The weekly mow...

I realised I haven't been saying much about my volunteer work here in Guelph...

Found this article online - can't find any standard volunteer page to summarise what I do anyway.

So far, I haven't got a standard route. I turn up on Thursdays and get paired up with another volunteer, who does the driving while I do the hopping in and out of vehicle part. What struck me the most so far has got to be the fact that while most of the clients (yes, its a paying programme, more on that later) are the aged, almost all of the volunteers I've seen are retirees! I've only seen one other guy my age so far, and the rest are probably like 30-40 years older than me. Hmm.

I don't know really how to communicate with people who are that much older and wiser and experienced than me under such working circumstances, so the session 2 weeks ago was pretty much spent sitting in silence in the car while my fellow volunteer drove.

On the Thursday that just passed, however, my partner was a relatively talkative and friendly (retired) man, so between explaining that Singapore wasn't in China (more on that later too) and some level of politics discussion (he actually is in favour of socialism, or should I say democratic-socialism, because hey! It works better in some areas...), I asked him about how he spends his time now that he was retired. So his wife and him volunteers regularly with the Red Cross (I think I might have met her), goes on short trips, exercises regularly with a group of friends and generally don't spend all their time at home. And oh, he kicked 2 bad habits (smoking and drinking) while at it too.

Which got me thinking - why is it that when I think of retired people back home, I get the impression that they spend their time doing nothing? I asked my parents what they want to do when they retire and they said do nothing! (To which I was like NOOOOOOO you've got to do something or your brains will regress and then all the neurodegenerative diseases will set in at a faster rate. zomg don't retire then!) The most active retiree I know personally in sg has got to be my primary school teacher, who follows such a strict routine, we had problems trying to meet up with her long enough to sit down and chat =P Is it a cultural thing? What do retirees in Sg do? Is there a difference between education levels? Forgive my ignorance, but can someone rescue this frog in the well??

That's one. The other thing that struck me was how independent people are here. I don't think I've seen so many walkers ever around. This system allows for people (who can to some extent afford it I guess) to obtain specially prepared hot meals (e.g. diabetic meals) without the difficulties with leaving their home, or cooking (which clearly can be a challenge if they're not as strong) - in other words, lead a mostly independent life.

What I really value through this experience is the interaction with people, which was missing in my previous volunteering stint with FFTH (or rather, the interaction was terribly minimal). Then again, it was probably due to my own issues with talking to people. Then again, not everyone here is always terribly friendly, but I guess that's part of the entire job, especially since I'm a new face. Heh.

I get strangely comforted when someone assumes Singapore is in China now - its the feeling of "oh, all's right with the world, after all" - like its something that should be expected! I'm probably too perturbed with the Sg-is-in-Japan (COMPLETELY WRONGGG) mindset here, so the standard assumption actually feels normal.