The day started off with a presentation by the Okinawa students, who showed us the most important aspects of life in Okinawa, such as their folk dance, Eisa. (エイサー)

Eisa is a Bon dance, traditionally performed by young people of each community during the Bon festival to honor the spirits of their ancestors. However, it is now seen as a vital part of Okinawan culture, after it underwent drastic changes in the 20th century.

During the presentation, however, they broke the tradition and performed Eisa for us! What a lucky group we are, to be able to view their traditional dance without traveling to their country at the right time. Kanna also accompanied their dance with her playing of the Sanshin, the precursor of the Shamisen, a traditional Japanese three-stringed lute with a square body, played with a large plectrum. After the first part of the performance, everyone stood up and danced along with them. I think I speak for everyone when I say we all enjoyed it.

The school tour came after lunch, where we brought the Okinawan students around Pulau NTU. The first stop was the Lee Wee Nam Library, where we showed them Mr. Lee’s sculpture near the main entrance, followed by the newspaper reader which shows us newspapers from 90+ countries around the world. The last stop within the library was the 3D printer, which I think that even most NTU students are unaware of its location.

While walking towards South Spine, we noticed a pretty car (BMW i8) parked outside Nanyang Auditorium as we were walking past. Being a lover of cars, Jie’i went to take a photo of the car. *Pretty sight!* This was followed by a short introduction of Nanyang Auditorium, a really brief one, as we left pretty soon.

*We took pictures at the LCT LT because the background was pretty!*

The Hive (dim sum building as we affectionately nicknamed it), is the next stop in our itinerary. We visited the HSS Library, which I have no idea it existed even though I am a HSS student myself. The library was perfect for everything from studying to hanging out with your friends. All the cozy beanbags and soft chairs were just inviting. Sadly, we were on a schedule and walked RIGHT PAST all of them.

However, we managed to visit the Hive’s Co-op shop to look at the merchandise on sale, as well as visiting the top floor to gain a birds-eye view of NTU. After that, we went to visit the Chinese Heritage Centre (just the outside of it though).

*And there they go, taking goofy photos!*

Post by Karissa Sim
Photos by Karissa Sim, Kevin Tan
Edited by Kai Yeat

Okinawa School Visit 2015

Silver Week

NTU JAC Subcommittee Night 2015