assignment 4

Assignment 4

My aim for coming to china was to learn the local language which is Chinese. I am able to understand basic Chinese and able to communicate slightly in Chinese. For example, on the plane back to Singapore, i was sitting beside Kang Liang and air stewardess came and asked questions in Chinese. Kang Liang was wondering what she was talking about but i knew and understood what she was asking and i answered her back in Chinese. To me, that was an achievement and it motivates me to learn and study Chinese more. I have friends who helped me to understand and learn Chinese for example Nicholas who scores A1 in Chinese for his O level. There was a few times when i was very blur and my friends who were Chinese too didn’t understand what the locals were saying. That was an obstacle which we together overcome by first asking the locals to speak slowly as they were talking at top speed.

My focus for this trip would be the food and culture in china. As i had previously mentioned the duck neck and fishball soup in my assignment; the duck neck was nice but rather spicy and the soup which was supposedly to serve 3people was enough to serve 9 hungry people which were amazing. The fishballs are very soft and not springy like the ones in Singapore and once, there was bones found in the fishballs. The culture in china about the hygiene and the way they speak were very true. There was once in the bus the bus conductor and the passengers would argue with each other as the passenger had wanted to alight a stop earlier than intended but was not allowed by the conductor. It was rather strange to me as it was the passenger’s choice to alight where but was stopped by the bus conductor and both of them were shouting at the top of their voice but no one came to stop them from fighting but after a few minutes, both of them stop fighting and the atmosphere in bus seems like the fight never even happen in the first place. I realised it was custom to see people fighting and people are so accustomed to it and it doesn’t matter as these verbal fights happen everywhere. Even after the fight, people tend to forgive and forget unlike those in Singapore where fight cases would usually end in court. In my opinion, Singaporeans have a lot to learn from the China locals.

How do china people communicate or even stand each other when they talk loudly and rudely?

It is their custom to speak out loud and make sure they are heard and even so, no offense is taken as this is how they live.

Why is it that the government does nothing to help the environment to at least be appropriate for people to live in as the places in china is mostly infested by pests caused by people dumping rubbish everywhere?

China is a big country and the government is not big enough to help every one of them and the issue of hygiene has been around for quite some time. There are a lot of cleaners seen at the road. There was once is aw a group of cleaners sweeping the floor at a park and there is this truck which washes the road daily. There has been help given and the government is planning more to solve the issue of hygiene.

How come china people are allowed to drive freely with no law or regulation to stop them such as driving in the opposite lane?

Even so without any law or even license, since i was in china there was not even a time where i seen an accident happens. Even with any law or regulations, the china locals drive very carefully even though fast and immediately brake if there was any obstacles. It is a common sight and the drivers in china are fine with this as everyone does it and they have become accustomed to it.

What are the few delicacies in china and what are the foods usually eaten by the locals?

A few delicacies and food eaten by the locals are the deck necks, dumplings, fishballs and mostly vegetables which are either steamed or fried. The foods there are full of spices and very hot.

Why are they a lot of pickpocket incidents happening in china?

China is a place where poverty is found everywhere. To survive in this world, people do anything to survive thus pick pocketing becomes an issue in china and the government does nothing much to help overcome the poverty in china.

Global skills

1. I would like to learn Chinese and speak in that language more fluently as employers in Singapore nowadays are looking for Chinese speaking people. If I have an extra language in hand, I would have an edge against others and perhaps would be able to secure a better job in the future.

My Chinese is much better and i am able to understand and speak in Chinese a little. I would like to learn more about the language so that i am able to upgrade myself.

2. I would like to learn the business etiquettes and strategies done here in china as I heard there are a lot of opportunities here and china might be even the next hot places for business in the near future.

I learn some skills and tips for business etiquettes such as never be late for meetings, know your host and things that cannot be placed on the eating table. The small details that wll help me to close a business deal.

3. I would like to learn independently and living with strangers without depending on others. If I would have to go for overseas trip again in the future, I would be able to take care of myself and be able to handle things well.

I have been living independently for the past 6weeks i was in china. Eating instant noodles, washing my clothes and doing the groceries are the things that i have experienced living independently with no one to lend a helping help.

My understanding of cross-cultural issues has improved greatly. Things that seem right in Singapore might be something not approved in china. To live in a foreign country, you would have to learn and live the way of the locals there. Only by doing that, you can truly understand other countries customs and way of living.

Day forty-two

GUESS WHAT. today is the day we are going home. mixed feelings. happy and sad at the same time. i know i will miss china badly but i cant wait to go back to friends who i miss so much.

at 8am, all were awake. i didnt sleep last night and played cs, watched movie and all because too excited about going home. by 8am, i had moved my luggage down to level one, the guys dorm. thank you nicholas for bringing it down. but the time to weigh our bags were delayed so i think around 9plus, we finally weighed our bags. i wasnt scared of exceeding because i got a feeling that it wont exceed and it didnt. my luggage weighs 25kg. yippee. some of us exceed but the one who exceep the most until nearly 40kg was ernest. i wonder what he bought. so heavy. haha.

then we moved our luggage to the bus. i find the bus driver really idiotic because he just refused to drive in the bus right outside our hostel but instead we had to dragged our luggages all the way to infront of this main building and it far and i perspire. gosh. so we finally set off to the airport and i slept so peacefully all the way there. haha

we reached airport and we realised we were early. mr chua treat us poor people who are left with no money to breakfast. fried rice. haha. thank you sir! then we board our first flight. reached guangzhou then we quickly checkin our luggage because we realised we were late. so finally we board our second flight which goes straight to singapore. four hour journey. most of the time i sleep. there were turbulences but it was alright. and i didnt have motion sickness. i am proud of myself.

FINALLY. we arrived in singapore. we took pictures of our group and then some of us bought wine and all for our parents. and after taking our luggages. some of us meet friends. for me, i went to eat supper because i was very hungry and finally home sweet home.




END OF CHINA TRIP. i miss china

Day forty-one

today's destination: yellow crane tower.
everyone planned to wake up early at around 6plus but nobody did. so end up, all of us woke up late and went out from our dorms around 7plus am and by then arvind was grumbling to us about the bus being full, no seats and all. we took bus 901 and changed to 608 after it mall bustop. then we accidently miss out stop so we took bus 1 back to the yellow crane area and we went to eat at a place where they sell very spicy noodles with peanuts servings. after that, many of us bought zippo lighters. i bought two for friends and then went into the shopping mall and all of us start buying things. i bought souveniers for friends. and kangliang went to pierce his ear. very scary experience because they do not even have the proper equipments. they just numb your ear and poke the stud into your ear. according to kangliang its not painful just the area is very sore. well, i dont believe it wasnt painful at all but his ear was red for the whole day. haha. we ate our lunch at a steakhouse. the food was nice but i got tired chewing the meat.

we took a cab back to our dorm just in time for photo taking session at 3pm. changed into soe shirt and we took our pictures under the scorching sun. after that, slacked at dorm and finally at around 4plus went to the foreign language block to attend the closing ceremony. we had like games and all and was entertained by chris and arvind dancing and the teacher singing and shugen as well. then played with fireworks. it was nice and memorable event as they played the fireworks at close range and the bigger fireworks were one of the beautiful things i have seen. thank you mr ma and mr chua for the wonderful experience.

Day forty

woke up early in the morning because kangliang has been pestering to buy his skinny jeans. finally we all gave in and went with him to Luxiang to buy his jeans. being a rich guy, he bought two jeans. haha. then went to night market to buy kangliang's cap because he lost his favourite one in a cab. lucky for him, he found the same cap design. i bought my sister a bag which she has been pestering me and nicholas and kangliang bought those big bags to their things.

then we took a cab to go back dorm but the driver dontknow where it is. she went like RMB30 plus and only after that, she said she dont know where it is. we alighted the cab after paying her the cab fare even though she didnt bring us to our destination. GOSH. we took another cab and finally we arrived back to our dorm. rested awhile until nicholas stomach grumbled. so we went out for dinner, shopped at the minimart and arrived back at dorm for meeting (:

PHOTO ESSAY

TOPIC: PEOPLE

Firstly, what is a photo essay?

A series of photographs that conveys a story, usually accompanied by a written text and published as a book or special feature in a periodical. Quoted from http://www.answers.com/topic/photo-essay.

The second day we were in China. We were shocked to see the state of the school, Wuhan University of Science and Technology. Thankfully for us, our school was the new campus. We were greeted by a great infrastructure of the school and it was greater than our school, of course. This was the day when we were touring the school, cameras were at our hand and we were snapping pictures for memories and some already planning for this photo essay.

See the thickness of our clothing. I must say, we Singaporeans got a shock when we came to China. Everyone expected it to be cold however being Singaporeans who some of us never left our hometown before, we got a shock of the cold and everyone started wrapping themselves with layers of clothing, scarves and gloves. Honestly, everyone looks the same, a cuddly bear in my opinion.



This is when we were at Yellow Crane Tower. Being Singaporeans and foreigners, it was quite a sight for us as majority of the people touring this place were not foreigners but the locals themselves. In my opinion, I would feel weird touring my own country. I was curious to find out why were there a lot of locals there so I asked a group of locals who were in their early twenties. According to them, they have never been there before and I asked why. They said they were from a different part of China so coming to Wuhan, partly in mind to come to this place and the other tourist attractions so I categorised them as foreigners. Oh, and they were speaking in Chinese so I had my friends become my translators for the day.



This was our tour for the day when we were going to visit a museum. I see her so hardworking and very knowledgeable about all the places we had went. There was a slight change of plans that day. We were supposed to go to the museum but we had arrived early and the museum had not yet opened. So the tour guide suggested going to this park where this picture was taken and even so, she was still knowledgeable even though this place was not part of the plan. Impressive I must say, or is it just their line of work; a tour guide must be full of knowledge of such places. I am not sure but no matter what, I have a good impression of her.



I must say, the locals do have a way around. What I really meant was that, our tour guide was supposed to do a tour on the museum for us, but the locals just pushed their way around and it seems that our tour and became their tour. I have a bad impression of these people.



Does this look familiar? A tour going on, I saw a tour guide holding a flag. Then a group of people, who are locals by the way, wearing all the same caps and following the tour guide. Isn’t a tour supposed to be for foreigners? Well, they certainly changed that concept in me; tours are meant for both foreigners and locals, and I think, this only applies to big countries like China.



Art. That’s a word that brings all ages of people, be it the young, adult or old people. Everyone appreciates art and it is something that brings us all together.



Aren’t they all adorable? This was taken in a shopping mall. It was an event to celebrate women’s day. But in here, the even have yet started so the small adorable go wild and enjoy their short lived fame.



Many things happen in a shopping mall. See the small child pointed out by yellow arrows. You would not believe what he is doing. The mother is asking the child to pee there in the open in a shopping mall. For a Singaporean, it was shocking to see such behaviour going on. A culture shock indeed. Oh, and the woman pointed out by red arrows. She saw me taking a picture of them yet there was no reaction from her or even any attempts to cover up the child. Goodness me.



A sport enjoyed by almost everyone. I didn’t think that in a shopping mall there would be a pool or snooker area. Well, there is but I was shocked by its condition. It was an air conditioned area but there are people smoking and the place was not even ventilated. In my opinion, it was very rude for these people to smoke in these places. Maybe for them it’s normal, but for us Singaporeans, if it’s done in Singapore, you would firstly be slapped with a fine and given disgust looks by Singaporeans.



See those people pointed out by arrows. They were all wrapped in winter clothes, sweaters with hood, turtlenecks and thick sweater and they are all exercising, running. I was surprised and curious, don’t they feel hot at all as you can see, and there was a bright sun. Proof, the shadows by the girls. The same thing also happens with the guys here.



I am proud with our group.



See the determined faces of our group, the ones in black; especially Christopher who was trying to block an attack from the locals in a friendly match against Ngee Ann Polytechnic and WUST. I am proud to say that Ngee Ann Polytechnic won.



The interaction with WUST and Ngee Ann Poly. The relationship between us shall go a long way.



The sight of hungry Ngee Ann Poly students. Food brings us all together in one room.



People bargaining with shop owners, some even slashes the prices to half the original price. Impressive and fierce these people yet the shop owners had placed their stand and refuse to accept any bargains. We were told the things sold there actually were overpriced so no one bought from that shop.



Our tour guide for a boat trip. She speaks non-stop and even tries to sell things while on the boat. The things people would do to make a living.



Our boats which we take were rowed by them. This is what they do for a living, bringing people around the area on boat. A very hard labour job and they were all very muscular in my opinion.



Once again, art brings everyone together. This is when everyone gathers on the cruise ship to view the mountains. Beautiful I must say.



Interaction and bonding with the local students. One of them, Tom with the thumbs up knows English and it makes interaction easier for some of us who are non-speaking Chinese.



Everyone having fun in a gathering that was organised by the local students. I was very proud of our group who are very enthusiastic especially Mr Chua who singing a duet with a lecturer from WUST.



See the people pointed out by black arrows. They would rush out upon seeing potential customers inviting them to go in and eat at their restaurant. I would say, it was warm gesture but at time it’s scary so some of them would just run away.



We all know we learn walking when young through our parents who persistently hold our hands, teaching us to walk. However, here as you can see, they will hold you up with this belt string. Different cultures and countries have their own ways; and the baby is so cute.



See how crowded a night market is. All the things here are sold at very cheap prices yet being Singaporeans, we cut the prices to almost half. A very good bargain i must say shopping here and a wonderful experience as well.



The happy moments shared between all of us. Seeing their happy, cheerful and carefree expression makes me feel that i might actually miss this place even though there are bad moments. Good memories shall always be remembered and reminisced.



The hard work, determination and persistence put in by these students who are very determined in learning wushu and the teacher or more appropriately shifu is a determined to pass all his knowledge to these students. i am very proud of them.



I miss our tour guide. I never really did catch her name but i really do like and admire her. She was really nice and knowledgeable. I really admire her courage ever since the wudang mountains trip where we had to queue up for the cable cars and she fought for our rights by telling the China people not to cut queue. I really do like her and i am already missing her. I wanted to thank her but i had forgotten but really, if this message did get passed down to her, i want to say thank you and for making the tours very interesting. THANK YOU!



Moments shared with Mr Chua. Mr Chua, i am sure you are reading and grading my photo essay but i want to say, i am sorry if i had ever caused trouble by coming late for class or meetings but you have made this trip a memorable trip and it definitely a trip worth going twice. Thank you.



I am going to miss China. Happy moments.