Sunday, January 08, 2006
:: Over The Rainbow ::
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
:: ::
Monday, January 02, 2006
:: NanO Day11 [8th Dec] ::
:: NanO Day 9 [6th Dec] ::
:: ::
Sunday, January 01, 2006
:: NanO Outing 2 [1st Jan] ::
:: Nano Day 5 [2nd Dec] ::
:: Nan0 Day4 [1st Dec] ::
Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
There's a land that I heard of
Once in a lullably
Somewhere over the rainbow
Blue birds fly
Birds fly over the rainbow
Why then oh why can't I?
Someday I wish upon a star
and wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That's where you'll find me
9:36 AM
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A ritual after lunch. 
10:44 AM
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Saman was very naughty. I felt like killing him. His attention span was super short. He could not concentrate and he was slower than the rest. Nevertheless, I still like him..jpg)
Me and Saman
During lunch, I went around with the P3 girls. They sticked to me and held my hands. Haha. I was enjoying it. They gave me a lot of flowers. So sweet of them. Then they dragged me out of the school. At the school gate, they broke a plant when they were plucking the flowers. I was shocked at the sight of it. At the same time, I was amused by it. Yesterday, they broke a plant at the school gate too. The broken plant was still there. They placed it back into the bushes, which camouflaged well. Haha. The P3 girls were very cute..jpg)
My P3 girls. Lovely!
After lunchtime, it was M3 lesson again. I had lots of fun with them. They were more like my friends than students. Playing hard and, at the same time, working hard. Haha. We balanced fun with teaching.
During OT, I followed 2 of my P3 boys to the school 'farm'. It was behind the library but we could not see it. The kitchen and canteen were blocking our views from it. Anyway, it was like a 'suprise' for me. While I was following them, I was wondering where they are bringing me to. There was some anticipation. When I saw the place, I went 'WOW'. In fact, we saw the place from outside yesterday. But we did not know that it was part of the school and that it was so near to the library. Also, the feeling I had was different from yesterday. Yesterday, the place was empty. So, it was dull and lifeless. In contrast, the place was filled with children who were working on the 'farm', their laughters and voices, the trace of the children running around and they were enjoying themselves.The children have brought life to the dullness. That's the power of children; their smiles and laughters melt away all the dullness. I felt as if I have just entered a different world. A world with children without any worries and troubles. A carefree life. The place was flooded with innocence and joy..jpg)
The 'farm' without kids.
When I shouted 'Hello' across the field, I received many replies. The responses were so warm. Even those who did not know me replied. I felt as if we were one big family. Haha.
Later, I tried ploughing the soil. It seemed simple to them but was hard to me. There was a reversal of roles. They became my 'teacher' as they taught me how to plough the soil. I found this significant. Through this expedition, we learnt from each other. They learnt English and new games from us while we learnt many thing, which could not be taught in the classroom, from them.
Some of P3 girls climbed up the tree to pluck flowers for me. This time,they climbed higher than before. I was so worried and kept asking them to come down. However, they seemed to be enjoying it. Haha.
While walking back to the library, XJ and I saw some of our M3 girls were peeling eggs. We stopped and helped them. We tried to chat while peeling the eggs. We were like one big family; in class, we taught them and after class, we helped them with the food. That's what you could hardly find in Spore. Did you ever see teachers helping their students to peel eggs? Or did you see a few students peeling eggs for the whole school? By the way, they helped to prepare food for the whole school after lesson. The school was like a big family. The teachers were so closely bonded. They stayed together and played togather. They practically did everything together. They were super close friends. As for the students, everyone knows one another. They shared food together during breakfast and recess. A great contrast to the local schools.Anyway, let me get back to the peeling of eggs. Suddenly XJ remembered that we were not supposed to get near chicken or egg because for the fear of bird flu. We went "Oh shit" and followed by, "never mind" because we have already touched the eggs. So we continued with the peeling. We were rather scared that our teachers might see what we were doing.
I did not eat much for dinner because it was vegetable and green curry. I hate it. I sneaked back to the house to have maggie mee. Yummy yummy! But I did not feel good about my act. I felt bad. At night, I 'fought' with Sarah again. haha. I had fun.
10:30 AM
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During lunchtime, we played with the children and they went wild. They were no longer shy in front of us or afraid of us. They were very violent towards us. Some pulled my bra!!! Some poked my ass!!! No respect.
The M3 was more enthusiatic than last week. We felt more comfortable with one another. Anyway, I had fun teaching them.
My room was enveloped by germs. Haha. There were two sick girls, Stella and Lucia. One at each end of the room.
10:29 AM
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This expedition is going to end soon. A few more days. We are going to leave Nan and say "bye" to one another at Changi Airport. -sigh- Why do we have to separate when our bonds have established? I begin to love everyone here. I have been crazying and living with them for the past 2 weeks. I'm scared that we would not be keeping in contact. It would be a great pity. I know I'll really miss everything and everyone here. I don't want the time to pass so fast. I want time to slow down. I really can't bear to leave. The separation freaks me out.
"We were strangers on this crazy expedition"
This is quouted from a song which some of them are going to sing during the closing cermony. It applies to Nano.
We were strangers from different classes, levels and backgrounds. We were people of different traits. Despite the difference, a common goal brought us together. It was the heart to help, learn and experience. The willingness to compromise to one another. Fulfilling our Full Value Contract. Together we embarked on this journey to Nan." - 13th Dec
Full-Value Contract with Nanos' signatures
6:35 AM
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We cycled around to look for the rest. After a long ride, we found them. On the way, Joyz joined us.
When we reached the end, we stopped for a rest. Then, Marilyn and I saw waterdroplets were dripping into the pool of water beside us. We went..."Argh....it's raining!!!!!". All of us started to panick and we rushed to our bikes. Many were shouting..."The rain is coming!!!" and the funniest was "The sky is falling!!!". Haha. We sped back to Mac which was very far from where we were. Along the way, there were many shelters but we did not stop there. We had to meet XJ at Mac. So we cycled in the heavy rain. Everyone was drenched. Thoroughly wet. Nevertheless, it was a memorable ride because for the forst time, I was speeding with 10 friends in the heavy rain. Haha.
Soon after the rain got lighter, we decided to return our bikes and head for dinner. On the way, along a crowded bridge, there was a girl who was stopping in front of me. I stopped in time in order to prevent myself from knocking into her. However, little did I expect that Stella was so close behind and she has to brake suddenly. The impact between my and hers bikes was very big. Stella's knee-cap knocked onto the seat of the bike and it was very painful. I'm so sorry. Later, she said that she was feeling dizzy. We went "huh" because we could not find the link between knocking of knee and dizzy. At night, then I realised that she felt dizzy because she was going to have a fever. She left after the ride and she did not go for dinner with us.
We walked to Parkway for dinner. Sarah attempted to order the food in chinese. Obviously, she did not do it fluently. Ordering by the number would be better for her. Everyone waited for all the food to come before starting. Those whose food came earlier were so tempted to start but they did not as it was "shamless to start first". Haha. We finished our dinner at about 9.30pm.
On the way to the bus stop, we saw 853. The girls started to run. Only YC continued to walk and he was saying, "No point running. They cannot catch one....Siao". Straight after he said that, he started to run too. T_T. Super funny.
I can't wait for the next Nano outing. I miss my 19 days in Nan(Thai). I loves my Nano.
11:36 PM
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My pink boy was standing outside my class. He was waiting for me. So sweet. Haha..jpg)
My pink boy. Cute right?
He was outside my classroom.
At night, we had a short debrief because we had to prepare the stuff for the camp. Anyway, the debrief was about our expectation of the camp and feeling of the expedition.
My expectation of the camp:
-It would be rather tiring and there would be many changes. Also, I thought that it would be rather similar to our usual life in class.
My feelings of the expedition:
-fun
-enjoying myself
-haven't miss home or TV
-the learning abilities of the students vary
Some of us stayed back to prepare the skit and the props.
9:30 AM
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As for debrief, we talked about the improvements in class.
Today, my class had IT lesson which allowed them to recall what has been thought and they learn how to use Microsoft Word. It was more hands-on as compared to teaching in class. We found it better as they could apply what they learnt. Also, both M3 and P3 were not as shy as the first day.
9:14 AM
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