Love in the Heart • Across the Ocean
TOPIC
2019.03.22
Autumn is a nostalgic season. Many stories and people are inadvertently outlined, and they are quietly missed.
Walking on the road in autumn, I looked up at the blue sky, soft clouds, a light breeze slowly blowing across my eyebrows, a bit cool, and the autumn was high and fresh. On October 28th, students from Malaysia organized a visit to the nursing home to pass on the enthusiasm and love from the younger generation to their grandparents.
01 Warm companion
Huang Jin Xuan said that every time he saw the smiles of his grandparents, he would think of his family in Malaysia. During several visits to nursing homes, he and the elderly have developed a deep relationship, so he enjoys participating very much. Activities to visit nursing homes. He likes to listen to grandparents sharing their experiences when they were young. The words “want to be in the past” are always accompanied by sweet smiles. Perhaps they think of their youthful frivolousness, or they may think of their companions by their side. Such a smile always makes people feel warm.
Xu Yue Wen has participated in this activity for roughly three years. She feels that through this platform, she can have a deeper understanding of the ordinary life of the local area as an international student. Many of the grandparents in the nursing home are in old Beijing. Through communication with them, she can try to get to know this strange territory from another angle. For example, a grandfather in the lobby has experienced the Anti-Japanese War era. He will share with Yuewen what happened in that era so that she can better understand the history of China. She also increased her knowledge of China and enriched her experience in this way. Yuewen believes that as a student, there is no way to help her grandparents in terms of materials, and companionship is the best way for her to express love.
Tang Luo Yi enjoys freedom and leisure when participating in activities. In the mediocre big city, it seems impossible to slow down the pace of life at any time. Only when she takes the time to spend time with her grandparents in the nursing home, she can calm down and focus on communicating with them. Seeing their smiles will give her a sense of peace of mind. sense. This is also the motivation for her to insist on studying medicine, because her original intention of studying medicine is to help the elderly. However, the process of studying medicine is really difficult, and sometimes I almost breathe out and even want to give up. At this time, she would think of the grandparents in the nursing home, and then she would have the motivation to stick to it. She has always reminded herself to study hard to help more elderly people.
02 “Zhua Niqiu”
“池塘里水满了，雨也停了，
田边的稀泥里到处是泥鳅。
天天我等着你，等着你捉泥鳅。
大哥哥好不好，咱们去捉泥鳅？
小牛的哥哥带着她捉泥鳅。
大哥哥好不好，咱们去捉泥鳅？”
Volunteers prepared a game for grandparents called “Zhua Niqiu”(catching loach). Grandparents cooperated with the volunteers very enthusiastically and lively. After this game, the relationship between grandparents and the volunteers has become closer, and the innocent and contented smiles of the grandparents during the game also brought a full sense of accomplishment to the volunteers. It is the volunteers’ expectation to bring joy and happiness to grandparents. When interacting with grandparents, I can feel that they welcome the volunteers from the heart. In the game, grandparents enthusiastically teach volunteers who do not know the rules of the game, and everyone enjoys the game.
03 Double Ninth Festival,
also known as "Old People’s Day"
To celebrate the Double Ninth Festival, volunteers provided the materials for making dumplings for grandparents and made delicious dumplings with them. When they heard that they were going to make dumplings, the grandparents rolled up their sleeves and gathered at the venue to show off their skills. From the technique of making dumplings, it can be seen that the grandparents are masters of making dumplings, while the young volunteers are a little frantic. The grandparents around him “can’t see it” and began to teach volunteers how to make dumplings and how to make dumplings, step by step. Even though the volunteers took a long time to master the skills, the grandparents did not show any signs of impatience. After the volunteers succeeded in making dumplings, their grandparents also smiled lovingly and praised them. And some grandmothers have red eyes, perhaps this scene reminds them of their children. Later, more and more elderly people joined the ranks of making dumplings, and the laughter grew louder and everyone enjoyed the activity.
04 Not difficult to start, not easy to continue.
Huang Jin Xuan said that when he first arrived in Beijing, he hoped that his studies would be the most important thing. But the plan couldn’t keep up with the changes, and Huang Jin Xuan’s joy every time his brother returned from participating in the event attracted Huang Jin Xuan. Later, he discovered that the things he was worried about would not happen at all, because he knew that he had an event schedule on Sunday, so he would take care of the things that needed to be handled during the weekend, which increased his efficiency. With regard to this point of view, student Tang Luo Yi who studied medicine also deeply agreed. Although the burden of medical courses is very heavy, she still insisted on participating in visits to nursing homes for several years, and did not delay her studies. She will plan her time well, make a timetable and record all the things she wants to do, so that her life becomes very regular. Xu Yue Wen feels that what she will do at this stage is to grasp the present. For example, when she is engaged in Tzuqing activities, she will not deal with academic problems at the same time. She believes that such a distracted state may cause her to reach the shore at both ends, and both sides can’t handle things well. As the grade goes up, the workload of schoolwork becomes more and more onerous, so you must know how to allocate time before you can concentrate on participating in Tzu Qing’s activities.
When visiting the nursing home, they would chat with their grandparents. At this time communication problems will show up. The first is cultural differences and language issues. For example, when grandparents spoke with a local accent, the volunteers could not respond in time. Sometimes it was necessary for grandparents to repeat them two or three times to understand. But after participating for a long time, they gradually overcame this obstacle. Second, the ears of the elderly are not bright, and they often cannot hear what the volunteers say. This is also a time to test the patience of the volunteers. Luo Yi always believed that as long as the volunteers showed a sincere heart, there would be no problems that could not be solved.
The joy of autumn flows in people’s hearts, and the golden hue is their everlasting feelings.
Some people say that autumn is a harvest season, so this autumn, I believe that the volunteers harvest happiness and love.
Reporter／Huang Shi Xuan, Dong Jia Ren
Interviewee／Huang Jin Xuan, Xu Yue Wen and Tang Luo Yi
Photographer／Dong Jia Ren
Original Author／Zhong Yi Wen
Proofreader／Luo You Rong
WeChat Article Layout／Chen Pei Xin
Web Article Layout／Wong Xiangyu
This web article is the English translation of the original article.
Editorial Board of The Voice of Beijing, 1st Issue, 2019
Edited and published by | AMSIB
Coordinator | Li Wei Ai, Vivian, Huang Xiao Qing
Producer | Li Jun Jin
Secretary | Wen Shi Yun, Wang Xuan Ming
Leader of the Interview Team | Cao Yi Wen, Yvonne
Reporter | Feng Qi Yang, Dong Jia Ren, Huang Jing Yi, He Jing Ling, Zhong Yi Wen, Liu Wei Yu, Huang Shi Xuan
Editor | Luo You Rong
Writer | Zhong Yi Wen, Chen Qian Jing, Zhou Yi Kang, Huang Jin Tai, Huang Mei Qi, Nur Aiin Binti Muhammad Azhar
Art Director | Yang Wen Fei
Art Editor| Chen Pei Xin, Xu Yi Ting, Yang Qian Hui, Zhou Yi Kang, Huang Mei Xuan, Huang Jin Tai
