OELP reflections :)

Daily reflection 

Day 1

We arrived at the Kaohsiung international airport and were all very tired from the flight. We were also cordially welcomed by a group of staff and teachers from sacred hearts and that was indeed a Heart warming surprise. From this, I could roughly tell how hospitable and friendly Taiwanese were. When we all arrived at our hotels, we checked in quickly and got to our rooms. We were all impressed by the unique design and great wifi at the Ten Drum village suites. They had a great variety of in room facilities as well, which made our stay felt a little more like home. 

Day 2

We went to various Hakka museums which gave more depth about the Hakka culture's history and cultural practices. We also paid a visit to the Meinong Folk village which sold various souvenirs which were mainly Taiwan themed. There was a also a beverage shop that sold Ground Tea (擂茶）and many other Taiwan drinks. We also had a great lunch at the meaning village which served us many various Taiwanese styled delicacies such as steamed fish and desert soup. The trip to the Kaohsiung Museum of History were mainly focused on the 228 incident which was a tragic event that took place in Kaohsiung. Also, the last stop at Liuhe night market was what we all anticipating for. The night market had lived up to our standards and sold various yummy Taiwan snacks. 

Day3: 

We paid a visit to many temples and buildings related to Zheng Cheng Gong. This day was probably the most boring one as I didn't get much sleep which made the day really tiring and painful. Taiwan's hot summer weather was simply unbearable and annoying. However, the trip to a restaurant at Anping Old street was not too bad as we got to try coffin toast as well as other awesome dishes. 

We also bought a lot of bubble gum there :) 

Day 4:

It's our first day at Sacred hearts and we were all warmly welcomed by the students and school. We were given a chance to present ourselves during their morning assembly and to perform during our welcome ceremony. The students were wonderful guests and made our stay there as comfortable as possible. The school had a great system of recycling and trash handling which made their environ,ent decently clean. We were all sent to various classes to attend electives which were all really fun and relaxing, in comparison to our lessons in Singapore. We also got to make our very own pineapple tarts which was a very fun activity and the tarts were decadent. We also made a visit to hua Shan school that had students who performed a violin piece and presented an art gallery. 

Day5:

On this day, we had a chance to try out making our DIY towel toys and has a great time shopping at the factory itself. The factory had loads of cute and tempting towel designs that could easily attract people. They also had a mini cafe that sold really good food. We also paid a visit to the puppet museum which was an eye opener as the culture of puppets in Singapore is not that great. The museum sold wonderful ice cream and I realised, ice cream was almost a daily treat for all of us. After that we had some magic and ballon sculpting lessons at sacred hearts. 

Day6:

We had a great home econs session with the students and made Taiwan snacks like onion cakes and fruit tarts which were all really nice and tasty. 

I went out with my buddy to a theme park that was really similar to the USS we have. It was the best day of OELP in my opinion as the theme park had many great rides and great wifi as well. We also had some amazing and mouth watering fried chicken that tasted so heavenly. It was a really fun and nice day as we had loads of good food. 

Day 7:

We gained a lot of information about earthquake prevention measures and history of the 912 earthquake incident that was a major disaster in the history of Taiwan. This was the best museum that we have visited in my opinion as I was very interested by how the buildings were kept so well after the earthquake and the way they presented the happenings and impacts of the disaster. 

Audrey Lim