if i fall; will you catch me ?

Get to know me

`Eunice
`18
`15 sept 88
`Hardcorer
`N'Devils
`OSLE LiJiang
`NTU Archery

Loves....

`cows!!
`archery!
`05A1 / 05S5A / PM
`Jay Chou!
`S.H.E
`Chatting!
`taking photographs!

Friday, December 09, 2005

7:13 PM

I AM BACK!

OSLE ROX!~

Lol... A little high. The trip to Li Jiang, China had left me with a deep impression and lots learnt. Culture was something that left me with a deep impression. first, lemme talk about the traffic in China.

Imagine this in ur head. U're squeezed with 6 other friends in a mian bao che (mini van) and off u go! U look in front, the driver is smoking IN the van. (tt is so wth alr) and u look out of the windscreen, u see a car coming frm the direction u're heading in, both ur vehicle and that in the SAME lane. Just as u think u were about to collide, the driver skillfully managed to turn out of the lane to avoid that car and turn into the lane again after passing the car. U stared at the driver in awe and wondered how he managed to do that.

Ok, fine. That was an exaggerated version of my experience of sitting in a mian bao che in China. But the part about 2 cars in the same lane going in opposite direction is true. And about smoking in the car too.

Next, about the toilet. I (along with the whole OSLE team I assume) am never so grateful for toilets in Singapore. First, the city toilet. In the college, the toliets are in different standard, depending on which part of the school u're in. The best toilets are clean and there are 3 cubicles in a toilet, sharing 1 door. Yes, 1 door. The cubicles itself has no doors at all. It is just a hole with 3 sides covered. Well, at least it was covered from floor to ceiling. Another kind of toilet in the school was more different. There was no door. One simply had to walk into the sign and turn, lo and behold! There's the toilet! About 10 holes in the ground seperated by short walls. Wasn't even flushable. And the toilet itself is a small building by itself (if u could call it) and it has no ceiling (which makes sense cuz it would stink like hell if it's enclosed) but then again, it is nt safe.

In Mingying, the toilets were no better. In fact, it was just about the same or worst. The toilets in our inn was a cubicle with a low door and the toilet bowl was just a hole in the ground. The sanitary conditions were well, need I say more?

Next, lemme move on to talk about the culture I saw. 2 things I noticed.
1) They spit all over the place.
2) They smoke all over the place.

I don't think I need to elaborate more about 2). The fact that the driver smokes while driving itself is a point good enough to backup my observation. Now, about point 1). What I've noticed is that I must walk carefully. Not to the extent of look at the ground every second, but just haf to keep a lookout for the people walking in front of you, just in case they spit on the way.

Now, about people. 3 events left a very deep impression on me.

1st event: In Bangkok on the flight to Kunming.
It just happens so that 100001 other chinese nationals were on the same plane as us, and we happened to be so unlucky that we were passing thru the baggage check at the same time. Initially, OSLE team was in 1 straight line. In the end, we were seperated by people who cut our queue. Guess who? *rolls eyes* yea. And there was this man that so totally pissed me off. He told me "Excuse me." so I thought it was smth important and I let him cross. And that freaking bastard cut my queue! Wtf! I nv knew 'Excuse Me' could be used this way! I was damm pissed man. The moment he was about to push me, I pushed him back. Bastard. Abuse the politeness of etiquette.

2nd event: In Mingying.
The ever-enthu kids made our sufferings worthwhile. Class 38 rox!~ I was with Faith, JS, PeiYee and Heidi in a class. Our class rox!~ On top of being the class with the best english standard, all the students were very enthu about learning and only 1 left for the weekend. the rest stayed for our english programme. their passion for studying made me quite ashamed that i sleep in class sometimes (nt tt i will stop, but will juz try to slp less)

3rd event: In LJEC
We were hungry and tired after rehersals for cultural nite [thanks to roasted pork for saying how gd their programme would be]. while queueing up for hot water(to eat cup noodle) along with the rest of the LJEC students, some girls came forward and asked "Are you students from Singapore?" when we said yes, they helped us fill our cup noodles with hot water instantly. it was a gracious act and i truly appreciated that.

Now, R&R. totally rox!~ my bargaining skills came to good use in Old Town where the sellers jack up the price by a horrifying 6 times! Damn scary sia. Bargaining is actually quite fun! And when you get the price you wanted, there was a kind of sense of satisfaction. It wasn't so much about the price actually, a diff of 10 yuan is only about S$2. It was the fun in it. Lol...

What I have learnt
comments from friends and teachers is that i have grown. in the sense that i am more confident, i am more willing and able to lead. personally i felt that i have learnt alot, especially in Mingying where I was the sort of O i/c for a day when Lionel was ill. I felt that I have learnt lessons in time managment as well as human resorce allocation. I learnt that as a leader, one should never run around. Always stay at a place where you can be found. I have really lernt what is called responsibility.

* will you catch me?