Once being a JC student--Liang Li

It was the first time for me to go into a Junior College in Singapore and I really appreciate the experience of a week in the Catholic Junior College (CJC) and the happy hour with my buddy, a friendly and lovely girl.

The first day I went into CJC, I was amazed by the enthusiastic students. As I wore a red T-shit which is different from their T-shit, many students knew that I was exchange student from NUS. I was surprised that several students said hello to me. When I heard that I could not believe they were talk with me because, in China, people usually might not actively speak with stranger. But I felt happy as they communicated with me like friends

I was impressed by their class as well. There are only 21 students in my buddy’s class. The size is so small compared to the size (usually more than 50 students in a class) of class in my senior high in China. Like what I saw in the class, teachers could get contact with every student who has question to ask. 

The CJC experience, which has the goals of knowing more about the education system of JC in Singapore and integrating into Singapore, lives up my expectation. It is a precious memory for me to remember that I once was a student of CJC.

Be a scholar--Liang Li

 

I cannot ignore my responsibility of being a scholar in CJC. In CJC, I take the same lessons and lectures, such as economy, chemistry and general paper, as my buddy. In fact, some of the contents in these classes are quite different from what I am learning now and some of them I have learned in the past. Thus, the classes are boring for me. However, I kept holding on listening to the teachers because it was the responsibility of a scholar to show respect to the teachers and all the classmates. In CJC, I paid much attention to my behavior as I thought I should behave like a scholar and should not lose face.

The PE experience--Liang Li

I was afraid of taking the PE class because I hate running in a limited period of time. However, CJC students seem to like PE class and like exercise. As the saying goes, a good health is the capital of revolution. Singapore education indeed pays much attention to the students’ health. Compared with CJC, although, my senior high school has time for students to build up their bodies, teachers are not so strict with them. Usually, teachers ask students to do some warm-up exercises at the beginning, then, then, students can be dismissed to do what they like. Some students go back to classroom. Some take a walk and some play sports. But as far as I am concerned, students in my senior high school do not get enough exercise, which result a part of students are unable to take long time exercise.  Just like me, I cannot undergo the basic physical training in CJC.

The SDP in CJC (DIng Ming)

  This morning I attended a very improtant lesson called SDP. it stands for student development program. The aim is to evaluate the students in class, reflect themselves and make progress. Because of us scholars, we did a brief introduction then began the class. The main content is to reflect the progress they have made and do further time management. The most impress sentense is that "When you study, you concentrate on study, so that when you play, you will fell no regretful". This reveal the importance of the reasonable time management and the concentration. Not only for the JC students, for us and uni students, these are also the most inportant things that we must consider.

My first day @ CJC (Ding MIng)

  When I first arrived at CJC, I was astonished by the students. there are so many students studying in the canteen. After a while, the kind headteacher came to us and introduce to us the school and our buddies. My buddy is a big guy and speak quite good English. Suprisingly he dropped off the Chinese mother tongue when in secondary school. So I cannot communicate with him using Chinese. That a good thing because I can practise English quite a lot but it is really hard to follow his speed.
  The lessons are mostly very easy because in China I have covered most of them. the only difficulty is to understand the terms of the subjects. After one day in CJC, I find that it is really a good place to study and live. Hope that the following experience will be more exciting

Yi Zhou's JXP in CJC

My JXP is boring but meaningful and unforgettable.
It is boring mainly because I can hardly join the class. For example, in lectures, I did not have CJC student's handouts. I took notes in physics and chemistry lectures. Physics and chemistry lectures were easy. But without handouts and questions, they were boring.  I didn't take notes in economic lectures  because I could only understand 40% of what teacher said. In other words, they were boring because of language problem. In tutorials, the questions were either too simple or beyond what we Chinese students learn especially in maths.Sometimes, students had texts, and I could do nothing but staying in the library. Class was too free and out of order. Classmates did not play together or talking with each other after class, which was quite different from that in China. All these thing were added together and got nothing but a boring feeling.
But JXP was also meaning:
1.Lunch was more delicious than RVR cooked and even cheaper than science canteen.
2.I made friends with my new classmates and got a good buddy.
3.I learnt more about Singapore. I knew how is JC life like and what Singapore JC students learn. And Ｉ talked about Singapore culture with my buddy. I introduced Harbin and study in China to my buddy and helped more people know more about China.
4.I learnt that Chinese students are not always the best in the world.
5.I prepared my two examination a lot.
Therefore, my JXP was meaningful.
Overall, my JXP was unforgettable.

arrangement of lessons (Lu Yuan)

The arrangement of lessons in JC in Singapore is quite different from in China. For example, my buddy’s Wednesday lessons is physical education from 9:00 to 10:30, then have a break for 30 minutes. Next is chemistry, HP and mathematics, and there is no other break between those lessons. This kind of arrangement makes me very tired because in china, we always have a lesson for 40 minutes then go for a break about 10 minutes. Compared with the knowledge we learned at high school, I find it is little hard in Singapore, after all it is A level. Except arrangement of lessons, in JC there are many kind of CCA and students enjoy it so much. I wish there can be some activities like CCA in high school in China.      

Feeling on JXP(Guangji)

Actually the JXP experience taught us a lot. During this week, we learnt about Singapore students. We also got a better understanding of Singapore education. Personally, I think study in Singapore since very young must be a enjoyable thing. Also, friends here are enthusiastic who gave me a lot of energy. I still remember the first day, Mr Lee said, do not be nervous, they are very friendly. In some ways, the cjcians moved me with their honesty, sincerity and their warm heart. If possible, we hope we can go back to CJC one day. This is place where we will never forget.

First Day Speech (Guangji)

Good morning, Mrs Kong, Mr Tan, Mr Lee. Teachers and cjcians.

My name is Xue Guangji

It is my great honor to stand here and on behalf of the 16 scholars. It is also a precious opportunity for us to study in Catholic Junior College. Frist, let me introduce my fellow teammates from China, they are:

Ma Kaiyu, Lu Yuan, Han Yizhou, Huang Weilong, Li Jiahao, Yan Zeguang, Ding Ming, Guo Wenhao, Liu Junling, Wang Yajie, Han Jiarui, Chen Lingye, Liang Li, Lei Ruoxuan and student leader  Zhang Yiran.

All of us, we are from China and this is our 8^th month in Singapore. Now we are undergoing the bridging course at NUS.

Subsequently, we will formally become university students of NUS in the next 6 month. And perhaps some of us will be university mates.

We will be on a one-week immersion experience in CJC. Honestly, while we are here, we will learn the culture and life in CJC and learn more about Singapore.

But above all, this is an opportunity for us to learn and to share. We are looking forward to establishing a lasting friendship with all of you in CJC.

Thank you!    

JXP2013@CJC： PE Class (Lu Yuan)

It was quite different from P.E. class in China. We did many practice in P.E. class. First activity was jogging for 10 round. In fact, we only run for maximum 6 round in china, but it did not matter for me. After that, we had twenty-five push-up and sit-up. Moreover, we also had many broad-jump. We have this kind of physical practice in China, but we do not do it as much as in Singapore. After the P.E. class, I was very tired, even I wanted to lie on the ground and not get up. I suddenly respect to all the Singaporean. After JC, man are forced to attend Military service, all of them are good person.     

JXP2013@CJC: The First Day (Lu Yuan)

When I first arrived at Catholic Junior College, to my surprise, there were many students learning there. Later on, two staff introduced our buddies to us and gave us clothes. As for my buddy, his Chinese is good which made me happy because it was convenient for me to communicate with him. At 9:00 am, we were invited to attend the honors day and I find something special, like there was a fire burning all the time. I guessed it was a special catholic ceremony. Then I went to my buddy’s class to have lessons and there were twenty-one students in the class, and all of them are very kind. I was very happy to have such a good class. 

Outing with my buddy

Yesterday, my buddy and I went to Orchard road having dinner and shopping after that. We did have an awesome night. And I learnt more about Singapore and more imprtantly, our frindship is getting starbon....I am looking forward to next week's outing!

My CJC experience Liu Junling

It's been a so busy week. We had our JC visit as well as our physics and chemistry mid test. I have to say that I were really tired this week and sleepy everyday. But fortunately, my CJC life was quite interesting so that I spent this tired but meaningful week in CJC. The first in CJC was quite normal, we met our buddies,we went to our classes, met new teachers. Everything was so fresh to me, and I do not even fully ready to met the new environment. Thanks for my loving buddy Jiaxin, I really felt in home in CJC and quickly got used to many new things there.Things were quite different from my high school in China. In China, we have rigid time table, but in CJC, time management was flexible. Everyday's lunch time was different, sometimes I even ate two or three times in a day.(I have to say CJC's food was really gooood!!) Seems already 100 words. So let me finish here, later on I will start second reflection.
 

The commence ceremony

原来， we were not the only students who were new to CJC: the JC1 students just started their JC life on the same day as we did.
The commence ceremony was held in the galarie and was quite different.
We totally had no idea what was going on. :D

The last day....at CJC

 The last at scholl made me feeling emo....I can not believe it was already Friday! One week just pass too soon. I began to miss this compus and all the nice people I meet here. Mostly, my buddy.
I brought her a little present and a letter, and she was quite suprised! I was happy that she likes it!

 This is Adi, a schoolar from Indo. He is 15days younger than me but has already been in Singapore for 4 years. I chatted a lot with him and learn a lot from him.

 Somthing fishy, the most delicious food in CJC. I had another one before I left CJC

The JXP programme is almost finish. I have already began missing them. But I really appericiate this opputurnity to have one week precious experience in JC

I am lucky to have Natalie to be my buddy! I learnt a lot from her.

Also, the class 2T09, you guys are so nice, I am going to miss you all...

 

CCA: Chinese drama

On Thursday, I took part in my buddy's CCA: Chinese drama. I was always wondering how Singaporean students do Chinese drama. Later on , I found the answer: the majority of the roles were played by Chinese students while Singaporean students took charge of the costumes, the sound effect, etc. My buddy was in charge of sound. So I just sat aside and watched them rehearse.
What was new to me was that I made acquaintances with several students from China. They are all JC1 students, some of which are SM1 scholars while some of which study in Singapore on own cost. After chatting with them, I learned more about the life of other Chinese students. Most of them have lived in Singapore for more than two years thus I am like a junior of them thought I am older than them.
The girl in charge of costumes was so cute that she thought I learned English after coming to Singapore! How talented should I be if I were able to manage a language for just half a year. But she was really a nice girl and was very friendly to me.
After CCA it was already 7：00 pm. The sky started to turn dark. It should be my first time to travel in night bus. Watching the darkened sky, somehow I wished to go back to RVR and eat the famour RVR food.

P.S. Because I returned to RVR too late, the dinner was already out of serving. I ate an apple and starved for the whole night.

Thank you, Ms Suzie

Ms Suzie was the home tutor of my buddy's class. She is a Malayan. But she taught General Paper. On the first day, she invited Liang Li and me to give a brief introduction to the class. I thought she might just be polite but she really showed great interest in our hometown and the education system in China.
What moved me most was that she helped me distribute my questionnaire paper among the class. She even volunteered to get one copy and have her mother do that questionnaire.
On the last class, she communicated me about her opinion on foreign students, especially those from China and gave me some useful advice on English learning.
I really appreciated her for being so kind to me. It is a great pity that I did not have a photo taken with her.

East coast park!

This weekend I went to East Coast Park with my buddy, along with other two buddy pairs. The journey on bus and MRT was long but the beautiful scenery at the park was definitely worth our time spent on the way.
The weather was so nice! Luckily it did not rain until we get on the MRT back to RVR.

We rent bicycles and rode along the coastline, under big trees. Weilong, one of our friends, managed to learn to ride a bicycle in half an hour that day, which must be a great progress in his life, haha. When he was learning, we were just all waiting for him to manage this skill. 

My buddy and I then rode very fast, talking and laughing. She showed me the Bedok Jetty, where a lot of people fished and camped. Another impressive view she showed was the Bougainvillea Garden. That kind of flowers were commonly seen in Singapore but I had never seen so many kinds of different colours of them.

My buddy told me that she often went to the garden to see the whole view of this park. It was her own personal experience but not something special about the tourist attractions. However, I appreciated her for her guide, for her telling me about her feeling about this park. I think it is meaningful to learn about how a local Singaporean view the scenery around them, view their daily life and their country. 

She also explained to me why the MRT station of Runos was above the ground: it is near the reclaimed land thus it is unsafe to dig deep in the surrounding places. The same condition can also be seen in other places in Singapore.

One more thing my buddy shared with me was that she is a half peranakan! I wrote an essay about how to preserve peranakan culture in Singapore and I am really interested in this issue. She told me how long-living her great-grandparents are(two of them are over 100 years old!) She told me she succeeded a kebaya from her grandmother for she is the eldest granddaughter. 

That whole day was about talking, bicycling and laughing! 

P.S. I received a beautiful gift from my buddy but somehow I did not how to use it. 

JXP2013@CJC: JXP2013@CJC: more things

JXP2013@CJC: JXP2013@CJC:  During the whole visit, I was moved and impressed by lots of things. Among them, the friendliness and hospitality of CJC’s students were something I experienced most. My buddy whose nickname is Jelly is indeed a nice girl. She always introduced me to her friends whenever she met them. And for that reason, I made friends with lots of students, which I was really grateful for Jelly’s introduction. Another interesting thing was that one boy in my class heard that I loved spicy food and insisted on competing with me that who could have more spicy food. So on Wednesday, we both bought “fish soup” and pulled the whole small bowl of chili inside the soup! The result was that I won the game because I finished all my soup!

JXP2013@CJC: JXP2013@CJC: the P.E. class---Han Jiarui

JXP2013@CJC: JXP2013@CJC: the P.E. class: JXP2013@CJC: In the second day of my JC visit, I had my first P.E. lesson in Singapore. Frankly speaking, it was really tough and demandi...

JXP2013@CJC: tHe P.E. class

JXP2013@CJC:

In the second day of my JC visit, I had my first P.E. lesson in Singapore. Frankly speaking, it was really tough and demanding; however, I successfully finished the whole one-hour class based on my willpower. They first did some warming-up exercises which were actually like real training in China---running upstairs, sit-up, and even pull-up! After nearly half an hour’s torture, the real training began……It was running rounds in limited time! I cannot even describe my feeling after running for 5 rounds…… Fortunately, the teacher said the class was over at that time. Well, I could only say that everything was torture for me. However, I also experienced how energetic and active Singapore students were because they could did really good job in P.E. class. I thought that I should do more exercise in the future. After all, health is the basic of everything.

JXP2013@CJC: The first day------Han Jiarui

JXP2013@CJC: The first day:

When I reached there at around 07:30, I was quite shocked because I saw the canteen is full of students! Actually they were not eating but studying and doing teamwork! Although we also had self-study time from 07:00 to 7:40 in China, it was compulsory and under the management of the head teacher. However, in Singapore, students did it all on their own and there was no one forcing them! I concluded that they were really diligent and knew what they should do for independent learning. At that time, I realized why my cousin who has been studying in Singapore since secondary school told me that Singapore students could often do better in their future work than Chinese students. It is because that they have developed the habit of independent learning even since junior college, which will benefit them for the whole life. That is what I should learn from them.

My Buddy____by Guo Wenhao

 This is my buddy, a quite handsome boy,  Jireh. He looks quite like a Chinese actor, Zhenzidan. I still remebered the first day I met him. He is a little shy and silent. But, after chatting with him, I found that he is really outgoing and friendly. He is really a good buddy, and he told me a lot about his school, CJC. Even, during the class, when I cannot understand what some English words mean, he will try hs best to explain to me. During this week, he also introduced me to his friends. So that I got a lot of opportunities to further appreciate Singapore culture. Maybe, I reach the purpose of this JC immersion. This week stops, but our friendship will never stop.

The Female Headmaster___by Guo Wenhao

       Time goes by, it came the fourth day of our JC immersion. One thing in the morning assembly indeed engaged me in deep thinking. First of all, I feel so sorry to say that it is my fault because I still cannot remember the name of the female headmaster. In the morning, she shared a story with us, and I ever guessed correctly what she wanted to say in the last. This story is about a begger who return the diamond ring which is lost accidently by a woman when she gave some cash to the begger. The woman was so moved, so she writed a blog on the internet. When the begger was in the interview, he said "this is a very ordinary thing. I love diamond but I do not deserve it". These words made a big sweep. The public was shocked by the words and donated lots of money to the begger. Till here, the story ended. I thought that the purpose of headmaster's story was to appeal their students to practice kindness and to be honest. But, out of my mind, her last words was that "When does our moral reach such a level? Thank you all!". Then she goes away, and left me contemplating.  Indeed, returning the stuffs which do not belong to us is a quite nomal thing. How can people be shocked by this?

       Maybe, this is what the headmaster wanted to express. She has a much higher benchmark for her students.

School Opening Ceremony__by Guo Wenhao

    Since I was in China, I have already heared that SM2 scholars have the chance to go and visit Singapore JCs. With lots of expectations, I went to "my school", Catholic Junior College, this week from 24 Feb. to 1 March. Fortunately, we got the opportunity to attend their School Opening Ceremony, although this week is the second week of this semester.  I am so curious, for I really want to know the differences between Chinese High School and Singapore Junior College. After watching this ceremony, I was indeed shocked because I found that students are in the dominant part of this ceremony. Student MC and  too many student presenters can stand on the stage and talk. This is what I can not imagine in China, for our school faculties will never give students chance to be in charge of such a big activity. Besides, when they sang  thier national anthem, I found almost everyone stand straight and look so proud. I can appreciate their prides of being a Singaporean.