Education

19th – 22nd November
Location: The High School Attached to CNU
Resting for half a day after touching down at Beijing’s airport, we were finally ready to visit the High School Attached to CNU. Before we met up with our buddies, we were brought to a meeting room where we watched the introductory video of the school and met the teachers in charge of the exchange.

High School Attcahed to CNU

Next up we were brought around the school. I have to say that this school is very well furnished and also BIG. Well, then again, it could be due to the fact that PJC is smaller compared to the school. Amongst the places we were brought to, the auditorium, gym, indoor basketball court and the study room appealed most to me.




Before we set off discovering the college!

The auditorium was reminiscent of the hall I saw in Nayang Girls High School during an exchange where it was actually underground. The size however, was much bigger then the one I saw. From what we were told, that auditorium was a place to hold performances and also the place where students would gather to receive their graduation certificates.

The was also an underground gym. Apparently, the school used to be a bomb shelter and thus the gym was originally a bomb shelter for people to hide in whenever China faced bomb threats. While its size was about the size of a normal gym, it had pool tables in it. About 4 to be exact! That could very well be the place where many students could actually hang out and play pool after school or during breaks.




The gym

Breathtaking. That was how I could only feel when I saw the indoor basketball court in the school. Apparently, the school has one of the top basketball team in the whole of Beijing and this court was built for the school team to practice. It was something I never imagined could be inside a school.

They also have a study room where it was as big as the canteen in PJC. With many tables and chairs, students could go there to study or to complete their assignments. This certainly is something our school could come out with to allow students to study in a conducive and comfortable environment.

After taking a tour around the school, we met with out buddies. My buddy is really smart, he is afterall one of the top ten in his school.-_- We then attended their assembly where the students’ patriotic side was seen. They sang their national song with gusto that’s for sure. It was loud, audible and clear. Felt a little ashamed of myself though. We then went for classes and it was really hard to catch up with them. They learnt everything in Chinese except for their English classes and it was hard to understand a lot of their Chinese terms, especially when they spoke so fast. I practically told my buddy that their teachers spoke like machine guns that never ran out of bullets. -_-.

Each period is usually 45-50 minutes where there would be a 15 minutes break in between after each period. The lessons are also class room based unlike the junior college system of being lecture based. The system is actually the same as the one we experienced during our secondary school years. I personally prefer such their system over the one we have back in PJC. We can have better class spirit and also movement would have been cut down a lot. However, it is not possible to have a system like that in PJC due to the many different subject combinations we have. For the China students of our age, they get to choose between Arts or Science stream. However, they do not have the choice to choose what to major in and have to study 9 subjects in which they will be graded on later to see if they are eligible to enter the university.

After the first two periods, they would have a morning exercise where the students would do, well, a specially choreographed morning exercise. It was something like acers day in Singapore though. After that, they would have mini inter class activities such as tug of war to bond the classes together. The class I was attached to got 3rd out of 10 classes so I guess it’s a rather good achievement.

Tug of War time!

After that it was lessons per normal until lunch where we went out for some really great food, not to mention, cheap too. It would be great if we could go out to have our own lunch, but I guess it might not work as well in pioneer junior college as it would in the high school we were attached to.

That’s pretty much what happened over the course of 4 days of attachment to their school. I wished it was somewhat longer though. This way we could probably be more exposed to their way of life too.


XX-XXth November
First and foremost, the toilet at the place we were going was in pretty bad condition. One of the scariest ones I have to say!

We went to a museum called 军俯 where we managed to see many weapons on exhibition. Some of the most memorable items on exhibition were the unused fighter plane, missiles and of course the guns.

We not only managed to look at a plane itself, we could also read how the plane worked and the precise mechanics of the plane by reading the information on the display board. There were many types of guns on exhibit too. Those guns were not your normal pistols and revolvers, but also rifles, and a pen gun. Yes you got it. It was disguised as a pen but in real it was a murderous weapon where spies actually used to carry out their mission. Pretty cool huh.

There was also a section dedicated to the Chinese civil war and it showcased many of the equipments that were used during the civil war.

The last section that we actually went was the exhibition hall with many sculptures of historical figures such as Genghis khan and also Mao Ze Dong. These sculptures were coupled with brief excerpts about the historical figure and also their contributions or their actions that turned china into what it is today.



Tsing hua university

The top two universities in Beijing is non other than Beijing university and Tsing Hua university. It is hard to actually rank which is first and which is second due to the fact that they are both good in different areas. We were very privileged as not only did we have a chance to visit their campus but we were also brought around the campus by their student tour guide.
The campus is very huge. In fact, it does not look like a school, more like a small town. There were people jogging on the tracks, practicing tai chi etc. There were just many activities one could indulge in other then studying in this university. The faculty buildings had a very rustic vintage feel to it in my opinion. It looked old but it had the charm of an ancient English style building. There were many scenic spots in the university and despite the countless amounts of bustling activities going on, there were places where it was absolutely tranquil and serene.

There was even an astronomy tower in the campus where one could view the star whenever the night sky was clear.

These aside, we also learnt about the lifestyles of the students in school. I would have considered studying there if I could but upon hearing how many of the students were studying, I started to doubt if I could even study half as hard as them.

During normal school days, many students actually rise up early and make a beeline to the library and start to queue up in front of the library, awaiting the time when the doors of the library opens for them to study. I, for one would be sleeping sweetly in my bed and the thought of studying would certainly not be the first thing I think of when I wake up!

They also study until wee hours of the morning (3-4am) whenever they have major tests or exams coming up. I found that a little disturbing actually. Haha. How can one only survive on a few hours of rest? I guess I really should be studying a little harder then. -_-

The canteen in the campus was an eye opener. It was different in a sense that they had a very large variety of food from stewed meats, to claypot rice and croquettes. We were certainly spoilt for choice! They also had a card in which we would pay for our purchases with. The card had 20 Yuan credit in it and would be used to pay for our meals in the campus. I certainly ate my fill as the food was really cheap too!

We departed from the campus after lunch. Even though the university is one of the top universities, the thought of studying for almost 3 quarters of the day and studying everything in the chinese language gives me shudders. Too bad I guess.

Underground city

The underground city reminded me of a human version of an ants nest. Firstly, it was underground. Secondly, it had tunnel like pathways. Thirdly, it was linked to various parts of China like the Great Wall of China and the Tian An Men square. It was originally a bomb shelter for the Chinese citizens to seek shelter during times of distress.

The tour guide was very professional in a sense. She certainly was sure of her things and I really liked the underground city a lot. Mao Ze Dong and his officials certainly spent a lot of thought when constructing this underground city. There were ventilation holes, and also many pipes of water that prevented the place from being too wet. This would be good prevention for water bourn diseases form spreading around the people when they are hiding in the underground city.

Later on, we went to the silk factory located deep in the underground city where we were shown how the silk was manufactured. It was an eye opening experience where we witnessed the strength of the silk and we were enlightened about the good effects of the silk.

Silk indeed is a marvelous material where it could prevent sickness and has many health benefits. I guess, it would be safe to say silk is a material bestowed upon by the gods.

This entry was posted by Jaddam Hussien, on Sunday, January 13, 2008. You can leave your response.