Day 1 @ Nanjing  :S

After a horrible plane ride, we got on the bus and went past the Changjiang Bridge. It was a very impressive bridge. It was very long and I could imagine how hard the people’s life would be if this bridge had not been built. Many used this bridge to connect to other countries and places as the Changjiang River separated Nanjing with other countries. After lunch, we went to the lotus farm opposite the Xing Zhi School and went fishing for lobsters.It was a fun and refreshing experience to fish for lobsters, and everyone enjoyed it. The lobsters were fished by tying a piece of meat to the end of a bamboo pole. Many thought that the lobsters would like the flesh better than the fats and hence tore off the fats from the meat. Later, we found out that the lobsters were actually attracted by the fats and we were laughing at this new discovery. The people who tore off the fats were shocked and were silently regretting what they did as they could not catch many lobsters. Some even gave hilarious expressions. We were sad that many of the lobsters had to be trown back as they were too small but they were delicious!!~ ^^

Day 2 @ Nanjing :P

We spent the morning in Xing Zhi school sitting in with the     students, it was an interesting and eye-opening experience to see how lessons are conducted in school. From this I learnt the difference between Singapore and Chinese students. In the afternoon we went to the Tao Xing Zhi museum and visited the site where he was buried, we learnt about how he was a catalyst of change in China’s education system. He was a man who treated even young children with respect and values their opinions, from this I can tell he was a good man and really wanted to help improve the lives of young children through their education. After that we visited a tea plantation where we help pick tea leaves for CIP. Our pickings were not great but from this we learnt that farming was not very easy work and requires skill, knowledge and experience in order for a good harvest, we learnt to value the food we have as in requires great effort to get it.

Day 3 @ Nanjing :>

 It was yet another day to sit-in during the classes in Xing Zhi School. It was a practice to run around the running track twice every morning. Many of us dreaded to do this as it was cold in the morning and yet we have to run with the cold wind slapping our faces and freezing them. However, even though it was cold but there were still many who enjoyed it and commented that it was fun. It was interesting to see how the students are able to match each other’s pace and run as a group with no one overtaking another person. We were not used to seeing this, as back in our own school, we also loved overtaking one another, competing to see who was better. The classes were conducted the same way our classes were conducted just that it was in Chinese. Some of the things were hard to understand as we only understood them in Chinese but not English. Almost all our classmates had question marks popping out of their heads. However, in the end it was okay.

Afterwards, we went to a farmer’s house for lunch. It was a refreshing experience to eat in a farm rather than in a restaurant or fast food outlet. Before we entered, the lady of the house was already at the door waiting to welcome us. We felt heartwarming to see the many dishes on the table as the farmers gave us so much food to eat when their harvest is little and they cooked lesser than this for themselves to eat. That means they would also have only a little of their harvest to sell and make money. There were also many dogs and chickens and cats that were really really noisy. >< Soon after, we went to pick vegetable oil seeds where the boys use a sickle to cut it and the girls take from them. At the final part of this activity when we were admiring the great job we had done on clearing the field, we were shocked to hear that we were to step on what we have just harvested. Nevertheless, everyone started stepping on it and some even went to jump on it happily everyone was having fun at this stage until we were told that we have to clear up the mess we made ------ the pods which the seeds came from. While we put the grasses back on to the land, some were having fun throwing the smashed at one another. Wheeeee! :D