Post for Thursday 100909 (Day 6) and Friday 110909 (Day 7) - now Friday 11.55 p.m.


We have just completed our reflections at 11.30 p.m. Today, I will update everyone on what happened today (Fri) and also yesterday (Thu) (sorry there was no internet connection at Eco Farm).


Yesterday, it was the last day in Yizai for our children. We were very fortunate to have met the Mayor of Tainan who was present during their Assembly.











The children had bonded with the friends in Yizai and together, there was good mutual exchange between the children and teachers in Yizai and Chongfu. The sincerity of Principal Wu and his team of wonderful teachers were very much felt by all of us in Chongfu during our stay in Yizai. Pupils from Yizai performed several items for their friends in Chongfu and interviewed our pupils of their experiences.
















Pupils from Yizai gave a tearful farewell and it was one of the most touching scene of pupils in tears as our coach left Yizai Elementary School. To Principal Wu, the caring teachers and wonderful pupils of Yizai, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the hospitality extended to us.







Some reflections:

...Almost everyone cried when it was time to leave Yizai. We felt sad to leave our friends who had done so much for us in the last 4 days, taking care of us and spending time with us. The teachers were very kind to us too and we appreciated all they have done...

... felt sad to leave as we do not know when we will meet again. Luckily, we can contact each other by internet. We were very touched by Yizai's sincerity and learnt that great friendships can be made in a very short time. For those who did not cry, they were sad too but they managed to control their tears. It was not easy. We learnt that we have to be strong when there is separation. It is a very memorable experience....


We left Tainan immediately after our touching farewell with Yizai and reached Eco-Farm late at night. After the night trial witnessing fireflies in the forest, the children did their reflections for the day and the kids were ushered to bed immediately. It was late in the night but the children had a fruitful day.



Mdm Fan :)




DAY 6 Friday (today)

Here is a message from Mdm Toh:

Dear parents, we have finally come to the end of the 8 days of our educational and cultural immersion trip to Tainan. They are all looking forward to going home tomorrow. On behalf of Chongfu, I would like to thank all parents for their support in this program. For flight details, please look at Mdm Fan's posting. The return flight details are CI757 T1 at 1650.

Mdm Toh - P4 level I/C.






So, finally, we have come to Day 7 (Friday) of our trip. The children continued their learning today. First thing in the morning, they learnt how fish is caught and had a hand in doing that. Along the way, we saw the walls of a Fort that dated back to the Ching Dynasty. The sight was awesome. It made the children realise that war was a serious matter and it take a lot of effort to defend against enemies.

The highlight of today was our trip to the Red Cross office in Kaohsiung. On behalf of Chongfu, we presented a cheque to the Red Cross Branch in Kaohsiung. This was the collective effort of the donation drive in Chongfu School in our bid to help the typhoon victims in Taiwan. We hope our small effort will contribute to the overall relief efforts for the typhoon Morakot victims.






Thereafter, we continued our learning journey by visiting the First British Consulate at Dagou, where 75th year celebrations were ongoing. After the last dinner in Taiwan for this trip, the children were accompanied by the teachers to the night market where children bought last-minutes souvenirs for their loved ones. The day ended appropriately by a visit to the Love River of Kaohsiung, as the children look forward to seeing all loved ones tomorow.



Click here for photos: Tainan Day 7 Friday




The children have come a long way. There were hiccups and frustrations along the way but the children learnt. They are now more aware about the cultural differences and similarities between Singapore and Taiwan. More imporant, they learnt interpersonal skills as they live with their classmates amid differences in opinions at some point or other. Many felt they have become more independant and confident than when they started off at Changi Airport last Saturday. Mdm Toh, Mr Chew and myself took every opportunity to home in on every aspect to provide the children with guidance to grow holistically.

We have our tour coordinators, Mr Yuen and Venny, to thank as they were very much a part of us during the entire trip. We thank the parents for entrusting their children to us and for their encouragement. I am sure the children have found the trip a fruitful experience. Post trip reflections will follow.



We will be leaving Kaohsiung tomorrow morning. We look forward to seeing you all at the Changi International Airport Terminal 1 at 1650 - CI757. We would like to thank one and all for making this trip possible for the children. Thanks for reading this blog. We will keep it alive as a platform for communication between our children and pupils of Yizai. The sky is the limit - the children have each moved forward a step in their pursuit of excellence towards holistic education.



See you soon

Mdm Fan :)