What We Did
This morning we celebrated Sebastian, my roommates 18th Birthday. We intended to celebrate his Birthday in a grand way, but we lacked the time to carry it out. Thus, we had to resort to simpler means of doing so. We brought him over with our friends, Sasireika and Hwee Ping, and ate a breakfast together in the hostel. We decided to eat cup noodles, as we wanted to celebrate his birthday in a different means. Although, it was short, these are the moments that make our trip more worthwhile.
After Breakfast, we walked up the hill to our First Lesson at the Classroom at the School of Language and International Education. We were slightly late though. It was our first lesson for the Programme. I guess we needed more time to walk up the hill to the School.
In Lesson, we presented the PowerPoint Slides on Singapore’s History and Culture that we prepared to our Classmates. The Question that puzzled me was why we were presenting Singapore‘s History and Culture to our own Singaporean Classmates. Nevertheless, I still manage to retain much of my knowledge of Singapore’s History with me, even though I have been away in China at least for 4 Days.
The Deputy Principal (DP) of Ngee Ann Polytechnic, made a surprise visit to our classroom when we were presenting to the class our PowerPoint Slides. He was accompanied by other Lecturers from our Polytechnic (NP) as well as Staff from the Wuhan University of Science and Technology (WUST). He told us to work hard, play hard and enjoy ourselves during the entire trip. He also spoke to us, and asked how we were coping with things here, especially the language barrier. I replied politely stating that I would gradually build up my ability to converse well with the locals. Following that, he left with the other Lecturers.
For the rest of the first lesson, we listened to the others present as well. I also made friends with the other students as well, the ladies from the same school as us, but in different courses.
After the lesson, we went for our Lunch at the Canteen and chatted amongst one another for at least an hour. I managed to learn how to order my own drinks for the first time. That was a good start, in my opinion.
Following that, we walked back to the classroom up the hill. While doing so, we received constant looks by the Students and Staff of the University, especially me and Sasireika. Even while we were waiting for Lesson to begin, we still received many awkward looks from students whom were passing by. I knew that this was to be expected as my appearance would clearly identify me as a foreigner, but over time this feeling would naturally fade away.
For our IS Lesson for the Day, we were choosing our topics for our Presentation. We chose the area of Transportation and decided to do a Photo Essay of the Buildings in Wuhan. We carried out some minor discussion and prepared a draft for Mr. Ma and Mr. Chua.
Although, there was a Basketball Session at 5pm, we decided to head to our hostel for our games instead. We went up and played with the rest board games and we also were able to introduce ourselves and understand one another better as well. I was able to relax as well, especially after a long day.
We ended the day, with a briefing by the Lecturers on the next day’s trip to Yellow Crane Tower. We were told what to prepare for the trip and repeated that our safety was of utmost priority. Following that, we retired for the night as we had to get up early the next day.
What We Think
Having our first lesson in a unique environment is definitely something that is indeed priceless, especially in such a cool weather environment. It was indeed a valuable experience that is certainly hard to come by these days.
Being able to converse in Mandarin was my greatest difficulty when I first arrived in Wuhan. As the days go by, I am gradually learning bit by bit. I managed to get my orders right, with the help of my teammates.
I also managed to unwind after a long day. Usually, I am the type who is always the stiff type, but I managed to loosen up by spending time with my friends. It felt good to talk as such once in a while.There was nothing much to see today, as we were in Campus throughout the whole day, but I certainly intend to learn more of the Yellow Crane Tower, the monument that we would visiting tomorrow
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