Day 2 - Exploration of Space

Exterior View of Hostel



3-Men Room


4x4 foot toilet
It's amazing to discover my adaptability! All my luxuries of a large bedroom, clean living room, good toilet system, are reduced to what's in the picture! I had difficulties getting used to my surroundings initially, and thought about the previous batch of OIP students who had worse. I believe that it is always good to appreciate what you have, thus, taking this opportunity to make the best out of it. I will do my best to improve any bad situations to good ones. My roommates are very cooperative and we are very united, helping one another out, because that is all we have for the next 6 weeks. We can either choose to be spoiled and leave everything to be done by one person, or work together as one, and we chose the second option!

We faced many tough situations such as where to hang our laundry, put our belongings neatly, who assigned to which bed, connecting to internet, no portable water supplied by campus, and many more! There weren't any bamboo sticks available for hanging of clothes, so we used our creativity by attaching rafia strings from one side of the room to the other. Many students complained about having to squat for a long period of time while doing their business, and I'm one of them. With this in mind, we split costs within our roommates to purchase a toilet lid chair!


Roadside Steamboat


Food for five
After mending the bedroom, reward us inevitable! The road along our campus are filled with a large variety of food outlets. We had difficulties making up our minds as there were far too many delicious foods to choose from. At last! We came by something different, a steamboat shop! The "chili" sauce in china are not grated chili, but chili oil extract. The spiciness of any chili comes from its oil content. In Singapore, however, food outlets serve sliced chili, pounded chili, grated chili with vinegar, or etc.. China's chili style is therefore, extremely spicy, and UNHEALTHY!! Almost 95% of foods here in China are very oily, and spicy food exceeds any Singaporean's tolerance level.

In this steamboat shop, a satay stick worth of any meat only costs $0.30yuan, which means 10 sticks for $3.00yuan (S$0.63). Valued for money, it comes at a price. Hygiene was set aside, as all the raw foods were soaked and displayed in containers of water. Its freshness and food safety is not as high as Singapore's. In Singapore, such food outlets would preserve their products in cool places such as ice bedding, quick replenishing of stocks, and away from pests such as houseflies and cockroaches. This is part of the reason why foods are priced so lowly here in China, as hygiene is compromised. Even stalls along the road that are selling fried rice, noodles, or mixed rice, has their food infested with houseflies. Every dollar spent comes at its cost. I really admire the extent of how the leaders of Singapore implement such good hygiene practices, and should be credited for that. I just wonder, are the China people bothered by the sight of houseflies landing on their food, and still consuming them?


Driving Center
A rare scene! After a heavy meal, it is good to take a stroll. I came across a student learning how to drive. Over my right shoulder are supposedly his driving instructors. From my point of view, I believe the student is taking his parking test, as there are poles with red and white stripes to guide him as if he was really parking in a real lot. I noticed that the vehicles here in China are left hand drive. This is symmetrical to Singapore as in Singapore, cars are right hand drive. This poses a great problem to me and my fellow Wustians. Each time when we try crossing to the other side of the road, we tend to look right first (as we do in Singapore subconsciously) which is incorrect. In China, oncoming traffic will approach from the left first. Therefore, I came up with an easy safety lesson, "Left Hand Drive Check Left First".


One man's trash is another man's gold
As I was throwing away my cup of drink, I doubted that anyone would take a second look at it. However, it was a valuable item to this elderly man. In poverty and desperate to fight for survival, this brave man put his pride aside and went scouring garbage bins for anything useful. Such a sight made me sad as many a times, I take things for granted when during primary school my mother paid for my school fees and allowance, and I put my education to waste and play a fool instead, while village children are doing all they can do receive any form of knowledge. There will always be people who are really poor and also people who are very rich. It is impossible to prevent poverty, but we can always view them as lessons to improve ourselves. I've decided not to bite of more than I can chew, and do my best not to waste resources.


Letter Box
Exploring my surroundings will always be my best interest. A few of my friends and I walked headlessly around main roads and narrow paths. I discovered a strange-looking green in color monument by the walkway, and found out it was a local mail box. It receive mails from all over the state, Wuhan, and consolidated in a main branch before being sent out to its relevant addresses. The letter box looks old as if it has been standing there for decades. In Singapore, mail services, Singapore Post, dispatches mailmans every weekday at 5pm to the various mailboxes to collect both local and overseas mails for consolidation. However, I am uncertain about when the mailmans collect letters from this mailbox, or if they even do!

REFLECTIONS

I have learnt that as I am away from my comfort zone, I am left all alone and fully responsible for my own actions. No one will be nagging at me telling me that my clothes need to be washed, room to be packed neatly, and forced to eat good home cooked food ready on the table. I have to start acting, thinking, and behaving as a matured adult. As there is only one teacher in charge of 21 students, I believe it is wise not to cause any trouble or headache for the teacher. This is a great opportunity to expose myself to the world, starting with china!


If you would create something, you must be something.
-Johann Wolfgang von Goethe