Day 7 (9-3-2009) Confucius and Pasar Malam

Today was supposed to be the day we visit the Yellow Crane Tower. However, Ngee Ann Poly’s Deputy Principal Mr Foo visited us all the way from Singapore. So due to some changes in the schedule, the trip was postponed.

However, we did have a very interesting lesson on Confucius and Lao Tzu. I find the stories of their lives and teachings very intriguing. One thing that I never knew was that Lao Tzu was at one time, the teacher of Confucius. There are some quotes that I find very nice and relevant. For example, “Learning without thinking is vain. Thinking without learning is confused”. Isn’t that just perfectly true? And this one I’m sure most of us have heard, “What you don’t wish for yourself, do not do to others”. They call this the “Golden Rule for Global Ethic”, and I totally agree.

We also started off our learning of the EM3A module. Today was just a revision, but I can see my difficulty in integration today, a sign of worst things to come. What made matters worse was that the classroom was so cold! It was unbearable! Over in Singapore we can freely control the room temperature to our liking. Yet another thing we Singaporeans take for granted.

We brought everyone to the Southeast Gate that we explored 2 days ago. As expected, everyone loves the “pasar malam” feel of the streets. It’s always full of people and food, most of which I am unable to eat. So after eating and much joking around the streets, it was time for the usual long and lazy walk back home. But that was the time when we saw the campus bus! 1 yuan per ride was a good enough offer so for the first time ever we experienced riding a vehicle around Huazhong Normal University campus.

It was a pleasant ride home and a much better alternative than walking. Let’s just say that the simple 5 minute ride made my day.

the wonderful night life at the streets of Wuchang.

riding the mini bus that transported us back home