Re-defining 'volunteering'?

Reading through the blog posts, can't help but feel T.H.E. overflowing love.

So here's a random post to share some learnings from THES1101E (indeed it's an awesome exposure module)  ;)

T.H.E. Seniors is where I uncovered infinite definitions of volunteering.

When I first joined, it was introduced to me that we "do household chores, chat with elderly".

Little did I expect. The household chores aren't chores at all. How come they are so fun at our elderly's house (but not so fun at our own house)? And when you think we have to be conversation initiators, sometimes it's the elderly who pour to us all sorts of amazing stories of their life adventures. And some other times, of course, it's silence that filled the room. While I used to freak out "gah, awkward liao. What should we talk about!", I've now learnt to be comfortable with the silence. Perhaps to the elderly, our presence is all that matters. Sometimes we just have to sit there, stone with them. We really don't have to talk much sometimes. Also, I've learnt to listen to the absence of sound - it is probably music, or not, for some of our elderly after our 2-3 hours of company.

I didn't know volunteering means just sitting at the coffeeshop listening to interesting stories about kungfu, watching arm-wrestling. Or sometimes simply enjoying the breeze... from the "air con" fanned by our fellow volunteers :P

I didn't know volunteering means just singing our lungs out after one stressful week of school, laughing at one another's zao-sia as if we're in a real KTV room (thanks to the powerful system and Ah le's mike).

I didn't know volunteering means so much gooooooood foooooood cooked by our dearest seniors & spotting so many secret good cooks amongst our volunteers. 

I didn't know I can have shots as part of my volunteering activities :P Oopsie~ Still drunk, maybe~~

I didn't know volunteering means we have to deal with elderly being on and off our befriending list. It's not just about the admin records, but the fact that we don't see some of them hanging out at their usual void deck spots anymore... And we really do miss them.

I didn't know volunteering involves so much learning. I didn't know volunteering... really isn't giving. Nor receiving. It's making friends - old and young - and sharing the love. We're all human beings living in this cozy house called T.H.E. Seniors.

谢谢 T.H.E. 为我上过的每一堂课，给过我的每一个回忆，和每一分的 "surge of emotions"。

闭上眼，享受着心中的感动,

940.