Here are some great pieces of writing from my groups. Read on!
Note for contributors - please post your writing here as 'comments' and remember to include your English name only and group number.
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About Me
- DLanguageArchitect
- ENGLISH - An English professor wrote the words: 'A woman without her man is nothing' on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly. All of the males in the class wrote: 'A woman, without her man, is nothing.' All the females in the class wrote: 'A woman: without her, man is nothing.' Punctuation is powerful!
My Personal Journey: From China to Singapore
ReplyDelete-Cherry
Group 5
2008 saw a great turning point for me because of the scholarship received from MOE, Singapore. To me, the journey from China to Singapore was not only a change of location, but also a change of myself, being more considerable as an adult.
November 2008, the last month in China
I may have been too naughty at that time while looking back: The door suddenly opened. My father hauled a big suitcase home, which was prepared for my journey to Singapore. The date denoted on the air ticket was supposed to be next Monday. Pretending seeing nothing in his hand, I turned to another topic cunningly. “What about the pocket money for this month, Daddy? You know it could be the last time for you to give me that...” I asked naughtily. The man sighed, grumbling that I was still too young or so.
December 2009, the first month in Singapore
By living alone, I considered myself to be more mature whereas it was still not convinced so by my father. The Bridging Course in NTU was about to start and everyone seemed to be excited. Every time I phoned my parents, one image in the airport would appear in my mind: my mother was waving to me with tears welling in her eyes. Then the familiar “ring back tone” would abruptly pull me back to reality. As soon as the line was connected, I began complaining about the hard life since I knew my mother was the person who could always bring me comfort. At the end of the call, I said “Mum, I am going to set up a great goal. Since I’m going to be an adult, I’ll set up a budget this year!” She sounded quite excited, keeping praising me, whereas a sound of a familiar sigh got into my ear. It was so clear that I recognized: That was my dad.
January 2009, the second month in Singapore
Spring Festival was the theme of this month. As we grow older, everybody has undergone certain change, so do me. On the last school day before that holiday, I suddenly realized the corridor, where I was wandering along, was actually where I would live on my own for the next five years or even longer. Then I found a seat and sat down, started my PC and turned to the webpage of my blog. For the first time, I made a decision to replace an old log of complaint theme with a new letter of pleasant mood. What I decided was to show the people who love me that I was living happily in Singapore and they should not worry about me. After that, I made a phone call to my parents on the eve of the Spring Festival, to tell them the funny things happening around the campus and hostel. Father said he would keep the red packet for me until I get back, and he seemed to be very astonished upon hearing my rejection. At that time, I could sense that he was smiling though I could not see it.
At the moment when the hand of clock pointing to number 12, there was a girl standing in the middle of a basketball field. She swore to herself that she was going to be financially independent and would never let the people who love her disappointed. From China to Singapore, the journey has not brought the distance between her family and her farther; instead, they are now standing together closer in their heart.
My Personal Journey From China to Singapore
ReplyDelete-Ivy
Group:5
I arrived at Changi Airport on 2rd, Dec. 2008, and that marked the beginning of my new life in Singapore. I believe that I have grown up a lot during the past two months and I am still trying to adapt myself to all the new things here. My life in Singapore is exciting and challenging.
Back to the time when I was studying in China, I was dependent and led a regular life like all the other Chinese students. Every day, I had a lot of homework to do, but the school arranged the timetable for every student. I was told when to study and when to go to bed every day. On weekends, I stayed at home and spent time playing computer games, watching TV and doing homework, which means I seldom hung out and participated in activities. At that time, I lived in school on weekdays, so every Sunday, before I went to school, my parents helped me pack my things and bought all that I needed for school for me. My life was quite simple and easy at that time, because I did not have to worry much about other things except my studies.
My life in Singapore is very different. Every weekend, our friendly seniors organize all kinds of activities for us. We celebrated Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year together and organized some activities on our own, which was really a new experience to me. Through the activities, I met a lot of new friends, including both Chinese and Singaporean. They all helped and encouraged me a lot during the past two months. Though I am far away from my home now, I do not feel lonely because of my lovely new friends and exciting new life. Apart from that, my life in Singapore is challenging as well. I feel obliged to be more independent now, as I have to take care of myself and solve all the problems I meet on my own. The first challenge I met is to manage my time well. I should make sure that I can finish all my assignments before the deadline and have enough sleep time at night, which was at first difficult to me. On the top of that, travelling around this beautiful island is also a great challenge to me because as a newly-arrived student, I am not so familiar with the streets, roads, and routes of buses here yet.
However, I enjoy my life here a lot, because I get a lot of precious experiences from it and have become more mature than before. I feel happy about my personal growth and do not regret that I came here. I think I am getting along well with the new environment here. I will keep on trying to adjust myself to things which are new to me here.
From one home to another
ReplyDelete-Chad
Group 3
Home is a nice place for everyone, but it does not have to come with relatives. This is a story about my journey from China to Singapore. I am an SM2 student from Shandong province. Last December, I came to Singapore with 26 students from my province. It was my first time to leave my family, but I found Singapore to be another home of mine not long after I got here.
My home in China
I have a very nice family in China and all the family members love me very much. Before I left, they helped me a lot in preparing for the journey. They bought me many things and gave me their best wishes. My grandfather bought me a watch; my aunty bought me a water bottle; my uncle gave me some nice CDs; my mother helped me to buy some necessary things, like medicine. Every time I see these things, I think of them and their wishes. My father did not buy me anything, but he gave me the most important thing: advice. He is not very talkative, but he tried his best to give me a long talk about his life and told me what was right to do. From this, I knew how great the expectation he had on me.
Two months before I left home, I sprained my ankle and had to stay in bed for a week. During that time, my mother put everything I might need within my reach everyday and other family members visited me on the weekend, bringing my favorite dishes. I was moved by such a nice family and I did not know what would happen after leaving my home in China.
My new home in Singapore
There were six SM2 students from my high school this year. We knew each other after being accepted and became good friends immediately. In China, we came back to school to visit our teachers together and we also went to cinema to watch a movie. During the journey, there happened an accident and we coped with it together. Ding was a student from our school. After we arrived at Changi airport, he did not get his suitcase. He was very worried at that time and did not know what to do. So we five stayed in the airport with Ding, encouraging him and helping him communicate with airport staff. None of us thought of leaving him alone though we were extremely tired. It was the first time I got a feeling of family among my friends. We were a family and we would not leave any members of us alone. That was the thing in our mind at that time.
Arrived in Singapore, we were allocated to different universities, different groups. We made friends with people around us, and got on well with them. I was the kind of shy boy that would not have one word with some girls in my class for a whole semester, but in Singapore I may even say hello to a SM2 girl who I am not familiar with. I made this changing because I knew that we were from the same country and we had similar experiences in Singapore. We are away from home and SM2 students are people who we have the closest relation with, so we became a big family. In this way, Singapore became another home of mine.
For me, Singapore is a place where friends become family members. I came from home in China to a new home in Singapore.
My personal journey from China to Singapore
ReplyDeleteRachel
Group 5
I have never dreamed of going abroad at the age of 18 because my family is very normal and my parents cannot afford it. Everything changed after I received a scholarship offering me with the chance of studying in Singapore.
In the half-year holiday before coming to Singapore, my life was colorful, but a little aimless and empty. I had planned a lot of things to do, but only a few of them were achieved. Fortunately I did not forget the most important thing: I spent quite a little happy and precious time with my family. I shopped around with my mother every week and cooked for my family. My parents and I made dumplings together, watched TV, and talked freely on all kinds of topics. The promenade after dinner every day is one of the most memorable moments in my life. We walked along the moat of Jinan; the cool wind of summer night breezed gently; the springs were gurgling; People washed their clothes while chatting with each other. I will never forget the dreamily haze above the river after rain. In my high school, I was so dedicated to my studies that I unconsciously neglected my parents, and took their care and love for granted. It was not until when I started packing my luggage for the long journey away from home did I realize how much I care for my family. However, every fledgling will leave the comfortable nest someday and fly with its own wings. I believe that my parents will have their own beautiful life and so will I.
Life is not poetry, although the scenery in Singapore is like a poem. I have never imagined that civilization and nature could be combined so perfectly. The modern city is merged in rain forests; frequent rain washes dust away; squirrels can be seen sometimes. However, I keep getting lost since I alighted from the plane because the roads here are not as straight as those in my hometown. It is cold inside rooms because of the air conditioners while it is hot outside. The food sometimes tastes strange. The biggest difficulty is that I am easily wakened by noise and I am in the habit of sleeping early; thus, when my roommates pack up their things before they go to sleep, I am always wakened and sometimes I cannot fall asleep again. Unlike that in China, the education here emphasizes on teamwork and communication a lot, and you must force yourself to learn the basic things such as new words.
I cannot say that I have totally become used to the life in Singapore now. Existing problems have not been settled, and new difficulties are coming all the time. Growing up is painful, but we are not Peter Pan. However, I have never regretted my choice. Living is struggling, especially when you are on a strange land. I always tell myself in a hank: You can make it, and I believe that there is always a rainbow after a storm.
Group 5
ReplyDeleteVictor
MY PERSONAL JOURNEY:FROM CHINA TO SINGAPORE
After getting the result that I had passed the interview held by Singapore, I knew that my several months’ effort was not in vain. Just like the other candidates who had succeeded in the interview, I was too exhilarated to fall asleep that night. I was happy, but I realized later that the success also meant that I had to end Chinese high school education which I was used to, and accept another culture which is totally new for me. In other word, it would be a challenge.
Preparation
The preparation was supposed to be adequate. The cardinal thing that I needed to get ready for was the language environment in Singapore. I was told that although Chinese is an official language there, English is the commonly used one. Besides, our teaching language in university would be English. In order to adapt to the language there as soon as possible, I took part in a course which was aimed at students who were going abroad. Moreover, it is also a must to prepare some medicine because Singapore is a tropical country where there could be tropical diseases.
Experience in first month
It was nearly six months later from the day I got the result when I first stepped on the land of Singapore. Climate here is quite warm and wet, but it is not very different from that in my hometown, which is Guangzhou, located at the south of China. Frankly speaking, I did not get much information about this island on the night I arrived because it was actually midnight and the surroundings seemed like a blurred image to me. In the following days, I was taken by my seniors to have a full look of this lovely garden city. What Singapore impressed me a lot was not only the fantastic tourist spots, but also the hospitable and warm-hearted citizens. After 30 days’ experience here, I found that I started to fall in love with it.
Starting my bridging course
My bridging course had begun in January. I was attracted by NTU’s spacious and fabulous campus on the morning when I set foot on it. At first I even could not believe that such a mini country had so big a university. I was more convinced that my choice of being here was right. However, the courses were not that easy as I thought before: we had an enormous number of presentations and group works which were completely strange to me. I even called my mother to complain about my condition during the first several weeks. Fortunately, I got over the difficulty gradually, and I even could feel that with my practice, progress was made every day.
So far, it is nearly three months since I came here, and everything is smooth. I have learned and experience a lot during my interesting journey from China to Singapore, but I know that is only a start of my new life.