15 Dec 2010

This morning we walked pass  and have " mee hoon soup" in a stall at road side. Niang took the    chance to talk to the stall owner and told them that we will bring Christmas gifts for their children soon. On the way back, niang also show me some lousy wooden houses. we may bring the Christmas blessing to the poorer people there, too. Gotta get both our gifts and faith ready to approach them!

In the afternoon, I had an English lessen for a retired lady who stays next to us. I taught her tenses and it took me about 1.5 hour. Before I started the lesson, she asked me a question:" Why you are willing to teach me without charging any fee?" It was a great chance to share God's love! Although niang had asked me to get prepared to answer this question, yet I was still stumbled at that time. I told her that becuase God loves us, so we  would like to share God's love with the Thai, and happy to befriend them. That's why I am here.

After the lesson, she thank me and told me she really would like to do something for me. I suggested that we may have a meal together on Christmas day and she suggested a vegetarian restaurant nearby. However, pastor and niang told me better to be careful not to give the wrong impression that I want her to give me a treat as the reward of teaching her English. Because for her, she might still think that it is impossible to have free English lesson, we must have agenda... May God teaches me with wisdom and gentleness in attitude and word of mouth.

Besides that, the neighbor lady told me she would like to learn something more interesting, preferably not grammar... Hmm, what is more interesting and meaningful worth learning for her?

In the evening, we went to church for song practice and prayer meeting, again, in Thai. On they way, we  passed by Sayam sequey, a very beautiful shopping area. Aha, added it into my visiting list after Christmas.

I though the prayer meeting will be a boring one but thank God for a sister beside me. She kept translating for me so that I wasn't left out from the prayer team. While for the song practice and rehearsal, I realize that I still have a big room for improvement... Gotta play more at home!

13 dec 2010

Today was a rainy day. After waiting for more than half an hour, we finally got onto a taxi and it took us another 50 minutes to reach school (which is about 20 minutes by walking) because of nam thuam - flood.

The water level raised above ankle. Despite the raising water, there were still students walking to school with flip flop, motorcyclists traveling (with almost quarter of the wheel hidden in the grayish water, which can be quite dangerous, isn't it? ) on the street.

I visited pastor’s family’s school – Bangkok Grace International School. There are slogans “Grow in God’s wisdom and knowledge” all around the school and more than 50% of Korean students there. Although the campus is not huge, it is well facilitated with music room, sport field, library, computer room and a church sanctuary.  In addition, all the Thai teachers are very friendly and gentle. I wonder, will they be bullied by the students?

In the evening, Grace, one of the Thai teacher in BGIS came for piano lesson. I would not call myself a piano teacher but like niang told me, I just shared whatever I have with her. Pray that we both can serve God with piano together.

First Sunday in Bangkok

12 Dec 2010

今天是我第一次参加泰语崇拜。我们的教堂是Christ Church, 位于Sathorn, 靠近曼谷的市中心。从我们在Ramkanphen 的家出发需四十分钟德士车程，一小时四十分钟巴士车程。那是一座全米白色的独立建筑物，很有西欧式教堂的感觉，已有超过八十年的历史。在教堂旁边有个小墓园，有大约十位曾在这里服侍的牧师的墓碑，很特别吧。

我在泰语堂认识了几位从新加坡来的姐妹和牧师，也已能说流利的泰语。娘跟我说，这里有好几位单身妈妈，她们的丈夫都已离他们而去。难怪娘说这里的姑娘会想要嫁外国人，都怪男人不负责任。。。

崇拜结束后，娘教导几位同工和会友唱圣诞歌，由我来伴奏。虽然是用泰语，但毕竟和娘搭配那么多年，默契还存，也让我怀念起以前在永平一起练习圣诞歌的日子。而娘需要用半流利的泰语来教唱，也不是容易的事，希望她也能早日和这里的同工培养默契,语言就不会再是隔膜啦！

晚上我们一起到 The Mall Bangkapi 吃晚餐，我看不懂泰文，点菜都是看卖相的。感谢神，给我们丰富的一餐。之后我们还买了一车的干粮零食，给在Salom House 的孩子们、同工们准备圣诞礼物。期待圣诞节的来临！

Bangkok day 1

8 Dec 2010

I am going to start a 28- days-long trip in Bangkok.

My journey today was a grace!
My parents BOTH helped me to catch a bus this morning, and I was not so worried for being late because my mum and my best friend Sifang is willing to give me a ride if I need to. After that, my Dage was so nice to drive me to Changi and my dear Shimiru Vanessa was there to send me off... I am so blessed.

As I was queuing for checking in, I met a friend who is taking the same plane as me! God provided me a companion so that I was not along throughout the journey. Praise the Lord!

The flight was a smooth one. Yet, I felt so sorry that Rev Wong and niang had waited me for almost one hour because of the long queue at immigration counter. They took me home by train and taxi, cooked a warm dinner for me. I am so blessed.

Today I pray that God will delight in our work of loving and serving the Thai. Like what niang had just shared to me, although we may seem have not enough, but we can just give whatever we possess. May God multiply.

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
   the builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
   the guards stand watch in vain.  " Ps 127:1

8 Secrets in This Module

Yesterday, by chance, I came across a fantastic 3 minute TED talk entitled “8 Secrets of Success” by Richard St. John. In that short video, Richard St. John was able to present great insights on 8 secrets of success through his effective use of  visuals and humor. The 8 secrets are: 

1.                    Passion

2.                    Work

3.                    Focus

4.                    Persist

5.                    Good

6.                    Serve

7.                    Ideas

8.                    Push

Personally, I think they are all applicable in this learning journey-ES2007S: Professional Communication: Principle and Practises. The choice of spending our precious ‘bidding points’ on this module reflects our passion in effective communication skill. This passion has been further nurtured through the many assignments along the way(work) and there has been an underlying focus on practical skills that we may apply even after this module is over. While passion for professional communication is an initiator, my persistence to improve has been the fuel which sees me through this course.

During the presentation, Richard St. John shared that in order to be ‘damn good’ at something, “there is no magic but practise, practise and practise.” In this course, I have learnt the principles and skills of professional communication through lots of practice through online blogging, writing job application letter, proposal, oral presentation, mock interviews as well as enriching oral discussions in class. In addition, we have served each other by contributing insightful feedback and ideas before and after each practice for to reinforce the learning process. The 'liquid network' set in this class had indeed facilitated so many good ideas!*   

Last but not least, this is how the word ‘push’ applies. I remember Brad describing himself as more than just a teacher/tutor, but a facilitator as well (please correct me if I am wrong). It may seem challenging to motivate (‘push’) students to be interested in communicating effectively and to be passionate in learning process but I feel that Brad has done so effectively. He has been an inspiring, encouraging and dedicated facilitator with a wide variety of teaching styles and an appropriate balance of using the soft and hard approach. 

I thank you Brad and my fellow classmates for all the support you have given, ideas shared and the friendship we have made in this class. Because of this, I consider this module a successful learning experience (regardless of the grade that Brad is going to give me)

* “Where good ideas come from” by Steven Johnson.
This TEDtalk video was showed by Brad in our class few weeks ago.

Here are the links for the videos:

1. 8 Secrets of Success

2. Where good ideas come from

-Edited-

Reflection on Oral Presentation

Team BES is the best! Haha, I am not trying to be pompous, but team BES is always the best to ME just because who we are. Despite the extended period of time and countless brain cell sacrificed while working on our proposal, oral discussion and oral presentation, this project has indeed fostered the friendship among three of us which no other can replace…

Eh hmn, I should start focus on the topic of this blog - my self reflection on the oral presentation. I will do it according to the guide list posted on IVLE.

Verbal

First of all, the content covered by three of us was clearly related to each other. The transition and overall flow of the whole presentation was also smooth. Besides, three of us have done a satisfactory job in “answering questions completely,  knowledgably and politely.” It might be because three of us knew our goal and reasons behind our suggested solution well.

However, we did not used much creative approach to grab the attention of the audience. The audio quality of the video shown was not satisfactory due to the excessive background noise in the canteen. Yet, I personally think that Sheila is a good actress and she did delivered the message using appropriate non-verbal cues… agree?

On a personal level, I think I was not confident and calm enough during the presentation. In fact, I did missed some of the points prepared. I should have practiced more to make sure I have all the key points at my fingertips beforehand.

Nonverbal

In my opinion, we did paid attention in many nonverbal aspects such as enthusiasm in delivering the message, effective eye contact, appropriate gestures, facial expression, listening skills and respect to each other during the presentation and while answering the question.

How about you, my dear classmates? Do you agree with me? Please feel free to voice up your comments and all feedback is highly appreciated! Thanks!

-edited- 

Intercultural Communication - Accent and Slang

Glacier National Park, located in Montana, U.S, encompasses over 1,000,000 acres and nurtures more than 1,000 different species of plants and hundreds of species of animals. Beside its vast pristine ecosystem, the park also serves as a platform for people from different culture backgrounds to meet and interact every summer. Thanks to Work and Travel Program, I was one of the lucky one who enjoyed the park’s outstanding natural and cultural beauty.

Upon arrival, the Manager of Human Resource Department has welcomed me with a brief yet exciting introduction of the park. God knows that I was paying my very maximum attention trying to catch his American English accent which sounds nasal, with lot of ‘r’s and, like a song to me. Soon after that, I found that the manager’s English is actually relatively easier to catch because he was so kind and considerate to speak slower with clearer pronunciation for the Asian students to understand him better.

Throughout that summer, I was amazed and overwhelmed by a vast variety of accents in America spoken by people from New York (Brooklyn), Boston, North/ South Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas and so on. Oh, not mentioning there is numerous slang which I thought I could never understand! At first, I was reluctant to initiate a conversation, worrying that it might be lost in puzzled American faces.  However, my timidity was swept away by my American friends and colleagues who break the intercultural barrier with their patience and tolerance.  Because of that, I had very memorable and enjoyable working experience in Montana.

For me, the beauty of Glacier National park not only fosters the relationship between nature and human being, but also among the people with diverse cultural background.