OELP daily reflections (Yi Leo)

Day 1 24/5/14 (sunny)

Finally reached Kaoshiung and checked in at this Ten Drum Village resort! I'm so excited for the next few days in Taiwan, hope it will be enjoyable!

十鼓文化村

The principal and teachers of Sacred Hearts High School 正心中学 especially came down to Kaoshiung airport and warmly welcomed us even though it has already exceeded 12 midnight. We were so touched by their action, it is so heart-warming!

Picture of us at the airport

Day 2 25/5/14 (sunny)

Today we mainly went to visit a few museums, Meinong Folk Village and 六合夜市! From Meinong Hakka Cultural Museum, Meinong Folk Village and Hakka Cultural Museum, I have really gained an insight of the Hakka people and their cultures. Do you know that the Hakkas actually had 5 big migrations to lead a better life? Yes, they did. Furthermore, I just got to know today that the Hakkas use different intonations of the same language in different parts of Taiwan.

In the past, the Hakka children were taught to respect words and they had to keep paper with words instead if throwing them away where they wanted. When people came to collect these papers, they would give the children sweets as a form of encouragement. Children were highly encouraged by their parents to study hard in order to change their living standards.

Hakkas use oil painted umbrellas and wore traditional blue costumes for their weddings. This is because oil painted umbrellas translate to "油纸伞" which sounds like praying for sons in Chinese. Isn't this a very interesting fact?

At the Meinong Folk Village, we got to experience the Hakkas' way of life and the kind of food that they eat. We had 擂茶 there and it was definitely a new experience for us! The food we had there was so nice and I was so full when I finished eating.

Group lunch at Meinong Folk Village

From the Kaoshiung Museum of History, I learnt more about the 228 incident that happened in Taiwan and that it was caused by a bystander accidentally killed by a policeman. At the British Consulate, we also learnt more about why Kaoshiung was known as Takao and how it was hidden from bombings.

British Consulate

Nice view from British Consulate :)

Lastly, for today, we went to our most awaited part of the whole trip which is... 六合夜市! 六合夜市 is basically like Singapore's pasar malam, just that it is wider, stretched across a road. The food sold there is very different front that of Singapore. Other than the expected variety of Taiwanese snacks for example, 臭豆腐，七里香，炸鸡排 and many more, they also sell non-Taiwanese things like Irish ice cream and more! :) It was very fun walking around with our friends, just that we all feel that they time given was not really enough for us :(

六合夜市

Day 3 26/5/14 (sunny)

Today was our last day at the Ten Drums Folk Village (十鼓文化村) before moving on to our next hotel, 太兴大饭店. My class got the opportunity to learn the basics of playing a drum, toured the premises and even watched an exciting drum performance with water.

Learning to play drums :)

Next, we also went to Anping Fort which was originally built by the Dutch in 1624 known as "Fort Zeelandia", afterwards renamed as Anping to commemorate 郑成功's hometown when he drove the Dutch out of Taiwan. Isn't it so cool to be at a place with such a long historical value?

View from tower at Anping Fort

We also went to Anping Old Street where we had our lunch, consisting of all the different delicious Taiwanese snacks, including the famous coffin toast, also known as 棺材板 in Chinese. 

Coffin Toast

We proceeded on to Eternal Golden Castle which was built in 1874 to safeguard the coast and defend Taiwan against the Japanese invasions. There, we saw a lot of big cannons and below shows a photograph of my classmate standing beside one of the cannons. 

Size comparison

At the Tainan Confucius Temple, we also got to write our wishes on a piece of yellow coloured paper and we were told not to write our full names and full wishes as Confucius is smart enough to understand the message that we were trying to convey even though it's not complete, it's such an interesting culture, isn't it?

Jump shot at Confucius Temple :)

Lastly, we went to the Chihkan Tower as the last destination for the exhausting but enriching day. Chihkan Tower was originally named "Fort Provintia", meaning eternity in Dutch, but the name was later changed to Chihkan Tower, meaning "Red-topped Tower", derived from the Taiwan aboriginal word "Chakam".

Day 4 27/5/14 (sunny)

At Sacred Hearts High School today, my group had English lessons and as soon as we entered the classroom, they warmly welcomed us and told us to sit at the front of the class and we were interviewed, with them asking us questions about our school and Singapore. The emcees of the interview were also students of the class and I personally find that this is a very good way of learning because it not only boosts the students' confidence but it also helps them improve their presentation skills and their language skills too!

I also managed to meet my buddy for the first time!

Shenice and me with our buddies :)

Afterwards, we left Sacred Hearts and headed towards 饼艺文化馆 and started learning to make pineapple tarts. After making our very own pineapple tarts, we went on to visit the pineapple plantation there and I was very amazed by the size of the big pineapple plantation!

Enormous pineapple plantation

For the last venue of the day, we went to 华山国小 where the whole school, with only around 40 students put up a wonderful violin performance for all of us. They actually know how to play the violin at such a small age, they are so talented! 

华山国小 students performing for us

Next, they also presented different paintings at the art gallery and their presentation skills were very good, they were very confident and they memorised their scripts very well.

Day 5 28/5/14 (sunny, cloudy, rainy)

Firstly, we went to a towel factory and DIY our very own towel dogs. It was very fun and interesting! :)

Trying to make our own dog towels

Next, we went to the Yunlin puppet theatre and learnt about the different kinds of puppets there are, for example, there is always a male man character,female main character, older version of male main character, joker and others. The inclusion of the joker is to appeal to children, earning more money. We also got to watch a puppet showcase displaying the different ways of speaking and moving the puppets around.

Puppet showcase :)

At Sacred Hearts today, we learnt magic tricks and had balloon sculpturing lesson! I enjoyed all the activities as they were very hands-on and engaging.

Mr Wong, Mr Ho and Ms Chua with the balloon sculptures

We also has the opportunity to view the different CCAs in Sacred Hearts and one of them was Scouts, my own CCA too! :) It was an exciting experience for me because I got to see how similar and different the Taiwan and Singapore scouts are.

Photo taken together with Sacred Hearts scouts :)

As the highlight of the day, we went for a concert put up by Sacred Hearts music classes and that marked the end of day 5.

Day 6 29/5/14 (sunny, rainy)

Joining a class at Sacred Hearts for Geography and English lessons today, I realised how enthusiastic the students there were in contrast to Singapore. When the teacher asks a question, almost the while class will put up their handing fighting to answer while in Singapore, there is only silence in the whole class with only one or two students volunteering.

Photo with the energetic class :)

Next, we proceeded on to Home Econs class where we made 布丁水果酥，卤味，葱油饼 and 珍珠奶茶. My group was in charge of 珍珠奶茶 and with cooperation, we finished it within a very short time.

珍珠奶茶group photo :)

Afterwards, we got to go out with our respective buddies and my group wanted to go to an outdoor 3D museum only to realise that it was only going to be open to public the next day. We then decided to just go to a common shopping mall, SOGO, in Taiwan as there was not much time already. However, with the right people, we still enjoyed our time greatly. :)

Train ticket from 斗六 to 台中 :)

Day 7 30/5/14

Today was the last day of our trip. We were supposed to visit our final site which was the 921 Earthquake Museum of Taiwan but I was feeling unwell so I couldn't go with the rest of my classmates. :( however, I heard from the, that it was a new experience and they gained an insight of what could actually happen in a real earthquake and we should really treasure the fact that Singapore is free form any natural disasters.

We proceeded to the airport and flew back to Singapore:)

~Home sweet home~

OELP reflection(Zijin)

T

What does Taiwan mean to me before this OELP trip?

-I was unfamiliar with Tawian as I have never travlled there before and knew little about its culture as well as customary.The only thing that came to my mind was the Kuomintang(KMT) whom my elders like to mention,as the KMT once formed the official government( 國民政府）in mainland China before 1949. Since my elders were in People's Liberation Army ( PLA) who had fought against the KMT vigorously, I was influnced and amazed by how Republic of China was formed and within 40years  perished in the mainland.(KMT is still existing in mainland China together with many other parties but CCP is the most influntial and largest party) 

So,I went with my classmates to Taiwan which I think is the most meaningful and memorable one.

We arrived that Kaohsiung around 11pm.The secretory of our sister school came with a few stuffs to meet us there.We were warmly welcomed by them.I felt something different as this city that I have just landed on is unfamiliar to me,it's a totally new environment as I have tans of questions which its answers can only be found here,Taiwan.

This was where we stay,10 drums cultural village.It was a sugar factory drug the Japanese occupation which known to the Taiwanese as 日據時期. Taiwan were used as a supportive base for the Japanese military force in WWII. Hence many factories such as sugar factories were used to make chemicals used in weapons with many Taiwanese workers.The Japanese had occupied Taiwan for 51 years and their culture was instilled into Taiwan.

But how did the Twainese felt about this period under Japanese rule??

 That was the question I wonder the most.

After consulting the tour guide as well as the local students and adult,a few response were generated

1. Positive( people who felt positive is because Japan's occupation had really pushed the economy and social development in Twaiwan,It turned many fishing village into big morgen cities)

2.Negative( I watched a local movie,the theme was about People's life under Japan occupation,Most people were angry about the situation they were in because Japan import OPIUM into Taiwan, causing many problems among the Taiwanese and many believe that they were TAIWANESE a bit sad...as the Qing government had no other solution but gave it to Japan,hence people believe that Qing had abandoned them,and they must self-strengthen)

3, Okay okay ( not many people held this view as they cared for themselves such as wether the food is enough for my family or how much would I earn)

I wanted to know how does the locals view the KMT??

Before the trip I thought that all Taiwanese were the supporters of KMT but I WAS COMPLETELY WRONG.

Before the KMT even arrived Taiwan at 1949, there were already hokkiens made up of the most population,We chiang Kai shiek started his dictator rule, the whole island was under High Pressure.

Hence I have ask one of our fercilitators how to you comment on what chiang Kai shiek had done

" he is a dictator" was the answer.

Oops I was' not inside this photo because I went to the toilet...No...

Hahah by the way this is our big group and the pretty lady on your right is Ms Chua~

One of the memorable lunch was at a local Hakka restaurant.Singapore have Hakka also but is not so obvious as in Taiwan,hope next time can have some famous Hakka restaurant in SG and encourage more people to learn about Haaka culture and their food as well.

I should really mention this because this get me to Taiwan history once again~ I like History

This is the Confucius temple that we went and is the first Confucius temple in Taiwan 

Now there are some interesting things that others probably wouldn't notice 

Have you notice the names on the right side? They are ( 蔣中正,蔣經國，李登輝）

These people shows that the Confucius temple is a building symbolic power or rather an important place.Most of us didn't take it seriously and the tour guide didn't explain to us anything at all.But in ancient Chinese culture,when a new emperor was choosen by the previous one,he need to go to the Confucius temple for a commemoration.as the names mention,they are three well known leaders.From this we can also tell that how the Japanese had influenced this nation as well. 李登輝,いわさと まさお、IwasatoMasaohad studied in typical Twaiwanese schools during Japanese occupation,he could only speak Japanese and Hokkien but not Chinese. This shows that how Japan had influenced Taiwan younger generations to be more 'Japanese' during that time.

Inside the Confucius temple with wee lin and Joee~

Next is a very interseting restaurant that consists of many old elements that left many memories to elders 

First time saw this,but the words are more attractive,it's something like anti-communism in the 50-60s in Taiwan.This somehow shows that people were living under great even a normal facilities have politic slogans to remind people about third political stands.

Schools!

It's different from what we have in Singapore,the lessons that they had on that day was super fun and made me think about 应试教育，快乐教育 but feedback from students they will not normally have this kind of lessons...or it's just for showing?

Our facilitators and VP& Mr Ho

Our buddy brought us to a soya source factory,it's so peaceful here just like country side.The agriculture in Tainan is Great!as they have special ways to grow fruits,crops and the farmer who were onced believe to be of a lower social states but now became rich than the working class people.

Hence Taiwan had gone through great change in recent 20years and what we have experiment is just a little part of what this special place contains

But we will like to find out more XD

Individual reflections Hong Wee

Day 1 (24/5)

At 5pm in the evening, we assembled at Changi Airport, ready to leave for Kaoshiung. We were all prepared for an exuberant trip with enriching experiences that had been anticipated early! Preparing for this long-awaited trip since three weeks back, we were looking forward to the exposure of the different unique and influential cultures of Taiwan.

Day 2 (25/5)

We had an extremely meaningful experience today visiting different historical sites of Taiwan. These museums were of great importance with regards to the history and various cultural identities of Taiwan. Through the exhibitions of these sites, we gained a considerably lot of information about Taiwan background, its significant past events and the respectable leaders who contributed to the success of modern Taiwan in one way or another. The Kaoshiung museum of history is well known as a professional museum for preserving different historical exhibits and chronicles. From the explanation of the guide, we learnt that the building was constructed in 1983, used as a significant landmark in Kaoshiung, and rebuilt into a museum in present day. Although certain information were challenging to comprehend, we still professed great interest in them with the explanation of the guide. In my opinion, this museum was unique in terms of its infrastructure and facilities as it makes use of information boards accompanied with exhibits for better understanding of its contents.

The Kaoshiung Hakka Cultural Museum was our second destination. Similar to the Kaoshiung museum of history, it was equipped with special display features of culture and artefacts. These artefacts were of great value to Taiwan’s history as it illustrated the different significant past events. The guide, a very experienced individual, was able to introduce many foreign information to us without a hitch, and that very commendable. The museum also had a rather vibrant environment, greenery scenery with plants that reflects a good image of the site to visitors. The next place we visited was the Meinong Folk village, a traditional farming village where the Hakka culture, Taiwan’s largest culture was preserved. This site is a place where tourists frequent patronise, with the different traditional folk crafts of Meinong,.There were many stalls offering handmade paper umbrellas and heritage relics. Besides these enlightening arts, there was also shops selling local titbits as well as different souvenirs of Taiwan’s prominent landmarks. Tasting their local delights at a restaurant, we were surprised that their food were delicious! Compared to our dishes in Singapore, these Taiwanese food were prepared in a different manner, and we really enjoyed it.

The third attraction of the day we visited was the former British consulate. Although there was a tour guide, we did not manage to have a good look in the museum due the large visitor crowds and time constraint. 

From my perspective, what constitutes a good tourist attraction for this particular site was the presence of certain vendors offering various local food and souvenirs to tourists. On a ground above sea level, the scenery from our positions were magnificent. The view of the azure skies and coasts was really captivating. However, time was what we could not afford till sunset. The last place we visited for the day was the well-known Liuhe night market. These night markets, one of the major representations of Taiwan’s culture, offers a variety of local delicacies, ranging from the famous bubble tea to its tantalising seafood delights. They even had shops selling accessories such as clothes, shoes and even game stalls. However, what I felt could be improved was the cleanliness and safety of the environment as the floors were littered with trash, and cars were allowed to drive through the market, compromising the safety of visitors. We did enjoy tasting the famous dishes after all as this is not an opportunity we have back in Singapore.

Day 3 (26/5)

Our itinerary for the third day was relatively similar as compared to the second, touring more historical sites, the Anping Fort and Old Street, Eternal Golden Castle, Chihkan Tower and the Tainan Confucius Temple. The accommodation we were staying in, Ten Drum Cultural Village had put up a brilliant performance- playing the traditional Chinese drums. The performance was really an extraordinary one, as seen by the efforts put in by the performers. We enjoyed the performance as it is allows us to learn about the daily lives of the locals and what resembles their culture. Following that, we were taught playing the Chinese drums, and the fundamental skills to it. This hands-on experience had really been a very beneficial and special one to me as this opportunity was not easily obtainable back in Singapore.

The Anping fort and Chihkan tower were two historical attractions relating back to the history of Taiwan in the 1600s where the country was colonized by the Dutch, which was also the derivation of the unique names. The Eternal golden castle, however, was a place different from the rest. It was built in 1874 to counter the Japanese invasions. The Tainan Confucius temple, our third destination has an extraordinary feature, which was to allow us to write down our wishes and names, hoping that it might come true. Although many of us did not believe in this miraculous practice, we felt that it was worth giving it a try as this experience may not be available in many of our local temples. As there was not a tour guide for this particular destination, we had the opportunity to tour the site freely and observe the traditional cultural artefacts of Taiwan. 

What I personally felt commendable of these places was the well-preserved artefacts and buildings. Though renovation occurred frequently, it was commendable to be able to maintain presentable conditions of these buildings. Through these historical sites, I established a deep interest in Taiwan’s history, as they were relatively different from Singapore’s history, and the international history we learnt in school. We also had the opportunity to interact with the locals and could understand more of their way of life through our conversations. I realised that Taiwan’s traditional communities, which preserved many conventional practices such as farming, was considerably different as compared to Singapore’s fast paced society.

Day 4 (27/5)

Today commenced the beginning of our exchange programme with Sacred hearts high school, one of the most well-known and elite school in Tainan. We also had our first gathering with our buddies, which was long-awaited for everyone. Upon our arrival, the principal welcomed us with great hospitability. In fact, the school even put up a brilliant performance by their school to mark the^d anniversary of the two schools friendship ties. We really enjoyed and appreciated the performance put up by the school with great effort and recognition.

Next, we joined in the lessons together with the local students. From the way the classes were conducted, I realised that the classes conducted were considerably different from those in Singapore. Their method consisted of more interactive tools such as video clips and group discussions, as compared to Singapore’s ordinary pen and paper style. In my opinion, this alternative comes in handier as it allows better understanding of certain concepts by illustrating it through the use of visual aid. Although we did not explicitly understand the lesson, we had definitely had a good experience to be involved in lessons which was not what we had gone through during the eight years of holistic education in Singapore.

On that particular day, we also visited a pineapple tart factory where we had a hands-on experience making our own tarts. What we basically did was to fill the dough with certain ingredients and knead it. Although I wasn’t proficient at making pastries, it was worthwhile giving it a try as it was my first experience, and this was not an opportunity we easily had back in Singapore. After which, we visited an institution called the Hwa Shan Public School, where we met young musical talents who could play violins well as young as the age of five. Their capabilities were really admirable as at such as young age, they were gifted in music, in contrast with many of us who may not even have a foundation in it till now! We were also led to an exhibition hall where magnificent art pieces completed by these students were displayed. Talking with a fluent tone, these students were extremely well versed in speaking skills. Despite being a debater myself, I doubted whether I could even match up to their standards!

Day 5 (28/5)

Today was our second day of immersion programme with Sacred Hearts. We started our day to the Shing Long Towel Factory, together with students from Sacred Hearts, a few years our senior. Similar to the pineapple tart factory, we too had a memorable experience forming animal-shaped towels from ordinary ones. There were also a variety of designs offered at the souvenir shop in the factory. This experience was a rather unique and interesting one as we were not yet engaged in any hands-on experiences upon our arrival in Taiwan. Our next destination was the Yulin Puppet Theatre Museum, where we watched a puppet performance, after which the performer explained part of the philosophy behind the fundamental principles of the performance, which was a symbolism of Taiwan’s cultures. From his explanation, I learnt that Taiwan’s society was unlikely to continue adopting these puppet performances. I personally feel that this vanishing practice of Taiwan was bad, as it would compromise on the value of the country’s traditional cultures, especially when it is not preserved and continued into the future generation.

In the afternoon, we joined the school at their respective CCAs. The variety of CCAs the school offered was many more, up to a hundred, as compared to our school, as they had a comparatively larger school campus to accommodate for the different CCAs. However, they were conducted in a relatively different manner. As compared to our school, where expectations were extremely high that took precedence over enjoyment of the CCAs, their CCAs requirements in terms of achievements were much lower, and their training hours were more flexible as well, ensuring students sufficient hours to focus on their academics.

 

Day 6 (29/5)

In the morning, we joined our buddies in their lessons. Geography was one which I attended. However, the teacher conducted the lesson in a way rather different than the usual way. To start off, he introduced Taiwan in general to us, before inviting us to share about Singapore. He also highlighted the many differences between the cultures of the two countries, as well as the state of the countries in terms of economy and infrastructure, which indirectly relates to Geography. The second lesson we attended was home economics, where we learned to prepare certain local delicacies with our buddies. In contrast with our current ongoing home economics module, I realised the food we learned to cook was more towards the vegetarian style, and not the one back in Singapore where we learnt to prepare a variety of dishes. We still had fun after all working with our buddies on this, as I did not expect us to attend home economics lesson, a non-academic subject, during school curriculum. After which, we also tasted the bubble tea, what Taiwan was well known for, made by some of the students.

The afternoon marked the end of our exchange programme with Sacred Hearts High School, as it would be our final day in the school. The rest of the afternoon would be spent with our buddy’s families on our own excursions. Upon meeting my buddy’s parents, I realised that they were rather hospitable. They first brought us to a restaurant which offers Taiwan’s delectable local food and delicacies. That was when we exchanged conversations and introduced ourselves. Following that, they brought us to many interesting historical sites in Taiwan. One of which we visited was a temple destroyed by an earthquake a few years back. Another was called the Sun Moon Lake, which was what Taiwan was well known for. 

Through this trip, I established a deep frienship with my buddy and his family. His parents were extremely genial and did not hesitate to buy us presents, souvenirs or treating us to scrumptious meals. As I was, coincidentally, relatively unwell during our outing, my buddy’s family showed great concern for me, providing me with certain medicine and even offered to bring me to a clinic. Personally, I really appreciated that as they treated me as their own child with affection. These emotional ties was not something I experienced frequently as we probably don’t expect someone who we only met for a day to possess such hospitability in welcoming us. Before we bid farewell to each other, we exchanged our contacts with them, and hoped we would have a reunion in future.

Day 7 (30/7)

Today marked the last day of our immersion trip in Taiwan. In the morning, we headed to the 921 Earthquake educational park in Taichung, also a well-known historical destination. From the explanation of the guide, we learnt that Taiwan was struck by an earthquake of high magnitude more than a decade ago. It not only destructed many parts of the country devastatingly, but also caused many casualties and a high fatality rate, tearing apart families and resulting in pessimistic mind-sets of families of many victims who were robbed of their lives. After learning about these traumatic incidents that happened in Taiwan, I realised that we were considered very fortunate to be living in a first-world country where there were no natural disasters, unlike Taiwan. The fact that we are not separated from our loved ones always indoctrinated the fact in me that we should not take what we have for granted.

In the afternoon, we headed to the Taoyuan international airport, where we finally returned to Singapore. There were some of us who were looking forward to going home, after an exhausting and fatiguing trip, and those of us who missed the fun moments we spent with our friends and buddies. Personally, I was delighted to return to Singapore as I was pretty worn out after a tiring seven days trip. The OELP trip was really meaningful to me as it not only widened my exposure to current affairs and international relations between certain countries, such as Taiwan, but also increased my understanding of the country’s dominant cultures and compelling historical facts and backgrounds. This was not an experience back in Singapore, even through the use of the internet, we could easily obtain. Furthermore, this trip has also bonded us together as a class and enabled us to forge closer relationships with our  friends. The fun encounters, unique activities, and influential experiences we had been through together have really shaped us into new individuals, with different characters and personalities we had before. Although this trip was extremely enervating and wearying, it came with many incentives, beneficial to our characters and academics, and it was of course, a very meaningful and unforgettable one.