General reflection on Taiwan Trip

Charmaine- As we embarked on our learning journey to Taiwan, I'm pretty sure that we have objectives we wish to achieve from the trip. I'm proud to say that I have achieved most of the goals I have set for myself and those in the programme booklet as well. I'm glad that my mother did not allow me to go for the Taiwan trip offered to me four years ago. Instead, she allowed me to go for this trip when I'm much older, more mature and more independent. Since it was my first time being overseas without my family, it might seem a little scary stepping out of my comfort zone into the world with my fellow classmates and teachers. But if I did not try, I would never have gained the experience, learnt about things beyond the classroom or even get an opportunity to go overseas with my class again. 

In these seven days, we visited a school, many museums and places of interest in Taiwan. Since we were in a different country, there were so many things I have learnt about the country; their history, geography, culture, lifestyle and more! Taiwan is indeed different after observing the way the people talk, the way students are being educated and their way of life. 

Taiwan's history is similar to China's history since it used to be a part of China. Taiwan's history was definitely a long and very enriching one as we touched on two important characters who have played a huge part in Taiwan's history, Dr Sun Yat Sen and Chiang Kai Shek. Although we have learnt about these two characters in class, going to the memorial hall to study their history was yet something different. In class, there wouldn't be guards marching right in front of me, important artifacts or Chinese scrolls written in the olden days to narrate the history to us. 

Chinese is Taiwanese's most comfortable language. As such, everything in Taiwan was in Chinese. I guess that was the perfect time for us to improve our Chinese. To communicate, we had to speak in Chinese. It was rather odd at first as we were speaking so much Chinese in a day and that we Singaporeans are more prone to speaking English but I got used to it after that. Speaking in Chinese wasn't that bad after all even though I had some problems when I didn't know how to describe some things in Chinese properly. 

I think what we can learn from Taiwan most is their ecology. I couldn't find dustbins anywhere along the roads but there were many recycling bins. I guess this is done to encourage more people to recycle instead of throwing their waste away without thinking twice whenever they see a dustbin. I'm not implying that Singapore should have lesser waste bins as it would be really inconvenient. Instead, we should have more recycling bins and encourage more people to take part in recycling acts. Even in schools, students set up their own recycling corner and wash their paper box or plates after eating to recycle it. If we learn from Taiwan, I'm sure that we can make Singapore a greener and cleaner place! However, Singapore is also better in certain aspects and Taiwan should consider learning from us too.  

I felt that I have become more independent, responsible and wise after the trip. It might be a really short trip, yet in this short period of time, we have learnt and grown as a class. In addition, we have bonded like never before. This trip was really a once in a blue moon trip. I know I am not a sponge so I cannot possibly absorb everything I have learnt but I will try to remember all the knowledge I have gained.

Singapore and Taiwan are similar yet different in certain ways. After the trip, I feel that I am proud to be a Singaporean :) Honestly, I prefer the way of life in Singapore than in Hong Kong and I am grateful for everything Singapore has provided me with for the past fourteen years. I mean, there's no place like home right?

Last but not least, what's a trip without any fun? Overall, the trip was a fun one. It is true that we didn't visit theme parks everyday or played many games, however, we have used the free time to bond as a class and get to know our class better as a whole. The memories the class created for me during this trip would be etched in my mind forever. I'm really glad that the school had arranged such a fruitful experimental trip for us to learn, bond and improve myself as an individual. I hope that there would be many more chances for trips like this in future.

Minhui- It was a fruitful 7 days OELP trip that made me feel like wanting to turn back time to enjoy those days in Taiwan with my classmates again. But time flies when we are having fun. This trip certainly made our class more bonded and had increased my knowledge of Taiwan.

Before the trip, we were instructed to write three things we would like to achieve for this OELP trip to Taiwan. I remembered what I have wrote on that piece of paper. Firstly, to get the class bonded. Secondly, to expand my knowledge on Taiwan. And lastly, to make new friends. And I am glad to say, I have achieve them.

The class became so much bonded than it was before. Through simple meals during the trip, conversations were opened up and we got to know one another better. Through activities, we learnt how to help one another in times of need. You may ask me how do I know whether I have achieved this goal of mine. It all showed during the last day of our trip. In the morning, we went to Shifen to release sky lanterns with our well-wishes on it. I noticed that, not only did we write wishes for ourselves but also, our friends, our classmates. We cared for one another, we wish the best for one another. During our debrief at night, we were told to express our gratitude to the people we liked to thank. All of us had people in mind and I felt that the words said by everyone were sincere. But the debrief ended rather unpleasant with some of us sharing our bad experience of the night before spent in the hotel. At that moment, some of us were petrified and cried. This was when we tried comforting one another and offered our rooms to be shared even if it may be uncomfortable. From here, you can clearly see that bonds within the class has been pulled closer.

I believe the main purpose for this OELP trip is to learn and expand our knowledge on Taiwan. From this trip I have gained a lot of knowledge and I obtain a skill of comparing things. I get to know the education system in Taiwan through the school exchange programme with National Experimental High School, Hsinchu. 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 preferred the Singapore education system as it is much more discipline than in Taiwan and it benefits us as we are able to concentrate more on our studies and help us achieve higher grades. Also, I realised why Taiwanese respected Sun Yat Sun. Sun Yat Sun was like the father of their country. He had a mindset that protecting his country at all cost was his duty and would do his best to serve the country. There were many more things that I have learnt from this Taiwan OELP trip that I would not be able to write them all down in this piece of reflection. I learnt about the aborigines when I went to the aboriginal village. I experienced there culture and way of life. I got to see the houses the aborigines live in and fortunate enough to learn their tribe dance and way of greeting. I hope all this knowledge can be put in use in the future. Although there were things worth commending about in Taiwan, I still prefer life in Singapore and I am proud to be a Singaporean.

People in Taiwan are extremely friendly and no doubt I have made friends. I had spent two half days in National Experimental High School in Hsinchu. At first, I was afraid that I may not be welcomed into the class I was assigned to, together with my CID group members. But the outcome was totally different from what I thought. The moment we stepped into the class, they warmly welcomed us and offered us to sit together with them during the lessons. Ji Xuan and Shu Han were the first people I met. They are really nice girls and cared for me. There, friendships were forged. I am really fortunate to have them as my buddies for this school exchange programme. When I went to Fengjia Night Market, Ximending and Shifen I made friends with some of the stall owners as they were extremely amiable and we had small chats. If I would be given a chance to travel to Taiwan again, I would sure look for them again.

I am grateful that I am given a chance to be the Student OELP Leader for this OELP Trip to Taiwan. Honestly, I am not most capable at leading my fellow classmates well in this trip, but it made me realise that there were plenty rooms of improvement that I need to make. I will definitely do better if I am given such a golden opportunity again.

This OELP trip would not be memorable without everyone. I was able to increase my knnowledge of Taiwan and made me aware of the value and beliefs of people from Taiwan through such an interesting way. I would recommend the next batch of Year 2s to go for this CID OELP trip. I would also go for such OELP trips without hesitation again in the future. Of course, I would like to travel again with the 30 of us with the 3 teachers who have taken care of us well, tour guide Uncle Jeff and bus diver Uncle Lin, which is quite impossible.

I would like to sum up this reflection with words of gratitude to those who have gone through this OELP journey with me. A quote from William Arthur Ward “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgiving, routine jobs into joy and change ordinary opportunities into blessings”. Thank you all you guys have done. Even the little actions you have done for me, I will remember them.

Guanjung- Taiwan OELP TRIP 2014

This was my very first time I went overseas without my school . I was extremely excited for the trip . This would be my second time visiting Taiwan ( the first time was when I was 1 yr old ) . 

During the trip  I have learnt a lot about the history of Taiwan , though it does not have a long history ,I was still quite interesting about it . In this 7 days that I would never forget , I have gain more independence , not having to rely on my parents for once . I have also bonded like never before with my class . It was fate that the 30 of us and the 3 teachers were going on this trip , and I believe such a trip like this would not come by anymore ( hope it does ) .

This trip has certainly increase my knowledge of Taiwan and how it is related to china in a great way . Taiwan is not a real independent country , It is actually called the republic of china , while china is called people's republic of china . The history of both countries goes back to 50-60 years ago when the nationalist party also knower as Kuomintang, escaped from China and entered Taiwan when the chinese communist party came into power over china .

Also when in Taiwan , it was very hard to find a Dustbin outside of stores . Taiwan is currently a leading country in the development of a Eco friendly environment . so even if you find a dustbin , you will have to sort your rubbish out and recycle the recyclables .

The things I like most in Taiwan was at the night market and ximenting, I had a extremely fun experience and it was my first time shopping and buying clothes , shoes and stuff myself , I hope I can visit there again and buy more stuffs .

To conclude my journey off , I have extremely enjoyed my stay at Taiwan , it wa s a very fun country to go for our OELP and I have learnt a lot of history there , I think I can score a A star in my history test . And I really hope that we all can go there again as a class , but next time , more of a holiday concept .

- Guanjung :3

Tiffany-The trip to Taiwan was enriching and fulfilling experience. The school we visited, National Experimental High School, was an eye-opener for me. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the students bring their own lunches. The school didn’t have a canteen. Home-cooked food beats everything else any day. Their culture to bring food everyday makes it healthier and there’s more variety.

The OELP trip exposed me to many different things. We did learn some history and geography but I learnt more than that. I learnt resilience in this trip. The guards at the Chiang Kai Shek memorial as well as Sun Yat Sen couldn’t move, blinking was not even allowed. On a side note, how do they train themselves not to blink for an hour? In my opinion, it is an honour to be standing there, although it is painful. It spoke to me to hang in there and it’ll be over soon, so I can’t give up. The trip has also taught me to take risks or to consider the fact that you only live once. We did many things there that people would judge us for. We were definitely not normal tourists. We ‘danced’ as a class in the Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall. And we wrote odd wishes in all languages on the lanterns. Some of us bought crazily expensive things that are half the price compared to Singapore’s pricing. I think this helped to bond the class.

Taiwan is very different from Singapore. The most obvious difference would be the language. I was struggling with this. After 7 days of speaking mostly Chinese, it is safe to say that my conversational Chinese somewhat improved. The minimarts there were really cool. They sell meat that is already warmed up like herbal egg and stuff.

I feel that Singapore should learn a little from Taiwan, especially being green. In Taiwan, it is easier to find a recycling bin that an average rubbish bin. I feel that people take for granted that there are rubbish bins everywhere in Singapore that we no longer separate our trash from the recyclable things but just throw everything into the bin. It is a pity because we end up burning more and thus contributing to global warming.

After this trip, I realized that I am really happy and grateful  that I live in Singapore. It is so much cleaner here and there is less Chinese to speak. Also, it is darker at 5am so I am sill able to sleep sounly. But I won’t ever regret going on this trip.