Final Training/Prize Giving Ceremony cum Farewell Party

After the friendly competition yesterday, the children were in no mood to train. They were more interested in playing basketball. Nevertheless the 9th training session went on as scheduled.

From the children's journal entries, it was noted that they were very eager to train with the Sports School students. Instead of a shopping trip, our coach Guo Wei Dong arranged for the 10th training session. As an incentive, the children were promised time for basketball in the evening.

The Prize Giving Ceremony started with a video clip of our stay in Qingdao. The children were delighted to see themselves captured in all the activities.

Certificates of participation were given to both Sports School and Nanyang swimmers.

刘校长颁奖
宋校长颁奖

郭教练颁奖

佘老师颁奖

Mrs Goh 颁奖
青岛军事体育学校游泳队队员与新加坡南洋小学游泳队队员合照

This was followed by exchange of souvenirs between the swimmers of Sports School and Nanyang Primary School.




The children warmed up to each other very quickly. They started playing electronic games together.

The coaches above are all ex-national swimming champions of China.

余兴节目：孪生姐妹表演快板

After the buffet dinner, the children adjourned to the basketball court. As promised, they had a good game with some of the swimmers from the Sports School.

• 
  
  They spent the night packing and it's HOME SWEET HOME tomorrow!
  We will be arriving at 2125h by CA 969.
  

Friendly Competition with Sports School students

The children had their 8th training session this morning. They were full of anticipation for the competition in the afternoon.

During the warming-up session, our pupils were all ready but when the competition was about to start, they were actually nervous as reflected in their journal writing.

But it was a very good experience for them as they realised that the students from the Sports School are very good swimmers and they have a lot to learn from them.

The results will be announced tomorrow. There will be a farewell party tomorrow and the children will be exchanging their souvenirs with the Sports School students.

第七天 游览海上第一山-崂山

Our apologies for not updating the blog yesterday as the internet was down.

Day 7 and NO training!!! After breakfast we set off for Laoshan 青岛第一山-崂山.

The Sports School has taken care of us very well in all aspects. They have arranged many sumptuous meals and took us to interesting places.

When we were out of the school, members of their staff accompanied us to ensure our safety and see to our needs.

The picture below shows 3 of them who accompanied us to Laoshan today.

我们的贴身‘保镖。左起：杨飞老师，刘文革主任，张韬老师

Laoshan is a famous mountain in Qingdao. It is special in that it is a mountain by the sea. The all famous Laoshan mineral water has its factory on Mount Laoshan.

这是崂山上的一座古庙，庙内古木参天，树龄都是百年以上的老树，而且形状奇特。

许愿泉

The wishing well in the temple is very special. There is a smaller well next to this bigger one. If your coin can float on the water and flow into this big well, it is believed that your wishes will be granted accordingly.

青岛军事体育学校的学生宿舍
The hostel at Qingdao Sports School

慧芯，慧禾和芷晴的舒适卧房。
Hui Xin, Hui Her and Andrea in their cosy room!

储藏桶
At the swimming pool, each child has to take a pail to the changing room. This pail is for them to put all their belongings after they have changed into their swimming gear.

Chantal Liew and Andrea Ong at their 7th training session

游览：栈桥，鲁迅公园，八大关景观和小鱼山

汇泉海滩

Picture taken at “八大关-蒋介石的故居”

栈桥的海滩，有很多形状奇特岩石，风景美丽迷人，孩子们玩得不亦乐乎。From this place（小鱼山） we could see the old part of Qingdao（青岛旧城区） which has houses with red roof tiles.青岛城区的特色：红瓦，绿树，碧海，蓝天。

We have just arrived at the TV Station Tower （青岛电视塔大厅）. Look at the electronic welcome banner at the back! Had buffet dinner at the revolving restaurant which was half way up the tower. From the top of the tower, we were able to see all of Qingdao but it was very very cold and windy up there.

My sincere apologies for not updating the blog

We tried all night but server was down.

Tried again this morning but no success at all.

This morning we are going to Laoshan. Will be returning to hostel late afternoon.

Outing - bookshop and JUSCO

Mdm Heng came to Qingdao on 8 March. She visited Qingdao Sports School. The children were delighted to meet her.

There was a welcome dinner and 青岛教育局局长 in attendance. At the same time we celebrated 三八妇女节.

Mdm Heng left Qingdao this morning.

The children entered their 6th training session this morning. It was their 2nd one-to-one session with all the China swimmers. The picture shows a Qingdao student leading all of them in the warming up exercise. They were eager to do well.

After 6 sessions of rigorous training, they deserved a reward and that was a shopping trip! Can you imagine their excitement? We went to a bookshop and the children bought books, VCDs, DVDs and games.

The next stop was JUSCO, a deparmental store. The children had a gala time at the toy section.

To round off the day, they were treated by Qingdao Sports School to their all time favourite "MACDONALDS". From the picture you can see the delight on the children's faces.

One- to -one Training with Qingdao students

The children were excited when they saw Mdm Heng at the swimming pool. Mdm Heng had a word with them and encouraged them to train hard since they were the privileged ones to have this opportunity to train with the students from Qingdao Sports School.

The highlight for this morning was the one-to-one training with the Qingdao students. Our pupils were very excited as besides competing with them, they also made new friends. They are looking forward to another training session with them. This is possible only because the local students are available on Saturday and Sunday. On weekdays they are in school.

The children had an outing to the Olympic Centre for sailing. It was freezing cold as there was very strong wind. But the children were not bothered by the cold wind. They enjoyed running about in the big open space.

In the evening we went to a farm house. They fired crackers to welcome us. The above picture shows the bed that was used by the villagers. This bed is special as it is heated below. You can see everyone scrambling for a space on the bed with Mdm Heng as it was freezing cold outside. Someone commented that Mdm Heng 是好命人有 "百子千孙"

We were treated to a display of fireworks before we leave.

Last night the children did some reflection. Let's see what they say....

'I enjoy the swimming camp. I find that the training is quite tough but it is fun to compete with the china swimmers. The food during meal time is very delicious....'

'I feel very happy when I came to Qingdao because it is my first time. It is very cold here. I like swimming because there are china swimmers training with us....I can learn the skills from them. I wish I can come to Qingdao again'

'I feel very happy about this trip. The hostel people were very nice to us and the food is good...I improve my strokes and learn the China people's skills...I don't wish to go back as it was very fun. I would wish to stay here'

Look at our children at the swimming pool. They are enjoying themselves very much training with the China students. Our kids are very competitive too! They are looking forward to 15 March where they will compete with the local students!

The breakfast spread was something to look forward to the first thing in the morning before the strenuous training begins. The children are eating well. Parents can be rest assured that their children are well fed with the warm milk and yoghurt that they take every morning.

Qingdao Military Sports School

This is the main entrance to the school. Can you see the red banner which was to welcome us to Qingdao. The facilities are in the basement.


This adjacent building leads to our hostel. The rooms are well furnished and comfortable.

The children had a tiring day with 2 training sessions. The water temperature was 26 degrees celcius and the children found it rather cold. During competition, the water temperature is only 23 degrees celcius!!

The training session in the afternoon was great. The children were given the opportunity to swim with children from the local school. Some of our children did well and they were very proud of themselves.

It's Cold in Qingdao

It was - 2 degrees celcius when we touched down at Beijing airport and -1 degree celcius at Qingdao. At both airports there were no aerobridge and so we had to brave the cold to get to the buses as quickly as we could



After lunch at the Sports School, the children had 2 hours of siesta as many did not sleep during the flight.





All of us had a tour of the school in the afternoon. While the children were touring the shooting gallery, they were pleasantly surprised by the snow flurries that they saw outside. It was only for a short while.


The principal treated all of us to a sumptuous seafood dinner.


Training begins tomorrow and the children are excited. In fact they wanted to swim just now. The pool is well heated so the children should have no problem



If there is anything urgent, we can be contacted at 86-13665323078