Day 1, 250307

Reached the airport rather early, like at 7.30 am! I realised that I was one of the first few people to reach, so my family and I walked around terminal 1. There are so many 'first times'! It was my first time taking a plane; my first time travelling alone (as in w/o my family); my first time doing community work overseas...actually, i've never anticipated myself doing community work to such an extent when i was in secondary school or even younger. my friends and I have talked about doing it after we finished our Os but I never really started until I am reaching the second half of my year one in np. maybe it was some event(s) that I had gone through that spurred me to help others. I might sound naggy here but oh wells. all these first times kind of signify/resemble a fresh start for this first trip (=

very soon, we had to report to the respective rows and check-in our luggages. We took a group photo with the super pretty banner (thanks to my buddy kx =D) and very soon, it was time to report to the custom area. It was when, or all of us from the serve team, had to bid farewell(i don't know why, but honesty speaking, quite reluctantly) to our family members. Ira was tearing; I'm sure she cannot bear to part with her family for two weeks (I could see her mum crying too). I was kind of having mixed feelings too, as firstly, I'm excited for this trip and of course, for it's whole cause, but at the same time, I know I will miss my family a(not forgetting my girlfriends) LOADS. I'm sure my mum would be worried for me, as, after all, I'm travelling alone(as in w/o my family... )':

The plane ride was relatively alright. The few minutes of departure was not as 'scary' as some has pictured it to be. Kai Xin and I took quite a few snapshots of the views/scenery below us when the plane took off. The boys commented that we take practically everything, but these are memories I want to keep and maybe, show to my younger generations when I am old. LOL. After 5 hours of what seem like a whole day, we finally reached Shanghai Pudong International Airport. I learnt how so not courteous the people in China are! They don't QUEUE! We suffered while at the airport's toilet )= I feel that this habit of queueing should be inculcated into the people since young. The checking-in at the custom area took pretty long(for don't know what reason, my queue seemed to be moving quite slowly compared to others; maybe the officer was inexperienced), which kind of pissed me as well as my teacher off cos all of them had to wait for KX and I. We took a coach( or couch, whatever the sp) bus to suzhou. Before that,

something happed before we board the bus. Alan, Wenyou, Felicia and I were like the first few to lead the way, so we thought that we could just walk out of the exit and everyone else will follow suit. However, we were wrong. The rest of the team turned left instead of moving straight. At that moment, the 4 of us seemed quite 'lost' as people are moving in and out the exit and very soon, we couldn't see the rest of the serve team members. However, the four of us stay out with one another and very soon, Mrs Koh came out to 'fetch' us. This is when I realised the importance of the word UNITY.

The bus ride (of about 2 hours) following the plane ride caused me a little headache. My head was heavy for some time until we reached the Bo Ai school for handicapped. Before reaching Bo Ai, we stopped at the nearby shopping centre for our neccessities. Called home to ensure my mum that I've reached Su zhou safely.

The Bo Ai principal (named liang xiao zhang; same surname as me! wakaka and the staff were rather amiable, except the VP). We were treated with hospitality and I am sure that from that moment, I will not feel strange in this home. Activities for the children will start from tomorrow! can't wait to see them (=

Day 2, 260307

Woke up at 6.30am to prepare to set out for breakfast at the shopping centre's eatery nearest Bo Ai school. We set off about 10 minutes after 7am, which was way past our scheduled time. In the end, Mrs Koh reprimanded us for not being punctual. Maybe we should learn to be more punctual... OH WELLS.

After breakfast, we did our AREA CLEANING. Those involved were rather cooperative, hence the session ended within half an hour. There was this cute little girl who was waving to me from the windows in the second floor opposite the hostel building while we were doing our area cleaning. Later on, during our mingling session with the children, I realised that she is actually suffering from some tumor affecting the nerves (causing her to be unable to speak properly). However, she looked really cheerful and friendly, very unlike a child with an disabiliy. Many of the other children there were also somewhat like this little girl.

I suddenly feel so blessed, that I am able to do so much things normally, for which I always took for granted. During the introductory session, some of the children who could speak introduced themselves to us, vice versa. I learnt from them that determination (or rather, the strong will) is important to keep the children trying (from which we can learn to apply to our daily lives). Honestly speaking, they are like normal people, just that a minor disability robbed them of the chance to be 'accepted by society as normal people'. Many of the children could understand the questions asked, and could even play(not those excessive workouts i mean). In fact, I feel that they are much easier to teach than normal children like us, as they are more obedient and would not throw tantrums unnecessarily (but even if they do, they know their limits).

I mingled with a few children, some of whom I could remember their names vividly (such as shu min, jing hong, and liu peipei the school belle). We were told not to help the children when they fall, because they should learn to crawl up by themselves, as the chinese saying goes, "zi ji die dao, zi ji pa". During my visit to the water therapy area, jing hong was told off by LIANG yuan zhang (the principal) as she did not do her walking+water therapy properly the day before. I kind of hand it over to these children, as they had to handle the emotional+social barrier within themselves, get reprimanded for being over dependent, for doing something wrong...yet, they (some) only cried it off for a while and are back on their feets moments later. Even some normal people who suffered certain trauma could not overcome such setbacks as easily as they could. I feel kind of shameful for this.

During the meeting, we discussed programmes for the other days at Bo Ai, as we were rather 'unprepared' in the morning. Actually we prepared a lot of activities for the children but the whole plan changed because of unforseen circumstance(s); we didn't know the exact kind of condition of these children. Because of this 'unprepared-ness', the VP (named hong lao shi), was rather displeased with us from then on. OH wells)= I'm gald there will be more interactive events with the children though. There will be ART N CRAFT(S). I cannot wait to paint the walls! =P Anw, Mr Lim (the other teacher who accompanied us besides Mrs Koh) mentioned about not cutting down on the number of packs of food, though we really could not finish it and it would be wasteful to throw it away. However, I feel that it's not a matter of whether I'm (or we) are choosy with the food. Problem is, in SG, we don't eat that much. The serving is like, one full box of rice (sometimes noodles) and 4 big servings of side dishes. It's not that we are unappreciative...oh wells. Btw the food really sucked. Sometimes the dishes were nice but mostly they were not. They are either too oily or too salty. We teased that they add salt like it's for FOC. Only the rice was nice. It's bigger than SG's, somewhat like glutinour rice (cos it's sticky), and a bit like Jap rice.

Have to wake up to buy breakfast for the rest tomorrow. Well, hope tomorrow will be more eventful! (=

Day 3, 270307

My team (team 2) woke up early (earlier than the rest; at about 6.15am) to buy breakfast for the rest of the serve teams. We set off at 6.45am and true enough, as Mrs Koh pictured, there wasn't muc queue at the eateries. Only when we almost finished our buying did the queue start coming in. For this breakfast session, I really must compliment our team leader Tian Hao for being so caring and helpful. He's like a super nice guy (eh no, i shall say gentleman) to every single one of us, even if that person is a guy. Hence all the girls concluded that teh rest of the guys should learn from him, not that the rest are not helpful. LOL.

After breakfast was area cleaning and then the different groups had to join the various classes (that the children have, and then mingle with them) while my team was in charge of packing books in the library as well as the toys in the play room. We bought books donated by every single one of from the serve team and unpacked them by arranging them in order of different level. We finished the packing (and a bit of dusting) as we worked as a team.

For yesterday and today, I mingled with a few children, but I am most attached to shu min. She has an S-shaped spine, very unlike most children there, causing her to be unable to sit or walk properly. Initially, I could barely figure out what she was mouthing to me. But as I talked more to her, I could. All I need to do is to be more patient with her and be by her side so as to make her feel comfortable with me. As the principal has put it, all we need to do is be sincere with them, because the children can feel it. In the morning, I was looking after chen xin yuan (dubbed yuan2). He was very much like the other children there, yearning for us to play, sing, talk and take photos with them (basically, to entertain them). The children at Bo Ai simply love taking pictures of themselves. LOL. All of them have such a simple request, that is, to ,have fun, yet children in SG do not appreciate this and often ask for the sky (such as seeking extravagant wants). This keeps me feeling kind of guilty. Yuan2 was like Shu Min (dubbed Ah min) and Yi teng, always wanting to take photos and then see them. I fed Yuan2 during lunch but he was reluctant to eat (maybe I wasn't fierce enough; the nurses force the food into the children's mouths); he even spat at me (but he's a kid after all, so i'm not angry with him); only a few rice flew on my jacket. Celene suffered a worst 'spat' yesterday; her face, hair and shirt was dirtied by Yuan2's spat. LOL.

After our lunch was fruit stamping with the children. It was planned initially that only children who are able to write, draw or paint properly will join the activity. In the end, only a few(such as shu mi, who couldn'e even hold a pencil/brush/ fruit properly) joined. I feel the same as Ai (both of us look after shu min together) that every children there should be given a chance to explore their artistic interests, even if the drawing turns out to be some scribblings that are unable to be deciphered. Even within a disabled community, those that are worst than the others are at a disadvantage. Immediately, I thought of the disabled society who are always so cast aside by the normal because they are disabled in some way. if only we could lower down our guards on these people. I admit that I do underestimate these people; that I may fear that they may directly/indirectly 'pass' some illness to us; that I may not communicate with them; that I cannot be at ease or have fun when I'm with them. I know many of us do when it comes to doing community work. I don't deny the fact that I do. But sometimes, it's just that our heart is not (yet) ready to open up to them. For this, I feel ashamed, as I used to do CIP for the sake of 'just doing it'. hmm, do I sound like I'm preaching? LOL. Anw, I'm glad the children enjoyed themselves and of course, their proud piece of artwork. I realised something about them that is so like normal human beings. SELFISHNESS. Some children were reluctant to give off their seats to other children to have a try at the fruit stamping when they have finished one sheet (the room is so small that it can only accomodate about 10 children at one time). Liu Pei Pei even 'fought' with one boy and drew on his face. But I realised later on that they are just trying to play around with one another. Don't we also do that? I helped Yuan2 with his physiotherapy session after the ART N CRAFT session. Had to hold his legs to help him crawl while the nurse holds on to his 2 hands. It was quite uncomfortable and tiring because Yuan2 was lazy and it's not what it's supposed to be (we are not helping him at all, just allowing him to depend on us). Yuan2 kept asking for Jingkui ge ge (Alan, because he attended to Yuan2 yesterday) and I had no choice but to ask for him. I like Yuan2's voice! so slur-ry! X100 (or many more times) than my slur-riness.LOL. I changed to attending to shu min after Alan came. I was touched she could actually remember that I played with her yesterday though she has forgotten who I am. I admire her perserverance to keep standing up on her feet each time she falls (unlike the lazy yuan2; I realised that they boys in the school are lazier than the girls.LOL). furthermore, her falls are not those falls that wouldn't hurt. she falls so many countless times and on her butt that you cannot help but feel painful and sorry for her; but each time I asked her if it's painful, she merely brushed it off with a soft 'bu hui' (no in chinese). I admire her perserverance to stand up on her own and not seek others' help( i always wanted to help her up but she would say, "wo zi ji hui qi lai, bu yao bang wo" (meaning, don't help me, I can get up on my own). it's not that they don't appreciate your help (in fact, they very much do), it's just that they want to be independent. aww. I was playing with shu min in the therapy room and some distances away, tian hao was accompanying his boy, kang ning (he could sing very well, such as the yue liang dai biao wo de xing; josh even said that he has a potential in playing the harmonica). Later on, shu min and I joined them to play LEGO. I helped kang ning to support his hand while tian hao was busy. kang ning is actually quite an intellectual boy, poor thing he couldn't walk or stand straight w/o being tied to any support; he's basically lying around w/o support. It was tiring after awhile though I was doing a not-requiring-so-much-strength task. I salute the nurses and helpers in Bo Ai for this, because they had to do such trainings with the children and carry them everyday w/o complaining. I only helped kang ning for like 10-15 minutes and I complained about being tired. OH wells.

After dinner was a meeting session and then self-reflection. Heard some of my fellow serve team mates' views and was quite agreeable about what they said...

Day 4, 280307

After breakfast and area cleaning, I went to mingle with the children, as usual. Took the children (those who are younger) around the school gate for a stroll. They were really adorable children, especially tao xu chen (dubbed Chen2), the girl whom i mentioned earlier could not speak well.

Shu Yan and I accompanied these children for their speech therapy session after the stroll. There was this little boy who was rather intelligent and could do the 'subtraction and addition' and was also very helpful towards his classmates sitting beside him when he could not complete his puzzle. I felt that these children are actually quite bright, just that most of them are physically disabled. Those who are not disable physically are disadvantaged when it comes to books. sigh. why must they suffer this when they are so young? maybe they had really sinned in their previous lives, as from what I've seen on those traditional tv dramas featuring how bad people suffered in hell and their next lives. karma, i shall say. hmm. Shu min made my day today!

Fiona came looking for me telling me shu min is looking for me! I was so touched that she actually remembered my name because she couldn't yesterday. It's kind of difficult to explain this kind of joy because the children will ask for you when you are away, wanting to play with you and all. we've only been here for 4 days, and they are already so attached to us. what will happen when the 11th day comes? I don't wanna think, cos I know I can neither part them nor control my emotions )= Before lunch, I went to do the wall-painting with Celene, Felicia (the 3rd Felicia i've known in my life within 1+ years) , wen you, Ai and ee sheng (my OG mate in BAOC! (=) one look is that it's any easy job, but when I actually did it, it was rather tedious. Luckily guo lao shi was kind enough to mix the spray paints on the palettes and empty bottles for us so that we can start painting. We had to paint a first later and then a second one after the former dries. Furthermore, the wall is quite low so we had to squat/ sit down (in a rather awkward position, like a mermaid) to paint. My legs felt numb after sometime. See what I mean? we complain at the slightest things.

We went to the SIP HR Marker after lunch.

It's a human resource agency, or rather, an agency like the ministry of manpower in SG, that helps the unemployed and school leavers in China to find jobs. Their office/buildings are somewhat like SG's, rather modernised but definitely more spacious due to the vast land space that they have. There's this tax revenur building that will be completed soon in this so-called Central Business District in su zhou. We exchanged many views about how the large businesses in China operate in contrast to SG's. We even asked some irrelevant questions (and a little nonsensical) about the one-child policy in China. For instance, Ding zhi asked the boss of the company, "What is the second child dies? Will the parents be able to rejoin the government posts?" (because in China, if a married couple gives birth to a second child, and if they are working in the government sector, they will be fired). But what i'm pleased (and a little surprised) is that the boss answered with such hospitaliy and happy-go-lucky-ness and wasn't put off at all. This showed me how friendly Chinese people can be besides being known for the 'loud and unfriendly' way they communicate amongst one another.

Day 5, 290307

Set off early in the morning today for the Cowboy Country Club for a range of activities (about 22) of which we can only choose 4. Hence, there was not any chance to accompany/entertain shu min for the whole day. On a brighter note, I'm excited for this outing as I will get to ride horse, which I've never done before.

The Country Club's scenery was super overwhelming. Not in my life so far had I seen such beautiful mountains/hills and natural springs/sea. The land was so big that it can accomodate 22 activities, many of which require a lot of space, such as the hot-air balloon and the horse riding. The club has a very serene and relaxed environment, so unlike SG which is so fast-paced almost everywhere we go. If given a chance, I would rather live in such stress-free countries (or environment in the that sense). We were greeted by very affable staff from the club, such as David Zhong. He recommended that all of us should try the horse riding.

Mrs Koh, Shu Yan and I went to the archery section first as the horse riding area was crowded. It was an enriching experience, though it was rather tiring and much strength was required to pull the arrow on the bow. We were each given 8 arrows and a bow for one ticket. I managed to hit the board though the arrow did not stay put. Mrs Koh managed to hit the black circle, the best result among the 3 of us. LOL. My left skin near the joint of the front arm got 'scratched' slightly by the bow string when I pulled the arrow )= but Mrs Koh's injury was worst. She suffered a big blue-black on the same spot as mine =S

After that, we proceeded to the ride the horse. The horse I rode is around 6-10 years (equivalent to a 20+ years old human). I realised that horses can actually be very obedient if we are affectionate to them. If only we humans can learn from them in this way. It was good riding the horse, though I was having fears when the horse started galloping that I might just fly off at that speed, but the trainer made me feel at ease. The horses are obedient. If you ask them to just strode, they would do so. I don't mind picking it up as a sport if I have the money in future. Went to look at the organic vegetables and then proceeded to the flying fox.

It was the most thrilling of all as I had to challenge my fear of walking back when I 'fly' to the opposite bank. I was worried to come back because firstly, the planks are rather narrow and the distance between each planks are wide apart. Secondly, the vast area of the sea overtook me and I was afraid of the magnitude of the wind. What if I fall into the sea? So many worries.. I'm in such a dilemma that when I'm equipped and all and at the top of the 'control station', ready to start 'flying over' that I almost retreated. However, Shu Yan and David Zhong urged me to go on. I also recalled how difficult it is for the children in Bo Ai to do their walking everyday and here I am, afraid of 'walking back'. I feel so ashamed, but I overcome all these and am glad I didn't recoil and came back in one piece (=

Lunch was fantastically delicious as compared to past few days' meals though it was organic vegetarian food. We proceeded on to the embroidery shop and we saw many different designs of emboridery in many different frames. I also learnt the patience required in order to finish something. For instance, lady boss told us that her panda art piece would require many months to complete and she's done about 3/4 of it for 3 months. I bought a very pretty lotus-flower designed embroidery frame for my godparents. After all the 'shopping' and learning in the shop, we went back to Bo Ai to have dinner and the rest of the night's event(s) are somewhat similar to previous days' , that is, to practice dancing for the finale.

ok peeps..there's 5 more days at Bo Ai and 4 days at su zhou to blog about but i'm going to bathe! shall continue tomorrow or another day! so many pictures to show I cannot do it in a day!