2016 GCP BUSAN 부산

2 words

1. Saddening (but still exciting because we will be seeing the buddies in January)
2. Breath-taking

2 highlights

1. The time with our buddies was one of the best, we got to spend some time to talk to them, exchange gifts and share our uniquely Singaporean food. It's always sad when a good trip comes to an end, likewise as this GCP is almost over, we'll always be sad, but it always feels good to be back to home sweet home.

   Me and My buddy after the Gift exchange

2. The Visit to the Bulguksa temple was breath-taking, the different shades of red, orange, yellow and some green was just picturesque, the photos really don't do it any justice. There we learnt from Mr.Brian more facts about Korea, such as how it is mainly Buddhism and how at the temple, there were these hanging lotuses which one could write wishes to ask of the gods, by paying a small amount of money.

   The spectacular autumn colours

2 things learnt about Korea

1. About 30% Koreans are Buddist and about 30% believe in Confucianism.
2. Korea, Busan has very vibrant autumn colours!

2 things learnt about yourself

1. I learnt that despite sleeping quite late the day before and waking up only 10 minutes before 6.30am, both me and my roommate were able to get ready and be down at the breakfast place by 6.30am. We have good prioritising skills, for example, I brought my toothbrush and toothpaste along and a comb so that we could report for breakfast on time and then go to the toilet to do the necessary.
2. The water chestnut at the base of the small mountain we visited was different from the usual water chestnuts. It came with the shell and was harder than what I was used to, but nevertheless, they were still tasty. I am really thankful for Mr. Brian for buying the water chestnuts for us.

2 things you didn't do so well

1. I didn't sleep on the bus, however, I did not use the time to the best of my ability. We spent most of the time talking about what had happened in the previous place or talked about the scenery instead of doing reflections.
2. We didn't ask many questions during the Q&A sections of the presentations, the Busan staff, teachers and students could have interpreted that wrongly and thought that we were uninterested in what they presented.

2 things you look forward to tomorrow

1. I am looking forward to the Science Centre tomorrow, I really feel that it would be very interesting. Having been to the Singapore Science Centre quite a few times, I would like to see how the Busan Science Centre is like.
2. Also, I am looking forward to the Busan National Science Museum Observatory. We got a glimpse of what it would be like when we visited the dome observatory 

Connect

Today through all the lessons such as robotics, drone, regular and chemistry classes I learnt that, we need to be open minded. Even though there are some things that we have learnt before, we need to keep an open mind and listen to the different ways other people may do it. It is not all about us.
For example, during today's chemistry class, we did UV light spectrophotometry, which was almost the exact same thing we did in Biotechnology.

Extend

Through the drone class, it has extended my learning in sst. I learnt that information can be found anywhere online. "In the near future, drones will be everywhere whether we like it or not" living in the 21st century and coming from a science and technology school, we should encourage people to embrace technology and learn how to maximize its usage. We learnt basic arduino in lower secondary ICT classes but today in drone class and robot class we learnt to see the greater uses of the arduino.

Robot class

Yugan trying to fly the drone

For example, during today's regular class I went to physics. In which they talked about a simple pendulum and the students themselves were presenting to the class their findings. Although we have performed that experiment during physics lab sessions, we still need to keep an open mind and see how and listen To the way they went through to get their findings. This way, we can all learn from each other...

Challenge your thinking

I thought about how we can actually start teaching each other. I heard that in Busan science highschool there are study groups where the seniors help juniors with homework or other questions. This way it helps to create a more family feel to the school and it also let's the seniors strengthen their knowledge and helps the juniors with their learning. There was a difference in the way the students interacted with their teachers, they were very responsive in class, unlike us students from SST, despite all the efforts the teachers have tried to get us talking.

1. 3 words to describe today's experiences
1. Friendly/ welcoming/ helpful
2. Interesting
3. Cultural

1. 3 highlights of the day
1. The welcome ceremony by Busan Science Highschool. They were warm and friendly, as we walked up the platform, every clapped and they all seemed cheery. Almost all of them were smiling and even though they had fewer people than SST, the atmosphere was still quite happy and their cheers were loud.

   Me and My main buddy, Han Yumi

2. The lab sessions were extremely engaging. (Physics, Biology & Invention) For Physics, the topic was Electromagnetic Waves. In pairs, we made an electromagnetic generator AND detector that lights up when there are electromagnetic waves passing through the air.

   The generator

   For Biology, we did Gel electrophoresis and DNA extraction!(In pairs) It was a good thing our group of 4 all took biotech so we were quite familiar with the processes.

   Our Table group

   Here's the Gel after 20min in 125V 
   
   
   For Invention class, we each made a "magic trick" device, which is actually based on science, physics. The teacher was wacky, in a good sense, and he was very lively. In the picture below, the coil with the red LED light has no battery to light up the LED, yet the LED is lit, how? Through electromagnetic induction from the coil below, so whenever the ring with the red light gets close to the coil beneath it, it will be able to light up.

   The magic

   Overall, I would really like to thank the buddies for the individual classes and the teachers who spent their time to prepare and teach us. It was very interesting and the fact that we got to take our artefacts back made it even more memorable.
3. When we visited Choongryeolsa and we learnt how to 拜(pronounced 'peh' in korean, meaning to bow) The interesting thing was that it was different for ladies and men. Also we got to do all the bowing while wearing the traditional costume! 

   The 6 girls from left to right: Varsha, Cheryl, Sammi, Janice, Sophia, Shanice

1. 3 things you've learnt about Korea
1. Busan Science Highschool students are very friendly and welcoming, they were never grumpy, or sleepy, or unhappy around us.
2. Korean culture of wearing the hanbok is unique, there are different way to bow for men and women, there are different ways to tie the hanbok
3. Students in Busan Science Highschool have their meals served to them differently from Singapore. It's like buffet style, where they can eat as much as they want.

1. 3 things you've learnt about yourself
1. I can get along better than expected with the korean buddies, even though there might be the language barrier.
2. There is no way one can cheat sleep. I slept a bit late last night because I couldn't sleep, and today, on the bus rides I slept the whole way through.
3. I learnt to work well in a team with my roommate, in the fab lab where we had to work together within a given amount of time. In the end, our timing for the whole process from the first ball to start moving till the last ball to stop moving was about 47s!

   Our chain reaction class work

1. 3 things you didn't do so well
1. I kept falling asleep on bus rides and was not able to wake up before we got off.
2. I did not interact a lot with all my buddies, I will try and talk more to them about meaningful things, and not when the teacher is talking.
3. As a whole, we were late, especially for breakfast. Tomorrow I will knock on my friend's door to help see if their awake because today they over slept. 

1. 3 things you look forward to tomorrow
1. Visit Samsung Reno-motors
2. Visit the city office of education and meet the superintendent
3. Have more lessons with my buddy, today's lessons were very interesting and memorable.

1. 3 words to describe today's experiences
1. Chilly
2. Eye-opening
3. Exciting

1. 3 highlights of the day
1. The POSCO factory tour, where we saw the red hot iron slab getting flattened into thinner pieces and cooled with water. It was an eye-opening experience, one that we wouldn't be able to observe even from the TV. We felt the heat of the iron slab as we walked past the whole chain of processes. It was a nice warm feeling, a slight relief from the chilly weather.

   16 of us + teachers standing in front of the original POSCO building

2. The Jagalchi market dinner. The food was 맛있어요 (delicious)! Even though I may have mistaken a raw kebab-looking meat stick for a satay stick and ate it raw, it was still unique! Especially because this was the first time I went to cook raw food for the meal.

   The yummmy delicious food.  맛있어요!

3. Despite it seeming like a mundane thing, the bus ride was one of the highlights. From the moment we got out of the airport until we got to the hotel, we were in and out of the bus. It was exciting to look through the window and just see how Korea was like, it seemed like it was straight from the movie Train to Busan. 

   Me and my roommate Shanice on the bus.

1. 3 things you've learnt about Korea
1. South Korea was actually economically less fortunate than North Korea right after the separation. However, they started their steel industry and managed to build their economy get it running. By the 1970s they were on par with North Korea and right now, they are one of the more advanced countries in the world.
2. Korea is colder than expected. The moment we stepped off the plane in Incheon, it was so cold. The pilot said it was -1 degrees celsius over there. Sometimes even though it might not be so cold (temperature wise) the presence of wind makes it colder.
3. There's a wide variety of kimchi in Korea. Some are spicy and some are not.

1. 3 things you've learnt about yourself
1. I can take the cold better than expected. (Maybe it was because of the down jacket)
2. I can take spicy food better than expected. (Maybe they made it less spicy for us)

   Our Group Eating our Lunch before POSCO museum and tour

3. Cold weather means cold stiff hands, which makes it harder to write. Also I get cracked lips easily so I should apply more lip balm and drink more water.

1. 3 things you didn't do so well
1. I feel asleep on the POSCO tour. I tried to stay awake, yet I still fell asleep. Next time I will bring cold water in my bottle to place on my face to wake me up.
2. I did not use as much Korean as I learnt like 감사합니다 (thank you) and 실례합니다 (excuse me)
3. I did not ask as many questions as I thought I would. Especially on the POSCO tour.

1. 3 things you look forward to tomorrow
1. Meeting my buddy, I'm excited to experience life as a Korean student in Busan Science Highschool
2. Eating more Korean food, all the meals we had today were extremely delicious.
3. Wearing the Korean Hanbok, the traditional ceremony.

How do you feel about the upcoming trip?

1. I've never been to Korea before and I'm excited to meet the people and experience the culture. 

3 Things that I am looking forward to

1. Learning New Things (gaining insight on Korean culture and Technology)
2. Meeting my buddy (comparing school pedagogy Busan vs SST) 
3. Eating the food

3 Things I hope to learn from Busan/South Korea

1. Insight on Korean Culture and advancements in Technology
2. School pedagogy of Busan Science High School
3. What Koreans usually do

3 Things I hope to learn from my friends (buddy?)

1. His/Her daily routine
2. What kind of subjects they learn, what they're learning now
3. What kind of homework they have
4. His/her hobbies, aspirations

3 Things I hope to learn about myself

1. Whether I could adapt to Korean life
2. How fast I can adapt to changes in lifestyle
3. How well I could get along with people who's first language is different from mine.

3 Challenges I give myself

1. To make new friends and form close ties
2. To understand the ramifications of my actions
3. Be independent and responsible

What are my expectations of Korea?