o5s28

FES

This is my first time blogging. Somehow, i feel that i have lots of things i wish to express, but i just don't know where to start. Hmmm.... Let's start of my first entry with something interesting. Well, i think i would share my FES trip experience with everyone, since i am the only one taking FES. Firstly, i feel that i did not regret going for the FES Medan trip. I would regret if i were to miss it. For those who chose exams over FES, i think you have lost a great opportunity haha... I regretted not taking the promos as what Mr Sia recommended, I that, i felt pretty bad for some time. Seriously, FES made me slacken a lot in my studies. Coming to think of it, i had been slacking all these while haha... its just that i now have the freedom to study when i feel like, its somewhat like a stress free environment to study in. Anyway, there are always pros and cons in the choices that i made. So its up to me to choose what i think i feel like doing. And the gut feeling of mine made me opt for the FES.

The Medan trip was cut short due to insider's information that there would be a widespread demostration in Indonesia because of the rising oil prices. Thus, Medan was no exception. So the school decided to pull us out of the crisis zone just in case anything unfortunate might happen. It was pretty disappointing to come back just after two days of CIP. The actually fun was planned to start on the third day, the day where we will visit Lake Toba. Its quite a waste having to buy an air ticket to travel all the way there just for a two days short stay. However, just the two days there was an eye-opener for me.

On the first day, we visited an orphanage. It was my first time visiting such a place. In the tiny little wooden house, there lived around 60 orphans. The place was crammed and flies infested. And that was the first time i saw a triple-decked bed. Guess what, there are almost 30 children sleeping in one room. Its like setting a new guinness world record for the most crammed bedroom. It made me feel so guilty having to sleep in an air-conditioned room all by myself every night, while these poor children have to squeeze into their beds. Anyway, the best part about the visit is to be able to experience the language barrier between them and us. However, this did not stop us from having fun with them. Somehow, we used sign language plus hokkien and a little bit of malay to communicate with them. We taught the kids some simple songs and also taught them to clap along with us. And in about 5 mins time, the whole orphanage was roaring with the laughter of the children and filled with the ear to ear smiles of the kids. The scene was really heart warming.

The next day, we went to a private school in Medan. When we approach the school gate, I was stunted. The whole school was staring at us, and their school band played some welcoming tune to for us. It was the first time i felt like hmm.. Andy Lau haha... I had fans!!! When we walked pass the classrooms, everyone popped their heads out of the door to take a glimpse of us. And soon, hands were popping out of nowhere trying to get a handshake. That really felt great, haha... The principal and teachers of that school also gave each and everyone of us a handshake. I felt so honoured. After a short briefing, we went to check out the classrooms. Also, we got to interact with the students there. Most of them are Indo-chinese , so they can speak hokkien and english. Ironically, only a few could speak mandrin. I got to chat with a few of them and the feeling was cloud nines. It was the first time i see girls interested in me.. haha... hehe, feel so cheeky.. Oh, by the way, the students there are also in their JC1. I got questioned by them. The questions that they asked seemed so weird to me. They asked me where i live, how's my school like, how to get into JJC, is there a hostel there, what subjects are taught, etc... They were so "re qing" to the extend that i felt they were my long lost friend. In Singapore, you hardly meet people like them. Oh ya, coincidently, the top maths student in the school is in the class which i visited. He came out with this question on integration to test us, Singaporean students. Since i am the only FM student in my group, i was obliged to solve the question. Luckily the question wasn't tough haha... So i took a short while to solve it. Somehow, my answer turned out to be different from his, but he said my answer should be right and his was wrong. After this mini contest, my group members blew the matter up. All the teachers thought we had a maths compeition, and JJ had won. Actually it was only a small fry solving a very common maths question, and not something dynamic. Well, the teachers sure made a hooha out of it, and even Mr koh got to know about it. hehe... Its quite embarassing haha.. But at least, i did not "throw face" haha...

In these two short days, i learnt many things which i think you would never get to know from your promotional exams. How scary and chaotic Indonesia can be. At the same time, it can be a beautiful and scenic island. Well, that's just a short preview or reflection of my views on the FES trip to Medan. All in all, it was a fruitful trip and i sincerely felt that my time wasn't wasted there haha...


Da Xiong!!

posted by 05s28 @ 12:03 AM