German Language Crash Course

Dear all,

[WARNING]
Please be reminded that a crash course does not involve any physical collision that will result in damages or pains in any way. Crash courses refers to an activity that will result in the possibility of mental trauma one may suffer from the forceful jamming of incomprehensible information into one's brain in the span of a short period.

With that said, AFS Mas Alumni is offering a

German Language Crash Course

for local AFS students who are leaving this year on the Year Programme to Germany. Details are as followed:

Date:
Sunday ( 31st January 2010)

Time:
2pm - 4pm

Fee:
RM30 per individual

Place:
To be confirmed

Tutors:
Julian Theseira/ Lucas Hornung / Chong Cheng Yee

Interested alumni are also more than welcomed to join if you want to pick up some basic German (:

JENESYS VSscNH09 Post Return Orientation

On the 10th of January 2010, students from the JENESYS 09' programme were reunited once again after their two weeks stint to Japan in December in their Post Return Orientation Camp in Singgahsana Hotel, Petaling Jaya.

They spent the two days sharing about their experiences and feedback during the trip, about the places they visited and the sights they saw. Games were also played in between important sessions about understanding the cultural divide of Japan and Malaysia. The chaperons that led the students too gave their two cents about what was good, can be further improved and general opinions about the entire trip. Overall, everyone had very good reports about the trip and were excited to share how the experience had changed their lives and personal outlook on the world.

Lastly, a certificate awarding ceremony took place to acknowledge the success of each participating student for completing the two weeks JENESYS programme to Japan.

Boys bonding

Chaperon Alan Ch'ung giving out the awards to the participants

Once an AFSer, always an AFSer

Group photo
*All photos are credited to Marina Abdullah

Participants who would like to share their experience with us here in AFS Mas Alumni, do feel free to drop us an email at: suyin.chia@volunteer.afs.org.my (temporary account) with your essay/story/article/photo memories. Looking forward to hearing from you soon!

Toodles~ :D

Pre-Departure Orientation 09

On the 19th till 21st December 2009 the Pre-Departure Orientation was once again organized in the effort to help orientate, educate and facilitate overseas bound participants of the AFS Year Program to get better prepared for their journey. Held in Singgahsana Hotel, Petaling Jaya, this time around we saw 47 hyperactive participants from all across the nation gathered together for 3 days and 2 nights, while the poor volunteers had only 7 people between them to handle the bunch of over-excited 17 year olds.

The volunteer facilitators were: Chong Cheng Yee, Chia Suyin, Suraya Zainudin, Edmund Chua, Dexter Yin and Chia Sze Jian.

The day officially began with an ice-breaking session, a time where everyone got to know everyone. As volunteers, it was also our job to try and force them to memorize each other's names. *laughs*

Going round the room with self introduction

We held various discussions on many important topics such as how to blend into a new community with minimal culture shock, the importance of being open minded and such. There was room for us volunteers to share our past experiences, as well as room for the participants to express their hopes, dreams and even concerns of what the journey overseas would bring to them and their family. Ultimately, it was important to instill the sense of responsibility as a young Malaysian ambassador into them, and that they understood this was not just a travel program, but a cultural one that will change their lives.

Much knowledge to impart

Being serious whilst in discussion...or maybe not so?

Edmund sharing his experience in Argentina

The country orientation took the bulk of the 2nd day. Technically, it was an extended sessions where each volunteer, who was a AFS returnee from a specific country, would speak to the participants who are on their way to the same said coutry. Here volunteers can share specific cultural information and experiences, do's and don't and certain how to's that applies to the country. The participants, eager to know more, would suck the volunteers dry of information with never ending questions!

But of course, it wasn't just all talk and no play. We at AFS knew how to have fun too! We played games and energizers in between sessions, had one too many photo taking moments and even had our traditional lets-cram-into-the-volunteer's-room-and-tell-ghost-stories time. :D

Everyone doing the "Funky Chicken"

Nothing beats a back massage from a friend

Each participant was also given an AFS bag, the iconic yellow AFS luggage tags and a free "Just Different-lah" t-shirt. Look how happy the girls are with theirs.


All in all, it was a good orientation camp where strong bonds of friendship were fostered, not just within the participating group but also between them and the volunteers. We hope that this camp had served its purpose in better equipping the participants and extinguish most of the myths, uneasiness and unpreparedness that they may have had previously.

Have a safe trip guys!

Oh, and here are more pictures to satisfy your need to see more pictures.

These are the volunteers, who enjoyed the entire camp way too
much as compared to the students

They may look all good and innocent, but we knew better!

Group picture with the volunteers