Day 8: Clear skies at last

Woke up today to clear skies, the first time that the tall buildings in the distance aren't shrouded in pollution. Strong winds were blowing, signifying the arrival of Autumn at long last.Just look at the scenery from our classroom block! Huge difference from before!

First lesson of the day was an IS OIE Lesson, on the Geography of China and Wuhan, by another Chinese Lecturer. We were all really tired from the full day of activities before, just look at Han Hui!But I tried my best to pay attention to this new lecturer. Actually, I preferred this lesson than previous lessons because there were activities to keep our attention and the lecturer was very lively and very friendly. We had this activity where we had to randomly choose a set of 5 Chinese Provinces and stick them onto a map of China that is demarcated only with the lines of the province borders. Having read up on China when I was younger, I'm glad to be able to score 3 out of 5 for mine, and help others with theirs.
The lecturer also taught some very interesting stuff, such as the reason why Wuhan experiences such extreme weather changes, which is because of the mountain range to the north which blocks the northerly wind in the Summer which makes it even hotter, and the lack of anything to shield the city from the harsh and cold monsoon winds blowing from the south.
After the lesson, was lunch time, and being really ultra lazy, we called the vegetarian restaurant and had our lunch delivered.

Roomies and the vegetarian food

In Singapore, I rarely eat vegetarian given the wide variety of other food available, but the food cooked by this restaurant really is very nice, to the point that I was considering going Vegetarian for the rest of the trip with the restaurant.
Anyway, as recommended for our safety, we had introduced ourselves with a cover story, claiming that we are from Fujian Province, and to our shock, so was the boss who delivered the food. Luckily, he said that he was from the north of Fujian, so I quickly used my YEP experience to answer that we are from the southern parts of Fujian, and quickly changed the topic to WUST. However, as luck would have it, the Boss is actually an alumni of WUST. What a coincidence, right?

Reflection:
The OIE Lesson was peppered with small facts and trivia about China, Wuhan and Hubei Province, which I found thoroughly interesting, such as Wuhan's nickname as the City of a Thousand Lakes (千湖之省). We were also taught that Wuhan people were nicknamed Nine-Headed Birds (九头鸟), which is to say that they are very cunning but smart, from the Chinese saying "天上有九头鸟、地上有武汉佬" which means to say that in the sky there are Nine-Headed Bitds, but on Earth you have the Wuhan People.
Thinking about it, I reflect that we too, as Singaporeans, are given nicknames such as "Kiasu Singaporeans", but we should follow the Wuhan people, and be proud of the label and look at it in a positive light. Wuhan people glorify their Nine-Headed Bird label, to the extent that the architecture of a new Train Station is modeled after the Nine-Headed Bird. Thus, as Singaporeans, we should defend our national pride, even if in the smallest of ways. Next time, if anyone calls me Kiasu, I will say that it is better to "err on the side of caution".