Yep. First shock of the day. Andy, Benjamin and I woke up late! we woke up at 7.40 when we are supposed to meet everyone for breakfast at 7.45am at the common corridor. BTW, everyone did not meet at the sipulated time. =.= Result: everyone reached the canteen at 8.15am and there isn't any food to eat!!
In the end, everyone went to the roadside stores (or local market, i should say) behind the hostel to take-away their breakfast. Huge varieties of food at rather cheap prices.
Reflection of this incident:
WUST canteens are rather different from Singapore schools canteens. For WUST, all canteens have a fixed opening time. As such, if anyone miss the opening time, NO FOOD! Hmm. rather unique. Anyway, another cultural difference between China and Singapore STUDENTS (i meant students). Based on the opening time, I can infer that the Chinese students' breakfast time are different from Singaporeans. Why? Is it because we tend to wake up later? haha. to be confirmed again =P
Anyway, signs of lack of standardisation (in terms of cleanliness standards, stores organisations etc) can be detected at the local market. Probably these are the reasons why Singaporeans (or should i say, foreigners) are discouraged from eating from these stores. HOWEVER, i realised something, isn't such type of markets are common in the 60s, 70s or even 80s Singapore? Another thing, the locals eat from there DAILY! hmmm... something to think about. Why people are discouraged from eating at such areas. lol
After breakfast, everyone attended a simple, yet serious welcoming ceremony, hosted by our China counterparts. After that, we went for orientation, getting ourselves familiarise with our classrooms and the school environment.
The whole morning ended with visiting the nearby supermarket and lunch (at macs again. =/ )
After resting in the hostel, everyone gathered at around 2.30pm to purchase for the China prepaid cards. On our way there, we walked passed one of the neighbourhood. It was rather interesting walk as everyone could experience the local culture in wuhan. Firstly, the whole atmosphere of the neighbourhood is rather relaxed. Sights of people rushing from point to point, buying groceries etc could not be found. Instead, the adults were playing mahjong, Chinese chess, poker cards along the street. Children are playing their toys or basketballs, women are chatting with their neighbours etc. That is how relaxed the neighbourhood is. An experience which are seldom detectable in Singapore.
Anyway, we got our prepaid card from a local telecommunications shop afterwards. However, it took us some time before we are able to purchase the cards. For me, I would say it is a communications problem within the main telecommunications company and their branches.
Yep. Day 2 in Wuhan officially ends with dinner from the local market and a game of dota? opps.
Please enjoy!
