tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16572633.post114948271924977171..comments2024-02-19T20:37:52.018+08:00Comments on eastcoastlife: Day 13 - Dahuofang Fisheryeastcoastlifehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13578276762751929226noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16572633.post-1150363443850999282006-06-15T17:24:00.000+08:002006-06-15T17:24:00.000+08:00Hi Jayne,I am from the Philippines. i happen to st...Hi Jayne,<BR/>I am from the Philippines. i happen to stumble upon your blog.<BR/>I was surprised to read about your description on how Singaporean students behaved in China. I thought Singaporeans are cultured and well mannered. It was not long ago when i used to be part of an educational tour to Taiwan. We were more than 300 who were screened through one on one personal interviews before we were accepted. Others (around 50%) who were turned down were broken hearted. It was instilled in our minds that we were required to follow instructions or face deportation.Our daily schedule was so hectic. We were told of the meeting time, meeting place ,when to wear our uniform, songs to memorize, curfew time etc.<BR/>For somebody like me who has never in my life has experience washing my clothes, i did it without 2nd thought. Even during meal times there were rules to obey. We have to wait till all 300 students are seated and sing our "hungry song" which were taught only when we got there. Only when the leaders are satisfied with our song, they will give us the go signal to eat. We didn't like the food but what the heck, we were starving. We were not used to so many rules but everybody find it amusing and had a memorable time. Students came from all over the Philippines. These are Filipinos with Chinese descent. We were made to do chinese art , went to places to unerstand our heritage.We had close encounters with the soldiers too and were told to prepare a small gift for them. We also prepared some song and dance numbers for them. How flattered <BR/>were we when these boys cheered <BR/>like we were some great performing artists.They also gave us a warm farewell when it was time for us to leave that it brought tears to my eyes. For the first time,I felt their love for their country that it brought goosebumps on my skin. It has been 16 years and the friends that i keep now are the people i met on this educational tour to Taiwan. I don't know how your school did the selection process but i guess our stringent screening was more effective. Imagine 300 students in one tour? We won't tolerate <BR/>rebels not even for a single day!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com