Christmas is near... I realised this christmas has been the most meaningful one cos i've done so many things that i havent done before.

1) Carolling: my first attempt at carolling was an epic fail. Cos i can't read notes and im made to sing alto, which means its not the usual melody. Since i cant read notes then i have to memorise the weird melodies of the usual christmas carols.
But im touched by my experiences at the homes.
At the Assisi Hospice kind of reminded me of the times in TJ when i went to the homes for community service. Haha.. the all so familiar feeling of awkwardness when comes to interacting with the elderly, especially if we cant speak their language.

2) Distribution of Hampers to people in need: Initially, i really think that some families are rather well-to-do judging from the condition of the homes and the fact that they are all 4/5 room flats. My guess is that since im also living in one, they're financial condition cant be that bad. But when i saw some families who were really grateful to us for the hamper, i felt that perhaps, things may not be as rosy as how we perceive. One family that left a deep impression was this middle-aged siblings who lived together. Initially when we saw that the unit was "protected by CISCO surveilence", we thought, it is very unusual for needy families to have such surveilience. There was someone in the house but the occupant refused to open thinking that we were salesperson. However, we persisted on staying on cos somehow we felt this family needed the hampers desperately. By the grace of God, one of the occupants (the brother) came back. He was quite apprehensive initially but when we said we were hear to give out hampers, he looked more relieved. When he opened his house an invited us into his house, we met his sister who was inside. It was then that we heard about their plight. I'm glad that we stayed on, because their story really showed me that they still have faith, despite their desperate situation. I left the house feeling touched by the faith of these siblings.

3) CSS Retreat: Retreat turn out to be very smooth because of my programmes co-head who has been running the entire thing and im just there to assist. My happiest memories was the 2nd night when we just sat and talked in the main hall with all the retreat committee members. It was quite amazing how we forged bonds within that short 2 days. I hope that CSS will grow in faith and love after the retreat.

okay that's for my amazing holidays. Of Cos, i did some work as well. Met up with project group, celebrated the last birthday, shop and look around for metals, and screws. Made my first visit to Sim Lim Square... I'm looking forward to Bangkok trip on sunday, finally i can go to the airport not to study but to take a plane. =)