A trip to Hamdan Bin Zayed School

I'd always wanted to visit a local school here, ever since I found out that the UAE schools are starting to incorporate teaching the Chinese language into their curriculum, alongside English and Arabic. So, a coffee session with Su Fen - a Singaporean Chinese teacher here - turned into a school visit yesterday. :)

It was a good one - I got the chance to visit Hamdan Bin Zayed School on Sunday, and joined in their morning assembly, sat into 2 classes to observe how the Chinese language was taught, and how the Emirati students learn. I was given a tour of the school and had some chances to interact with the students and teachers.


The morning assembly with the kids. Pretty much the same scene all over the world I believe; at least this is the same familiar sight in Singapore and Japan.



Peppered around the whole school and classrooms are posters and pictures - where 3 languages are simultaneously written together. The Chinese characters come with the hanyu pinyins too.


The upper grade girls reading and practising the spoken language, as I understand, for the HSK examination. Really cool effort. The girls could respond reasonably well, and 1 of them was quite good. They would be heading off to China this weekend for an exchange programme. I learnt too that the school is actively recruiting Chinese teachers from China - and there are already 20 Chinese teachers.


The Grade 2 kids learning thru' song and dance. They were reciting a poem and had hand and body actions to go with it. Pretty lively, and the whole class was participating in the activity. Kudos to Su Fen - she really took the class very well.



During recess time - where kids take out snacks from their little sandwich boxes. :)) Really very nice for a change to just chat with them in the open. And Su Fen is at the end of the table.
I was quite touched to hear her stories and see her passion. It is a calling to be a teacher, and it is a very important vocation. These kids have such potential in them, and there's so much life, energy, zeal, dream, belief. The teacher holds a pivotal role in moulding and building the next generation. :) I am glad I was a teacher too.

This visit inevitably transported me to the days where I was teaching in Japan, and also learning Japanese at the same time. Personally, I have always been very interested in languages - the acquisition of languages (and the neuroscience to it), the way a language frames one's world, the meaning of words and how communication is made possible thru' language, the different languages and their grammatical composition - the syntax, and the semantics, and the list can just go on and on.

My experience in Japan caused me to wonder if the UAE would be able to succeed in this effort - whether they could possibly nurture a new generation of Chinese speakers. I hope it would be for them - time would tell. From personal experience, that environment to practice the language continually is one key to success in language acquisition.
More about the UAE effort in teaching the Chinese language can be found here: https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/chinese-language-to-be-taught-in-100-uae-schools-1.2253926

Finally - as I reflect on this learning journey, there is also that nostalgia in stepping into the familiar school compound. :) Certainly a very good Sunday adventure for me, one well-worth waking up at 6am for.

23 March morning

The weekend is here again, only difference is that I am now back in AD. :)
Woke up to a superbly windy morning, and the temperature is getting less cold. Whole of this week, it was still really really quite cold.

And one of the trees toppled over this morning. Can u see the workers trying to move the tree? Thankfully no one was injured.


七早八早, I bugged Steve to wake up and we took K out for a walk, went thru' his usual hunt for tennis ball, and I went for a run thereafter.
While it was really windy, I really really enjoyed the morning flurry of activities - seeing the kids playing soccer in the fields, feeling the chill moment of the weekend morning, and also the fine sand grains hitting me. It is the feeling of being alive.
Then, when I am all done, it was barely just 9.30am. So good and happy. :)

Beautiful Sat morning

Now my relaxed limbs see me tap away, with a cup of coffee and with some Italian instrumental music. And the hum-drums of the washing machine in the background.

March ... marched by I suppose. I spent half of March in Singapore, and I've also become a year older (hopefully wiser too). Spent my birthday in Singapore, and there's nothing else that I can say, except that I am thankful for the good year - all the relationships, friendships are what made my year so meaningful. Spent a lot of beautiful moments with so many loved ones, ate so many cakes, drank so many drinks, flower surprises... :))
Significant and thankful moments - too much to say and yet words really cannot express how much I feel.

With Family. 💓


With my wonderful church family and colleagues.

And so as I settle back into AD again, I've returned to this life of remote work, spending more time with Steve and Kenji, re-playing tennis with Omar and Ernest and gang, discussions with Robert, eating at our usual fave haunts, cooking my salmon heads, and of course, getting involved in some SG events here. :)) Yesterday, I went to a congratulatory reception for the Singapore Special Olympics team. While I couldn't support the team at the games, was glad to have met some of the sportsmen and team in person, and was glad to be present to show support.

 

Today's gonna be beautiful. While the wind is still ferociously beating the life out of the landscaped trees outside, at least, in the house, I am snug and warm.
I am looking forward to this beautiful weekend. 😊

Getting a little bit lost

The pounding was good for my soul
I explored and ran alone
Countless thoughts ran thru' my mind
The joggers and hikers passed me by

I reached that intersection
To Bukit Timah or back to Mac
I decided to go back to Mac
And then the adventure began

I've gone right into SICC
and brought some hikers with me.
I heard them whisper behind me.
She looks like she knows where she's going.

And then... I found that I couldn't really get back
To the familiar terrain and tracks
I had wondered in too deep.
I had gone right into SICC.

I wasn't afraid I would get lost
I was just amused I ended in a club.
I had nothing on that Sat morn.
I really wanted just to run and feel.

Maybe I needed to add a few more km to my run
And then a small bus stopped right in front
Uncle beckoned me to get on it
And, inside, the hikers waved to me.

And so we got off at Lornie Road
And it became once again familiar to me.
I ran towards Braddell Hill
In my mind, so so amused. :-D

My little Sat morn adventure


The pretty golf course - and the beautiful morning. Get lost, but enjoy the moment.


And the funny hikers - I think they asked Uncle to stop for me. :-D

***********
It was just hilarious to me. I think my running mates would be so disappointed that I got lost?! But yet, I didn't at any moment felt unsafe. I think... the whole journey of exploration and getting lost is just the way perhaps I feel some times in my life.

I've been back in SG for really long, and everyday continues to be an adventure, most days are really good though some days, I do get lost and emotional in my own translation of life and meaning, but as always, clarity comes thru' the word of God.
Yesterday's service brought everything together. It was as if I was reminded of 1st Jan, 2019.
The tying together of a pure heart (being undivided in my thoughts - which Master do I serve?) and my favourite Matthew 6:25-34 (do not worry - seek God first).


I am super super thankful that it's been a great quarter. I look forward to spending the last 2 weeks here in SG, look forward to my last few runs, to more gatherings and celebrations, to spending time with Steve when he comes in next week, to doing meaningful work, to getting back to AD and seeing my darling Kenji.



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