20090610-20090612 CTSS LDC

I was asked by 2 persons to give a wake-up call to them - Dy and Basia. I woke up at around 5.30am and I thought I'd be out of the bathroom by 5.50am to give Dy a wakeup call. In the end, I came out at 5.58am and faster gave Dy a call. [he hung up on me...maybe he thought it was alarm clock? or he just donwan me to hear his sleepy voice.] soon after, i received his sms telling me that he was awake. haha. then, I also gave Basia a wake up call. heard her sleepy voice. so funny =P

Anyway, met up with Dy at Cheers, bought paos as breakfast for the facilitators and off we go to...CLEMENTI TOWN SECONDARY SCHOOL!

We were late. First time go late for Trybe events. rawrz!
Almost all the volunteers were in school already and everyone helped to carry all the logistics from Dy's car to 1D1, which was our logistic room. then, we gathered round for a short briefing before proceeding to the hall to meet the students! =) they are indeed a lively and happy bunch of people, as mentioned by Jaime during the briefing last week. I love the way they responded when someone asked,"Are you ready?" They would respond with a cheer which is SOOOO COOL! anyways, I was the facilitator of Group 3,together with Hidayat.
Guess what? There was this girl whose name is Naw Paw Paw. SO CUTE RITE!? omg!
The rest of the group consisted of Indra, Gretel, Gerald, Gladys, Yu Qi and Thiam Woon.

The team building games were organised and executed by the ACJC facilitators. The games mainly consisted of starch and soapy water. (Trust them to think of this!!) I didn't intend to get myself wet and soapy till the second station whereby we had to 'dive' in to grab Zhi Hao's hairy legs. After the 4 stations, we proceeded to play another game. the 4 teams were supposed to attack each other and 'kill' each other by pulling off a handkerchief that was hanging from their side pockets. I saw great teamwork between Gladys and Gerald once when Gerald and another guy were trying to pull the handkerchief from each other, then Gladys came from the back and stole the handkerchief from the guy. Super hilarious! =D

Anyway, we had lunch together and after lunch, the facilitators had a briefing...and here came the bad news. Dy said that Yong Ming and I were to switch group. So I had to go take the juniors while Yong Ming would take the seniors. It was a confusing moment firstly because I did not know anything about the activities the juniors would take, also, I did not know the reason of the switch. Was it my fault? Did I do something wrong? I asked Dy but he told me it was internal reason and would tell me later. That further affirmed my thinking that yes, i did something wrong but had no idea what it was. So I spent the day worrying and feeling very sian about the switch.

After lunch, I went with the juniors to a workshop in the AVA room. Stephanie(ACJC) was the other facilitator. Half the time, I wasn't really listening to Nic because I was still quite upset about the switch. haha. But I've decided to be more focussed since the decision had been made already.


At night, Jovita told me about the reason of the switch but I wasn't really listening cos was too tired and zonked out. All I knew was that the teachers were the one who requested for the change and it has got something to do with maturity. Damned. Was I too childish during the introduction in the hall? No...I didn't think so. but I DO admit that I AM immature at times, as confirmed by Mark, Shaun and many more people. So, I started to be more wary of how I behaved in the juniors' camp and I avoided the looks given by teachers and even Trybe staff cos was feeling guilty for whatever reason...

Anyway, the reason for the switch was indeed about maturity. It wasn't anyone's fault actually. Each of us is created differently. Some are more matured thinking than the rest. Some tend to be more playful. It was just a mismatch of personalities.
and also, i've learnt not to disturb Nic when he is stressed out/too tired. lol. He was clearing up the stuff in the AVA room so I went up to asked if he needed help. He gave me a straight answer,"no." without looking at me. So i was like,"okay......................" with a alright-i-wont-disturb-u,please-dont-scold-me kinda tone and backed off immediately.Im sorry but little things like this disturb me quite a bit. I guess I must be more understanding and not take things too seriously. Like what Pastor has said before, Don't take life so seriously that it is hard to live it. Must really engrave that into my mind.

Day 2, we went to Botanic Garden which was led by an organisation called TAP (The all-adventure programme (or project.i forgot)). Patience was our leader. She is 22 this year, studying in SIM. It was her first time as a trainer and I thought she did a pretty good job for a newbie! But her hints were pretty obvious to me, not sure if they were to my group members. eg. we were supposed to find a place(a lake) as seen on the photo provided. When we've reached the place, we were on the other side of the lake so we couldn't see the little pavillion/bridge. We were about to go to another lake (there were 3 lakes in total) when she said,"you all wanna go over there and see? Maybe it's this one leh??" haha. kinda funny. And stupid Tembusu tree. Why got so many species (cousins) one!? We thought we've found the right Tembusu tree (as seen in the $5 note) but noooooooooo.... it was the wrong one!! *grr*

Anyway, after that, we played Flipper's Ball! A few of us - Alison, Ee Rong, Hameed and I didnt enter the pool for some reason. Still, we had fun cheering for the White Teams (our group and another group)!! =D After the competition between groups, there was another competition - Facilitators vs the winner group! Haha..the facilitators lost. aww~~ Well, we've tried our best! furthermore, many of us dont belong to any sports club or whatsoever. So it's alright if we lose to them, many of whom are in volleyball, basketball etc etc. (just finding excuses for them)
One thing that I'd request to improve on would be the condition of the pool. perhaps TAP could look into the safety issue before renting the place for students to come. At the bottom of the pool, some of the tiles are very sharp and at least 2 of our students were injured during the Flipper's Ball game!! One of which is Gregory, a scout boy in my team. It hurts me to see the blood flowing from the sole of his feet. T_T I could almost feel his pain.

[im taking an awfully long time to blog this. rawrz!!]

umm.. yeah. actually juniors' camp is a bit sian. a lot of theory stuff.. but on the third day morning, Stephanie and I decided to apologise to our group for taking over the lead instead of letting someone in the group to take the lead cos we realised that we're the ones contributing to the ideas instead of them. I was glad that they forgave us and we became a happy family again! ^^ I guess I really should learn how to be a good facilitator. I know Vivien and Bing Rong are very good in facilitating and perhaps I should learn from them. Don't be so serious. If things go wrong, there'll be a learning point as well. Perhaps Im just too anxious and tend to rush into things... Mustn't behave this way!!!!

As for the Excellence Lunch, haha. It was quite disturbing and relieved for me to see Nic, Jasmine, Jovita and Dy coming to help my team to set up the hall. disturbing cos could tell Nic was rather frustrated while setting up the divider. (Dy was helping him) Relieved cos...well, what can i say? I was thankful ........

okay. i just realised something. my team got materials from Trybe..but there were no receipts!!! Maybe that's why we were short of $7! T_T grr.. well, yeah..there was a discrephancy in the accounts. So Steph and I chipped in $3.50 each so the accounts can tally. stupid rite? haha.

bah..whatever. haha.

Anyway, before the camp breaks, the facilitators n Trybe staff gave a performance item - SINGING!! We sang the song "I believe I can fly" =) Bing Rong, Vivien and I were supposed to sing the first 2 lines of the verses. then the rest joined in. ^^ After that, there was a ceremony whereby each of them will hold a candle. then the teachers will light their candles then help to light the seniors' candles. Then, the seniors will light the juniors' candles. It's kinda like passing the leadership to the juniors. =)

After that, it was a handing out of T-shirts and evaluation forms to the students...=) There was a short debrief done about the Excellence Lunch and I wasn't surprised for me to hear "More planning shuld be done before execution of projects." Im glad they learnt this in school, and not in the working society.

Had dinner with Dy, Susin, Gladys, Wan, Yong Ming, Bran-ment (donno how to spell. but it's pronounced in that way), Gerald (*edited. Gerald complained that I didn't mention him. he wasn't v satisfied with the answer 'oh. u are under 'a few others')and a few others at KFC at City Vibes. Dy drove me there while the rest walked there. In the car, Dy asked me about the camp and told me the reason of the switch. then he asked how i felt about the camp. I replied,"tiring." He asked,"Physically?" I replied," physically and mentally...." cant really remember how the conversation went but i told him that i wasn't very happy with the switch cos i didn't know the reason of it and both Yong Ming and I were feeling rather lousy for the whole of Day One. Well, he apologised and after we've reached KFC, he told Yong Ming about it too. haha. =)
After dinner, Dy drove me to the polyclinic (like how he always do) before driving home himself.


Also, I must learn that the Trybe staff are pretty tactful with their words, the way they communicate with different people. They tend to highlight the good points about the person rather than the bad points during a comparsion of persons. eg. You are more matured. but [turning to B] you are more outgoing. haha. I think that was what Dy said to Yong Ming? I don't know. I didn't want to eavesdrop so I didn't know how he said to Yong Ming. Still, I must try to see the good side of the people... Use their talents. =)

Bahhs..okay. i shall end here. donno what to write oredi. sorry so wordy. =)
but really, thanks CTSS for the experience. It was my first Trybe camp (and probably the last. donno if i wanna go for the volunteers' camp or not... zz ) and indeed, it was quite an experience. Good or bad...I shall not say.haha.


2:31 AM