Nguyen Du Junior High (Group 1)

Nguyen Du Junior High School is located at Ngoc Lac Town, Ngoc Lac District / 34 Ly Thuong Kiet, Hang Bai Ward, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, Vietnam (unsure because Google gives different addresses)

We were greeted at the gate of the school by 2 rows of students who started clapping upon our arrival. We were led to the hall which was half the size of SST's. An opening speech was given by the representatives, followed by performances by the students of the school. 

We performed 'Chan Mali Chan' and 'Di Tanjong Katong', however, we shamed our school. Less than a quarter of us sang the song, and worse still, some of us tried to hide behind the curtains. What was more disappointing was the way we reacted when it was our turn to  get on the stage - some of us clearly were sulking, and some jumped off the stage, as if it was a game.

After the performance, we played a ice-breaker which was new to us. When it was time for the getting together session, we were presented with many handmade gifts from the students which we exchanged with mostly store-bought items from Singapore. We went for a short school tour afterwards.

With a history of more than 40 years, our school looks up to our partner as the ‘Big Brother’. The school has over 2000 students and 42 classes with around 50 students each. (gcp-hanoi-2011.blogspot.sg/p/group-e-nguyen-du-junior-high/html). Each classroom is about the size of an SST classroom, only the chairs and tables are much closer together. Although the classrooms are not advanced compared to the ones in Singapore, students are proactive in their participation in lessons, as seen from the picture below. 

Unlike SST, the school has morning and afternoon sessions. Each period lasts 40 minutes with a 5 minute break in between. The students participate in sports, and they are very cautious of their well-being. 

21 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. Today we went to Nguyen Du Junior High and it was really a wonderful time there at their school. When we first entered their school they warmly welcomed us with applauses then we entered the hall of the school and we listened to the Principal of Nguyen Du Junior High giving us a speech and Mr koh giving us a speech too, and next the some of the Nguyen Du Junior High pupils performed for us like singing, they sang very well. Then it was our turn to perform for the Today we went to Nguyen Du Junior High and it was really a wonderful time there at their school. When we first entered their school they warmly welcomed us with applauses then we entered the hall of the school and we listened to the Principal of Nguyen Du Junior High giving us a speech and Mr koh giving us a speech too, and next the some of the Nguyen Du Junior High pupils performed for us like singing, they sang very well. Then it was our turn to perform for them, we did not had any rehearsal and most of us were not prepared, I was shy and i kept trying to hid behind others who were also doing the same. I felt that we should have prepared for the performance and be more enthusiastic like the Nguyen Du Junior High pupils. During the gift exchange I was a bit shy and did not felt like coming out of my site but the Nguyen Du Junior High pupils were very outgoing and came over to us and talked to us. I felt that i should have been more forward and outgoing and be less shy, and the visit to Nguyen Du Junior High ended with a tour around the campus by one of the Nguyen Du Junior High student.

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  3. I feel that visiting Nguyen Du Junior High School was a good experience for us. Firstly, the students were very welcoming and friendly. They made two lines at the entrance of their school and clapped for us as we walked in as a way of welcoming us. The students in Nguyen Du Junior High School also somewhat liked learning in school as the teachers were passionate about teaching them. They do have a good command of English so we did not have any difficulties communicating with each other. The performances shown are very captivating and entertaining to watch. The games had certainly brought joy to both us and them. Gifts were exchanged and I managed to make some friends. The classrooms in the school were not as high tech as SST and they used blackboards and had no projector for technology use. I feel that they are still very happy and hope that their school conditions can improve to further enrich their learning there.

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  4. Today, we were supposed to go to the HCM Stilt House. But because of changes in plan, we instead went to Nguyen Du Junior High. These sudden changes in plan got me worried about future sudden changes of activities on other days and not being prepared for them.
    As we entered Nguyen Du Junior High, the students there were very elated about our arrival at their school. I was not used to these kinds of truly warm welcome, but at least I knew they thought of us. During the different activities, I did not really join them, but instead stood back and took a laugh whenever someone made a mistake.
    In the hall, we were made to sing in front of the audience. I was a little shy and stood in the crowd, but made myself visible to the audience.
    This visit to the school made me think about those in Singapore. I had never been treated this well and I do not think anyone else had. It was an experience that made me think about myself and how I could be more social.

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  5. Today we visited Nguyen Du Junior high (Pronounced "win-zhu"). When we reached there, there was a crowd of students at the front of the school, extremely eager to show us around their school.

    First of, we were lead to the school's hall where we were first addressed by the principal in Vietnamese, which our tour guide kindly translated for us. Following up, the students performed a host of interesting dances and singing, which we were all awed by their amazing choreography and coordination, which I think the latter would be useful for work life, where a lot of teamwork is required.

    After that, SST's students mustered their courage and walked up on stage and sang "Chan Mali Chan" and "Di Tanjong Katong" which afterwards was explained by our leader that these were traditional malay songs.

    Next, we rose to our seats and walked around the hall, exchanging gifts which we had prepared before the trip. I walked around the hall, giving away my gifts and getting some in return, and also getting to know the students better. I really enjoyed this fascinating experience in the hall.

    Following the departure from the hall, we explored the school, which was at that time upgrading. I looked into classrooms, interested in what they were learning. Some were learning about angles and isosceles triangles and parallel lines. Others were learning english. This was a really big school, getting lost was not a hard thing to do. Luckily we had our newfound friends to guide us through their school. I feel sad for them because they do not have an exactly conducive learning environment. I am grateful for such a good school like SST and will never take it for granted.

    Finally, we were sad to leave the school after being shown around the school. I waved goodbye to my new friend, promising to keep in touch with him through email.

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  6. Today we went to Nguyen Du Junior High and they were really welcoming. As we entered they're campus, they welcomed us with an applause and cheer. Our hosts later then performed on stage and they were really good. When it came to our turn to perform, things didn't go so well. We weren't prepared and a lot of us were messing around. I was a little shy. Each of us should have prepared well and rehearsed ourselves. During the gift exchange, i was a little hesitant and shy but our hosts were very cheerful and had a want to know us. The time there ended with a good tour around their campus.

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  7. Day 2, 6th November 2012,
    Today , I feel very disappointed in myself. Especially during the trip Nguyen Du Junior High School. What I was disappointed in was how the performance of the Students at Nguyen Du Junior School beat us horribly. First of all, I find our behavior was terrible compared to that of the students at Nguyen Du Junior High School. Secondly, I find that their performance was much better than us, the only thing I find lacking in their performance is a better choice of song. But , I cannot blame them for it as I too, did not do well for our performance. Standing behind other students , I was only attempting to mouth the lyrics of the song. I did the Chan Mali Chan song better as I have heard the song a couple of times before the performance itself. But , during the Di Tanjong Katong song, I could not really perform up to my own expectations. Due to not knowing the lyrics, I failed to even mouth the words correctly. I was just opening and closing my mouth according to the lyrics and I hoped that no one would notice, especially those from Nguyen Du Junior High School. I find that todays disappointment was due to my irresponsibility, in terms of trying to remember the lyrics.

    ~Timothy

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  8. Trip to Wen Rou Junior High School

    I was looking forward to meeting my new friends at Wen Rou Junior High. I imagined a big spacious looking school with welcoming students. It was true. In fact, more than expected. When the bus stopped in front of the school’s gate, a line of students were lined up for us, cheering and shouting enthusiastically. It was as if we were celebrities who were visiting their school. We walked in the campus and they rushed to us, attempting to shake our hands. They lead us to the main school hall. Already nicely set up was tables with a plate of bananas and beside it was another plate of what seemed like seeds. It was in fact steamed young glutinous rice. We were supposed to peel the banana and dip it into the plate of young glutinous rice. Surprisingly, it was delicious. The principal gave a speech of gratitude. Next, we were supposed to mingle with the other students that were sitting opposite us. We exchange contact details and have a conversation. I asked one of my acquaintance which a boy. I asked him a question whether he had ever taken a plane. He told me that he did, to another part of Vietnam. I was surprised when I heard that. But I understood and continued on the topic. We were given a tour around the school after the assembly. Our tour guide was a pretty and energetic grade 9 student ( which is 15 years old) who amazingly spoke well fluent English. She made the tour fun with her expressions and enthusiasm. She told us that even though the school was meant from grade 6 to grade 9, there were primary students sharing the same campus. Apparently, the primary school did not have enough rooms so rented some classrooms in the school. I feel that, we as Singaporeans should learn from them because in the assembly, they prepared a few songs to entertain us and make us feel like home. In return, we were supposed to sing a old folksong, unfortunately we did not really bother rehearsing an had to go up on the stage and embarrass ourselves to the school. Another incident is when there was a gift exchange. The students gave us nicely wrapped, valuable gifts. But most of our gifts are stationery which have not been wrapped, and the price tag not peeled off. We could learn a lot from this.

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  9. The Nguyen Du Junior high School experience was a very heartwarming one to me. The students there gave a very heartwarming welcome when we went to the school. After entering the school, we were led to their school hall where we watched performances by the students and we also went up to perform ourselves these two songs. ‘Di Tanjong Katong’ and ‘Chan Mali Chan’. Then we exchanged gifts and personal information with each other, followed by the school tour.

    However, I feel that we can be more understanding and less ‘Kaiser’ or ‘kiasu’ by removing the price tag of my presents, so that people will not feel offended after looking at the price tag. We should also have wrapped up our presents to show our sincerity and practiced for the songs. I had the feeling that I was the only one singing the songs.

    Tomorrow, I want to be a better person as we take on a trip to Halong Bay.

    Jason

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  10. During the visit to the Nguyen Du Junior High after breakfast, we were actually really surprised that we had to head to the Junior High instead of heading to the HCM stilt House. So due to the change in schedule, we were in total disarray in the morning as we had forgotten to take the gifts we had to give them as we already had to assemble to go to the school. However, thankfully we were given extra time to get our presents for the Junior High students. When we arrived at the school entrance, we were given a warm welcome into the school with many students of the school who were all eager to show us around the school. We were absolutely stunned by their enthusiasm and their ability to make more friends, because of this we were able to make more friends and strengthen the relationships between Nguyen Du Junior High and SST.

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  11. Today, we went to Nguyen Du Junior High. The students welcomed us enthusiastically. Their teachers and Mr Koh gave us speeches.The students performed 3 songs for us. They are ‘We’re all in this together’, ‘Never say never’ and ‘Count on me’. I was surprised by how well the student sung these English songs. We performed 2 songs. They are ‘Chan Mali Chan’ and ‘Tanjong Katong’. I feel that we should have prepared better for our performance as we did not memorise the lyrics and some of us did not sing. Next, the students and our seniors introduced and talked about our schools. Afterwards, we exchanged gifts and contacts. The students were very nice to have wrapped the gifts nicely. I think we should have done the same, but instead we just gave them gifts that we bought at the last minute. Lastly, our buddies gave us a tour around the school.

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  12. The trip to the School was actually very special to me as I was able to interact with people who undergo a totally different education system . They were very welcoming and very interactive, they even sang two songs for us. We also performed two songs for them and i felt that we were a bit nervous and we were very distracted when we were performing on the stage. I think we should have been more prepared before performing. Then we had an exchange session whereby we got to talk to each other and exchange gifts. Then we went for a tour around the school which made me very interested to learn more about the school. In Summary, the school is a very nice and big school and I wish I can make another trip to the school.

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  13. The trip to the school was very special as we had never been to an overseas school to see the different teaching methods before (most of us). However, upon seeing the Wen Rou Students enthusiasm, we felt very awkward being the center of attention. And to add even more embarrassment, we could feel the students bursting with enthusiasm as they sang and performed for us, yet we had not even prepared to sing. The students used whatever boxes they had just to keep their gifts a surprise for us, yet some of us did not even wrap our presents. We are fortunate to live in a well-developed country like Singapore, but our humility and respect needs to be like the people here is Vietnam, though their country is less fortunate, they are hard-working and respectful. We must learn from their attitude.

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  14. Today we visited Nguyen Du Junior High and the students there were really welcoming. I felt embarrassed as our behavior was terrible compared to that of the students at Nguyen Du Junior High we did not do well for our performance as we were standing behind other students, attempting to mouth the words. As I have heard the song 'Chan Mali Chan' a couple of times before I could sing it quite well. As for 'Di Tanjong Katong', I did not know the lyrics, so I failed to even mouth the words correctly. I was hiding behind others hoping that those from Nguyen Du Junior High School would not notice. I was a little hesitant during the gift exchange but our hosts were very welcoming and had a want to know us. The visit ended with a tour around their campus. I do not think we were really prepared for this but it could have something to do with the sudden change of plans.

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  15. Today, due to a last minute change of plans, we went to the Nguyen Du Junior High instead of the Stilt House. When we reached the school, we were given a very warm welcome from the students of Nguyen Du Junior High, and with their enthusiastic clapping and cheering. After that while in the hall, the principal gave a inspiring speech which was very informative on the background on Vietnam. The performance put up by the students Nguyen Du Junior High was just entertaining, and then the tour after that was a bit confusing but I got to know more about the school. For our performance, I felt that we could have practise and rehearsed more, so that we could put up a better performance.
    During the gift exchange, I felt that we could take more initiative to get to know the other students.

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  16. The trip to the school is very odd as i have not done any exchange programs. I felt that the gifts that the students are not very good but they put a lot of efforts into the gift warping. The students used Small boxes they had just to keep their gifts a surprise for us, yet some of us did not even wrap our presents. We are fortunate to live in a well-developed country like Singapore, but our humility and respect needs to be like the people here is Vietnam, though their country is less fortunate, they are hard-working and respectful. We must learn from their attitude. ALso I am very surprised that they actually have facebook, I thought they only have email. I am also surprised by the students' singing as they practiced well, SST students do not actually rehearse togeather, the teachers just gave us the lyrics and let us practice ourselves.

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  17. Today we went to the junior high school called "Nguyen Du Junior High". The students there were very excited when we got there and showed us in with enthusiasm. It looked as though they had put lots of effort into the performance that was amazing while ours were half-hearted and lack of spirit. I feel that we should not hid at the back due to embarrassment as we would not be here forever and we should try our best to perform for the students there.
    We exchange small talk and gifts after that. While their gifts looked nicely wrapped and decorated, I felt that our gifts were not up to expectations. They were okay with our gifts though. Even when we ran out of gifts, they would still give us their gifts without hesitation.
    There was a tour of the school once we were done with the gift exchange. I learnt that we must be grateful for what we have been provided with as the students there were squashed in a small classroom about 50 students each and they were very handworking.

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  18. Today, we went to the school, located within Hanoi's dense streets. I was surprised, as the streets were full of shops and vendors. As we turned a corner, it revealed a school. In the path leading into the school, students greeted us with enthusiasm. They led us into the school hall, where their principal introduced their school. Our student leaders then introduced our school. After that, they gave us two welll-prepared English songs, while we returned it with an awkward performance of our own, as we did not prepare. I feel that we should have practiced beforehand, so that we could sing it better. That should be applied to real-life as well. Practice beforehand.
    Seeing how they are happy with such poor conditions also taught me that we should be grateful and accept our privileges, for the sake of those who don't.

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  19. Today we went to Nguyen Du Junior High and they welcomed us the minute we got off the bus. They were great host’s and never hesitated to talk to us. They sang songs and taught us traditional games from vietnam. We then exchanged presents and it was a great experience. There was a time were we were allowed to converse with the students there, and it was very awkward. I learnt to appreciate the things I currently have in school and feel very fortunate to be in SST. I also felt very bad and guilty after we performed for Nguyen Du Junior High as we did not practice at all and did so badly. Looking back at the effort put in by them compared to us made me feel very irresponsible. After today, i decided that in the future i would prepare and practice more. I would put in much more effort and take time to ensure we would not embarrass our school.

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  20. Today, the we headed to the Nquyen-Du_Junior-High School after changes to the schedule and when we arrived there, the students were very welcoming and they even waited at the gate for us and cheered when we stepped in, unlike back in school where we just keep quiet and stare at them. I feel that in the future we must be more welcoming like at least smiling and greeting them when they are in our school. After we got to the hall, they performed two songs for us and were very prepared, and welcoming while we just sang two very simple songs and even brought lyrics onto the stage. I felt that if we had more time , we could have done a better job. Afterwards , we played some games and we went for a school tour before leaving for VSIP.

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  21. Today we went to the Nguyen Du Junior High. The students there were already waiting for us once we got out of our bus. They seemed very excited to see us and we felt their warmth. Then when we got into the school we saw many of their performances, while we only performed one song. Although everyone felt a bit bad about that, we carried on with swapping our presents and introducing ourselves to them. The students there were very friendly and they asked us many questions about us, like about our families and school. They also talked about themselves and it was all very interesting to hear. Then they gave us a tour around their school and we could see that although their class had more students than us but their classrooms were smaller and were not air conditioned. This taught me to appreciate what I have and study hard. Then it was time to say farewell. Although we were hesitant we bade them farewell and went off. This was a very good experience as we got to experience school life of different countries.

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