Day 2 @ Shanghai

We rose early this morning to have our breakfast. Due to the cold weather, the kids were reminded to eat more so that they would have enough energy to last them till lunch.

We reached Jinxin Primary School at about 9 a.m. We were greeted by the school's Principal, administrator, teachers and pupils at the courtyard of the school. Look at the picture below and you will know what I mean...





The student representatives who kicked start the welcome speech impressed us tremendously. Even though Mdm Yati did not understand a word they said, she could tell the amount of effort the pupils put in to prepare and deliver the speech with such eloquence.

The kids, in groups, sat in the various lessons - English, Math, PE and Art; while the teachers had conversation with the local teachers. Unfortunately, the teachers did not manage to sit through the lessons with the pupils. Feedback from our pupils was that the Math lesson was pitched at a higher level despite their age. In fact, in a session that involved the order of operations (our P5 pupils had just learnt it this year), our pupils had difficulties trying to keep up with the speed of their China buddies. They were indeed amazed with the speed of their mental process!

After the first debrief last night, the pupils showed tremendous improvement in their behaviour and mannerism today. Some of them showed concern when their roomate complaint of some pains (Don't worry, there was really no major concerns. Just tummyache =) Daily group leaders also took care of their groupmates, especially the younger ones (hopefully they will keep it up!). Some of them took initiative to clear their tables after lunch. (Well done, guys!)

After lunch, we proceeded to the rocket-making lesson by a professor. With a China buddy sitting on the table, there was a lot of support and interactions, especially when it comes to understanding the instructions. The Chinese buddies also showed commendable leadership qualities to ensure that all pupils were on task. Hopefully, our pupils would pick up these skills in the process of interaction.

We had the trial rocket-launching session after filling our tummies. One pupil from each school had the opportunity to represent to launch a rocket. They had fun and were surprised to see how high the rocket could go. What's more important is that they learnt the procedure of launching the rocket and they couldn't wait their competition tomorrow. All the best!


Tomorrow is the cultural exchange session. We prepared two songs - Where I Belong and Singapore Town. They are easy, familiar and represent Singapore. The teachers were rather surprised that the kids did so well in the rehearsals today. They were quite energized even though it was near their bedtime. They learnt some simple steps and sang in harmony. Look forward to tomorrow's blog for the actual performance =)


And today is Regina's birthday!!! We gave her a surprise...ok, nothing big... just a mineral water bottle, a birthday song and loud, longgggg yam-seng! She blushed and was speechless hee...
Happy Birthday, Regina!

Goodnight for now... *sleep tight*