Reflection of E&C week --- Vanessa =]
I did not go for the class OELP trip to Taiwan, so I joined in with the Year 1s' E&C week. There were highlights and suckish moments, and here is a very detailed account of what i did during that week.
Day 1: Chinese Cultural Appreciation Programme: Chinese Paper Cutting (剪纸)
Chinese Cultural Talk (王德远讲座)
Mrs Teo delivered a long speech to some Year 3 boy that died due to leukaemia during morning assembly and praised him for his fighting sprit. We mourned for him even though most of us did not know him.
We did paper cutting in the morning in 5N. But instead of using scissors, pencil, red paper, and other stuff related to traditional paper cutting, we used coloured paper, construction paper, cutting boards and art knives. The template of what we were to cut was printed on a piece of coloured paper. Different groups (groups were based on where we sat in class) were given different templates. I got the template of a giant panda. There was no specific way to cut out the template, and we can hold the art knife however we want, and all we had to do was to turn the paper so that we would always cut the paper vertically. Then, we had to paste the cut-out template onto a piece of construction paper with glue sticks. I was done really quick, but it was kind of messy as I was not really sure on how to use a art knife properly.
We then had lunch. On our way there, we lost sight of the rest of our level mates, and bumped into Mrs Look. From the way she looked at Wee Hung and I, that look of disapproval, she assumed that both of us were dating. I tried to give her the trust-me-you're-not-being-practical look, before bowing to her, but failed. (Face-palm myself)
In the afternoon, we listened to a motivational talk by an ex-RV pupil named 王德远. I know what it says on our timetable, but there was nothing much about Chinese culture in it. It was more like a I-did-badly-in-school-but-my-results-improved-so-don't-worry-if-you're-failing-your-subjects-now lecture. Being a well known Chinese singer and composer in your mum's time, he also let us try our hand at composing a song based on the School Song. When I mean "let us try", I actually meant that he just let us sit there and watch him brainstorm and come up with the lyrics. There was not much educational value in that talk, but I saw it as a good way to relief ourselves from stressful school life 5 days before the school holidays.
Day 2: Chinese Cultural Appreciation Programme: Chinese Calligraphy (书法) and Chinese Fan Painting (扇画)
We did calligraphy in the morning. It was harder than I had imagine, so you people out there looking at someone write Chinese calligraphy, don't be fooled. We learnt about how Chinese characters evolved over the last couple of millennia, so it kind of paved the way for what we were about to learn during HCL lessons, you know, the 《汉字的演变》topic. Besides needing ink, brushes and calligraphy paper, you'll need a stable hand, some foreign techniques of breathing that I couldn't master which is similar to qi, and a calm mind and body. The amount of preparation that went into a piece of Chinese calligraphy was ridiculous, and the way to do it weirder still. We were supposed to open our legs shoulder width apart, feet flat on the ground, a certain way of holding the brush that looked very similar to a vulgar sign, our arms and elbows positioned in a certain way, etc. Every step was full of smaller steps, like a certain amount of ink to have on your brush, how you position your brush when you write. We even had to look at the brush with our right eye so good luck to everyone who's almost half blind in your right eye. Every stroke ends with a flourish and I couldn't do the flourish, so my Chinese characters end up looking drastically different from the instructor's. In the end, my paper was so f****d up that I had to paint on the template given and write in my untidy handwriting on subsequent pieces of paper given.
Then we did fan painting. Because of the fact that we had done 水墨画 during our RV Lit lessons, it was much easier for us to understand what the instructor was saying and I screwed up less. The only problem was that we had to paint on the actual fan itself, the corrugated ends made the paint drip into the folds on the paper fan. Luckily, the instructor was a pro at fixing poorly painted stuff, and with a few strokes, he fixed up mine.
Day 3: Story Challenge (故事擂台)
Learning Journey to Chinese Clan Associations (琼州会馆)
In my opinion, the story challenge was just lame. It was more of a showcase of skill by some outdoor vendors than a challenge. What they were supposed to do was to use words and scenarios given by the students to construct a story that took more than 3 minutes but less than 4 minutes. I confess that I simply didn't have any vested interest in this at all and did not really pay much attention. The story plot was not logical and didn't even make sense.
Because there was a big time gap between our learning journey and the time we ended the performance, Mr Lam quizzed the Year 1s on things we learnt during RV Lit last year, about Chinese culture and traditions. Some of the information presented were not learnt before so we could also learn something from it.
We then went to our respective clan associations. Wee Hung and I followed class 1I to the 琼州会馆 (also known as 海南会馆) at Beach Road. There, the members of the Huiguan explained to us the history of the Huiguan. The Huiguan has a rich history, so rich that the lecture notes provided were 2 and a half pages long, with a font size 9 and 1.15 spacing. Basically, it was a place for people of the same dialect group to come together. The members of the Huiguan then led us to the 天后宫, a Chinese temple that roughly meant "the palace of Tian Hou" when translated into English, and talked about the rituals of the Hainanese people. We then had catered Hainanese chicken rice for lunch, while the member of the Huiguan told us about Hainanese specialities in the F&B industry. The Huiguan is rather small compared to the Huiguan I visited last year, with 2 rooms - the hall that we attended the lecture and the Tian Hou Gong. I learnt a lot about the Hainan culture there.
Day 4: BSP Camp (双文化营): Movie Appreciation - A Unique Schooling《上学路上》and Chinese Masks (传统手艺面具创作)
We had our first day of the BSP Camp and I spent the bulk of my day trying to get to know 1K better, the class Wee Hung and I were attached to spend the rest of E&C week with. I had a junior from 1K, but that was all I know about that class. The boys in that class, generally, are more well behaved than the boys in our class.
We first had a movie appreciation of the Chinese movie A Unique Schooling in the auditorium. It was about this fifteen-year-old girl's life on the desert plains of China. From there, we also gained new insights on the income gap between Singapore and that part of China, the almost inhabitable environment there, folklore and traditions of the people living there, the male chauvinistic mindset of Chinese, and about the education in that part of China where child marriages are common and not unheard of. Even a small piece of candy dropped into the desert sand would be picked up and eaten again. Money was a luxury to these people. I feel that we should treasure the things we have, because the people in those rural parts of China cannot even afford a good education, but they learnt how to treasure things more than we do. It is ironic how we, the more developed people, have to learn life lessons from a less developed people. Appreciation, literally. Apart from that, it served as very good recap on what we learnt for geography.
In the afternoon, we painted Chinese masks. The masks were not of high quality; one can be gotten at a old art shop for a couple of dollars. The paint was also not very good. I could not really identify what sort of paint it was, because it was not really soluble in water and left a residue. We also had no special coaching from anybody on how to paint such a mask, instead, we relied heavily on a few types of masks in the handout given and on our imagination. Facts and mathematical equations now clogged up my mind, leaving no space for that trickle of creativity. I tried to copy what was given in the handout, but because I was not an art type of person, I ended up screwing my mask up due to the fact that it was really asymmetrical. Not the can't-really-tell type of asymmetrical, but the obvious right in your face type. I threw it away the first chance I got.
Wee Hung and I had to clean up the class all by ourselves according to Mrs Look's standards. Half of a Year 1 class was supposed to help the corresponding Year 2 class clean their classrooms. All the Year 2s have to join in as well. But because we had no direct juniors, we had to do it ourselves for fear of punishment. Not trying to wallow in self-pity, but poor me :(
Day 5: BSP Camp (双文化营): History of the Chinese Dynasties (历朝穿越)
Business China Talk (通商中国 - 傅琼花女士讲座)
We had some games all around the school to get to know how life was like during the different dynasties in China. There was nothing special about the games, the information was in the handout given. What we learnt was roughly what we had covered in RV Lit last year, just more detailed. There was three games that I remember best. 1) We had to pass down a 4-word phrase using only hand signals, sort of like charades. The class was split into 4 teams, and the team that got the most points wins. Our chance of getting the correct answer from the last person was about 50%, and we tied with another team. 2) A pair had to go through a maze of raffia string and chairs to pick up some pebbles. One was blindfolded and the other had to guide him or her. Each pair can only pick up a pebble. The class with the most pebbles wins. As there was a lack of space and time, my pair and I did not get to play. 3) A few representatives of the class had to be blindfolded and draw the features of a face guided by their classmates. The class with the more accurate features wins. Through simple games like these, I learnt about teamwork, cooperation and understanding. It takes skills like these to be efficient and successful in group work. This may end up helping me in CID more than I know it. In addition, the facilitators were also very efficient in their jobs and the game masters were very knowledgable too.
In the afternoon, we had a talk by a representative from a group called Business China. The speaker looked flustered and did not really speak as well as I had expected. She wanted to convince us about the importance of bilingualism and biculturalism in this century, but by the end of her lecture, I did not feel convinced at all. Also, by paying attention to her hand gestures, tone, language, eye contact, etc, I was able, more or less, to point out certain areas in the way she spoke that was lacking. This, I hope, will be a guide to how I should not speak during presentations for any subject, not just for the upcoming one for CID.
Furthermore, I got back my result slip. My CID results are not that good so I've decided to pull it up with this post.
In conclusion, I have learnt a lot from E&C week, and I feel that it is almost equivalent to what my classmates have gained from OELP. They gained knowledge on Taiwan and Taiwanese culture, forged friendships with their counterparts and bonded with the rest of the class, and brought back memorable memories. I gained numerous and invaluable insights on China and Chinese tradition and culture, learnt skills that I can apply in my life, and bonded with my juniors. Just as it was memorable for them, it was for me as well. Had fun during the whole of E&C week, yes, I did.
I did not go for the class OELP trip to Taiwan, so I joined in with the Year 1s' E&C week. There were highlights and suckish moments, and here is a very detailed account of what i did during that week.
Day 1: Chinese Cultural Appreciation Programme: Chinese Paper Cutting (剪纸)
Chinese Cultural Talk (王德远讲座)
Mrs Teo delivered a long speech to some Year 3 boy that died due to leukaemia during morning assembly and praised him for his fighting sprit. We mourned for him even though most of us did not know him.
We did paper cutting in the morning in 5N. But instead of using scissors, pencil, red paper, and other stuff related to traditional paper cutting, we used coloured paper, construction paper, cutting boards and art knives. The template of what we were to cut was printed on a piece of coloured paper. Different groups (groups were based on where we sat in class) were given different templates. I got the template of a giant panda. There was no specific way to cut out the template, and we can hold the art knife however we want, and all we had to do was to turn the paper so that we would always cut the paper vertically. Then, we had to paste the cut-out template onto a piece of construction paper with glue sticks. I was done really quick, but it was kind of messy as I was not really sure on how to use a art knife properly.
We then had lunch. On our way there, we lost sight of the rest of our level mates, and bumped into Mrs Look. From the way she looked at Wee Hung and I, that look of disapproval, she assumed that both of us were dating. I tried to give her the trust-me-you're-not-being-practical look, before bowing to her, but failed. (Face-palm myself)
In the afternoon, we listened to a motivational talk by an ex-RV pupil named 王德远. I know what it says on our timetable, but there was nothing much about Chinese culture in it. It was more like a I-did-badly-in-school-but-my-results-improved-so-don't-worry-if-you're-failing-your-subjects-now lecture. Being a well known Chinese singer and composer in your mum's time, he also let us try our hand at composing a song based on the School Song. When I mean "let us try", I actually meant that he just let us sit there and watch him brainstorm and come up with the lyrics. There was not much educational value in that talk, but I saw it as a good way to relief ourselves from stressful school life 5 days before the school holidays.
Day 2: Chinese Cultural Appreciation Programme: Chinese Calligraphy (书法) and Chinese Fan Painting (扇画)
We did calligraphy in the morning. It was harder than I had imagine, so you people out there looking at someone write Chinese calligraphy, don't be fooled. We learnt about how Chinese characters evolved over the last couple of millennia, so it kind of paved the way for what we were about to learn during HCL lessons, you know, the 《汉字的演变》topic. Besides needing ink, brushes and calligraphy paper, you'll need a stable hand, some foreign techniques of breathing that I couldn't master which is similar to qi, and a calm mind and body. The amount of preparation that went into a piece of Chinese calligraphy was ridiculous, and the way to do it weirder still. We were supposed to open our legs shoulder width apart, feet flat on the ground, a certain way of holding the brush that looked very similar to a vulgar sign, our arms and elbows positioned in a certain way, etc. Every step was full of smaller steps, like a certain amount of ink to have on your brush, how you position your brush when you write. We even had to look at the brush with our right eye so good luck to everyone who's almost half blind in your right eye. Every stroke ends with a flourish and I couldn't do the flourish, so my Chinese characters end up looking drastically different from the instructor's. In the end, my paper was so f****d up that I had to paint on the template given and write in my untidy handwriting on subsequent pieces of paper given.
Then we did fan painting. Because of the fact that we had done 水墨画 during our RV Lit lessons, it was much easier for us to understand what the instructor was saying and I screwed up less. The only problem was that we had to paint on the actual fan itself, the corrugated ends made the paint drip into the folds on the paper fan. Luckily, the instructor was a pro at fixing poorly painted stuff, and with a few strokes, he fixed up mine.
Day 3: Story Challenge (故事擂台)
Learning Journey to Chinese Clan Associations (琼州会馆)
In my opinion, the story challenge was just lame. It was more of a showcase of skill by some outdoor vendors than a challenge. What they were supposed to do was to use words and scenarios given by the students to construct a story that took more than 3 minutes but less than 4 minutes. I confess that I simply didn't have any vested interest in this at all and did not really pay much attention. The story plot was not logical and didn't even make sense.
Because there was a big time gap between our learning journey and the time we ended the performance, Mr Lam quizzed the Year 1s on things we learnt during RV Lit last year, about Chinese culture and traditions. Some of the information presented were not learnt before so we could also learn something from it.
We then went to our respective clan associations. Wee Hung and I followed class 1I to the 琼州会馆 (also known as 海南会馆) at Beach Road. There, the members of the Huiguan explained to us the history of the Huiguan. The Huiguan has a rich history, so rich that the lecture notes provided were 2 and a half pages long, with a font size 9 and 1.15 spacing. Basically, it was a place for people of the same dialect group to come together. The members of the Huiguan then led us to the 天后宫, a Chinese temple that roughly meant "the palace of Tian Hou" when translated into English, and talked about the rituals of the Hainanese people. We then had catered Hainanese chicken rice for lunch, while the member of the Huiguan told us about Hainanese specialities in the F&B industry. The Huiguan is rather small compared to the Huiguan I visited last year, with 2 rooms - the hall that we attended the lecture and the Tian Hou Gong. I learnt a lot about the Hainan culture there.
Day 4: BSP Camp (双文化营): Movie Appreciation - A Unique Schooling《上学路上》and Chinese Masks (传统手艺面具创作)
We had our first day of the BSP Camp and I spent the bulk of my day trying to get to know 1K better, the class Wee Hung and I were attached to spend the rest of E&C week with. I had a junior from 1K, but that was all I know about that class. The boys in that class, generally, are more well behaved than the boys in our class.
We first had a movie appreciation of the Chinese movie A Unique Schooling in the auditorium. It was about this fifteen-year-old girl's life on the desert plains of China. From there, we also gained new insights on the income gap between Singapore and that part of China, the almost inhabitable environment there, folklore and traditions of the people living there, the male chauvinistic mindset of Chinese, and about the education in that part of China where child marriages are common and not unheard of. Even a small piece of candy dropped into the desert sand would be picked up and eaten again. Money was a luxury to these people. I feel that we should treasure the things we have, because the people in those rural parts of China cannot even afford a good education, but they learnt how to treasure things more than we do. It is ironic how we, the more developed people, have to learn life lessons from a less developed people. Appreciation, literally. Apart from that, it served as very good recap on what we learnt for geography.
In the afternoon, we painted Chinese masks. The masks were not of high quality; one can be gotten at a old art shop for a couple of dollars. The paint was also not very good. I could not really identify what sort of paint it was, because it was not really soluble in water and left a residue. We also had no special coaching from anybody on how to paint such a mask, instead, we relied heavily on a few types of masks in the handout given and on our imagination. Facts and mathematical equations now clogged up my mind, leaving no space for that trickle of creativity. I tried to copy what was given in the handout, but because I was not an art type of person, I ended up screwing my mask up due to the fact that it was really asymmetrical. Not the can't-really-tell type of asymmetrical, but the obvious right in your face type. I threw it away the first chance I got.
Wee Hung and I had to clean up the class all by ourselves according to Mrs Look's standards. Half of a Year 1 class was supposed to help the corresponding Year 2 class clean their classrooms. All the Year 2s have to join in as well. But because we had no direct juniors, we had to do it ourselves for fear of punishment. Not trying to wallow in self-pity, but poor me :(
Day 5: BSP Camp (双文化营): History of the Chinese Dynasties (历朝穿越)
Business China Talk (通商中国 - 傅琼花女士讲座)
We had some games all around the school to get to know how life was like during the different dynasties in China. There was nothing special about the games, the information was in the handout given. What we learnt was roughly what we had covered in RV Lit last year, just more detailed. There was three games that I remember best. 1) We had to pass down a 4-word phrase using only hand signals, sort of like charades. The class was split into 4 teams, and the team that got the most points wins. Our chance of getting the correct answer from the last person was about 50%, and we tied with another team. 2) A pair had to go through a maze of raffia string and chairs to pick up some pebbles. One was blindfolded and the other had to guide him or her. Each pair can only pick up a pebble. The class with the most pebbles wins. As there was a lack of space and time, my pair and I did not get to play. 3) A few representatives of the class had to be blindfolded and draw the features of a face guided by their classmates. The class with the more accurate features wins. Through simple games like these, I learnt about teamwork, cooperation and understanding. It takes skills like these to be efficient and successful in group work. This may end up helping me in CID more than I know it. In addition, the facilitators were also very efficient in their jobs and the game masters were very knowledgable too.
In the afternoon, we had a talk by a representative from a group called Business China. The speaker looked flustered and did not really speak as well as I had expected. She wanted to convince us about the importance of bilingualism and biculturalism in this century, but by the end of her lecture, I did not feel convinced at all. Also, by paying attention to her hand gestures, tone, language, eye contact, etc, I was able, more or less, to point out certain areas in the way she spoke that was lacking. This, I hope, will be a guide to how I should not speak during presentations for any subject, not just for the upcoming one for CID.
Furthermore, I got back my result slip. My CID results are not that good so I've decided to pull it up with this post.
In conclusion, I have learnt a lot from E&C week, and I feel that it is almost equivalent to what my classmates have gained from OELP. They gained knowledge on Taiwan and Taiwanese culture, forged friendships with their counterparts and bonded with the rest of the class, and brought back memorable memories. I gained numerous and invaluable insights on China and Chinese tradition and culture, learnt skills that I can apply in my life, and bonded with my juniors. Just as it was memorable for them, it was for me as well. Had fun during the whole of E&C week, yes, I did.
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