Had quite an awesome afternoon of dance today for Raffles Amplify, albeit the disappointing sound system failure for the initial performance. I think I had a lot of fun :D plus jingyuan's been an awesome performance partner so yes jingyuan thanks so much!
Life is good - proven, too!
This rainbow was actually spanning across the entire campus from RI to RJ, pretty wonderful sight in the evening when I stepped out of the council room after a gruelling 2-hour math catchup session (with my totally awesome buddy) to get some fresh air. I just hope things stay the same way. Have to keep focussed, keep at things I need to do, keep on moving :D
In the past week, I've learnt more than how much I've learnt for the past three years, and I'm thankful.
It started from a simple driftaway moment in class - well, it was one of the all too familiar times I drifted off in my mind (which is seriously a habit I should kick), but from dreamy thoughts in an attempt to conjure an escapade from the tense pressures of the classroom, there came simple, but huge realizations. Realizations which brought me back into class and made me focus right there and then.
I realized that I was eighteen years old only in age - I wasn't eighteen at heart, and at this time there is really a need to be fully eighteen - no more running around creating messes in the many corners of your life, no more moments where you let time and tide get the better of you. It was a very natural lesson which came to me steadily, and now that it's fully delivered, I will set my mind and heart to do what I need to do.
Every single day has its tough struggles, whether it'd be worrying for your best friend's well-being, trying to survive through lessons and wondering if you'll ever be good enough when the onslaught of the A levels arrive, or even simple but horribly grave things like trying your hand at math for hours and hours but every bit of effort put into those moments never seem to give you back anything. And you subsequently descend into thoughts of your own inherent stupidity and the list just goes on.
But yes enough whining, I should just work on things. It's about timeee.
'Every song has a CODA, a final movement. Whether it fades out, or crashes away. Every song ends. Is that any reason not to enjoy the music? The truth is, there is nothing to be afraid of. It's just life.' - One Tree Hill
The past week has been a real offroad ride in the mud and back; I shan't elaborate more.
Today was council camp dry run day, as lovely as the day would be, but aside from all the sweat and blood put into it, I'm really thankful for the dry run - as much as it wasn't the most desirable thing we'd do on a day like this, it really reminded me what my purpose was in this two years here and what I needed to live up to.
Delightful moments like these are memorable - 28ths' massage session during a ten-minute break (:
Apart from that, This week reminded me that I'm still wonderfully - perhaps maybe sadly - that i'm still here in this real world with my two heavy feet planted on the ground. Rational thinking and consistent discipline is of the essence, and unfortunately those days in which we all thought we could run about with our hopes flying high and seeing magic in every single rise of a new day have long gone and will never come back.
I'm convincing myself that it's all planned out in different phases of life, and as time passes and we get older, all we have to do is to go along and experience these very phases for ourselves, as much as sometimes we'd want to dearly hold on with all our might to yesterday; We can't be small kids forever, getting severely distressed over every single thing we fail to have.
So yes, a right path and the right amount of drive is just all that's needed. It can be done (:
I want to reserve a sole single post specially for Song&Dance.
Back then in September, when I had an option to choose a sub-comm which I wanted to join, I immediately picked Song&Dance for I knew for sure that my orientation planning days would certainly be fun-filled if I could dance and sing every day, but I can say, I totally did not expect Song&Dance to take me on a journey this magical, this exciting, this memorable.
It wasn't just merely the dance-filled meeting days and the nice song meetings we've had. It wasn't just merely meeting up a bunch of like-minded people who loved song and loved dance and hence we enjoyed ourselves. It was far beyond that, way beyond just enjoying our subcomm job scope and loving our planning days. It was a story we unfolded together.
At the parade square towards the end of O'Nite, Song&Dance sang our own written batch song for the final time with all the j1s, and when it all ended, we huddled together and we just felt wonderful for that moment - how we did an absolutely perfect spotless job over the past five days of orientation, from pulling off a wonderful o'peners item in secondary school uniforms, to teaching the batch dance and teaching it super perfectly despite time shortages and AV problems, to pulling off a stunning O'Nite final dance performance, to singing the batch song during the finale right there and then.
Hiok didn't have anything to say - but he started crying. And all of us just stood there crying and crying, at the end of one really wonderful wonderful journey which lasted half a year but now it's really all gone and ended. We are SONG AND DANCE 2008-2009. The best subcomm who did a perfect job, who loved each other to bits. We are certainly the best Song&Dance subcomm there ever was in the whole RJ lifetime of orientations every year.
I'm never good with words, I never really am the best person to write appreciation notes and stuff. But I can say for sure, that I will miss Song&Dance really really terribly - I will miss all the times we walked into the classroom and pushed all the tables to the sides without even saying a word because we knew what to do.
I will miss all the times we spent 2 hours walking from school to J8 to have lunch - and spending another 2-3 hours at lunch talking and chatting and ending up with dinner by the time we finished lunch.
I will miss not failing to spend at least 2+ hours every single time we have lunch.
I will miss dressing up in sec sch uniforms and taking photos.
Wasn't it just yesterday I couldn't find the words to say To fill the empty silence To break the awkward moments
A little smile and laughter shared A friendship sparked because you cared This path we tread won't be smooth But together we will pull through
Walking hand in hand, heart to heart, joining voices to sing and dance When I start this song, you'll sing along, and we can just go on and on and on
When we look back, will we remember Each moment of this year? The days that mark our time in here Threaten to disappear
All that we have's the present To cherish while we can Seizing every chance we're blessed with And leave with no regrets
Took a firm step in this place Wishes, hopes, we're in a daze The cold walls are taunting Just where's the warmth within?
Whenever you call my name Across the corridor The madness of chasing dreams Doesn't matter anymore
Walking hand in hand, heart to heart, joining voices to sing and dance When I start this song, you'll sing along, and we can just go on and on and on
When we look back, will we remember Each moment of this year? The days that mark our time in here Threaten to disappear
All that we have's the present To cherish while we can Seizing every chance we're blessed with And leave with no regrets
Rough winds only bring us higher Tough fights only make us stronger Yet knowing we've got one another We'll stick together more than ever Yeah...
When we look back, will we remember Each moment of this year? The days that mark our time in here Threaten to disappear
All that we have's the present To cherish while we can Seizing every chance we're blessed with And leave with no regrets
When we look back, will we remember Each moment of this year? The days that mark our time in here Threaten to disappear
All that we have's the present To cherish while we can All the friends we've made we won't forget We'll leave with no regrets This two years no regrets This two years no regrets.
Having the energy again to restart my daily routines and to put my life back into order, I wouldn't want to start with anything else but to come back here to recollect what has happened over the past week.
O'tiero: Orientation 2009 is over.
Well those five words seem so surreal. It's really quite hard to believe that it's all ended and gone, when you've been spending almost half a year having so much fun planning for it. And the way orientation started, the way orientation unfolded before our every eyes, the way orientation came to a brilliant nostalgic burning end, was way beyond what I had expected. Everything put together was just an awesome week of magic which I couldn't have imagined on my own.
Now as an OGL, the orientation experience is really different but it's really just as, or perhaps even twice as meaningful! I must say, I am very very fortunate to be yet again part of BW08 :D
BW08 2008: T'akbolehtahan! I can never forget those days (:
BW08 2009: O'OHLALA! YOU GUYS ARE MADNESS :D :D Gabriel Amelia Tingzhang and I couldn't have had a more happening and fun OG to be with. Y'all must know it's really heartwarming for OGLs to find that the J1s in their OG are so enthu and so fun-loving, plus super outgoing and friendly and nice :D It makes everything all worthwhile, and I must say that this whole orientation has been more than worthwhile (:
I won't do orientation justice with my own words. Photos let them talk (:
