Culture

From the people in Taiwan, we learnt that we have to be friendly and approachable to everyone. Unlike the Singapore shop-owners, the Taiwanese shop-owners provide detailed explanation and warm welcome when customers enter their shop. For food stalls, they even allow you to have a free sample before you decide to buy.

We also visited a farm and experienced farm life. We had a chance to feed the animals and learn how people survive with the help of mother nature. For example, with rocks, they can form a small cave for us to cook our potatoes. Even though our hands were soiled, it was indeed a good experience for us as we are usually too pampered with the stoves or ovens provided for us at home. Apart from that, some of us had the opportunity to step into the paddy field to plant the paddy. It was a unique experience as we do not have the chance in Singapore to dip our legs into the dirty soil and plant our own paddy.

Also, we get the visit the Yehliu Geological Park, where we get to see the wonders of nature. The chilly wind there makes your mind calm and the refreshing air there cheers you up. It will be a very nice destination to go if you want to relax and enjoy a break from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Lastly we also visited the Wufengqi water fall. Even though the journey there was tiring, it was indeed nice to exercise after so many days of pampering in the hotel room. Of course, the view there was beautiful and definitely worth it after your laborious climb.

Music

On the second day of our trip, we went to a high school in Taipei for an exchange programme as planned in the itinerary. Unlike our school, theirs is an arts school, and they specialize in playing guzheng. They are tutored one-on-one, thus enabling them to polish up their skills in a more efficient way. They first performed us their pieces and it was indeed more profound than those that we usually learn as most of the pieces are solo pieces and did not require teamwork but require a lot of concentration and practice to achieve a good melody.

When it was our turn, we panicked. Not everyone has the chance to perform as they provided only 3 guzhengs to us. We were originally told that there will be about 6 guzhengs. The sudden change caught us off guard and immediately made us panic. Our teacher responded quickly and arranged for 1 from each section to perform. It was very stressful as they were alone, without any members of their section and they were also required to play their parts well to create the melody. Mistakes made would be exposed easily as there would be no one to cover for you. Thus, they were expected to make as few mistakes as possible.

At the same time, we sent Huiho to play a solo piece, it was her first time performing solo. Being a shy girl, she was near to tears when she played the song. Although there were some mistakes here and there, I believe it was a great experience for her. Upon stepping off the stage, she sobbed, without any reason, all the peers near her started to cry too. We could all feel a very mysterious bond amongst us, I was close to tears too. I believe that those tears were not shed out of embarrassment or loss of hope but were shed because we admire her for her courage to perform solo. Three cheers for Huiho!

Apart from that, we visited many other guzheng related organisations. One of which is Tang Ming guzheng orchestra. We learnt a lot from this visit. Tang Ming uses a new type of guzheng which enables the player to change the notes efficiently. It is made such a way that it looks like two guzheng being combined into one, allowing the player to play on both sides. In this way, more variations can be made to the music to create more effects. They also showed us that there are many ways to present a guzheng piece. In fact they used guzheng, along with many types of combinations to play a mozart piece.

Team spirit

Through this trip, I believe all of the members are now more bonded. By sharing the same room, we learnt to understand one another and be more organized. Of course we also learnt to co-operate with one another and learn from one another. Apart from the Taiwanese we met there, the peers around us are also our learning partners, we learn from each other.

We learnt to be more aware of one another when we are required to be in a group. Everyone is responsible not just for themselves but also for others. We learnt to look out for one another. In a group we each have a role to play. For example, one will be leading the way, and the other will be tracking the time and some will be keeping track of where we are going. In this way, we reduce the risk of getting lost or reporting late.

Also, we learnt to respect one another, in terms of privacy of others. When travelling, we kept quiet to allow the tour guide to speak. We also thanked the driver when leaving the bus and we realized the importance and the impact of such small little gestures. Even though it may be just a small word of thanks, it makes the driver feel appreciated and now we learnt be more grateful and not take things for granted.