Talent Show - Creativity?
The junior class at OSC annually holds a talent show before Christmas. We are going to have it on December 18th, the theme being a white Chrsitmas.
I am in charge of the trophy group. We are giving prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd third to be decided by the audience.
In addition, we are having two extra catogeries: 'Most Creative' and 'Most Energetic', just to add more flavour to the event.
To fit with the theme, we decided to give large Christmas stockings, packed with goodies, for the first three spots. First place will obviously get the most goodies (:
The other two catogeries will get slightly smaller stockings with their own set of goodies.
Hopefully, everything will go smoothly and the event will be enjoyable!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Cancer Hospital...finally after three missed weeks I went to Cancer hospital last Thursday. We visited the hospital also this week, distributing masks so that the children could go outside without the risk of getting infected. What I saw inside was especially moving, better than any other community service i have done previously. Most of the children were being surrounded by rather mellow family members whose faces broke into smiles as we gave a mask to the children. Most of the children were fairly happy, smiling at us while there were some who were sickly, and crying. There was an especially sad scene where a child was on an incubator, breathing tryingly while a family member was crying by his side.
It is quite depressing that we cannot do anything substantial in the lives of these families, and I just found myself questioning others in my group why cancer was not a curable disease.
Leaving the hospital you do feel doubly thankful for what you have and wishing you could do something more.
It is quite depressing that we cannot do anything substantial in the lives of these families, and I just found myself questioning others in my group why cancer was not a curable disease.
Leaving the hospital you do feel doubly thankful for what you have and wishing you could do something more.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
[I'm number 14]SAISA!
Wow, what a blast. Our basketball team went back to India (at an additional cost of $200 to us) from the 21-24th of November.
Firstly, going back to my old school in DElhi (AES) was pretty awesome, seeing that I got to meet nearly all my friends, play some ball with them and enjoy the facilities at AES oncemore.
As for the toutrnament, we were at first a bit nervous, since we were obviously the shortest, 'scrawniest' team there plus we were down a player. Nevertheless, we worked excellently as a team, our coach (Mr.Foss) fiercely propelling us to new heights. Since i was not part of the starting five on the team, i did not play in many crucial moments yet being with the team and doing my small bits on defence, was, I hope, beneficial for the team.
On Sunday at 3pm the Overseas School of Colombo would play the American Embassy School (AES) in the Championship game. wow! It was pretty strange and a bit amusing for me, since I was hanging out with both sets of players and the camradarie amidst the desire to win, especially between these two teams, was what stood out most graciously. THe championship game was a blast for us playing against a team with much more depth, better trained and facilitated. In the end we lost 63-37, yet we knew we had played our best game of the season and I knew I had played pretty well under pressure. Losing always sucks, but being treated with such joviality and friendship after the game by my old friends was heartening.
In conclusion, the whole season has been a fanatastic experience to go through, with the intense physical training and the additional task of balancing academic coursework. I believe I fulfilled some of my inner goals for the season, mainly becoming a better shooter and having confidence on court, while also making good friends (with my own teamates! Not, as is normally the case with the opposition..)
Wow, what a blast. Our basketball team went back to India (at an additional cost of $200 to us) from the 21-24th of November.
Firstly, going back to my old school in DElhi (AES) was pretty awesome, seeing that I got to meet nearly all my friends, play some ball with them and enjoy the facilities at AES oncemore.
As for the toutrnament, we were at first a bit nervous, since we were obviously the shortest, 'scrawniest' team there plus we were down a player. Nevertheless, we worked excellently as a team, our coach (Mr.Foss) fiercely propelling us to new heights. Since i was not part of the starting five on the team, i did not play in many crucial moments yet being with the team and doing my small bits on defence, was, I hope, beneficial for the team.
On Sunday at 3pm the Overseas School of Colombo would play the American Embassy School (AES) in the Championship game. wow! It was pretty strange and a bit amusing for me, since I was hanging out with both sets of players and the camradarie amidst the desire to win, especially between these two teams, was what stood out most graciously. THe championship game was a blast for us playing against a team with much more depth, better trained and facilitated. In the end we lost 63-37, yet we knew we had played our best game of the season and I knew I had played pretty well under pressure. Losing always sucks, but being treated with such joviality and friendship after the game by my old friends was heartening.
In conclusion, the whole season has been a fanatastic experience to go through, with the intense physical training and the additional task of balancing academic coursework. I believe I fulfilled some of my inner goals for the season, mainly becoming a better shooter and having confidence on court, while also making good friends (with my own teamates! Not, as is normally the case with the opposition..)
Monday, November 17, 2008
[I'm sitting on the far right with a water bottle in front]Wow! Our basketball team travelled to New Delhi for the SAISA tournament on Wednesday 12th November. After all the hassle of transit in Chennai and then picking up baggage in Delhi we were rounded into a corner by our coach and informed that the tournament was cancelled since a student at AES had got meningitis. This being a highly infective disease, the campus had been closed. Unfortunately, our school was the only one in Delhi since we had decided to come early. At first i was just shocked, it actually felt like some strange dream. The only good part was that atleast we were in Delhi, my home for the past three years.
The next 24 hours were just crazy. We travelled to our guest house (just 10mins from my old house!) , then left to Agra (Taj Mahal) at 4 in the morning, and were delayed by half an hour since the driver lost the way! wow
The Taj Mahal and the history behind it was actually pretty breathtaking (even though it was my third time) and our group managed to have a good time.
We came back to our guest house at 10 in the night. Extraordinarily, i called some of my friends at AES to find that all of them had actually gone to school that Thursday. Campus closed??
Well, we left to the airport at 4 that Friday morning flying to Chennai, laying off there for three hours before flying to back to Colombo.
Coming back home, i seriously couldnt believe i had left the place!
Thankfully, my dad has agreed to pay $200 for our trip back to Delhi this week and i will have to add $100 from my own cash. Tough, but atleast i get to see my friends and participate in saisa, with an increased desire to win the tournament now!
The next 24 hours were just crazy. We travelled to our guest house (just 10mins from my old house!) , then left to Agra (Taj Mahal) at 4 in the morning, and were delayed by half an hour since the driver lost the way! wow
The Taj Mahal and the history behind it was actually pretty breathtaking (even though it was my third time) and our group managed to have a good time.
We came back to our guest house at 10 in the night. Extraordinarily, i called some of my friends at AES to find that all of them had actually gone to school that Thursday. Campus closed??
Well, we left to the airport at 4 that Friday morning flying to Chennai, laying off there for three hours before flying to back to Colombo.
Coming back home, i seriously couldnt believe i had left the place!
Thankfully, my dad has agreed to pay $200 for our trip back to Delhi this week and i will have to add $100 from my own cash. Tough, but atleast i get to see my friends and participate in saisa, with an increased desire to win the tournament now!
Monday, November 10, 2008
Yesterday (9 Nov/2008) the Boys Basketball team hosted an annual 5k run to raise money for OSC's many charity projects. The amount of planning going into this was pretty amazing, with our coach having to carefully outline the course, get sponsors, t-shirts and ofcourse, the trophies!
On raceday 8 members of the basketball team were posted at various tricky points on course where it was likely that the runner's might go the wrong way. For me it was pretty weird and yet a completely great experience at the same time. I was situated between two paddy fields with a few local houses nearby. I had my orange chair there with a digital camera and phone, dressed in t-shirt and shorts. Quite suddenly, I was being overlooked by many locals staring at me, and me feeling pretty awkward. Add to this, the race was on a Sunday, when Bhuddhists go to temple in the morning. I was seated in front of a deafening microphone reciting Bhuddhist scripture. In addition, there was a special ceremony being held at the temple, which meant i was being surrounded by many Bhuddhist monks as well.
The whole scene was pretty erratic to me yet a good new experience to go through. The race went off pretty well with our superfit Physics teacher coming in with the fastest time of 21:34! In total 148 people signed up donating 74,000 rupees.
On raceday 8 members of the basketball team were posted at various tricky points on course where it was likely that the runner's might go the wrong way. For me it was pretty weird and yet a completely great experience at the same time. I was situated between two paddy fields with a few local houses nearby. I had my orange chair there with a digital camera and phone, dressed in t-shirt and shorts. Quite suddenly, I was being overlooked by many locals staring at me, and me feeling pretty awkward. Add to this, the race was on a Sunday, when Bhuddhists go to temple in the morning. I was seated in front of a deafening microphone reciting Bhuddhist scripture. In addition, there was a special ceremony being held at the temple, which meant i was being surrounded by many Bhuddhist monks as well.
The whole scene was pretty erratic to me yet a good new experience to go through. The race went off pretty well with our superfit Physics teacher coming in with the fastest time of 21:34! In total 148 people signed up donating 74,000 rupees.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Basketball practice is now pretty intense. We are learning new plays with the whole team going gun ho to win SAISA. For me it is quite a challenging experience since I have not played basketball at this level of intensity yet i think am hoping practice, hard work and detrmination will help me pull through. My desire to win is pretty unique in comparison to others on the team since we will be playing SAISA at my former school (AES, Delhi) against people with whom I maintain good friendships with. I think it will be fun going head to head against them, each of us trying our level best to beat each other on court!
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Last week (Thursady) was our first visit to the cancer hospital, a hospital that houses children with cancer. That day however was World Children's day and so the children were having a concert at a theatre close to the hospital. Before we even reached the auditorium,however, we were in the lift when suddenly there was a rush with people screaming while holding a child who was vomiting. We were all pushed out of the lift and I was left stunned. The smell was not that great and it was definetly a new experience to go through in a hospital.
At the audotorium, there were children on stage, some dressed up and some not- all singing together. We were guided to the front with our bag of presents and we sat down. We were all a bit unsure as to what we should do (since it was our first time), but among the confusion you could still feel a sense of 'we want to make you happy' from the children singing, which was rather 'cool'. During the concert the director of the hospital introduced to us a girl who is Sri Lankan, but has been living in Australia for a long time. The girl narrated to the audience her amazing story of how she was diagnosed with an unidentifiable cancer in the brain and how she could not see and was partly paralysed for many months. She described how her strong faith and will to survive pushed her through the experience, while telling every person in the hall affected by cancer to stay strong and have hope. I think the whole story and the joy that the girl and the children both expressed was definetly a good expereince to go through, since it made me aware of how fortunate I am in life and how tough life can get.
Finally, before joining Cancer Hospital I had a few doubts as to whether we would just play around with children and let time pass by. However, this trip was unlike any community service activity I have ever been a part of. In my former school (In N. Delhi) we had programs where kids from the slum close to our school would come on campus and play with us (I played cricket and was also part of other activities for smaller children). Yet on this trip I actually felt that these children needed our help, the help of every individual student, and somehow I also felt extremely fortunate looking at the children and their lives. I never felt this involved with the activity in other schools. Hopefully, this feeling will continue and we can provide more positive change for the children.
At the audotorium, there were children on stage, some dressed up and some not- all singing together. We were guided to the front with our bag of presents and we sat down. We were all a bit unsure as to what we should do (since it was our first time), but among the confusion you could still feel a sense of 'we want to make you happy' from the children singing, which was rather 'cool'. During the concert the director of the hospital introduced to us a girl who is Sri Lankan, but has been living in Australia for a long time. The girl narrated to the audience her amazing story of how she was diagnosed with an unidentifiable cancer in the brain and how she could not see and was partly paralysed for many months. She described how her strong faith and will to survive pushed her through the experience, while telling every person in the hall affected by cancer to stay strong and have hope. I think the whole story and the joy that the girl and the children both expressed was definetly a good expereince to go through, since it made me aware of how fortunate I am in life and how tough life can get.
Finally, before joining Cancer Hospital I had a few doubts as to whether we would just play around with children and let time pass by. However, this trip was unlike any community service activity I have ever been a part of. In my former school (In N. Delhi) we had programs where kids from the slum close to our school would come on campus and play with us (I played cricket and was also part of other activities for smaller children). Yet on this trip I actually felt that these children needed our help, the help of every individual student, and somehow I also felt extremely fortunate looking at the children and their lives. I never felt this involved with the activity in other schools. Hopefully, this feeling will continue and we can provide more positive change for the children.
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