system that if the customer live within 3 km to the supermarket ,they will deliver the things they order within 30min to them .
2.i was inspired by how the supermarket come out with that technology , and if Singapore also have dis technology in every supermarket then it will be very convenient for those old ladies or those who having difficulties to walk .
I was also inspire by how the school teach in class ,as first when I when in the class I was shock by how they greet their teacher ,and they are very active in class also, when the teacher ask questions there will always be people who raising up their hand .
3. I would like to share with my friend the things I saw in Alibaba hema supermarket , as it is a new thing that I had never seen in Singapore ,so I would like to let them know more about those interesting thing I saw in china .

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1. Today i learnt on how to do paper cutting and chinese calligraphy. Firstly the 奶奶 showed us some of her works. Paper cutting was a little difficult for me as it was really hard to know what we have to cut and what we do not have to cut. Furthermore, some of the holes on the paper was really hard to cut out as we will first have to poke a hole then cut and trim. Then is the chinese calligraphy where we learnt about the 5 different types of chinese calligraphy and the correct way of writing the 壁画 of chinese words.

2. One difference that i see today was the toilet of the school that we went to. In singapore, all of the toilets have doors to not let people invade our privacy. But in china not having doors are really normal to them. We singaporean find it really weird. Another difference that i see is the front boards that they are using. In singapore we use white boards to teach while in china, they still uses black board to teach which i found that it  was really interesting.

3. One thing that i really appreciate today is the school that we went to. I really appreciate the effort that they put in to conduct activities for us and make it really fun and enjoyable. I really enjoyed the time spend with my buddy and getting to know more about their school. I found the technology at the supermarket really interesting like how they actually thought of the idea to have a automatic machine where u can buy things online and the people in the shop will help u take the things and put it in a bag then place it on the machine and it will then be on top of our head and moving towards the place where then people will help to transport then to your place.

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the visit to the zhapquanying school had me realise that though they are a village school, they still have good amenities and they are doing relatively well in the recent years. However, they seem to feel inferior towards the international schools as they kept applogising. i think that in china, the difference between the rich and the poor is very big and thus people here tend to feel inferior or less worthy when compared to the people at beijing nom 35 high school. In singapore, there is more equality since they dont "catergorise" the people from families who are more well off and people from families who have a small pocket money. This will prevent stigmatisation and the feeling of inferiority.

the visit to the hema supermarket had me in awe at their technology for fast and quick delivery for those living within the 5km radius from the supermarket. Those living im that range can get their goods delivered in just 30 minutes. china is indeed very advanced in technology and we have a lot to learn from them. In order to do so, we need to establish good relations with China and that means that we have to know their culture well before forming ties with China.

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day 5
today we went to zhaoquanying school. their school is really huge. we did many things today and get to see our buddy. it  was really awkward with my buddy at the start but we slowly interact with each other and get to know more about one another. i also get to learn more about their education system. for example , they stay in hostel in their schools and only go back home on fridays which is part of their timetable. what i see : during the lesson observation , i see that when the teacher ask the students to get into their groups , they get into their groups very fast. what i think : i think that it is very good and we should learn from them because we tend to always go in our cliques when doing group work and not willing to mix around. we are also not willing to step out of our comfort zone. what i wonder : i wonder how they are not awkward with one another when they are not with their cliques and able to finish the group work quickly.

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during the lesson observation i noticed that the students are very initiative and quick to react in class. when the teacher asked them to form groups or volunteer, many of then willingly stood up and walked up to the front to present. i feel quite amazed as in our school many of us are very reluctant to volunteer ourselves. i think i can apply this when u go back to school by answering the teachers questions in class and having a sense of urgency by moving quickly.

we also learnt how to make dumplings today right before lunch. our china buddies taught us the basics of folding the dumpling. we start with sticking the middle together, followed by folding in the sides then sealing up the dumpling while keeping it arched inwards. this was a unique experience as it is my first time learning to make dumplings and i dont often get to make them often in singapore either, as there isnt many festivals where by dumplings are eaten as celebration. one of the festivals dumplings are eaten in  is 冬至, which isnt really celebrated by my friends or family as the chinese culture do not 重視 cultural activities. im am glad to have been able to experience this dumpling making activity along with my china buddy, since it also gave me a chance to further bond with them.

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In ZhaoQuanYing middle School, I saw many vegetables being grown in their own school garden. I later got to know that each class has been appointed to one area where they will grow different kinds of vegetables. They also use the vegetables doe their canteen food. This shows that they take initiative to take care of their own plants and the school is encouraging agriculture.

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Personally I loved day 5 because of the school visit, it was so different from the international school that we went, I really like this school that we visited today because my buddy made my visit a pleasant one I am really going to miss her! Moreover students here were more or less the same age as me and I found many things to relate not only that the lesson observation that I "saw" really made me think alot about the differences between the both schools in Beijing and Riverside Secondary school. I "think" that the students really take the initiative to make lessons interactive and also gives constructive feedback, they are really energetic. When the teachers ask them to gather in groups they do that in seconds not only that when the teacher asks them questions they answer it without any hesitation. I also "wonder" how their relationship between the teacher and students is such a understanding one and if possible I would like to make my relationship with my teachers a understanding one as well.

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See - While visiting the ZhaoQuanYing Middle School, I see many students taking initiative to answer the questions. The teacher doesn't have to wait to wait for answers as the students would immediately raise up their hands to answer.
Think- I think that it is maybe the teachers who thought them well. Or the students are really keen to learn more.
Wonder- I wonder how they could be so confident during the English play.

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School visit
-i was more open this time when im interacting with my buddy and im able to get to know the chinese culture and the school history better
-i was also able to take part in the making of the dumplings and its very interesting and engaging as im also able to eat the fruits of my labour. After this experience, eating dumplings will be more meaningfully for me
-the paper cutting activity is not as easy as it seems and im amazed with the end products of the paper cutting done by the china students as it requires a lot of skill and concentration
-im also fortunate and honoured to meet the successor of paper cutting and the chinese calligraphy, learning more about the chinese culture
-In the science lesson that i attended, the teacher does not give the answers to the students immediately. Instead, she will pose many questions and guide the students
-It is very interesting that the experiment is still allowed to conduct in the classroom even though a small fire is created
-there is also a room to experience the driving of the car and it is also a cca in the school.  I find it unique as the students have the opportunity to get a feel of driving a car at such a young age
-there is also a small farm for the students to plant and harvest vegetables. The vegetables are also free of pesticides. It is a rare opportunity to get a feel of harvesting the vegetables as we live in a modern society

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Today was an unforgettable day at 赵全营中学 getting to interact with local students, we went through lots of activity and bonded a lot through wrapping dumplings , paper cutting and gift exchange. The wrapping of dumplings and paper cutting were main cultural things done by locals, I felt appreciative of their school's warm welcoming and they prepared so much great cultural activities for us to have hands on experience. The two activities were hard but we still wanted to motivate ourselves to do it. Then we went for calligraphy class and science class, calligraphy was very interesting and looking at myself getting the hang of writing my own name I feel very happy.
What I have seen, Jenury , my buddy come from quite a poor family , the fact that she can't afford to buy the food we ate in school, she need to stay in hostel and only buy cup noodles and that she seldom could get food due to large queue of students actually strucked me.
I think that the school should look into students' family background and manage food and administrative measures.

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What i see?
What i think it is?
I wonder after?

When some of us went to the class for lesson i went to the math class. When the teacher ask them to get into groups they will move into the groups very quickly. My buddy told me that the ones who get the highest score will sit at the front and the lower score will be behind so whenever there is a group work, there will always be  people who is strong and not so strong at  the subject in the group . I think this is a good way to help the students when they have a group discussion. As when discussing, those who understand can guide the others that do not really get it. But i wonder if the strongest are sat in front, will they be an be able to handle the stress of maintaining at that level. I also wonder if him/her grades suddenly drop and have to sit at the back. Will they be able to handle the stress. Therefore, this shows the pros and cons of using grades for sitting arrangement.

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I felt that this school is comparable to the international school. Although this is a 农村校 i felt the connection between the students and teachers and it was a very 安慰 moment, i would also like to study in this school in given a chance. This school is equipped with facilities that are comparable to that of the international school. The students here are friendly and welcoming, i felt very amazed by their hospitality which encouraged me to open up to my buddy. He is a very cheerful guy which i can connect to him a lot, i was very grateful for such an enriching experience and it allowed me to be able to sit into their school life. One aspect of this school which is my main takeaway would be the positive vibes that the students give out here. They take initiative to answer questions in class and make lessons an enjoyable time.

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through today school visit, even though 它是个农村学校but all the students look cheerful and have initiatives. Although the school gone through lots of merging with other schools, it managed to thrive through and now on the path to success. When we reach the school, we see the students actively doing their 早操 which is a rare scene in our school. As in our school during the Riverside dance, not all of the students are dancing actively and passionately. When I first interact with my buddy, he was quite nervous but we are able to start a topic and become closer together which is actually quite pleasant for me. He shared to me that in their school there's some different cca that we don't have like kite flying, chiense calligraphy, technology. Also when we visited their dorm, he shared with me that the girls usually visit their boys dorm to help them in cleaning their dorm before the dorm check. I was quite surprised that the girls are able to visit boys dorm bcs in drama I thought boys and girls couldn't visit each other dorm however that's not the truth. Afterwards he also shared to me that boys can't visit girls dorm which is quite reasonable. I asked him if they could leave the school after entering like go out eat and stuff but he said cannot bcs of their safety reason only those which go back home after lesson can exit the school. Other than that those that stay in the school dorm cannot do so. Which is actually quite sad for them. However after walking around the school and interacting with the others students they are so friendly and easy going also they always look happy. During lesson time, they held their experiment of extinguisher in the class and it was quite a surprised to me bcs I feel that it is quite dangerous. Bcs in Riverside, we only can do experiment in the lab bcs of safety reasons. Also during lesson the students always answer the teacher question very quickly compare to my class where we are always quiet and need teacher to call our name. Also I'm actually quiet amazed by the intelligent of the students bcs they created their own toy cars and car track also car game where we can find in timezone. I'm actually very happy and grateful to have the opportunity to visit this school and interact with the students. Bcs I had lots of laughter throughout the whole visit. I make friends with two of the guys and actually name them 坑兄弟(bcs they keep sabotage each other). During the harvest of vegetable they planted, I was impressed by how they much care they have put in in order to have a nice harvest of the vegetables. It actually required lots of effort in it which not may of us will have. I'm thankful for how 耐心they are in explaining the chinese culture, the school, the food, the paper cutting and chinese calligraphy. I'm glad to met the famous calligraphy 师傅 （name： 赵善正）and get a copy of his calligraphy. It was definitely a fun visit. And I learnt alot from them in terms of their warm welcome for us, their goals for preserving Chinese culture, how much they like their cca and also the effort they are willing to spend their time and dirty themselve for the plantation.

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today we went to zhaoquanying middle school to meet new buddies.I wasnt awkward with my buddy at all and she gave me a traditional chess game that is played in china.I learnt alot from the last time we visited the other school that we should open up and be more friendly towards new students to prevent awkwardness so today i tried to talk to my buddy more and we could click really well.We went to wrap dumplings and eat lunch.I rarely wrap dumplings so I didnt really know how to do it.I also was a little afraid to try the different designs as I didnt want to do poorly.However,when my buddy taught it to me,it was actually not difficult to do!I was really satisfied with how the dumplings look and the teachers even praised us.I realised that i should be more ready to step out of my comfoet zone to try new things instead of just staying at where im already really used to.Maybe sometimes it isnt really that hard to get used to a new environment or activity,but it is just stepping out that takes courage.I can apply this to my school life by volhnteering for enrichment activities that i have not tried before or taking up more significant roles in my cca so as to better improve myself.After lunch was paper cutting.I used to think that paper cutting is really easy because we only used red paper and scissors to cut some really simple words out in school.However,when we were there,it was the traditional type of paper cutting that required lots of patience.There are specific scissors to use for paper cutting,there is also a paper cutting club that specialises in doing this.We moved on to try out the activity and it was really difficult,it was harder to do than how i expected it to.After the activity,i had a whole new different impression of paper cutting and i really respect those thst work in this field as it is really not easy to cut out complicated designs on flimsy papers.I also learnt to be more patient as if I do things rashly,the paper would tear.We went to their classes to do lesson observations and my class was chemistry.The teacher started a small fire in class and had students to make their own fire extinguisher with vinegar,baking soda and dish washing liquid to put the fire out.I was actually quite surprised at that because the floor was dirtied after that and the fire was actually quite close to some of the students.I thought that doing that was quite dangerous and for us,we conduct experiments in the labs but they do it in the classrooms.I think that the safety of the students have been overlooked but they continue the activities anyways.I learnt to respect how people do things in their own country's schools and also be thankful that appropriate safety measures are always taken in riverside to ensure the safety of each and everyone of us.

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Today we went to Zhaoquanying Middle School, I was a little bit nervous when I reached there as I was scared that I would be too awkward but once I got to meet my buddy, she was very friendly and both of us were engaged in our conversations. She was really funny and she is good at wrapping dumplings as well. She reached me patiently and helped me wrapped the dumplings nicely. I was really proud as I ate the dumplings that I have made as my lunch today. After that we went to paper cutting activities and our buddy had to leave us, we didn’t really wanna leave each other. The paper cutting activity showed us the different intricate designs and it teaches us to be patient as it requires a lot of concentration to cut out the paper nicely and make sure that there are no tears which will make it ugly. It was tedious but therapeutic as well. In our daily lives, we should be like how we are during paper cutting as we should concentrate on what we’re doing or what the Teachers are teaching us and also be patient when we are working with different people during group works. We went to learn Chinese calligraphy as well and I learnt about the different styles of Chinese characters and even tried to write it out myself. It was an eye-opening experience as I have always wanted to try Chinese calligraphy but do not have the chance to. And then we went to the lesson observation, I went to the science lesson and it was really different from our lessons. The students were doing experiment in their classes individually on their table, which is to make a fire extinguisher using vinegar detergent and baking soda. they even started a fire in the class to make the students put out the fire by using the fire extinguisher that they made, the students were very confident in what they were saying and they are very enthusiastic in answering the questions and we should learn from the students there. It is nice to be very confident and we should speak up more and answer questions when the teacher ask a question. However, we should not conduct an experiment in a class and even start a fire in the class for the safety of the students. Overall, the experience was very engaging seeing how different schools operate.

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I learnt a bit more about China’s culture like how there are different cultures in China. I learnt that China is divided into the Han and also the minorities. Other than that, they are also somehow divided by social status. Before the trip, I thought that it was going to be very hard for me considering i don’t understand how to read chinese characters and converse fluently in mandarin. However, after today, I’m glad that i have friends who are willing to help translate !