SHANDONG 2009

Dear all,

Please note that there will be a briefing for parents on 29 April 2009 at 7pm at MRL IT Resource Room.

Regards,
Mr Yeo

DAY 6: FINAL DAY AT THE SCHOOL

Pupils will be attending lessons for half a day. Then we will be spending the rest of the day travelling back home.

Some pictures showing the generosity of our children.

IMPORTANT: Parents, please remember to pick your child up at the airport tomorrow (4 June). Their passport will be released when the teachers meet you at the airport. Our ETA is 0625. See you soon!

DAY 5: WEIFANG, THE CITY OF KITES

We woke up really early today to attend their assembly.

The pupils then proceeded to class. We were all immediately impressed with their strong command of the Chinese language. What they are learning in P5 is comparable to what we learn for Sec Higher Chinese!

A few shots of pupils with their buddies.

After lunch, we went for yet another sight-seeing tour - Weifang.

First stop, the kite museum. We learnt about the history of kites and were in awe at the intricacies of kite-making! There's actually a International Kite Festival where kites as heavy as 80kg are flown!

After that, we went to the Yang Jia Bu to see the making of kites and chinese prints. We never knew that kite-making was THAT difficult and tedious.

Children getting a hands-on session with the shifu of Chinese Prints.

At night we also had a short party after ur reflection session. Wheee....

APOLOGIES...

Dear Parents,

Due to some unknown reason, we are unable to view our Shandong travel blog from here although we can post new messages. Therefore, we hope that you could send your important messages to Mr Phang's e-mail at andy_phang_kok_wah@moe.edu.sg.

We would also like to apologise for not posting yesterday as there was no connection available at the hotel.

Tomorrow will also be the last night that we'll be uploading pictures on the blog as we'll be flying off the day after!

DAY 3: EVERYTHING CONFUCIUS

Qufu, the hometown of the greatest teacher of all time, Confucius.

Today, the pupils learned about Confucius. The three main highlights of the day were the Confucius Temple, the Confucius Residence and the Cemetary of the Kong family.

A typical gift shop by the roadside.

The pupils mastered a very important skill today - haggling! Some of them could haggle so well that even the teachers were impressed.

The pupils were definitely very proud of their purchases. We went back to the hostel after lunch in high spirits! Two more fun-filled days to go!

DAY 4: CONQUERING TAISHAN

We started the day with a photoshoot with the Principal and other teachers in the school.




Then, we took a 3-hour ride to Taian where we had our lunch before making our way to Mount Taishan.

When we reached Taishan, we were disappointed that we could not take the cable-car towards the summit because of strong wind. After waiting for a while, we decided to attempt to conquer Taishan by foot!

After an hour's climb, we could see the summit but could not continue due to time constrain. Some of us were disappointed but others were relieved to start descending.

After the climb, we went back to our 4-star hotel at Qufu and had a very, very good night's rest.

DAY 3 - FIRST LESSON IN SHAOGUANG

We're celebrated Children's Day here today (known as 6-1 as they celebrate Children's Day on the 1st of June here) by showcasing our multi-racial society through a Ethnic Costume Fashion Show.











A group picture of all the performers in the Children's Day Extravaganza... the performances from the Chinese pupils were incredible!











After lunch (where potatoes and cherry tomatoes were extremely popular), we proceeded to Xin Hua Bookstore where pupils managed to find a lot of books at really really good prices!





























































We returned to school and, finally, it was time for the pupils to step into the classrooms for their first lesson in Shao Guang Century School (where they met their buddies again!) They were thrilled with the way the lessons were carried out. When we (the teachers) met them again, they were still gushing with excitement and could not stop sharing how much they enjoyed their lessons.
































After their lessons, the pupils proceeded to a short dumpling-wrapping session where they showcased their *ahem* artistic talents in the wrapping of dumplings. (some looked suspiciously like curry puffs instead of dumplings)

To wrap up the evening after dinner, we attended a night concert featuring jaw-dropping performances (seriously) by the school's younger pupils at the indoor sports hall.

That summarises yet another eventful day here at Shandong. A note from the pupils - they miss you all terribly.