Taiwan OELP Day 3 Reflection

Kheng Lon:

Today we revisited Nationl Experimental High School after a hearty breakfast. However, we went to the international class this time. When we stepped into the class, I realized that the students are more well- behaved than the previous class we went to. They did not really interrupt the class but instead listen attentively. I was not surprised that they were able to speak both English and Chinese fluently as it was an international class. The teachers in our class are foreigners and we participated in some activities during lesson time, getting to know each other and make more friends. Their lessons are taught in English, instead of Chinese. During lunch, we put up a performance for the school. The audience was mostly made up of students and teachers. During the performance, we sang wonderful songs and some of us put up a magnificent dance performance. Even though the performance was well done, I still feel that we could have done better. It would be a good idea for us to rehearse altogether a few times instead of just assigning roles so that we can roughly understand how the performance is going to be, so that the performance will run more smoothly. Other than that, I think all of us did a great job during the performance. Afterwards, we attended the AP Biology. The students put up a slide show presentation on some marine life. I find that most of them speak eloquently and confidently. That is something we can all learn from. I think that their presentation is very informative as I get to know more about certain marine organisms. We even got to witness these marine creatures in a fish tank. We then proceed to make our way to play sports. Our group was to play basketball with the students. The students there are really good in basketball. They scored goals after goals and we did not even managed to score 1 point. However, it is not about the winning or the losing that really matters. What matters is the fact that we get to bond with the students there. Finally, it was time to go and we bade farewell. The students there were very friendly and I was reluctant to leave. After the two days in the school, I gained a deeper understanding between Singapore and Taiwan education system. From this school, I can find out the improvements our school needs and at the same time feel grateful for the things they did not have.

Next, we made our way to the glass museum. At the museum, we admired some masterpieces made out of glass. It was an interesting and wonderful experience. We even went to the souvenir shop to purchase some souvenirs. These were the highlights of the day and I hope that I can continue to learn more about Taiwan.

Gladys:

Today, we went to the bilingual department of the National Experimental High School. 

I think I had more fun cause it was easier to communicate to the students and for us to understand what the teacher was saying. I notice that the students participate actively in class activities and they give constructive comments that can help the class in studying. I think we should learn from them so that we can learn more during lessons. We also had the chance to play different sports and I managed to play basketball with some of the students. Although the weather was really hot and it was really tiring, I had a really good time playing and interacting with them. As it was our last day at the school, we had to put up a performance for them. At first i was really shocked when Mr Chua told us we were going to perform in an open space, but since everyone was going to perform together as a class, we managed to calm ourselves down. Although our performance wasn't that good, all of the students still showed support and applauded for us. I think I had learnt a lot of values and learnt how to appreciate Singapore's education system after having this immersion programme in Hsinchu. In the afternoon, we went to the Glass Museum.

 I was truly amazed by all the masterpieces displayed at the glass museum and I didn't know glass can also be made into a form of art. We also had the chance to go to the souvenir shop. I saw so many different kind of souevenirs made of glass that were really beautiful and had a really hard time choosing what I should buy. I learnt a lot from the glass museum and hope that I will continue learning new things from Taiwan.

Emily:
Today, we went to the bilingual department of NEHS. The lessons were better to understand as they were taught in English and the students were attentive in class. I also noticed that they would volunteer actively when the teacher asked for volunteers which is very big difference compared to RV students. It was also easier to talk to the students as they could speak very fluent English. During PE, it was very fun despite the sweltering weather as we had a chance to play basketball with the students there. After that, we had to prepare for a performance as it was our last day there. I felt that our performance wasn't that well prepared but the students seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a photo taking session after that and although I didn't take a photo with anyone, I felt happy that I was able to help other people take pictures.
After that, we went to the glass museum. It was really cool to see the amazing things people could do with glass and although I didn't buy any souvenirs from there, I learnt that creativity can be shown in different ways. I felt that today was a fun and fruitful day and I hoped that tomorrow would be the same.

Jing Yan:

We went to the school today again and put up our performance that we spent quite awhile to practice. We were pretty nervous and awkward with them as there were many Taiwanese students sitting on the floor watching our performance. I danced along with 5 other people and sang together as a class afterwards. It was entertaining. Some of the Taiwanese genuinely enjoyed our performance and i was very grateful.  We also studied with the bilingual students. They spoke to us in English and lessons were taught by foreign teachers. We also attended the AP Biology lesson where elite students gave us a presentation of their coral reef tank. There were many species of marine life such as the clownfish, shrimp, sea urchins etc. I felt that this was very useful in studying the marine life as there was a life specimen.

During PE lessons, i realised the students did not have to change to any specific sports attire and was quite surprised. It would be great if we could wear whatever we want for school. At the end of the visit to the school, there was a miniature farewell party and we could pass the gifts we made for our Taiwanese buddies and take photos with them. I did a card and gave them a postcard with the Singapore Skyline in it. Some of them also added us on Facebook so as to keep in contact. We were all very happy and enjoyed ourselves for the past two days. After that, we took a group photo which included everyone with their buddies and we boarded the bus to the Glass Museum. We saw many art pieces of different artists and they looked beautiful. There was also many painting made of glass and were very cool. I bought a glass dice pig there for display in my house too!

Claudia: 

Today we visited NEHS again and it was the last day that we would be there. It was slightly different from the previous day as we went to the bilingual classes instead. The classroom environment differed from the regular classes, the atmosphere was more tense and less relaxed as compared to the regular classes and the students were much more attentive and less disruptive. The students here could speak both Chinese and English fluently which was not surprising as they are bilingual students. After speaking to some of them, i found out that their classes are somewhat similar to ours, the only class which they spoke in Chinese was Chinese lessons and the other lessons were all in English. After a few hours of lessons, i came to a conclusion that our lessons in Singapore are pretty similar to the bilingual classes in Taiwan and differed alot from the regular classes in Taiwan, in which both has its good and bad points. The regular classes were more relaxed and the students seemed to enjoy school a lot, having lesser homework and tests but having to enjoy lessons and have fun more, while the bilingual classes were more task oriented and students had to study to prepare for tests and exams but this allows them to adapt to a more stressful environment and work under pressure. 

After lessons, we put up a performance of multiple songs as a farewell gift to the students in NEHS. I didn't participate in performing but instead was responsible for taking photos during the performance. I watched from afar and personally felt that even though the performance could be improved, i could tell that 2L was putting in a lot of effort to perform. Many of us have stage fright and are very shy but we still put up a performance for a large crowd and i think that the effort is commendable! 

Overall, in the past two days in NEHS, i have learnt a lot and sort of experienced the education in Taiwan, i made many friends and genuinely enjoyed the short time there. 

We also went to the Glass Museum in the evening, there was an exhibition of glass art work from a specific artist there and i was truly amazed by the intricate glassware that was created by the artist. The glassware were all very beautiful and there was also a souvenir shop there even though i didn't buy anything as the glassware were pretty pricey.