Volunteering

I had been spending some time at a foreign language school here. It's opened by an Adventist and the current principal is also an Adventist. The teachers and teaching assistants (TAS) here are very friendly, based on the few interactions I had with some of them. 

Currently, it's the summer holiday and they have some programs running for the holidays. 1 of them is a 'Jack and the Beanstalk' speech and drama class. I sat in on their rehearsals and the children were so adorable (and exasperating, at times). And hearing comments from the teachers and TAs, they have made huge progress, from zero knowledge of English to being able to act out the entire play in English. Here is a shot I took at one of the rehearsals:

And at the final performance on Sunday, I was helping out in whatever way I can - make-up for the children, videographing, etc. It was kinda fun. And the children, especially the younger ones, are just so cute. When I was doing the make-up, they just stood there quietly and let us do our thing. Of course, some of the boys vehemently objected to having anything more than powder and blush on their faces, but of course, we had our way because we are bigger than them... Lol. And some of the girls would play with the make-up or requested for more eye-shadow or more blush or more lipstick or more glitter on their faces...

But for those little girls who were acting as mice in the drama, it was so sad to see their disappointed faces when they realised that they had to draw black ugly noses and whiskers on their beautifully-drawn faces. Fortunately, they didn't cry or make a fuss.

The final performance with the entire cast.

A special dance item at the end of the performance

It was a tiring day. Even though the entire performance ended at 6pm+, I met up with Bean (a fellow Singaporean who is the Speech and Drama teacher at the school) to discuss about the lessons that had to be planned for some children from Mianyang (one of the disaster areas) who were invited to the school.

Well, she roped me in to help out in leading one of the class activity and to prepare the activities and worksheets. It will be like a trial for me to see if I like teaching and also for them to see if I have any potential in teaching. 

But now I'm a little hesitant at the thought of having to work. I think I might be getting used to having lots of free time.