Memories!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Yup, memories we all had for the whole (gee, how many days is it?) from the 6th to the 14th.
Had the sudden urge to post and entry here, so, here I go!
When we first came together, it was for the team-building games,
I remembered my day there, man, I was so afraid (you can ask wani ;)
Cause everyone there was older, and I thought it would just be a gathering among all those 20+ -ers.
Heh, and I remembered calling Shi May, even though we were like a few steps away from her. Cause we didn't know how she looked like at that time =X. The first friend me and Wani made was Samuel! Heh, and it went on from there, tian hong, jack (we were so impressed by him, heh, he's a teacher!) and the rest. Met the other 17-ers, Qi Han, Ravin and also Vanessa (who vehemently disagreed that I'm 17 ;) We were broken into our groups, and from then on, we all went on to make friends with each other.
Yet, even after that one day, I never did thought that we all will ultimately share a strong bond. To me, it was just like a simple camp, everyone comes grudgingly to the meetings, then after the camp, we will just drift apart. Yet, from the first meeting, we start forming our bonds and our friendships, within our own committees and also among the rest of us.
The NYC building became like a second home to us, as we came in twice a week, and I don't know about you guys, but I did look forward to the meetings, especially when we started practicing the dances. I think SMYC destroyed my dislike for dance, with people like viknesh and safar and hubert! :) Making it way, way fun. Plus, not forgetting, the Sang Nila Crew :) Yup, having our sessions there every wednesday and saturday (oh, and the Toa Payoh HDB Hub too) was indeed great fun.
Then, the day we waited for came, the camp itself, and I think one thing that certainly changed throughout the whole camp was how we all really came together as one. Seriously, throughout my life, I never saw a group of people so united and close like ours, you don't really feel like having. The first day, we certainly made the malaysians feel welcomed, they started talking with us as soon as they settled down. And each of us then played the part of tour guides for our buddies as we brought them around. For most of us, it was tough at first, the language barrier, the differences in th way we act and all, but ultimately, we each found our common ground with our buddy and worked on it well to form that bond.
The next day, was just as exciting as the first, with our cultural trips and all. But this part, I think, is dedicated to those who took part in the homestaying thingy (Like me). I had my own reservations about having them in my house, and I know some of you did too ;) But then, it wasn't that bad. For my group, it was souvenirs galore as well as loads of food to eat. And man, I still remembered how sad I was to leave the Grassroots Club and the rest of the Singapore contingent even though it was only two days into the camp.
When we returned, it was time for us to give back to society, with our visit to MINDS, and I don't have to say much, it was fun, and it was touching for all of us :) Then came the time for our performance, and even though there wasn't really an audience, we performed and pput in all our effort. I guess we got rewarded with the food :)
OBS was, once again, another time for all of us, both contingents to bond together, and it was really effective in sealing those bonds we started between the Singaporeans and the Malaysians as well as within our own contingents.
All in all, we had our tears when we parted, we had our wishes and promises to meet up once again, and we had our reluctance to leave Punggol jetty, but all in all, let us not forget the ties we formed, the bonds we created, the firneds we made and all..
Let us not let the fire die out :)
To the 12th SMYC participants, I miss you guys :')
-Zul
|| 9:49 PM ||