Home Visit

I visited one of the students' home together with Wanting and Guan'nan and stayed there for dinner. It was part of the programme to get to know the life of the China students better. We wanted to find out where they live, what they usually do and what they eat for their meals. In the afternoon, Wanting and Guan'nan played some card games with their buddies and I took a short nap on the sofa in the living room. The trip no doubt was fun and eventful but I was really exhausted so I took a little break while the students play. Later in the afternoon, we were invited to make dumplings with the mum. Chinese dumpling is a must-have in Chinese families. Chinese dumpling also known as Jiaozi, typically consist of a ground meat and/or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. The parents were very hospitable and prepared a scrumptious dinner for us.

Baotu Spring

Spring water gushing out from the ground

Getting a gulp of spring water

The Spring Sculpture of Jinan at Quancheng Square

Another attraction site is the Baotu Spring. It was formed because of Jinan's special geographical position and geological structure. The spring keeps its temperature at about 18 degree Celsius all year round, meaning the spring water will not be frozen even in winter. Water bursts out through three outlets and water columns surge upward, looking like spinning wheels. Being a geography teacher, I find this place very interesting. It's like Geography comes alive. Heard from the guide that the secret to longevity of the Jinan people is partly due to the spring water they drink from here. So let's not wait and rush for the spring water!

Knowing Confucius and his birth place

The most famous attraction site in Shandong is the Confucius Temple at Qufu which is a 2 hour drive from Jinan. Here, the temple is one of the three largest ancient architectural complexes in China, the other two being the Summer Palace in Beijing and the Mountain Resorts in Chengde. At the Confucius Temple, many of our students went to hang their lucky charms to ask for blessings for themselves and families. Many of them also asked for success in their coming exams.

We also went to the Confucius Institute to attend a lecture by Professor Zhang on some of teachings of Confucius.

Confucius said, 

"If a man keeps cherishing his old knowledge, so as continually to be acquiring new, he may be a teacher of others";

"Learning without thought is labour lost, thought without learning is perilous". 

"A youth, when at home, should be filial, and abroad, respectful to his elders. He should be earnest and truthful. He should overflow in love for all, and cultivate the friendship of the good. When he has time and opportunity, after the performance of these things, he should employ them in polite studies.

Scaling the Tai Mountains

Cable car ride

Walking up to the peak

Locks of prosperity and love

We didn't trek up the Tai Mountains. We actually took a cable car up there. The peak is 1532.8m high. We were lucky as the weather that day was fine and it was not really that cold. I didn't know the Tai Mountain that I'm visiting is actually the mountain that is related to these 2 famous Chinese proverbs 有眼不识泰山  and 稳如泰山.

I've always enjoy trekking but it's a pity this time round we can't trek as I was bringing a lot of students who are not familiar with trekking. Nonetheless, it was a good trip up. Up in the mountains there were some interesting sites such as the temples the emperor used to pray in the past and the heavenly street. Heavenly street is actually a street up in the mountains rumoured to be the road that led the celestial deities to the heaven.

Our 2nd Chinese Lesson

《散步》莫怀戚

The second Chinese lesson we had was about a short essay "Strolling" written by Mo Huaiqi. The story is about the author bringing his old mother, his young son and his wife out for a stroll one day in early spring. Through a simple strolling activity, the author brings out the care and concern he has for his mother and at the same time his mother's love for her grandson. While strolling, his son wanted to walk on the small natural footpath, uneven ground but exciting. However the author worried for his old mother and would rather walk on the man-made walk path. In the end, his mother suggested to take the small track to accomodate her grandson and if necessary for her son to piggyback her. The author immediately carried his mother on his back and with his wife following behind, strolled with his son along the natural footpath. A heartwarming story of family love.

Our First Chinese Lesson

Our first Chinese lesson is this Chinese poem by the poet Wang Wei(王维） in the Tang Dynasty. The poem is about Wang Wei who is sending his good friend Yuan'er (元二）off. His good friend is going to Xi'an(西安）to be an official. Let me try to do a translation of the poem. Wang Wei sent his friend off at this place called Weicheng (渭城）. 

《送元二使安西》王维

渭城朝雨邑轻尘， 客舍青青柳色新。

劝居更尽一杯酒， 西出阳关无古人。

First line: The morning rain has just moisturised the soil of Weicheng.

Second line: The willow trees have just begun to turn green outside the hotel.

Third line: Let me toast my friend another cup of wine.

Fourth line: When you leave the West gate, I will miss a very old friend.

This poem is usually read to a friend who is leaving to show that you will miss him very much. I find the poem meaningful and the words beautifully written. It was so touching to hear the Chinese teacher recite with some background music. I could feel poet's emotions and his sense of loss because of his friend's departure. You can listen to the recital here.

Chinese Martial Art

Everyday there were surprises for the pupils. This time round, we were exposed to the Chinese martial art. First was the long stick. A few of the boys tried and took a while to master the simple strokes. After that the boys went on to the sword play and finally everyone went on to learn some simple movement of Chinese martial art.

Chinese Drumming Session

I like the Chinese drum performance best. The Licheng Erzhong students who performed the drumming did it with style and gusto. Our students were given the chance to try too. Drumming requires good coordination between your left, right hand and body. At the same time, you must have a good sense of rythnm. Our students played the drum rather well despite the short learning time. I heard from Mr Loke that he might want the students to do a short drum performance during Annual Awards Day based on teachers' recommendation. :-p

Cultural activities: Pottery

Many of you cannot believe the number of activities we participated in Licheng Erzhong. We tried out pottery, chinese martial arts, chinese folk dance, chinese knots-making, chinese drumming and chinese orchestra instruments. I could see how engaged our students were and I must admit some of them are really talented because they learnt very fast.

Pottery is offered to lower secondary pupils at Licheng Erchong. Our students had the opportunity to mould some of the clay into vases, pots and ornaments to bring back during their exchange programme in school. Pottery was not as easy as it looks; it requires a lot of planning and patience to craft out the product that you want. You also need to dirty your hands in order to do well. It is a serious business playing with the mud.

The People who received us...

Top: Guizhen, Mrs Tan, Zhengmeng & Ms Kong
Bottom: Tour guide, Zhiqin with the crown

Upon our arrival to Shandong Airport, we were warmly received by the school representatives from Lichen Erzhong(历城二中) as well as the tour guide. The night temperature was cold and luckily we reminded the students to hand carry their jackets. They came in handy.

Shandong University is the school who helped CCSS to arrange the twinning programme with Lichen Erzhong. The University was so kind to attach two brilliant 4th year graduating students, Yan Guizhen (闫桂珍) and Zhengmeng (郑蒙) to be our trip assistants. They were caring and resourceful, always offering help when we are faced with difficulties during the trip. These two wonderful girls made our trip so enjoyable. We were so impressed with them that we can’t help praising them when we saw their lecturer, Mr Gui.

They are now studying double degree with one major on teaching Chinese to foreigners. Next year, they will be sent to other countries to volunteer to teach Chinese as their work attachment. We wished they could come to Singapore so that we can return them the hospitality they had given us.

Our tour guide, Zhang Zhiqin (张志芹) is also another fantastic person. A young and fun-loving lady, meeting our needs at all times and was able to relate so well with our pupils. Without her, the trip wouldn’t be so smooth sailing. She was like a big sister to our students.

On 12 Nov, we threw her a surprise birthday party because her birthday happens to coincide with our trip. She was so moved that we could see her eyes turned watery. “This is the best birthday present I have ever received”, she broke into a smile.

Project Deadline

Dear all,

I believe all of you have a fruitful trip to Shandong and we have learnt so much. Now is the time to consolidate our learning and the deadlines are set to help you be more focused.

Timeline:

16 and 19 Nov: To submit the CD of all your photos to Ms Kong;

23 Nov: to show the first draft of your posters for teachers to see at 10am in the canteen;

30 Nov: to submit your posters.

7 Dec: to submit 3-4 PowerPoint slides to Daniel and Jonathan through email;

17 Dec: to complete your blog (by day or by theme) on the trip. Daniel and Jonathan to complete the PowerPoint Presentation slides.

Please go to the following teachers for advice for your projects:

Ms Kong - Reflections and Learning points (GL:Nigel Chua), Co-curricular and Cultural activities (GL: Chua Lee Lian), Reflections on Lessons (GL:Ho Li Wei) and Home Visits (GL: Tracy Goh).

Mrs Tan - PowerPoint Presentation (GL: Jonathan Ang), Confucius Teachings (GL: Afina Wong), Comparison of China and Singapore Students (GL: Amos Seow) and Places of Interest (GL: Cheok Yuting).

Please stick to the deadlines because we want to clear our work so that next year we can concentrate on other areas. Do check this blog regularly for updates as Mrs Tan and I may need to meet you to discuss further.

Trip to Confucius Institute

Confucius(Top left) Prof Koh(Top right) CCSS (Bottom)

On Friday, 26 October, we went to Confucius Institute at Nanyang Technological Universtiy (CI-NTU) arranged by Mr Loke, our school principal. We were honoured to have Professor Koh Hock Kiat, the director to address us. He gave us an introduction to the Confucius teachings and pointed out some of the attractions we should not miss when we visit Shandong.

We will be making a trip to Qufu (曲阜), famous for being the home of Confucius. As Confucius is a great teacher, we hope to learn as much of his teachings and come back to school to share.

Prof Koh also painted a beautiful picture of Taishan Mountains (泰山), the famous mountains with rich historical and cultural significance. We were reminded to learn some of the famous Chinese proverbs related to the Taishan Mountains. This is one of the many highlights of our trip.

Our students were well-behaved and attentive, however, during the Q & A session, they were rather quiet. Perhaps they were too shy to ask or they needed more time to internalize the information. Nontheless the trip to CI-NTU was a very fruitful one. Even the teachers learnt just as much as the students.

Before our departure, Prof Koh gave a book, ‘The Analects of Confucius’ edited by him to the school library. We thanked Prof Koh for taking time to brief us and made our journey back to school while looking forward to our next journey to Shandong.

Preparation for the trip to Shandong

Hello, Mrs Tan and I, Ms Kong, are your tour leaders for the Shandong trip.
For the 20 pupils who are selected to go on this student exchange programme, it is indeed a valuable opportunity to learn beyond the shores of Singapore. It is also an honour to represent CCSS to play the role of ambassadors of Singapore.

Mrs Tan and I warmly welcome you on board on this learning journey to Shandong. We would like to explain to you why you're going so that you get the best out of this trip.

Why are you going on this trip?
The school wants you to:

- gain exposure, know the people of Shandong, their way of lives, their interests and how are they different from Singaporeans;

- get interested in the Chinese cultures through the visit to places of historical and cultural interest;

- get to know Confucius and his teachings at Confucius' birthplace;

- be ambassadors of Singapore, introducing Singapore to students of Shandong.

In order to ensure that you benefit from the trip, this is what you have to do:
- Daily reflections and small group sharing during the trip
- Blog entries of the trip (Individual)
- Presentation to the school
- Photo exhibition for the school

Every night, after our visits, we will have reflections and small group sharing to exchange information with one another.

For a start, we would like all of you to start your blog putting down your thoughts about the pre-trip preparation. The following questions will help to get the ball rolling.
What are some of your expectations of the trip?
What are the things you look forward to in this trip?
What do you wish to learn during this trip?
How do I prepare myself for this trip?
How do I want to share with my friends what I have learnt during the trip when I come back?

Why wait? Start blogging. Once you have started, leave your blog url in the Cbox for Mrs Tan and I to visit. Have fun!