Feelings after OCIP 2004
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
♥ 11:42 PM
After 17 days in a foreign land and with lots of people whom I just know, I certainly have much to say about it. Well here it goes…
First of all after 17 days, I certainly made many new friends, as for people whom I already know before the trip, I have understand them better and hopefully, our friendship can become stronger through greater understanding and bonding. For the many new friends I have made, hope that the friendship can continue and will not just be hi and bye friends when we meet again in school. However from the first outing, I am positive that the 29 of us can be great friends. 19 people turn up for the dinner. I was so surprised. Initially I thought that only a few would turn up, but I was proven wrong. Team Xin Hui let us all remain everlasting friends.
Secondly I have learnt to eat vegetables. I do not eat vegetables from young for some reasons or other. But on this trip, I have learnt not only to eat vegetables but also love them. I wonder why I hate vegetables that much, must be the choking incident when I was young.
Thirdly, after been in China for 17 days, I have really learnt to appreciate things around me. We have always take things around us for granted and most of the time, we do not realize our folly. In China, the primary school has benches smaller than your butt and facilities were really basic. But the children’s spirit and attitude towards learning were not dampened at all. They arrive far earlier then required for school and they were all very keen to learn new things and were always asking questions when conversing with us. In Singapore, we have great facilities and a great number of late comers and school retainers too. What an irony. One of our tasks is to teach the kids in China English. I found that being a teacher was not at all an easy job. Before the lesson, there was lots of preparation to make and when delivering the lesson for the first time, I was dead nervous and kept saying the wrong things. Never complain about boring teachers for they are the ones that prepare the most for the lesson.
Lastly, it was a great cultural exchange with the Chinese. The Chinese way of doing things were completely different from us. They are very relaxed and like to discuss and talk a lot before setting up their mind. Chinese also place strong importance on relations. Deals were based on relations instead of contracts. Thus to work effectively with the Chinese, we have to build strong relations with them first. I have also found out that corruption lies in their way of doing things. Quote an example, when you ask for a receipt in China, the shop keeper will ask whether or not you would like them to write an amount higher then the goods you purchase. When I first heard this, I was thinking WTF, this is outright corruption. But this is the way of their life and to work with them, we have to accept it.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip very much as there were many new experiences like hearing fire crackers up close. This was an eye opening experience as fire crackers are not available in Singapore. But most importantly, I have made many friends and through our 17 days of living together, I am sure this friendship will last.
