The day we came back to Singapore (14 Nov)

Back in Singapore!!!

Finally, we are ready to leave Shandong to fly back to Singapore and meet our family!!!
At the hotel, I was anxious to be back in Singapore and excited at the thought of meeting my family whom I'd not seen for nine days (excluding the two days when I arrived in Shandong with the others and today.) With my belongings, I went down for breakfast. Then I passed my room key to zhang Jie Jie and waited for the others by the lobby. When everyone were ready, we boarded the coach after our luggages were placed in the bulky goods area of the coach. Minutes after the driver took off, we arrived at the airport getting ready to check-in. But before I enter the airport, I passed the gift to Zhang jie jie and another to the driver as a small token for driving us to places we need to go. After checking-in, I took advantage of the long queue of the pupils who were queuing up for their turn to check-in, to buy more souvenirs before joining those who had already checked-in. In the plane, some small problems arose like a over-loaded luggage and things like that. The flight to Beijing International Airport was a save flight except that it rained just as the plane was about to land at the airport. At around three in the afternoon, we were suppose to board the plane back to Singapore but then the weather suddenly turn bad with mist, making it impossible for the plane to take flight. Luckily, the sky was cleared after a couple of hours and we were able to board the plane home. By the time we reached Singapore, it was already on the edge of midnight. Other than our families who waited to meet us at the airport, Mr Ong our VP was there to receive us as well, except for Mr Loke, who was still in another part of China attending his meeting(s).

Day 10 (13 Nov) aka SHOPPING DAY!!!

SHOPPING DAY!!!

November 13rd is the most exciting day for me as it is the day when everyone can spend almost the whole day on shopping for souvenirs. But before we proceed for shopping, we visited the Yellow River which is flowing through Jinan at this moment to the Bohai River. After taking photos at the Yellow River, we took the coach and its time for... SHOPPING!!
For me, I bought some souvenirs in the form of books, foods, decoration accessories and more... Also, I'd bought a small kitty accessory for Zhang jie jie to decorate her mobile phone since she had been planning the daily events for us most of the time and also because the day before was her birthday! Then, at around four, everyone walked towards the direction of the coach, along with their shopping goods, and headed back to the hotel. At eight, we went back to the conference room to discuss the projects of every groups such as reflection on lessons; comparing Singapore and China students; favourite Confucius teachings places of interest and more... After the discussion, everyone went back to their rooms to pack their bags and luggages since there is totally not enough time to pack on the next day. After packing, some of us were phoned by Ms Kong to go over to the room to do some online survey while the rest of the pupils who were not phoned by Ms Kong to go over to her room for the survy, completed it on the next day, in the early morning...

Day 9 (12 Nov)

Upon arriving at the school, we attended their mathematics class. It was quite interesting with the teacher teaching the topic in chinese. After the mathematics class, we went to the music room to learn their dance steps and the music for the dance just so happens to be my fave! For this dance, some of our pupils, regardless guys or gals, were picked by the teachers to put on the dance costumes of different designs. After that, everyone were told by Mrs Tan to join in the dance in a circle. As I had said earlier that the music was my fave, I danced along to the music in the name of fun. Then, after the dance practice, we went to the multi-purpose room to learn how to do the chinese knots. The first knot that I learnt was difficult for me as the string will always run whenever I am doing the first stage of it. Then, after learning the first knot, I learnt the second knot and the second knot just so happen to be much more easlier than the first. After lunch, we were given lots of time to go shopping since we had lots of free times...

Day 8 (11 Nov)

After arriving at the school, we attended the english lesson with the pupils and I learnt that they spells headmaster as ' H-E-A-D-ER-M-A-S-T-E-R' instead of ' H-E-A-D-M-A-S-T-E-R' and they wrote 'CHAI CHEE' as 'CHAN CHEE'. And I learnt that one of their school rules was they are not allow to listen to pop music. After that, we went to the music room to learn how to produce music by playing with the drums. After lunch, we went to the flowers and vegetables farm before going to visit the Shandong University. At the vegetables farm, I learnt that the strawberries there are sweet but could not last for more than 3 days. And because their strawberries are so nice-tasting that everyone are always rushing for them, they do not have enough to export out to other countries after disbuting them all over the country and near by, I saw some cotton plants in the form of cotton buds and cotton flowers.

Day 7 (10 Nov)

This time, we were back in Li Cheng Er Zhong once again as their exams had ended. But I was quite excited as I was told that I will be visiting another buddy's house with another person from the group and Zhang jie jie as well, till before 6 in the evening. The day we spent in the school was the same once again but during the home visit, I learnt that we will be learning how to wrap the dumplings and much more. Then, as I enter their dining room, I noticed that they had prepared many dishes for us. Among those dishes, one of them was a plate of fried scorpion! (I did not realised that the people there have the guts to eat those!!!). Then, as I went into their kitchen when the uncle was preparing more dishes for us, I found out that he adds lots of Monosodium glutamate, which is also commonly known as MSG, as the last ingredient of every single dishes he prepared... After the dinner at the buddy's house, the uncle drove the four of us (Zhang Jie Jie, the other groupmate who went along to our buddy's home, the buddy and myself ) back to the school where the three of us, excluding the buddy, boarded the coach back to the hotel. Then at 8, we had our daily reflection meeting at the hotel conference room till 9 before going back to bed.

Day 6 (9 Nov)

Everyone were having fun gaining more knowledge about Confucius. Yes! We visited the Confucius' Temple, Confucius' Mansion as well as Confucian Cemetery. As we were about to enter the Confucius' Temple, I learnt that the temple was built in 478 BC and in addition to a statue of Confucius, the hall also houses stone inscription of the Ming Dynasty, which tells the life story of Confucius in 120 pictures and more. Then, we proceeded further into the Confucius' Mansion, where I learnt more about his lifestory and his family. For example, I learnt that the Confucius' Mansion is also called "Yansheng Master Mansion". It is the living place of closely related descendants of Confucius, generation after generation and it is the largest popular mansion next to the imperial palaces of Ming and Qing Dynasty in China. I also learnt that the Confucian Cemetery, occupying more than 200 hectares, has served as the family graveyard of Confucius and his descendants for more than 2,300 years...

Day 5 (8 Nov)

It was a troublesome trip because I had to wake up early to pack my belongings for the night at Queli Hotel in Qufu. As today is the day where the pupils of Er Zhong are having their exams, we did not go over to their school. Instead, we visited the Mount Tai, also known as Tai Shan. When I arrived at the Mount Tai by the South Celestial Gate together with the others, we boarded the cable up to the top of Mount Tai in a group of six. While walking up some flight of the stairs after arriving at the other end of the cable which is the top of the mountain, I saw some wild chickens at the top of some flight of the stairs nearby... Then, after some distances, we finally arrived at the flight of stairs towards the 'Heavenly Street'. At the 'Heavenly Street' , I saw more shops and, in front, I saw the 'Mokong (touching the sky) Tower'. After walking up to the Taoism temple which is at the top of the tower, I realised that the number of steps from the top of the tower to the end is more than a hundred steps!!!

Day 4 (7 Nov)

During the lesson in Er Zhong, we learnt more about confucius's teachings. Then, at 10, we learnt that we will need to jog together with the students as requested by the principle of the school. After that, we went back to the music room to learn the steps of Quan Shu till lunch time. When I was in the music room together with the others, I noticed that the steps were somehow easy and difficult at times, but it was interesting watching our friends learning the steps. After lunch, we went to Da Ming Hu; Baotu Spring and Quan Cheng Square. While visiting the Baotu Spring, I learnt from Zhang Jie Jie, our guide that the spring retains its temperature at 18 degree Celsius (64.4 degree Fahrenheit) all year round, regardless the four seasons, plus some of the people there had been drinking spring water since their childhood.

Day 3 (6 Nov)

The first thing we did after arriving at Er Zhong was to attend their chinese lesson. There, we learnt a poem written by Wang Wei. After that, we watched the students doing their daily morning exercise till 1o before making a trip to their music room for the performance they had put up for us, such as Wushu and dances. Then, we went to the multi-purpose room to learn the seal craving. Craving the name on to the seal was difficult for me but at the same time, it was interesting too! During lunch time, we had it again in the school canteen, but this time without our buddies as they had to study for their exam which is round the corner. After lunch, we went to the pottery workshop to create what we had in mind by using clay of both orginal and those in reddish brown colour. We were told that the products that we had freshly completed need to be left to dry for three days before they can be put to heat...

Day 2 (5 Nov)

1st day at Li Cheng Er Zhong

When we arrived at the school, I saw the banner hanging above the main gate as well as the students all getting ready to do their daily morning run. Then, we went to the multi-purpose room to meet our buddies. As everyone were introduced to their buddy, I was surprised by the fact that our buddies were willing to greet and welcome us by speaking in english and not in chinese! At interacting time, I learned from my buddy that the junior high students graduate after completing secondary 3 and they study for their next upcoming exams immediately after their exams ends. At lunch time, each and everyone of us went to the school canteen for lunch with our buddies. After that, all of us including our buddies, the tour guides, both Mrs Tan and Ms Kong made a tour round the entire school with 4 of the Er Zhong students leading us around the school, which was a combination of high school( junior high and senior high ) and university.

Day 1 (4 Nov)

Leaving Singapore and arriving at Jinan Airport

Before arriving at Jinan Airport, I was told that the temperature there will be as low as between 12 degree celcius to 2 degree celcius. But then I did not totally believed what I was told till we left Jinan Airport to board the coach to the hotel, then I started to believe what Ms Kong and Mrs Tan had said about the temperature there. Anyway, when all 22 of us, including the two teachers-in-charge, arrived at Jinan Airport, we were received by three tour leaders who were to bring us wherever we were suppose to go for the next 10 days.