The school term starts!

Sharp chirps woke me from my slumber as I groggily reached for the phone. It was 6 15 am. That horrid bird! Jin Wei hops out of her bed as she stared  out of the window at the happy contented bird  that was busy chirping away.  "Shoo!" The bird  refused to budge. "Shoo!" It finally leaves and both Jin Wei and I stare in dismay at the clock. It was 6 45 am  and we had to prepare for the start of a new day.

The introduction of the history of Wuhan . 

The  IS lesson was enriching and enjoyable as the lecturer was able to speak english and thus the communication barrier was lifted.

Wuhan  has an alternative name  and is called Jiang Cheng which translates as " river city". This is because  it is located on the two rivers of Yangze river . Jiang Cheng is split into 3 sections, Han Kou, Hanyang and Wuchang and it is in Wuchang where  Wuhan Huazhong Normal University is located.

We learnt about the brief history of China in which Dr Sun, a pioneer of China staged an uprising to overthrow imperial rule to create a republic.

At the beginning of the talk ,we were shown a video clip showcasing the famous attractions in Wuhan such as the Yellow Crane Tower , Guiyuan temple, East Lake and the Museum of the 1911 Revolutions. The Guiyuan temple and the Museum of the 1911 revolution caught my attention aside from the famous Yellow Crane Tower.  It would be great if  we are able to visit these places before returning back to Singapore.

We proceeded to have lunch before the start of our next lesson and bought our art supplies at the fine arts school. It was there where I found a  paintbrush with  a grip designed to  prevent your fingers from getting stained by paint. No more stained nails and fingers for me !

TCC Lesson

Initially I was very nervous, having no experience in water colours I could only pray it was similar to the acrylic that I was familiar with. Miss Anita  taught us washes and to apply gradient  and then she dropped the bomb,we had to do an impromptu painting. Miss Anita's two words " be free" reassured me and it was then I promised myself, that I would experiment and try to come up with a painting that truly expresses who I was as an aspiring artist. Further on into the lesson, I began to realise that acrylic and water colours had quite some similarity and was extremely happy that I could apply the techniques  that I have learnt over the years. I believed all the OIP students stared in envy as Miss Anita finished one painting after another with skill and grace. It was very much different to the muttering me that was anxious and petrified of making mistakes that would ruin my work. Art always calms my anxious mind and gives me a sense of accomplishment when I do learn from my mistakes.  It seems that there is truly no shortcuts to water colours and one truly must practice constantly. Just as Miss Anita say " Do it a 100 times, 1000 times if need be".

We set off for dinner at the cultural street while some of the males sneaked off to buy the cake for Mr Tan's birthday celebration. The cake was huge! I never knew the cakes in china would be of such size. It was great being able to celebrate his birthday and personally I applaud him for his sacrifice in coming to Wuhan to take care of us when he could be with his family on his birthday. 

Thank you Mr Tan! Happy Birthday!