oelp day 4 - Ruo Qing

it was the fourth day in Taipei and we went to jianguo early in the morning !! hehe we were brought to the conference room first, where we waited for our buddies of the day. we were assigned to three classes in groups of nines and a teacher followed each class. soon, we met up with our buddies before heading to the class in pairs. my buddy introduced himself and we proceeded to his class, which was class 127.

this first class we had was chinese, which is really different from our chinese lessons in Singapore. they studied a literature text and I was really lucky that as soon as my buddy knew I couldn't understand the lesson and traditional chinese well, he went through everything on the textbook with me at a slower pace. because of this, he couldn't listen to the teacher but what amazed me was that he still knew where to make notes and what the teacher was talking about. I was really surprised at his friendliness and was really glad that he was welcoming as his friendliness helped me step out of my comfort zone really quickly. from him, I learnt to be kind to others because when we are kind to others, they will appreciate it and also be nice to us.

'treat others the way you want to be treated'

also, as I noticed students not paying attention in class, I asked my buddy about it and he told me that the school gave the students a lot of freedom, whereby strict rules and punishments were not imposed on them - students could come to school with just either the school top or bottoms on, students could sleep in class or come late to class without getting scolded. I actually doubted if the students will still have top results if they do not listen in class, however my buddy said that the guy who used his laptop in class daily is actually the top in his class, and the fourth in the nation during the nationwide exam. I was surprised at this, however I realised that this freedom given was not exactly a bad thing. This would make the students more comfortable in school, because they have that bit of freedom that will actually make them feel at home. And having to spend also of the whole day (just apart from their sleeping time) in school, this would play a big role in making Jianguo the students’ second home. According to my buddy, this actually makes students enjoy going to school more, because they do not have strict rules that restrict them - possibly from being themselves.  in singapore, we are always used to being bounded by strict rules, however not being bounded by limit might actually bring us even further.i think Singapore's education system produces elites who gives model answers because since young, we have been educated solely through textbook knowledge. the school's decisions of giving the students freedom actually teaches the students how to be responsible and manage their time properly. being responsible is a life skill, and it is one which all of us will need to survive in this society. from this freedom granted to them, students will learn to manage themselves better and make the right decisions for themselves. judging from the title of the 'top high school for guys in Taipei' which jianguo still holds, this plan worked well for them. However not all schools can afford to be 'less strict', because Jianguo students, being top 1% of their cohort, gives the school the "assurance” that they are able to excel both academically and aesthetically, thus explaining the 'slacker' rules. Jianguo students do not take things for granted, because it was hard for them to get into this top school in the first place, thus they are able have the self discipline which is needed in order for them to strive for excellence despite the freedom the school grants them. i think, it probably won't work in rvhs too.

as I bid farewell to my buddy, I was really happy I made a new friend and promised to keep in touch with him ((but no I actually didn't😅)) !! 

after that, we went to martyrs shrine where we ((once again)) witnessed the change of guards, which I was already bored of. we didn't get the chance to learn something new but it was pretty cool to be able to see the soldiers close up this time.

we also had a good rest there, as we already missed the opening hours thus were unable to visit the inside of the shrine.

we then had dinner which was the typical dinner we have had for the past few days in Taipei.

after dinner, we went to eslite bookstore.

I was really excited at first as I really love chinese books !! but I ended up being quite disappointed with eslite. although it was a really big bookstore and there were books of different languages and different genres, but I couldn't find a book I was interested in. however, I really enjoyed myself at the music section - listening to music while waiting for time to pass as there was nothing else to do.

side note: I actually went to eslite when I was really really young and my mum said that I listened to music the whole time there too !! I didn't exactly change afterall hehehe 🙆

I fell sick that day and didn't have to go for night reflection and rehearsals, but I was still excited to be visiting wulai elementary and junior school the next day :D