Just ZheJiang Things – Week 3

So apparently, I just found out I need to follow proper conventions and name this Week 3. O.O

Oh well anyway, this week started out great because I just found out that being in my theme had its perks.

So to give a short introduction for those interested, exchange students coming to ZJU would have to complete 3 – 4 modules (in a sense).

  1. Design Fiction – An origami-inspired Design class to create a hands-on design experience,
  2. Design Thinking and Expression – Have yet to experience LOL
  3. ZJU Course recommended by Theme Supervisor – Up to your mentor in ZJU
  4. Themed Project – A technical themed project that provides the opportunity for students to start from scratch and work with renowned Professors from the University, possibly with industrial partners as well.

For my theme, we are working with Professor Chen Wei and his PhD Student Lu Jian Hwa on the Data2Video theme. Right off the bat, we were given basic materials on web development languages such as HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as basics on Data Visualization and its widespread applications. For people who are looking for an enriching summer learning about data analysis, visualization, this is the course for you.

Technicalities aside, we had the opportunity to travel to Shenzhen for a short industrial immersion. I mean, how often would one go for a paid exchange during the exchange program? It was a short but exciting trip as we visited up and rising technological start-ups such as Webank and PingAn Technologies. What was impressive about these start-ups, including XinHua Intelligence, was not their glamourous exterior (though that was a huge attraction), but the drive and passion displayed, up from their senior management down to the programmers, as well as the vibrancy of these start-ups that unites all the employees to a certain goal.

Moving on, our Professor gave an elaborate keynote speech about the importance of data visualization in the future, as well as the vital connections it already has with the big technological words out there in the world today. In his words, he envisions that the term “Data Visualization” would no longer merely be a technical term used by industry professionals; because Data Visualization would be so closely integrated into the lives of people. He then talked about the connections data visualization has with artificial intelligence, big data etc, which offered many insights as to the future of data visualization.

More importantly, I had the time to really bond and understand more about the people that I was going to spend a lot of time with, like King Jordan, Haoboi boi Jun Hao, James sempai, Mr Connections Jia Jun and finally, our shy princess Yi Zhi. Really look forward to making a masterpiece with these people 😊 Also, a big thank you to the PhD Students who babysit took care of us through out the trip. (Hope that they can read this)

Earlier in the week, the community volunteers team also made another trip down to Hushu Academy, this time with a little twist in the plans….

So the story goes like originally we planned an entire day morning of Frisbee, a sport the children had no prior knowledge of (and before anyone rings up the EHS and adds more components to the PPP, the frisbee was soft and had minimal weight :D). However, upon arrival, we found out that because of one reason or another, the children had to stay in class for the first half of the morning, and that we had to split into three teams corresponding to the three classes. For my class, we ended up becoming adhoc teachers, teaching them about body parts. (And that was also the moment we knew we had to do something about our written Chinese) After a lot few amendments, we managed to complete the class with the kids hopefully knowing what 头 is in English now. Following that, we finally had our frisbee session and you could tell that the kids really loved outdoors. It was an astounding achievement for me when I eventually managed to get a quiet girl, who refused to participate at first, to become one of the most active participants during the session. Not to mention the two kids who kept calling me 鬼 meaning ghost (I don’t look that scary… I think Xx)

It’s been an enriching week, considering I managed to gain insights into so many different areas and had fun altogether! Really look forward to what’s coming next week, include our next session with the kids (dance huehue), more data visualization and of course, my first time buying from Taobao (I hope)。

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