Sunday, July 13, 2008
Yesterday, yili was saying how she wondered whether we put in more effort than what we got out of greenlink. We came to the conclusion that, we learned so much from being in greenlink, and what we take away with us will last us throughout our lives. It more than makes up for all the sacrifices made.
Haha, what a way to begin... my past entries having been full of crap, I promise to make this a proper post this time :)
We learned a lot alright. I feel a sense of nostalgia...time to reminisce. This is going to be a long post, I think :)
I remember my first session in greenlink. I didn't come for the orientation as I had piano lesson every thursday ( I had to reschedule my lesson after that. And then I ended up having to put piano on hold until after A's because I simply couldn't cope with having to take my grade 8 exam on top of 2 ccas and studies :( But I can honestly say that I have no regrets joining 2 ccas which I loved :) ) I didn't have a clue what went on in greenlink. I thought it was just for appreciating nature and loving animals :) and then hongyi came towards me with a pair of muddy gloves on her outstretched hands and asked me to get the application form out from her bag because she was gardening. Haha, i was feeling perplexed as I filled out the form. And the rest, they say, is history. I started gardening for the first time and i didn't like it. It was probably because I was lazy :P But with good company and the fun of yanking out weeds (you can vent your anger out on the weeds) it wasn't so bad after that. And it is like you have the power to recreate part of nature, though in a really small way. Haha, remember EOP, we have got the POWER.
And then there were the actual activities themselves. Going to ubin to see the great Grant himself and witness what nature guiding was like. (and also to feed mosquitoes. sobsobsob) River-keeping...it's a good thing we no longer go to sungei api api. Bee stings, evil giant ants climbing up your legs, ducking under endless endless branches to pick up endless litter...ahhh, the horror. And of course, there was recycling. Those days last year when we thought we would die if we had to carry another stack of newspapers and weigh them. And we had can tab counting competitions :D Kudos to jasly for having the moving of newspapers spread out over many weeks this year. There was also the Recycling Outreach Programme which was like Envirofest. Little kids playing games. From experience, little kids seem to become more devious each year. So beware!
The camp last year was really enjoyable. But we were nicer than the batch of seniors last year ok! Last yr we had to squeeze out oranges without using our hands and drink creatively(disgustingly is a better word) concocted orange squash. This year there were the butt-to mouth interactions and the witnessing of a live R21 scene. We screamed when we saw the humping monkeys (well, the more guai and innocent people screamed. Others were not that innocent.)
Remember when we had to rush out posters proclaiming our love for ubin (despite its being mosquito kingdom) in the midst of CTs? The making of posters so stimulated our brains that peiyee and I ended up talking online throughout the rest of the night..till dawn. The BIG event for us that year was Energy Outreach Programme. Who would have thought we had to come onstage to sing the jingle, swaying our bodies as we did so. A lot of preparation went into the games and i remember how peiyee, yili, jasly and I were still working the night before at harmoc chalet. But the end result was the smooth running of this major event which we had to plan from scratch. I remember how I was pleasantly surprised when the audience clapped along with our jingle and not stare at us like we are ovesized kids dancing to what sounded like the barney song. Haha. I love the 07/08 batch of greenlinkers (it's platonic love btw.)
A word of warning...look out for the kids called rongrong and didi when you man the ubin greenhouse. They are incredibly naughty! And cute too. I must say the experiences at ubin have been really eye-opening, mosquito kingdom as it is :) Just think, which other cca gives you so much exposure...giving you the chance to show off "Oh, I survived climbing up onto the newspaper pile which took up the whole greenlink storeroom from floor to ceiling and managed to get down safely after that. I sang and danced to the barney jingle infront of over a hundred people, including a Member of Parliament. I went door-to-door for blocks and blocks, helping people to save electricity." Heh.
There was plenty of fun but of course the journey was fraught with difficulties. Nevertheless, we overcame them and emerged stronger than before (cliched right?). Like aloy said, greenlink is not about hugging trees. And it totally changed my perspective of it being a slack cca for appreciating the beauty of nature (yes, i used to think that) It is about appreciating the wonders of nature, but also playing a bigger role in linking people to the environment. hmm, more like showing them we are linked together in more ways than one thinks. Lol, I remember what huiyong wrote. If others criticise greenlink, say they have no link cos green links you and me! Greenlink...what an apt name.
I thought of this before, just after harmoc syf; a cca does not have to be just a routinely thing which you come for to do work...then move on to more work. You experience this warmth as you work together with your fellow cca members with a shared passion, going through everything with everyone else. Greenlink will always be a close-knit family for me :) (the nature guiding family is the closest-knit of all...)
I'm having the blues. I will really miss the hilarious meetings with meikwan around. But ah well, it's time to move on. The next greenlink journey will be another adventure.
Byebye Greenlink.
Loving green always,
OWL aka OXL
8:06 PM