Day 12

Any errors are solely the fault of Ms. Paparazzi X who has lost touch and therefore patience with blogger.com.

For this day, we were Potty Picassos in the Psychology room and MPR (multi-purpose room) for final touches.






After painting, Ah Ma’s army set out to set up the campfire while the rest of them headed off for a basketball match with the teachers.


Ah Ma's army hard at work!



Go! Go! Fight! Fight! Boy, they did alright!

Who's in which team? You won't know unless you were in!!!

After the game, we went to bade our final farewells to the Tong Ji Zhong Xue students.


To our immense disappointment, campfire was called off on the premise that no Christmas celebration of any sort should be conducted within the school.

However, the powers-that-be made up for it by feeding usa sumptuous spread. There, we met our camp hosts, Xiao Zhen and Xiao Yang, lovely ladies who were eloquent conversationalists.

We did not allow the campfire crash to dampen our moods as Zack and Clytia dressed Ah Gong up in the Santa getup. That was definitely the highlight of the night, and Ah Gong effortlessly won over the hearts of many. It was quite funny watching him gallop across the hall chortling a hearty "Ho Ho Ho!", after which, the crowd swarmed towards him, begging for him to grace a shot with.






But all good things must come to an end and after much insistence, Ah Gong, our Awesome Ou Xiang, cued goodbye with a "Jamaican Farewell" to our Tong Ji hosts.

Day 11 : Tong Ji Continuation

Any errors are solely the fault of Ms. Paparazzi X who has lost touch and therefore patience with blogger.com.

At the break of dawn, we were transported in batches to the school in teachers' cars where we had porridge + pickled vegetables and ManTous for breakfast.
Then, were dispensed into our various Work Groups aka Ah Ma's Army, Logistics, Fundraising and PnP for our activities. Ah Ma's Army was tasked to organise the campfire, and was introduced to Yang Yang and Yang Ting, an exuberant duo who emanated the vigour and youth of many 16-year-olds.
Yangting’s meticulous work conduct was really an asset to Ah Ma's Army. :D She has this smile that radiates the room in an instant and infects everyone around her. Above all, she has the sensibility to say the right things at the right moment, and owns unbridled curiosity of the things around her. For the rest of the day, Ah Ma’s army rehearsed the Campfire segment while the rest of the Sichuan sweethearts did their works of art in their respective rooms.

For Psychology Room on level 1, Pretty Zhao Lao Shi had requested for a more peaceful mural. WenQing, in her ingenuity, drew an abstract art of our very own Kampong decorated in serene blue.


We were almost done with the mural by the end of the day. =D


"Serenity"/Psychology room

For the Multi-Purpose Room on level 4, after a discussion between Ah Gong and Zhang Lao Shi, they had decided on the theme of "Giving back to Society".




"感恩" room

Before we even realised, night fell and it was time for dinner! We ate and headed back to the Shan Zhuang for a debrief. There was no blackout that night and so there was no excuse to not shower. We ended the night with our Factiliation game (pst....! we did an evaluation of our Work Group Development - Team Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing)

TBC...

Day 10: ByeByes & Hellos!!!

by Ms. Paparazzi X who adapted heavily from Ms. Paparazzi Y who wrote the following on behalf for Ms. Paparazzi Original. Any errors are solely the fault of Ms. Paparazzi X who has lost touch and therefore patience with blogger.com.

This was our final day at You Zha Xiao Xue. It was a heart-wrenching moment for most of us, mainly because this school housed many memories for almost all of us. This is the place where we first forged our ties, and got acquainted to China-town.


We ran through the very last of obstacle course with our upper primary students. They had much fun with the free balloons after completing the game!





With our heavy hearts, we packed our bags and left You Zha Xiao Xue. For the final time, we bade farewell to the children, teachers and He Zhu Ren for their patience and warm hospitality.



With much excitement, we embarked on a 3 hour bus ride to our next destination - 通济中学 (henceforth known as "Tong Ji Zhong Xue"), which is purported ten times colder than You Zha Xiao Xue because it is on much higher altitude.


We were shipped to a 山庄 (henceforth, "shan zhuang"):


We explored our new resting place and to much glee, treated to a good lunch by the school. We gobbled up our feast and hailed a bus to Tong Ji Zhong Xue, where we were pleasantly surprised to find well-placed facilities and classrooms.





After we unloaded our cargo of paint, brushes, thinner and more, the principal and the art teacher-in-charge (Zhang Lao Shi) gave us a simple orientation around the school. Then, we were directed to the Psychology Room (on level 1) and the Multi-Purpose Room (on level 4) where we would be painting our murals. Due to the time constraint, we split into 2 groups to carry out the tasks; Ah Gong prepared drafts for the students for the paintings that will be supervised by Zhang Lao Shi after our departure for the walls along the corridors.

Dinnertime came and we proceeded to the spacious canteen for our meal. Unlike the canteens we have in our school, these students will queue up for their pre-planned meals. It is all about equality, isn't it?



The food turned out quite yummy, and the students there agreed that dinner was their favourite part of the day. I guess nothing beats chow-time when you have to be in classrooms from 9am to 7pm. Eeek!

After dinner, we headed back to the Shan Zhuang, where there was an exciting blackout! We learnt from the owner of the Shan Zhuang that blackouts were pretty frequent especially since it was located in the disaster area. PLUS, since it is so brrr... it really didn't matter if we couldn't switch on the fan. Another night with the excuse of not taking shower. Woots!

TBC...