Equal Wings

Ping January 4th, 2009

In the last two weeks of December 2008, Ajeet and I spent some time in Singapore and India visiting our families. We spent two nights in Singapore first before we left for India. On the night we arrived in Singapore, we had a family dinner followed by a game of ‘Taboo’. The sisters were against the husbands and it was great fun! The sisters won the game eventually-I guess we have the advantage of having some common knowledge in our growing years that helped to make some guesswork easier.

We left for Chennai 2 days later and took a pleasant overnight train to the little town of Chipurupalli. We shared the train cabin with a very friendly Indian family who had lived in Kenya for fours years. After about 16 hours on the train, we finally reached our destination and were warmly welcomed by my parents-in -law.

Since we visited India only once a year, my mother-in-law made sure that we were well-fed. Every meal was a feast of curries, rice and Indian sweets! So by the end of one week in India, both of us definitely gained some weight. Ajeet’s brother, Ashok and his family joined us for 2 nights and it was nice being amused by our niece of 1 year and 4 months. Her comical imitations of her parents and grandparents just made everyone laugh. Apart from catching up on each other’s lives and visiting family friends, we made a few trips to the nearest town to buy some things and also visited a reservoir. On some evenings, we would take short walks around the neighbourhood before heading home for a sumptuous dinner. Time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to board the train back to Chennai to catch our flight back to Singapore.

After a week of enjoying Indian food, we were ready to enjoy Chinese food in Singapore. Before taking our return flight to Shanghai, my mum, ajeet and I had lunch at Changi Airport. We had ‘Chicken Rice’,'Fish Slice Soup’, ‘Char Kway Teow’ and ‘Cheng Teng’. It was definitely a satisfying meal. 

We returned to Shanghai on the 30th of December in time to bid goodbye to 2008 and welcome the New Year. On New Year’s Eve, We had a yummy Cantonese dinner with one of Ajeet’s colleague and his family, followed by a quiet count down for Ajeet and me.

We are happy to be back in Shanghai-our home for the past 1 year and 7 months. Although the weather  here is much colder than what we had experienced in Singapore and India, we are cherishing these winter memories before we head back to Singpore in April this year.

• Family , Travel
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Ajeet January 1st, 2009

Goodbye 2008! To say that we are living through historic times, would be quite an understatement. It was a year of many crises and few victories.  As hurricane Ike swept across coastal United States resulting in tremendous losses, a storm of a different nature was unfolding in the financial world. The dam that was barely holding the raging financial storm in 2007, broke and unleashed its full fury on everything in its path. Amidst these crises, there was the historic US election where for the first time an African-American made it to the top post. China, the host to the spectacular Beijing Olympics was also not spared, as the devastating Sichuan earthquake took its toll. Neighbouring Mynamar bore the brunt of the deadly cyclone Nargis. Terrorism reared its ugly head once again with attacks in Pakistan and India, escalating tensions between the nuclear armed neighbours. Phew!

The financial turmoil in the world will probably continue in 2009 - cascading into more bankruptcies, job losses, etc -  like the lingering aftershocks of a dying earthquake. When it does subside this year or the next, we would have a far healthier world relieved of its excesses. Obama as the new president of the United States will probably try and reverse some of the unilateral military policies of the previous administration. That would definitely help to constrain the fuel feeding the fire of hatred & terrorism.

Here we are yet again… at the doorstep of a brand new year! Jan 1 2009 - Of course its just a date, just another moment in cosmic history. Mankind has been through terrible tragedies before, and it will in the future. We have always evolved to be a stronger and better lot, as we learned from our collective mistakes. So lets pick up where we left off, and walk into the future with two indispensable items - Hope and Faith - the enablers of our survival and progress!

All the best, and may Love, Health and Happiness be yours in the year ahead. Happy 2009 from the both of us!

• General
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Ping December 5th, 2008

http://vimeo.com/2228238?pg=embed&sec=2228238

This music video entitled ‘Armed’ was shared with me by my friend, Meiping. When I first saw the title, I thought it was going to be a song about war and peace. However, it was not what I had expected.  It had nothing to do with war or ammunition but rather, it was about trying moments in life. As the video played the words below, it engaged me in a spiritual sense and inspired me very much.

‘Armed with the power of thy name, nothing can ever hurt me. And with thy love in my heart, all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me..’

For those who watched it, it would be interesting to hear  your views after watching the video.

• Music
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Ping November 18th, 2008

We’re almost approaching the end of our stay in Shanghai and I guess it is a  good time to reflect on the 1 and a half years so far. Ajeet has been working with Great Wall Airlines and I have been taking on part-time teaching positions. I can still remember how challenging it was to find a job. There were many available from tuition agencies, schools and companies. However, getting one wasn’t so easy. Most employers only wanted teachers holding American, Canadian, Australian or British passports. I managed to get an offer to teach at Yew Hwa International Education School for 3 weeks during their summer vacation programme. It is a private school which prepares its students for the Cambridge International Education System. Having taught in a government school in Singapore, it was definitely an eye opener stepping into an international school. Most students came from well-to-do families. They were very confident and outspoken too (at times too direct for my comfort level). Most of the students were either Chinese, Taiwanese or Korean. Though I taught there for only 3 weeks, it was an enriching experience. I had to teach a subject called ‘English for Science’. Basically I was teaching Science and getting them to familiarize with the terms in English. As I prepared each lesson, I was also learning new things.

After this teaching stint, I was hunting for another job again. Soon, I  was an English enrichment teacher at the Singapore International School. For one academic year 07-08, I taught Grade 1 and Grade 5 students  English every Saturday morning. I had students from Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and China. Though the diversity sometimes proved to be a challenge in lesson preparation, it made lessons interesting with the different experiences and views they shared. Here is a picture I took of some of my Grade 1 students on the last lesson. The rest couldn’t wait to run out of the class and begin their summer holidays!

 Below is a picture of my Grade 5 students consisting mainly of Chinese and Taiwanese. Although they were not too eager to do grammar or writing exercises, they were certainly excited to play word games.

 The small class size and the big spacious classrooms in both the schools I taught here were great. Students could move freely during certain activities without bumping into each other or furniture. Also, the small numbers in each class made it easier  for me to manage the class and give more attention to those students who needed it.

I did not continue teaching at the Singapore International School anymore after one year as we wanted to use the remaining time to travel around China. Instead, I started giving tuition at home and have been doing that since. This has given us a lot more flexibility in planning our trips.

Apart from teaching, I did some volunteer work with Hands on Shanghai- a volunteer organization that plans and organizes charity events and programmes.  My duty was to monitor enrichment programmes in a migrant school. The migrant school I went to was pretty basic. It had a small compound with about 7 to 8 classrooms and each classroom was packed with 45 to 60 students. Tables and chairs were old and sometimes broken. Despite the humble setting of the school, students were always full of energy, cheerful and keen to learn.

I was also involved with the English Corner Programme at the Jian Qiao Private School for  a year. Together with some friends, we conducted English oral lessons for the chinese students there. Through these activities, we found new friends whom we meet up with occasionally.

Many colleagues of Ajeet’s and their familes live in the same compound as us. We get together sometimes for dinners or a game of badminton. It’s nice having a small community here. In between work and meeting up with friends, we try to travel around China. I must say that apart from the occasional food scares, it has been enjoyable living here. We have a few more months here before returning home. Time will pass very quickly but I’m sure we will make the most out of it! =)

Links:
Hands On Shanghai: http://www.handsonshanghai.com/

• China , General
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Ajeet November 14th, 2008

Here’s a beautiful song - one of my favorites, by ‘Crowded House’. What i like about this song is the chorus, which goes: “Everywhere you go, always take the weather with you”, and of course the melody.

There’s also a modern version by ‘Voice Male’, the Belgian acapella group - very nicely done. You can listen to it free at this website: http://www.last.fm/music/Voice+Male/_/Weather+With+You?autostart

Enjoy!

• Music
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