That was how I began this year. 2011 gave me the most miserable January of my entire life, and the heightened sense of gloom led me to predict an awful year ahead. (Think: Stan Man.) But five of us courageous kittens overthrew the source of my January misery. So the rest of the year was much better. I love you five courageous kittens.
And 2011 didn't suck after all.
I sat in a most unstrategic place in class — last row, right corner. As a short dwarf I could never see the whiteboard. Especially when Sel tied her hair into a bun. (I like to blame my math non-skills on the fact that Sel's bun always blocked me from seeing the workings on the board.) But besides the height problem, I had a lovely position in class. Next to me was the Panda, next to her was Tzibear, next to her was Szeraffe, and in front of him was Chimpanzee. And they were kind enough to get me an extra chair so I could sit on a stack of two. Hail the tall Hornet!
The Barnyard Animals are one of the reasons why 2011 turned out well for me. These are some of the best friends I have known. We laughed, bullied, poked, claimed neutrality, sucked up (only Tzi), doodled, talked, threatened all the way through the year. I thank them for their awesomeness. Thanks especially to Panda, the zui hao de peng you for blocking the sun for me during assemblies.
I also continued the yearly tradition of having bust-ups with the debate team. This leads me to make a mental note not to join any debates in college. Though I doubt my resolve.
I took part in the ISKL SEA Forensics. Rayshini called me the Chief Cadaver. I was not amused. So I rose from my death and started speaking and the adjudicators were probably rather startled and so they let me slip through to the semifinals. Aye Lazarus.
I joined the school concert. The first costume they gave me was a shard of tracing paper. When I first tried it out for the teachers to see, I tried to sneak through the corridors covertly. Alas, my all-knowing friends were there. Ah, how naked I felt. I have never sworn so publicly before. Thankfully they changed my costume.
I had fun being the narrator. No one ever pays attention to the narrator at practice, so I could get away with almost anything. Including Audrey running into my spotlight and hitting my bottom in the middle of a performance.
There was no Evo Night (or as Clar puts it, Evil Night) this year. I whooped upon hearing the announcement. No more meshing of Grease, The Wizard of Oz, Mamma Mia! or The Sound of Music. No more stress. No more confounded script writing.
I started this thing called SOS. The real reason why I wanted to start SOS was because I missed being Leticia onstage. (No, I'm kidding. I really did want to offer help to whoever wanted it.) I don't know if SOS was a complete success or not. Sometimes I think that it wasn't. But it's alright. I am happy with whatever my amazing team accomplished in the short span of time.
My trust was betrayed and is still in the process of being won back.
I studied for this ridiculous thing called SPM. I mentally recited the book of Acts and Luke word-for-word at least four times. My mother knew what cepumas means, and I did not. I was not pleased with the Moral-like Sejarah paper. I did not balance my accounts. I counted fifteen rolled tongues and ten unrolled tongues for Science. Overall I think that SPM was an election paper (just a harmless opinion). And overall-overall, I feel that I have hardly learnt anything of worth through my years of schooling.
But that's enough recapping of school life. Beyond school, I was tremendously terrified to take my Grade 8 piano exam. The examiner had a thick, curly beard and was excessively friendly. His hello frightened me. I played terribly. But in the end I more than survived. Thank you Andrew Tan for being such a patient piano teacher. You may not have very fond memories of me and my dozing off in class, but I have very fond memories of you. You were the only piano teacher to last five years with me (the shortest survivor was four months; she tried to make me play Fur Elise every week).
I also went to Bangkok to visit the best friend. At Bangkok, I was like a baby opening its eyes for the first time. Salty toothpaste! Election campaigns using the faces of monkeys and dogs! Seven people in a sedan built for five! Love advice from the tour guide! Multicoloured taxis! I had the time of my life with Kimmy. Even now, I only wish that we could get together and jam and play Jodoh-Jodoh again. Kimmy I love you.
Fat Pig came home from the US. I had fun with Fat Pig. We jammed a lot until he had to start reporting to work at TFM. We talked about silly things. He did not like my guitar skills. But he was a good Smule Ocarina-ist. He drove me around. When we happened to listen to Lady Gaga, he said that 'radio stations nowadays should stop playing songs in Morse code'. He is not the most articulate person around, but when he wants to, he does have a way with words. We took silly pictures at Lake Gardens. When he was about to leave, I was sad. I am rarely sad.
Father and Mother and I did lots of things together. We had ridiculous conversations. But I forgot most of them. Most of the silly moments are recorded in this blog though. I love them very very much. They are quite cool (although Father is embarrassing most of the time).
Min Shen left for the UK. It is now very quiet without her. When she left, 33.33% of the church's alto singers left. She is the 33.33%. Chloe did not return for Christmas too. That makes another 33.33%. I am the final remaining 33.33%. One alto cannot survive amidst a choir of soprano aunties. Hence there was no caroling this year.
Every year, I look back at the good times. I do not regret them.
I look back at the bad times. I do not regret them either.
And so, as I have said every other year,
2011 was a great year.
To my readers, happy new year! Don't make new year resolutions — you'll break them by mid-January. Best wishes. :)
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