Day 11 - Singapore Vs. China (Soccer)

Chinese History
5000 years of Chinese history takes more than a lifetime to study. However, our lecturer Miss Anna summarized the interesting ones for us. I learned the Chinese customs, history, and even know how to read their car number plates! Her English is very fluent and it is easy to understand and communicate with her.



Cadet Officers
The men in blue are the school's army cadet officers. They are buff, highly trained, and disciplined. Some of them are living in the same hostel building as us, and I do see them falling in outside the lobby at great speeds, showing good discipline and steadiness.



Student Army Cadets
This is a single shot photo of a small portion of student army cadets at the parade square. Imagine the whole Army Force of China are prepared for battle, millions or even billions of men will be gathered. An ever lasting line of soldiers will be marching through the gates.



Soccer Match
Without computer games, we had to find some other form of entertainment, which is kicking a ball around. We were challenged by the school's soccer team, and of course, THE CHALLENGE IS ON!



Forfeit
Instead of winning trophies, we played for 5 push-ups per goal. A total of Singapore (5) - China (2) goals were scored. A man has to keep his words, although it is humiliating to do forfeit in front of hundreds of spectators.



Briefing
After a tough match, we had a briefing on how we managed to win. It was concluded that all the China players were strikers (attackers) and there were no defenders, which meant a probable goal when the ball makes it past the last defender. In addition, our team was balanced, with defenders, midfielders, and strikers.



Combined Birthday!
Shun Qing has just turned 18, and Ming Yu 19. That calls for a celebration!


Cake Tasting
After washing up from soccer, I got a taste of cake. Of course as expected, what is a birthday cake without some on your body?

REFLECTIONS

It is amazing to know how fluent the English language of some China people can be. Furthermore, they speak in proper English and not broken English(Singlish). It is congruent to Singapore, as most of us are bilingual. As for most people in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, they can speak four languages:

• English
• Malay
• Chinese (Mandarin)
  
• Chinese (Cantonese)

It is better to know more languages, as it will be easier to communicate with foreigners when traveling in search for assistance. For instance, speaking Cantonese in Hong Kong, or Hokkien in Taiwan.

If I were in Singapore now, I would probably be playing online games. However, I don't have that privellage here in China. Therefore, I have to adapt and find our source of passing time. Most importantly, I will do something which would benefit me in the future, such as staying healthy. From the soccer match with the China students, I learnt to be a man of my word, and everything in life comes at a cost, which includes a bit of embarrasment.


He that gives good advice, builds with one hand; he that gives good consel and example, builds with both; but he that gives good admonition and bad example, builds with one hand and pulls down with the other.
-Francis Bacon, SR.