2016 GCP BUSAN 부산

2 words to describe today's experiences:
Mesmerising and memorable

2 highlights of the day:
The farewell with the Busan Science High School buddies was a memorable highlight of today, because it was very emotional to say goodbye to my buddy since we have learnt so much from one another. I look forward to meeting my buddy in Singapore in January again, when the Busan Science High School buddies will be coming to visit my school.
The main highlight of today was the trip to the Bulguksa temple, where we went both to the temple and the shrine located atop the hill adjacent to the temple. Since there was the time constraint, we had to jog across the hillside. As the cool wind breezed across my face, I remembered the good times I had with my friends, and those precious moments of bonding with my friends. As we reached the footsteps of the shrine, I gazed at the mesmerising shrine, with the setting sun casting a golden hue on the Buddha. I could not stop myself from continually taking pictures of the shrine and enthralling scenery. I rushed up the flight of stairs, impatient to see the beauty inside the shrine, and I was not disappointed, in fact, quite the contrary. Hiking back to the entrance, we then left for Bulguksa temple at the foot of the hill. The story that was told about the carpenter who built the Bulguksa temple was both memorable and tragic. When entering the temple, the deciduous tree leaves having the different shades of the visible spectrum left a beautiful imprint in my mind, added on by the hills and mountains in the backdrop. I think this sightseeing experience was not only memorable, but also inspirational, as it made me more motivated to move on to o'levels in the subsequent year.

2 things you've learnt about Korea:
I have learnt that South Korea, despite being an industrialised economy with a growing port business in Busan, on the pretence of the environmental perspective, is astonishingly beautiful. I feel this is one of the big aspects of South Korea that I have learnt in the trip, something I had taken for granted through the many bus rides via which I had seen the hills previously.
I also learnt that South Korea holds many religions, that include Buddhism, Christianity and Confucianism. This shows that South Korea truly is an inter-religious society, showing how tolerating it is to all different religions.

2 things you've learnt about yourself:
I realised that I can be very task-oriented when I want to be. I found out about this when we were at the Bulguksa Temple. During the time when most of the team was socialising and having fun with one another, I was determined to take good photos of the scenery, hence I stuck to the plan and did so, even though I missed the precious bonding time with my friends. Since I had a task that needed completion, I did so, without straying off-course. From this, I learnt that I can be very task-oriented.
I also learnt that I can bond very well with my friends and buddy even though I may be introverted. During the long bus rides, my friends and I shared horror stories that allowed us to bond very well. This also allowed me to do my various antics, that humoured my friends, making us even closer to one another.

2 things you did not do so well:
I think my behaviour today was not on-point. This is because as the bus driver was driving on the highway I had was not seated down properly, kneeling on the ground talking to my friends. I think this was not appropriate of me, as it had inconvenienced the driver. I will try not do such mistakes again.
Secondly, I think I was too noisy today. This was because I had gotten carried away with the enticing conversations I had with my friends, and hence had become less socially aware. I think I should work more on my alertness skills to prevent future such occurrences.


2 things you look forward to tomorrow:
I await the pleasure of visiting the Busan National Science Museum. This is because I really want to see the cutting-edge science that takes place here in South Korea, both for my project on architecture and for my personal understanding.
I very much anticipate the departure from Korea, as I am very keen to meet my family and friends. This is mainly due to the fact that I am very homesick, and miss them.

Connect:
In Singapore, I learn about how we need to keep the environment clean-and-green. This is seen throughout Singapore, from the Central Business District to the suburban areas. We also learn in National Education classes that we sustain and keep the environment clean because we need to stay hygienic and so that we can interest the tourism industry. This is also expounded by the environment we see in Busan; the parks and lakes we have seen through the various bus rides are not just surrounded by lush green and red temperate forests, but another hidden aspect is how clean the parks and districts are. This shows that we can connect what we learn about clean environment in Singapore to Busan.
The geography that I learn in Singapore taught me that every 1000m increase in altitude, the temperature decreases by 6.5ºC. This is clearly seen observed as the bus rose in altitude. I realised this by touching the window of the bus and sense it becoming colder. When getting out of the bus, the  decreases temperature was very clear. I can thus connect the learning in Singapore to what I observed in Busan

Extend:
During the final conference with the Busan buddies, one of the buddies gave a presentation on electromagnets and spinning tops; how spinning tops can accelerate infinitely given that power is constantly supplied to the electromagnet. In normal physics in Singapore, we learnt about electromagnets in the topic of interactions in Primary 5, resultant forces and acceleration in Secondary 3, and circuitry in Fundamentals of Electronics in Sec 3 in SST. This is very much extended to the presentation the buddy had given, as it was concerning the precise timing of the closing of the reed switch supplying power to the electromagnet causing the top to accelerate at certain periods.

Challenge:
The presentation given by Chen Ning got me thinking to what causes the concentration of ions in the ionosphere to increase. Initially, I thought it was due to the high energy & velocity plasma released from the sun to be caught by the magnetosphere colliding with the particles in the ionosphere causing an increase in ions, due to the coronal mass ejection from the sun during a solar storm. But what sparked the questioning was the fact that the plasma takes a few hours to reach the earth as it is travelling significantly slower than the speed of light, while a solar flare, being the energy spectrum of electromagnetic radiation itself, would reach in roughly 8 minutes as it travels at the speed. Hence, it was the solar flare which caused the spike in ions in the ionosphere. Upon further thinking and listening to the speech, I realised that the electromagnetic waves, had a peak emitted wavelength in the band of UVC and X-rays, in which X-rays are a form of ionising radiation. There it was, the ionising radiation caused the neutral elements and compounds in the ionosphere to break up into ions, causing the spike in ions during a solar flare in the period of a solar storm. Hence, I realised that this presentation challenged the understanding I already had about solar storms as well as gave me a deeper insight into natural resonance, tuning capacitors and do-it-yourself radio telescopes.

1) 2 words to describe today’s experiences

Today was touching and interesting. It was an an emotional time when we were participating in the closing ceremony when we had to leave Busan Science High School. Everybody did not want to bid goodbye to each other as we may not see each and every one of the students again. The day was also interesting as I learnt more about some science experiments our SST students and the BSHS students presented to us, such as the coral reef (biorock technology) experiment, the robot olympiad, the solar shock investigation and the investigation of how electromagnets can affect the spinning of magnets. If not for these presentations, I would not have discovered the different aspects of such research, so it was highly enlightening.

2) 2 highlights of the day

2 words:

1) Cultural
2) Eye-opening

2 Key Highlights:

1) Early in the morning, we had to bid farewell to our buddies of three days, where we had made many good memories and learnt many things from one another. It had been a fun experience and I really appreciate the efforts from both sides to make this a success. I look forward to meeting them again in January to explore and learn more.

2) We also went to the 2 UNESCO Heritage sites in Gyeongjoo,  Bulgaksa Temple and Seokgulam Grotto. Through the visit, I learnt many things about the Korean history and religious harmony in Korea, like the story of the carpenter. It was something that cannot be found in Singapore and I was fascinated by both places' history and Gyeongjoo.

2 Things I learnt in about Korea:

1) Gyeongjoo was once the capital of olden Korea and last time, the kings and royalties were buried there. Gyeongjoo is one of the places in Korea that has a lot of historical value and we can learn much about Korea's history there.

2) When we reached the Grotto and Temple, the guide told us about how the structure was made and it was actually mainly composed of granite. Though the Chinese used marble, the Koreans used granite and achieved the same result, which the 1, 500 years old structure is still sturdy and looks new.

2 Things I learnt about myself:

1) At first, I was not exactly fit and I had not really much stamina. Even after spending few weeks exercising, I thought that I was much fitter than before. However, during the trip at Seokgulam Grotto, I was already panting at the first few steps climbing up to the Grotto.

2) After these three day, even though I had a language barrier with my buddy, I could still communicate with her as best as we can and I really enjoyed her company and guidance during the project. I feel that I could cope under the pressure of having a language barrier and still make use of much of our experience in Busan Science High School.

2 Things I did not do that well:

1) During the farewell party, there was a sharing of projects between both schools. However, after the presentations, I did not really ask many questions on the project, which actually reflects my lack of critical thinking. Next time, I should think more on their presentation so I can actually check my level of understanding of the project and really learn from it.

2) I seldom eats fish as I do not really like fish. However, during lunch, the main course was fish. I was very hesistant in eating the fish so I did not really eat much. Looking back, I realise I should have try new food in Korea, which was an important part in learning about the Korean culture and really get as much as I can from this experience.

2 Things I am looking forward to tomorrow:

1) Tomorrow, we will be heading to the National Science Museum, which I hope would be an interesting experience getting to understand more about the Sciences. This can allow me to gain new knowledge and this knowledge would be extremely useful for our projects.

2) Last but not least, we would be leaving Korea for Singapore. Even though it was a very fruitful experience where we had made my good memories and learnt new knowledge, I look forward to going back to Singapore to share this new knowledge to my friends in SST. This can allow everyone to learn together, which is one of the main aims of GCP in SST.


C-E-C

Today, during the farewell party, there was a student who went through about robotics and humanoids. Using my prior knowledge in robotics obtained from my CCA, Robotics@APEX, I realise it was very similar to what we do during our CCA: Building robots. One thing that really extended my learning was that other than Singapore, there could be another country that really welcomes a diversity of religions. Even the Bulgaksa temple accepts people from other religions and have spaces for them to respect their religion. However, during the farewell party, a person was going through a project on the electromagnetism and the rotation. He was saying that he was just looking at a infinite spinning top and decided to do this project. This really challenge my thinking as I did not think that such a simple everyday thing could allow someone to think of such of an elaborate project and I feel every time we are thinking of a new project, maybe we could start with something simple instead of immediately thinking of complex ideas, which seldom works during the project.

2 words to describe today's experiences
Enchanting
Reluctance
The heritage sites were enchanting, being among colourful trees and comfortable weather. However we had to bid farewell with our buddies we spent so much time with at Busan Science High School and it made me very reluctant to leave.

2 highlights of the day
A highlight of today, was definitely the visit to the Seokgulam temple. It was such an unforgettable experience. The trees were coloured in a gradient of yellow and red, and the weather was not too cold. Although we had a very limited time there and there was a distance to trek, I enjoyed myself immensely in the comfort of the picturesque scenery.

Another highlight of today was the visit to the e-mart at the end of the day. I found myself enjoying exploring aisles and buying things with my friends. 1 hour was simply not enough time for us. In the end, we walked back to the hotel carrying many large paper bags and cardboard boxes. It was tiring, but the thought that this was a rare experience to visit a supermarket freely with my friends overseas made it all worth it.

2 things you've leant about Korea
Today, I learned that Korea also values the conservation of heritage sites. This is evident from the Seokgulam temple and the Bulgulksa temple, UNESCO heritage sites. While we were there, we encounted several structures that looked like they were in a new condition. However, we were later told that the structures, to our surprise, we built from over 1500 years ago. This made me realise that the Koreans value the conservation of heritage sites in order to preserve the culture of Korea.

I also learned that Korean people are not only warm and welcoming, but also value friendships. After our gift exchange in Busan Science High School, we had to leave due to our tight schedule. As we were boarding the bus, our buddies crowded the area outside the bus and were waving at us while the bus were driving off. It showed that they genuinely wanted to make friends with us and were reluctant to see us go.

2 things you've learnt about yourself
I learned that I have a passion for photography today. At the heritage sites, upon seeing all the colourful trees, I found myself constantly snapping pictures of the scenery. I realise that I enjoy taking pictures and sharing them with my friends.

Today, I also found that I really enjoy spending time with my friends. At the e-mart today, I realised that I enjoy shopping and exploring the place with my friends. I found myself buying many things, which would definitely not happen if I was there by myself.

2 things you didn't do so well
Today my roommate and I did not wake up to my alarm and slept through the wake up call and almost held up the group. Luckily, we did not cause too much of a delay. I think that in future, I could set multiple alarms so that if I miss an alarm, I could still wake up to another alarm, or adjust the alarm to an earlier time.

Today, I also did not manage to take down notes at the temples as I was so mesmerised by the scenery around and forgot not bring my notebook. As a result, I might have missed out on some knowledge about the beritage sites. In future I could be more careful in checking whether I have brought all the things I need.

2 things you look forward to tomorrow
Tomorrow, I look forward to visiting the Busan National Science Museum and exploring the various exhibits. I hope to gain more knowledge on the different aspects of science. I also look forward to visiting the observatory as this is a rare experience.

I also look forward to the various experiments we would carry out tomorrow at the Busan National Science Museum. Carrying out experiments is one of the methods that would allow me to learn the most, and so I believe that through the experiments, I would be able to learn a lot more than a classroom situation.

Connect
Today, during the presentations, we learnt the methods to make a top that spins infinitely. It makes use of electromagnets to spin the top, which we had prior knowledge as we have learnt electromagnets in physics classes back in SST.

Extend
However, there was some aspects of the setup that I did not understand. They made use of a reed switch in their set up, something I have not learned back in SST. However, through the presentation, I learnt that the reed switch is actually a switch that is activated by magnetic fields. This truly extended on my understanding on my topic and the possibilities of these electronics.

Challenge
Through the presentations, it changed my thinking on how learning can be conducted. Previously, I thought that learning has to be done in a classroom with a teacher to pass knowledge to their students. However, I found that I was also able to learn from other students, especially in this presentation sharing, where I could learn from my busan buddies. This made me think that it is also possible to learn from our peers and share knowledge with one another instead of simply relying solely on the teacher.

2 words to describe today's experiences
- Exhausting
- Sad

2 highlights of the day
- Project sharing with buddies. I got to present with my roommate Sophia in front of the Busan Science High School Buddies about Singapore and SST. Before the presentation, I felt really nervous but during the presentation, I realised that the students from Busan Science High School are actually really attentive and I felt more confident. Some of them even laugh at my attempts to be funny even though they were pretty lame. I loved presenting to them and hope to have more presentations in the future.
- Bulguksa Temple. Since it was autumn/winter season, the leaves were of a variety of colours: Red, Orange, Yellow, etc. The weather was chilly but it wasn't so cold such that I had to wear at least three layers of clothing. There were many beautiful photo spots and all of them were breathtaking. There was this part of the Bulguksa Temple where there were actual monks. According to our guide,  when you step into the area, you are not allowed to talk as the monks do not believe in speaking but instead through actions.

2 things I've learned about Korea
- Korea have their own stories or histories on how places in Busan came about. For example, at the Bulguksa Temple, there was this story about a man who had a temple being built and his wife came to look for him. But after waiting for many years, the wife jumped into the water which was pretty shallow and died. Later the man was told that his wife died and jumped down the same place where his wife died. Every place has there own story just like how Singapore has its own.
- The percentage of religions is quite evenly spread out. 30% Buddhist, 30% Christianity, 30% Confucius and 10% others. Meanwhile in Singapore, the majority is Buddhist.

2 things I've learned about myself
- My stamina is surprising okay. At the Seokgulam Grotta, we had a very limited amount of time there (about 30 mins), so we had to rush. We ran up to the place and just when we thought we reached the top, our guide said that there was 200 more steps. I thought it would extremely tiring but actually it was not that bad.
- I actually like shopping. I used to complain about my mom going shopping but today when we had 1 hour shopping at EMart, I bought many stuff, mainly food.

2 things I didn't do so well
- I was complaining a lot during the trip up to the tip of Seokgulam Grotta. Even though it was demanding, I should not have been saying my unhappiness out loud and have endurance instead.
- During bus rides, instead of using the time to work my reflection, I was doing other things like sleeping and daydreaming. This results in my reflections on being shallow and not containing the importance of the activities planned for today.

2 things I look forward to tomorrow
- Busan Science Center. I love going to Singapore Science Center because of its interactive exhibitions. I have heard that the science center in Busan is big and good so of course, I'll be excited to go to the Busan Science Center tomorrow.
- We'll be on the plane flight back to Singapore. I love plane flights and is looking forward to it as finally after five days, I get to go home to humid weather where my lips won't be chapped and nose all scaly due to the dry weather here in Busan.

Examples of...
Connect: During the project sharing in BSS, one of the BSS students presented about the infinitely spinning top using the concept of electromagnetic field which I have learned in Physics.

Extend: In Busan Science High School, we had project sharing. One of the presentations, the one presented by Marsha about the biorock, is a life application of chemistry about the reactivity of metals. This is an extension to what we had already learned about metals before school closed for the reactivity series and the reason why the metals react.

Challenge: One of the BSS students who will be going to Beijing for World Robotics Olympiad (congratulations!) presented about what he has researched about robots. Previously, I only thought that robots mean little human like objects that can dance and act like a human. I never knew that the self-moving vacuum cleaner was also qualified as a robot. Knowing that something I thought was just an electronic was also classified as a robot, it blew my mind.

1. 2 words to describe today’s experiences
   Today was interesting because we got to go for the Gyeongjoo Tour and went to the Bulguksa Temple and other interesting places. These places were really interesting because they had a lot of history behind them and even one of them were UNESCO Heritage Sites. Some of the architecture in the UNESCO site at the Bulguksa Temple were also over a thousand years old, which was something really cool, as they could last really long. For example, the Bulguksa Temple was built in 751 by then prime minister Gim Dae-seong, and completed in 774. It was previously burnt down before but was completely restored after the invasion by Japanese invaders in 1593. The restoration was done between 1969-1973 through thorough research and excavations of the ancient temple site.
   Today was also rather educational as various presentations were done in the morning for different subjects and topics. An example was the presentation on biorock. It was something related to chemistry, where the process of electrolysis was used to encourage the growth of corals, and variables such as materials used in the project were changed. The cathode was changed to different materials such as brass, aluminium, etc., and the rate of growth of these corals were measured over a certain time. However, due to the lack of resources, only common materials were used, but in an actual biorock, titanium is used as it would not corrode and was resistant to many outdoor elements. This extended my knowledge in that I learnt the different requirements required for corals to regrow at a faster rate, and titanium was the best material for corals to grow on fastest. Next year, when we cover the topic on electrolysis, this may come in handy, and I will try my best to incorporate this sort of ‘new’ learning in more applicable circumstances in both lessons and lab experiments.
   
2. 2 highlights of the day
   We went to the UNESCO site and went for many cultural sites in Gyeongjoo. From this tour, I found out that most of the cultural sites, such as temples and shrines were on mountaintops and were quite far away from civilisation (being that we had to walk and climb past mountains and some valleys to reach them). From this, I learnt that the Koreans wanted to be sort of ‘far away’ from distractions and to worship their God wholeheartedly.
   The other highlight was the buddy project sharing. Since it was the first time we got to see our friend’s projects, both from Busan Science High School and Singapore, I learnt a bit more information on what we had in common and what we were interested in. Some projects presented by the Koreans included the Robotics Olympiad and the magnet spinning electromagnet. It was really cool looking at the presentations, as although these were some really simple things, they had very cool variables and the results were interesting. For example, they built interesting robots for the robotics olympiad such as a ‘gutterbot’. It was a creative robot meant to check for sewage problems and fix them through the necessary means by remote controlling in places inaccessible by humans. Another project was the magnet spinning electromagnet. They used the Reeds switch and based on what I understood from it, they wanted to find out how the electromagnet could be powered to make the reed switch close and for the circuit to open.
   
3. 2 things you’ve learnt about Korea
   I learnt that Korea had a wide variety of beliefs and religions, such as buddhism, christianity and shamanism. About 30% believe in each of these religions, with the other 10% having other beliefs and religions.This is something rather cool, because many of them do not having a common belief, such as in Singapore, although the majority are actually Buddhists in Singapore. Nevertheless, they maintain religious harmony like in Singapore, which is a good thing that we should continue to maintain.
   I also learnt that the Korean education system does not focus fully on all academics, but want students to investigate on real-life problems and questions they have and encounter, so they will be able to grow their understanding and have the passion for the relevant subjects. This is such as in ISS in SST, where we used our creativity to come up with a research topic and solve/investigate on the problem. Projects are an important part of our student life as we would grow our curiosity, critical thinking and creativity, 3 of our 10Cs, and in the end grow to be enthusiastic citizens who aim to solve existing problems in our society.
   
4. 2 things you’ve learnt about yourself
   I learnt that I should not be so stingy with my money. Although we should save our money, it is important for ourselves to enjoy the trip and it was really satisfying to be able to enjoy ourselves after rushing to and fro the school, hotel and other places during the past 3 days. Therefore, I should enjoy myself and not be so calculative and not enjoy myself during the trip while I can.
   I also learnt that I do talk quite a lot. However, I should try to make most of the things that I speak more purposeful, as usually I do not think twice before speaking, and as such, I should try to speak up, while also thinking for a proper amount of time before talking. Like this, I would not end up being not listened to so much, and I would have more ‘value’ wherever I go.
   
5. 2 things you didn’t do so well
   I did not really think a lot about what I speak, so some things that I say may be quite useless as mentioned above. Therefore, I should try to make my words more purposeful or at least have a reason to it, so I would not be so ‘useless’ and have more of an impact in other projects and I can contribute more.
   I felt that I should have treated my buddy better, as she was really nice to me and taught me very well, especially during the normal lessons period. During the math period, she was able to teach me and helped me to understand the new topic of 3D graph plotting, and as such, I am very grateful towards her. As such, I felt that I should have tried to interact more with her and make this trip a more fruitful one.