Itinerary
We woke up to the early rising sun at 5amπ It was really unintended. After which, we had our first breakfast in Taiwan! π³π Then, we went to the National Experimental High School to learn from their teaching methods and next up, the Science Industrial Park. The day ended off well with dinnerrrr (ofc)
Reflections
Brian- Today is the second day of out trip in Taiwan. Today is more interesting as compared to yesterday as we got to meet up with our Taiwan counterparts and have a shot at their style of lesson. Upon the arrival at the school, the first thing everybody saw was the huge sign in one of their buildings, welcoming our school to visit theirs in Chinese. My first impression of the school is that they were very meticulous and have done a very good job preparing for our arrival. Firstly, we were escorted to a conference room and was given a talk by the principal's secretary as the principal was help up in a meeting and could not attend to us. Afterwards, we were grouped into five groups and then dispatched to different classes for lessons. I realized that their lesson periods are 50mins each and there will be a short break time of 10mins every interchange of period. This would help the students to efficiently digest what the teachers have taught them. The first period of the class I was sent to was performing arts, they learnt about drama and were supposed to come up with a play and will be performing on 16th June. Unfortunately I would not be able to watch their brilliant plays and would have already returned to Singapore by then. I participated in their discussion and felt that we have very similar ideas and therefore immediately started talking happily. After another period of English lesson, our long awaited lunch time has arrived! Representatives of each class were sent to collect bento sets for our consumption. After having lunch, we are allowed to take a nap in the classroom or go to some other places. Guess which did I choose? I chose to follow my new found friends to the science laboratory and they were conducting an experiment and were trying to get a ball to the end of the object in 10seconds. Following that, we went back to class and continued with the lessons. We parted with them and went in to our next destination, the Hsinchu science park. There was where we learnt most about the background information on Hsinchu and it's evolution and transformation from the past to present and even possibly where it might head in the future. We also saw some of the innovative products made in the science park and were allowed to try using them.
Exhibition on the first floor of the Science Industrial Park
This visit to the park was rather short and we went along to have our dinner at a restaurant. Then finally, we returned to our hotel and started practicing on our performance that inches closer while I'm typing this. Hopefully we can do our school proud tommorow by having a spectacular performance. I am also looking forward to tomorrow's visit to the school again as we will be going to visit another department of the school-- the bilingual department.
Tiffany- So Day 2 brings National Experimental High School. The students and teachers are very welcoming and friendly. I enjoyed the time there. But my mind was blown during the geography lesson. I can't imagine learning about volcanoes in Chinese! All the names and parts of a volcano... Wowwww. And they learn English using Chinese! I thought it was kinda weird at first because the students will be less exposed to the language but I realized that we use English to learn Malay back in River Valley. The students there do all sorts of cool experiments that has no definite answer. Most of there projects involve designing their own simple machine. They have 10min breaks in between each period and a lunch break that is TWICE the time of our lunch break! They use their breaks to nap... Who doesn't enjoy a power nap? (Especially after the morning blues) I'm jealous. If their school system was implemented in Singapore, all students will rejoice! It's like a dream come true. A dream always include the classic chalkboard with childish handwriting. And that is what they've got! (Not the childish handwriting though). The first reaction when entering the classroom was pretty much gazing at the chalkboard and holding back screams when the inner fan-girl tries to break open.
Next place, the industrial park. The gadgets were so cool and modern and interesting (I guess?). We saw a lot of prototypes and inventions. Mr Chua had asked us time and time again about the use of having the industrial park. Lest I forget (Sorry Mr Chua!), the industrial park reduces transportation costs and time because all the factories are situated in the park. We didn't get to walk around the whole park. However, this industrial park can be considered as a nature park too. There are many plants and trees and bushes and shrubs to liven the atmosphere. The buildings all have the clay and glamorous look. It's kinda like Singapore's CBD ten times the size, thrice the number of plants. I loved playing around with the gadgets. The mood lamp was one of my favourites. It changes colour based on your mood. It's like a mirror.
One of the speakers
The speakers there are also amazing. Sound quality, design and all.
Describing dinner is the toughest part. One word: crazy. I shan't even begin to describe it. So we'll just talk about the fabulous food. The rice had a different texture than normal rice. Mrs Vong said it was pearl rice if I'm not wrong. There were three fish. Long and thin. And no one dared to eat it. So the one of the poor fish went down Brian's gullet. The next fish was passed by the tail to Guan Jung. And the last fish was held by the tail and passed around the table. It was a funny sight. But with only chopsticks, it was the best option. We are no chopstick masters (that sounds like a martial art to be honest).
Charmaine- Second day of our trip yay π We arrived at the National Experimental High School in the morning. The campus was really humongous since it served as a school from kindergarten to 12th Grade (14 years of education). The school was also facilitated with a swimming pool and a gymnasium-something we do not have in Singapore, and a library. After a short briefing, we had the opportunity to sit in for their classes. The first period was performing arts. When I saw the timetable initially, I thought it was like a typical music class in Singapore where we would learn how to play instruments or pick up simple music theory skills. However, their "performing arts" lesson was different from ours in a way that they focused on plays. They had to come up with a creative storyline to be acted out during their actual play which is held next week. Aww:( wish I could watch them perform. Since our school had never done so before, I found this lesson rather fun and interesting. After which, we had more time to interact with the students.
I noticed some differences between our school and NEHS:
1. They use a blackboard instead of the whiteboard
I would prefer the black board because I like getting my hands chalky ahahaha. Just kidding, but I find it rather cool to use chalk instead of markers. The words are nicer too!
2. Students did not have to greet the teachers before each class
Greeting teachers is a sign of respect so we SHOULD π
3. 10 min interval between each lesson
More time to go to the designated venue for lessons and take a short break by going to the toilet in the meanwhile. I wished our school had this kind of system as well so we won't have to run like mad dogs if we do not want to get scolded by teachers time and again.
4. Students were allowed to eat in the classrooms
I was really jealous because we don't get this opportunity back in Singapore. But I guess it has its pros and cons so.....
5. Nap time!
What a student needs most is rest! I think that a short nap wouldn't hurt
6. Students bring bentos to school instead of purchasing food
I saw some sort of thing used to keep the bentos hot. I think that it is rather traditional and cool to bring our own bentos to school now since rarely anyone does that anymore. But I'm just curious to know what time they wake up to prepare it π
7. Almost no trash cans found in the school apart from the classrooms
Taiwan is REALLY environmentally friendly compared to Singapore so they recycle almost anything (???) After we finished our bentos provided by the school (packed in a paper box), the students brought us to empty our leftovers and recycled the box. We should learn to be GREEN GREEN GREEN too!
What amazed me most was that the students there were really enthusiastic and welcoming upon our arrival. It was easy to strike up conversations with them. Like "Hi!" really naturally. I have never spoken so much Chinese in one day and I would have to admit that my Chinese standards cannot be compared with theirs. After speaking to them however, i feel that I should read up more about my own country OOPS
After which, we went to the Science industrial park. There were many cool inventions there. Yeah. But I wasn't really interested since I am not technology savvy. But it's still cool. When we were going up to the second floor, I realised that the spiral staircase was designed with many films pasted on the wall. I think it was rather creative of them as each film showed us what happened in Taiwan during different times and visitors can read them while using the staircase.
Spiral staircase
Embedded under a glass piece which we can step on :)
I saw this type writer displayed together with all the speakers. It seemed really interesting so I decided to try my hands on it. I have never seen a type weirder before and was amazed by how it worked. It would be cool if we could still use a type writer at this present day and time since everyone is really high-tech now, just like how I am blogging with my iPad π After a long day, I really wish I could snuggle into the comfy bed at the hotel π€ I hope that I can make more friends in the bilingual department tomorrow!
Guan Jung- Hello everybody so today is another day at Taiwan, Hsinchu. Had a very nice rest at the hotel with its comfortable beds ( love it ) . So we started off our day with the most important meal of the day , Breakfast . The buffet that the hotel prepare for breakfast was awesome , I ate a lot of the sandwiches . After everyone assembled at the lobby , we headed out for the most excited part of our OELP , we head out for NEHS also known as the National Expreiment High School at the hsinchu science industrial park .
First up , upon arrival at the school , we could see a very obvious sign at the school building , welcoming us from singapore in Chinese . Immediately after we alighted the bus and took some photos , the secretary of the principal went to welcome us and bought us the the conference room.
It was a pity that the principal wasn't there as he has a important meeting at another high school .
After we watched a video about the history and the ways of study they had at NEHS , We learnt that they has a lot of compartments in their school ,some of which is electronics studies , sports and computer programs and many many more .Following that , the HODS of the school introduced themselves to us and gave us a brief idea of what we were going to do for the day . Next the most awaited came , our buddies had came to bring us up to our assigned class we followed them and went to their class . After I went into their class , a guy came up straight I me and we started a conversation . I found him really kind and also friendly , he make me had the impression that Taiwanese are very friendly people ( As least most if them ). During lesson I looked at the timetable for the day . there were some really different stuff from my Singapore time table . Let me state it out
1. They had a 10 minutes break before the start of each lesson for them to walk around and stretch , and also for them to use the bathroom if they needed to .
2. They have a 1 hour rest and nap time for them to enjoy their meal or take a rest before the next lesson ( RV should have it too )
The students behaviour In class
1. They were all talking while the teacher is talking, they don't pay much attention to the teacher .
2. They all seems carefree and not serious at all when they keep talking to each other during teachers teaching .
And most of all , most students bought bentos to school to eat instead of purchasing food from the cafeteria .
After all the lessons we had to say our goodbyes to them as we had to go the other places . I couldn't bear to leave my new found friends but I had to .
After we left the school , we head towards the well known Hsinchu Science industrial park . When we entered the building , we could see all types of cool and never seen before technology and electronic devices . We had a staff to explains and introduce the 1st phrase factory building and history to us .
After which , we were given time to walk around the floors and explore the devices and the. advance in technology ,as I wasn't really interested, I gave it a pass .
After that we went to have our dinner at a restaurant , it served Chinese cuisine . I found the food super nice and I actually ate 4 bowls or rice ( Wow right ) can't believe myself either. The food was a cooked with the Taiwanese cooking method thus it was a very different taste from the Singapore cooking style .
After a tiring day , we went back to our hotel and took a well deserved rest that all of us needed . But due to the fact that we had a performance the next day , we had to stay up for some rehearsals .
After the rehearsals , I went back to my room and slept like a pig .
Tomorrow would be a more exciting and fun day for everyone ( I hope )
See ya good nights peoples - Guanjung :)
Min Hui- If I would use one word to describe today, the word is "heart-warming".
On the first night, I only had merely two hours of sleep. It was due to the unfamiliar condition of the hotel room and the noises produced by our class(I presume it was because they could not sleep well as well). The day's morning was horrible. I felt like I was a zombie. But it made my day when I went to National Experimental High School, Hsinchu.(NEHS)
When we got off the bus, the banner in front of the school flashed this message "ζ们欒θΏζ₯θͺη«εδΈε¦ηε¦η们” and the School's Secretary warmly welcomed us. I felt a gush of pleasure and it was really heart-warming. I believe my classmates have felt the same way also. Next, we were guided to a Conference room. We were given snacks, a brochure, school guides in a folder and tags with our names and lesson schedules we were going to attend on it. We were treated well.
I attended the following lessons with my CID group members+ Sin re: Performing Arts, English and Geography. The lessons were taught in Chinese (even during English lesson) and the relationship between the teachers and students are really close. I think it was because the teachers jokes openly around with them during lessons, that made them stay awake and stay focus on the topic that they are learning. I noticed that the Taiwanese uses blackboards instead of whiteboards. their classrooms are nicely decorated and they had a recycling corner where rubbish thrown is sorted according to the rubbish's material. They were allowed to eat in class, and that was because they kept their class clean, everyone does their duty and takes pride in their classroom.
I get to have a chance to take my lunch with the students. I am extremely grateful to the NEHS's school teachers who had arranged such fruitful timetable for us to follow, so that we would understand the teaching and learning culture and style here in Taiwan. Also, the students of NEHS welcomed us whole heartedly. They were comfortable with us around and see us as part of their family, they are not afraid to show us their true character and show us around their school. This we were able to quickly blend into their big family and make friends with them.
Afterwards, we went to Hsinchu Science Park. I saw the exhibitions on many creative technological inventions. As a member of the River Valley High School's Infocomm Robotics member, I was able to get some inspiration from those inventions for my upcoming Robotics competition. The tour around the exhibition hall also expanded on my knowledge towards the development in technology and the technology advancement made in Taiwan over the years. The science and technology industries and schools were gathered in Hsinchu Science Park was because they are all in the same industry category and it helps to save transportation costs for the materials. From all the quirky inventions, I liked the word scanner the most. The word scanner was able to "photocopy" a word document and make it appear in somewhere else as a softcopy.
Finally we had our dinner at a restaurant and went back our hotel.
We were given a chance to bond again during our dinner time and this time we ate it with Mrs Vong:)
When we went back to our hotel, we rehearsed for our performance that we were going to put up for our NEHS buddies. I was tasked to write out a script with Hong Yang to share our experience in NEHS to the students for tomorrow. We stayed up late, together with Ms Swee, who has helped us a lot in the completion of our speech. Without Ms Swee, we would not be able to finish up the script. θ°’θ°’δ½ ，εΎθεΈ!<3
I am looking forward to tomorrow, Min Hui signing off~^^
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