very interesting ww1 site

letters from a soldier in wwI, posted exactly 90 years after they were written. very cool. i've put the site under useful sites too

my entry for the Meiyi's photo essay

The VJC UK-France Lit trip really expanded the students' horizons. In 9 nights and 10 days, the 32 Lit and non-Lit students covered so many cultural and literary highlights that we could not really believe that it was only 10 days.

For UK, we went for the authentic Elizabethan theatre experience by standing throughout the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) performance of Othello, just like the Elizabethan playgoers. Other than the sore legs, the play was good and we learned so much from the highly interactive and fun workshop we had in the afternoon and the special preview of an RSC rehearsal too. Now what was the play they were rehearsing? It was not Othello....

A chief takeaway from this trip was how Shakespeare's words are truly meant to be and deliver a sensory overload and experience, not just words on the page. Of course, we were blown away by Sir Ian McKellen's impeccable comic timing in Chekhov's performedSeagull too and thankfully had a very knowledgeable guide at Shakespeare's house that really opened our eyes to the fact that infant mortality in Elizabethan society was very high and this affected the social customs and Elizabethan concerns in drama and that the people slept upright!

Westminster Abbey, the place of the coronation, marriage and burial of all British monarchs with few exceptions since 1066, was super impressive. It put into perspective what a young nation Singapore was. Every nook and cranny of the Abbey was literally stuffed with history, art and culture and you are literally walking on the remains of the great and worthy like Isaac Newton and Geoffrey Chaucer. Imagine, there are at least 3000 such notables buried in the Abbey. To do justice to such an awe-inspiring place, we had the best professional guides at the Abbey.

Dickens Festival was a blast too. Lots of us took pictures with the costumed players parading the streets. To talk about every highlight in the UK we experienced would take too long so you just have to be content with a list: Jane Austen's house, Roman Baths, Imperial War Museum, Charles Dickens' House, Canterbury Cathedral, Eurostar...

France was no less an eye-opener and we could register the difference between both countries. Both has long-standing monarchies but the style of architecture in France was grander and Louis XIV's Versailles Palace and gardens totally redefined grandeur for us. The Hall of Mirrors, where the WWI Treaty of Versailles was signed was, needless to say, impressive.

We went to France to experience and see for ourselves the WWI battlefields mentioned in our Literature texts and found the sites lovingly maintained. We were so fortunate to actually speak with WW2 veterans who were having a memorial service on the very day we visited too. Our guide for WWI sites, Brian, was a fount of knowledge and enthusiasm.

Paris, the eternal city of romance, exhausted our camera batteries in a hurry. We hit the Louvre, D'Orsay Museum, Notre Dame and the magnificent Eiffel Tower in a short span of 3 days. Try climbing the Eiffel Tower to the 2nd level. Your legs will hate you but your eyes will love you. 80km panoramic view from the top of Eiffel on a clear day. That's twice the span of Singapore. Really puts a new and literal spin on expanding our horizons. Another big difference was how much pride the French take in their own artistic and historical heritage. This is evident from the busloads of internal (French) tourists that we saw everywhere, which is so different from Singapore.

Needless to say, we all felt that 10 days was not enough and, many groups of students were saying it was the best trip of their lives so far and they all wanted to come back on their own. The teachers were very proud of the students, who really took their learning seriously and many could be seen reading the materials they have bought, or scribbling down their precious memories of the trip.

Lit H3 exemplars

Those of you interested in taking Lit H3, read the following VERY CAREFULLY!

I've uploaded 4 exemplars of your seniors' work onto VJC Blackboard.

If you have trouble downloading from Blackboard for whatever reason (sigh), I've anticipated this, and have sent the soft copies to the Lit reps of the following classes: 07A12, A14, A15, S43, S53. I sent to only these as I don't teach the other classes and don't have the reps' emails :)

Your seniors have been kind and generous enough to agree to share their good work with you. You must not abuse their kindness by plagiarising their work in any form.

I've also attached a list of all the topics offered by students this year. Hopefully it will inspire you, to see how varied the topics can be, while each singular thesis ends up so beautifully cohesive. :)

Lit trip reunion: great tips

Hi Lit trip people,

Once again, thanks to Gwen and her parents for hosting us, and Mr Teo for volunteering to share the cost of the pizzas with me, heh.

I will need your help to piece together the useful tips given by my friend Aidah for lone female backpackers in Europe:

After our gathering, I called my friend up to clarify some details:

if in Paris, stay in Hotel De Fourcy of the MIJE chain. The MIJE chain has 3 hostels but the Fourcy branch is the best located and the safest. there's another one but that is in a rather dodgy location.

The day-time receptionist is very good and speaks fluent English. The night-duty receptionist speaks French and is not so friendly.

Tips:

Planning for the trip

• If staying with friends, please make sure you KNOW them well and TRUST them. Don't stay with almost-strangers.
  
• Arrive at your destination in the day. Night-time can be confusing and you'll probably need to catch a cab at night if you arrive too late.
  
• Try not to travel overnight on rail if you are alone as you may get pickpocketed or robbed
• Budget airlines IN Europe can be way cheaper than the long-distance rail like Eurostar. Some airtickets are 10 pounds only. while the Eurostar without student discount is about 100 Euros
• A supplementary credit card is good for emergencies.
• If using travellers' cheques, get them in the currency you will be using. If you are intending to spend them in Euros, don't get the cheques in US dollars as there will be an additional charge
• Check on visa requirements FIRST. the requirements could differ even among EU members, e.g Germany and Finland.
  
• Read maps and get sense of direction in the hostel before setting out. Avoid reading maps in public--it's a dead giveaway that you are a tourist.
  
• If you are hostelling, it'll be good to carry a backpack. You can lock up your backpack with a metal mesh when you are checking in for the flight. The metal mesh can be bought from travellers' shops or backpacking shops
• Get a International Students' card for MANY discounts at many places of attraction
• Get a Youth Hostelling Association Card if you are staying at hostels all the way. The German-speaking countries like Germany and Switzerland have very good and clean hostels all across the country and getting a Hostel membership can save you quite a lot! While touring after the St. Gallen Symposium, one of my hostel rooms had this view of the Matterhorn :) It made waking up early really sweet. :)))
  

Customs etc

• Observe the locals in all the countries you go to and try to do what they do. E.g: Do not wave at the waiter in French cafes to catch their attention as the locals don't do that. Catch their eye with your gaze and nod at them for e.g.
  
• In Paris, layering of chic clothes helps you to blend in with the Parisians.
  

I'm sure I've not captured everything so PLEASE ADD ON!

I had a great time today looking at the photos and I realised how much I have forgotten after looking at the photos. We had such fun during the trip! So plan your next trip well, with full attention to safety and I'm sure you'll have a super fun time. :)))

Lit Trip reunion at Gwen's house TMRW! 6 Nov

Hi Lit trip people,

the long-awaited reunion is here! It is NOT 8 Nov. I would like to thank on behalf of the Lit trip people:

Gwen (of course!) and her parents, for hosting and co-ordinating the gathering
Mark Leong (for co-ordinating the responses from the guys)
Kum Boon (for co-ordinating her group's responses)
Yeow Boon (for agreeing to help with the food)
Everyone who's attending
and everyone who really wants to attend but can't.

and me...haha. for sending the smses and for some sponsorship...

Ok Details:

1. The gathering will start around 230pm
Programme:
How to backpack in Europe if you are alone /female/on a budget. the tips also apply to males
Photos of the lit trip: Mark Thompson's dvd
Mei Yi's announcement about her photo essay of the lit trip
Time permitting: screening of the best bits of Je Taime Paris OR Before Sunset--one of the MOST romantic movies about Paris (if Mr Harris remembers to bring it, please keep your fingers crossed)
if all goes well, we should end by 630pm max and go home and pig out some more.

What you need to bring:
$2 per person as we will be ordering Pizzas and snacks and you will still need to top up some money after Ms Chia's subsidy.

For safety purposes, it is NOT possible to put down Gwen's address or mobile number here. anyway, all of you who are coming tomorrow have already responded to my SMS.

See you and BRING YOUR PHOTOS AND CAMERAS! :)

cliffs notes in haiku

from one hundred great books in haiku by david bader:

note: if you know me, you will know my extreme disdain for cliffs notes. go there at your peril.
what's below is for laughs.

d.h. lawrence, Lady Chatterley's Lover:

On the grounds, fresh game.
On the new gamekeeper, fresh
Lady Chatterley.

herman melville, Moby Dick:

Vengeance! Black blood! Aye!
Doubloons to him that harpoons
the Greenpeace dinghy.

jane austen, Pride and Prejudice:
(this is my one of my favourites)

Single white lass seeks
landed gent for marriage, whist.
No parsons, thank you.

charles dickens, Bleak House:

Fog, gloom, men in wigs --
the Chancery Court blights all.
See where law school leads?

william golding, Lord of the Flies:

'Kill him! Spill his blood!'
Marooned lads hold savage rites.
Choirboys learn how to prey.

samuel beckett, Waiting for Godot:

Act I. 'It's hopeless.
My boots don't fit. Where's God?'
Act II. The same thing.

william shakespeare, Hamlet:

'His mother wed his
dead murdered father's brother!'
Next Jerry Springer.

nathaniel hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter:

Grim, grey New England --
all adulterers receive
free monogramming.

vladimir nabokov, Lolita:
(this is very clever)

Lecherous linguist --
he lays low and is laid low
after laying Lo.

michel foucault, Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison:

Carceral discourse
polyvalently deployed.
Hot air gently blows.

george orwell, 1984:

Love is a thoughtcrime.
The Thought Police make Winston
forget whatsername.

charlotte bronte, Jane Eyre:

O woe! His mad wife --
in the attic! Had they but
lived together first.

christopher marlowe, Doctor Faustus:

A scholar trades a
few fun years for endless Hell.
Maths was not his field.

St. Augustine, The Confessions

This is just to say
I screwed around. Forgive me.
I enjoyed it so.

oscar wilde, The importance of being Ernest:
(very good)

Earnestly posing
as Ernest, Jack learns he's named
Ernest in earnest.

j.d. salinger, The Catcher in the Rye:

I flunked out again.
Crumby prep schools. Bunch of dopes.
Boy, I'm not kidding.

f. scott fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby:
(not good but for here for comparison with the novel)

Beauty to weep for --
coral, azure, apple green.
His custom-made shirts.

nietzsche, Also Sprach Zarathustra:

Kindness is weakness!
Abhor pity, worship strength!
Be an uber-jerk!

michel de montaigne, Essays

Genteel French musings --
life, death, odd smells, my moustache.
Today's topic: Thumbs.

george eliot, Middlemarch

Stifling social roles,
small-town gossip -- beware the
eyes of Middlemarch.

ernest hemingway, The Sun Also Rises:

'Why can't we?' she said.
'War wound,' I said. 'Oy,' Cohn said.
Back to Harry's Bar.

lit trip gathering?

well, i heard that some people would be keen on a gathering.

common sense dictates that the gathering has to be:

1. before the OCIP
2. after the PW OP
3. in a convenient location
4. not take too much time to organise

my suggestions (strictly provisional), and the group leaders of the trip, pls gather feedback on how MOST people want the gathering:

If the gathering starts in SCHOOL:

1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD

2. Makan after seeing the photos, at a convenient location near school

If the gathering starts in someone's home:

1. see Mark Thompson's DVD compilation of all the group photos + hilarious out-takes (e.g. the super parody pose photos by the guys) that are not included in the DVD + Makan while seeing photos.

yep, that's it. Quite simple. If the lit trip STUDENTS are not organising it, Ms Chia is NOT going to organise it.

But if you want to organise it, I'll help you to book the classroom, announce it on the blog--which you can do yourself...

:)
Ms Chia