I have been wanting to make this blog for a long time but due to moving around very frequently and lack of internet I never really found the time.
I'm in Taipei at the moment at the DongWu Hotel; we flew in on Tuesday from Hong Kong and before that I spent 2 days at my grandparents' apartment in Guangzhou.
I used to visit Guangzhou with my family every 2 years or so and I used to think it was an overurbanised, overly-grey concrete wasteland. However, as I grew up, I somehow started learning things and becoming inspired whenever I go back to visit. There is just something irreplaceable about a hometown, albeit one that I can barely remember. The important thing is the tiny snippets of memories that flood back to me when I stand at the physical locations of my childhood -- the shop where I bought small mantou snacks next to our house, the paved courtyard of the kindergarten where I would wave goodbye to my grandmother every morning and make her promise that my grandfather would pick me up in the afternoon on his bike (very important, I would be deeply saddened if he showed up without a bike), the commercial sector of town where I would go shopping with my grandmother and politely go with her choices of clothing which would always end up making me look like unicorn's vomit.
It is a wonderful coalescence of the past and present.
I found my uncle's old diaries lined up neatly on his shelf. I picked a blue one up -- 1986. 7 years before I was born. It was so menial -- date, weather, temperature, recount of the day's events. Twice a week, consistently, for a year. The writing reached just halfway through the notebook; the rest of it was blank. And then 1987 began -- a green notebook. It's amazing to think that at the time it was written, there was no such thing as internet or personal, affordable computers. The everyday events in that notebook were so ordinary and yet, from the perspective of our society, so extraordinary. Nobody would lead such a boring life! This is why I find it amazing. Although at that time it was just a way for him to write down and record events in his life and to spend time on when bored, its sheer age makes it so precious today; I felt as if the paper could disintegrate in my hands and cherished history crumble forever.
The room where the diaries sit is a record of my uncle's life. Outside of the shelf, there is a large stack of WoW giftcards. A large frame containing his wedding photo hangs above the bed and a gigantic teddy bear sits before the pillows. There are many shelves in this old apartment room, as he has since moved out. The older ones contain his old bug collection and holiday photos with his friends -- I see my twenty-year-old aunt in a group photo in Tibet; the first time they met. The newer cupboards had the inescapable essence of woman -- my aunt's jewellery, her perfumes, her makeup. It's amazing to see how life can change.
This time, since I was only staying for a short time, my uncle took half days off work to show me around the city. I always found it so interesting how my uncles are always so friendly and familiar with me even though I barely talk to them normally. But as I flipped through the old photo albums, I saw myself a small-potato-sack-sized baby in my uncle's arms. The date read September 1993. I was 2 months old -- my uncle looks almost identical to how he is today, minus a few white hairs. It's interesting how quickly things can change. I flipped another page and saw a family photo with all my cousins. 2002. In just 10 years between 1992 and 2002, my family grew by 4 children, all of whom the adults loved dearly. I was the first, though perhaps not necessarily the first to realise how amazing the potential of the present is; what we do now will certainly determine where we end up later. And it is this unknown that is so beautiful.
More travel updates soon maybe. I felt inspired at some point but no time/energy to turn inspiration into words ):
29 December 2011
08 December 2011
From beginning to end of high school.... part 3
And then... this year.
I grew closer to so many people this year that I never knew before. Everyone is so friendly and warm, and staff members treated us like peers. It is an environment that promotes community and natural maturity. I love being able to sit down and talk with anyone in the year 13 uniform and have a chat. I love being able to pass them in town or newmarket and wave and smile, even if we don't share any classes or if we have never talked previously. There's just something about STCC that ties everyone together, and there are no ulterior motives, or reasons, why I would want to say hi to someone I barely know. I just do it because I want to. Plus, this year made me feel like I grew up so fast, I didn't have time to look where I was going or take care with where I was stepping. But, all turned out well.
What an awesome year it's been. It's been such a different experience than previous years; like a roller coaster ride, it's gained its own momentum and events just stacked up week after week, day after day, and before we knew it we are here -- at the final stop on the train schedule. It's been a long ride, but it's time to get off the train now and make our ways up from the underground subway station into the busy world, our feet firmly planted on the ground and only the empty sky above us containing our growth.
Subway Entrance by Themeny
Walking out of school today in my white shirt and long skirt, knowing that it's the last time we will ever wear them, was a strange experience. I will never walk into the school as a student again. It's time to put away our 'mauve' ribbons forever. I will never have to address my teachers as 'Mr.', 'Miss' and 'Mrs'. I will again never be constrained into the "St. Cuthbert's Student" suit, and yet I will miss it.
I will miss the traffic jams between Hunter and Robertson, I will miss Mrs. Ali's unreadable handwriting, I will miss intruder drills where we all hide under the desks, I will miss the THUDs from Mr. Torrie running into walls in adjacent classrooms, I will miss Cheeky's perfectly-timed wolfwhistles, I will miss Mr. Cuer's bright turquoise shirt and lunging at the whiteboard waving markers, I will miss Mr. Bryden's lying about making all the physics equipment, I will miss Mr. Ball's dry jokes, I will miss Mrs. Saunder's kitten heels, I will miss wobbly desks in exams, I will miss the "draw a heart/smiley/elephant if you are bored" engravings on tables, I will miss badly timed fire drills and having to walk with disgruntlement all the way over to the sports field, I will miss waiting for year 9s to pass with their house bags, I will miss seeing Gabby's face all around the school on Open Day, I will miss Mrs. Rodgers writing on the wall in Year 10 and telling Ruby not to talk back, I will miss wheelie chairs in the art department and I will miss the (questionable presence of) fleas in the common room and I will miss getting up early to ensure parking on market road every morning and I will miss Zoe running into me in corridors and Marijke playing shooting games in English class and Steph JY punching my boobs (okay I just realised how amazingly lesbian that sounded and I apologise for any awkwardness but in my defence you are the one punching my boobs), but most of all I will miss everyone for all their eccentricities and awesomeness and presence around me...
I think it's true, not many people graduating from their high schools would have had the experiences we have had, and we have been giving such amazing tools and background for our future. I can be anything I want now, and yet under this paralyzing freedom I don't know where I will go or what I will do, and I can do nothing at all for the time being.
I require time to get a sense of my bearings, which hopefully this long summer holiday will provide.
Being vomited out of the subway station now, we see an intersection. Roads in every direction, people scuttling past -- which road will you choose to travel on? Retracting back into the security of the warm subway is the only option our freedom doesn't grant us; life is a one way train, and we did not think to buy return tickets before we came.
I grew closer to so many people this year that I never knew before. Everyone is so friendly and warm, and staff members treated us like peers. It is an environment that promotes community and natural maturity. I love being able to sit down and talk with anyone in the year 13 uniform and have a chat. I love being able to pass them in town or newmarket and wave and smile, even if we don't share any classes or if we have never talked previously. There's just something about STCC that ties everyone together, and there are no ulterior motives, or reasons, why I would want to say hi to someone I barely know. I just do it because I want to. Plus, this year made me feel like I grew up so fast, I didn't have time to look where I was going or take care with where I was stepping. But, all turned out well.
What an awesome year it's been. It's been such a different experience than previous years; like a roller coaster ride, it's gained its own momentum and events just stacked up week after week, day after day, and before we knew it we are here -- at the final stop on the train schedule. It's been a long ride, but it's time to get off the train now and make our ways up from the underground subway station into the busy world, our feet firmly planted on the ground and only the empty sky above us containing our growth.
Subway Entrance by Themeny
Walking out of school today in my white shirt and long skirt, knowing that it's the last time we will ever wear them, was a strange experience. I will never walk into the school as a student again. It's time to put away our 'mauve' ribbons forever. I will never have to address my teachers as 'Mr.', 'Miss' and 'Mrs'. I will again never be constrained into the "St. Cuthbert's Student" suit, and yet I will miss it.
I will miss the traffic jams between Hunter and Robertson, I will miss Mrs. Ali's unreadable handwriting, I will miss intruder drills where we all hide under the desks, I will miss the THUDs from Mr. Torrie running into walls in adjacent classrooms, I will miss Cheeky's perfectly-timed wolfwhistles, I will miss Mr. Cuer's bright turquoise shirt and lunging at the whiteboard waving markers, I will miss Mr. Bryden's lying about making all the physics equipment, I will miss Mr. Ball's dry jokes, I will miss Mrs. Saunder's kitten heels, I will miss wobbly desks in exams, I will miss the "draw a heart/smiley/elephant if you are bored" engravings on tables, I will miss badly timed fire drills and having to walk with disgruntlement all the way over to the sports field, I will miss waiting for year 9s to pass with their house bags, I will miss seeing Gabby's face all around the school on Open Day, I will miss Mrs. Rodgers writing on the wall in Year 10 and telling Ruby not to talk back, I will miss wheelie chairs in the art department and I will miss the (questionable presence of) fleas in the common room and I will miss getting up early to ensure parking on market road every morning and I will miss Zoe running into me in corridors and Marijke playing shooting games in English class and Steph JY punching my boobs (okay I just realised how amazingly lesbian that sounded and I apologise for any awkwardness but in my defence you are the one punching my boobs), but most of all I will miss everyone for all their eccentricities and awesomeness and presence around me...
I think it's true, not many people graduating from their high schools would have had the experiences we have had, and we have been giving such amazing tools and background for our future. I can be anything I want now, and yet under this paralyzing freedom I don't know where I will go or what I will do, and I can do nothing at all for the time being.
I require time to get a sense of my bearings, which hopefully this long summer holiday will provide.
Being vomited out of the subway station now, we see an intersection. Roads in every direction, people scuttling past -- which road will you choose to travel on? Retracting back into the security of the warm subway is the only option our freedom doesn't grant us; life is a one way train, and we did not think to buy return tickets before we came.
From beginning to end of high school.... part 2
I just watched the leavers video and teared up a little bit at the end ): I don't know why, I'm happy to graduate and I'm ready, but I'm just really touched by everything the school has given to me and I feel really, really lucky to have been given the opportunity to attend such an amazing environment for the last 7 years...
Picking up from where I left off last time, year 10 was one of the years that really changed me. At the beginning of the year, I hacked off all my hair. I don't really know why it happened, but I just decided to cut my hair short suddenly, the day before school started. I was still pretty withdrawn, but starting to take more responsibilities and be more socially conscious. It was a slow growth mainly haha, but I think I grew up a lot in the second half of 2008. This can be largely attributed to Kahunui. I came out of my shell a lot. I guess I never really realised how isolated and quiet I was til people pointed it out. I tried to open up more to people around me, not only close friends but classmates as well. I learnt that it didn't matter if we weren't familiar, because all friends are strangers at first as well. Spending a month with these people brought out frustration, boredom and helplessness as well as confidence, self-realisations and fierce independence. And it is the latter qualities that are permanent; hardships are temporary, but experience is forever. The last time I cried, truly cried, was on the last day of Kahunui. I don't really know what caused it -- it was as I was hugging the instructors, and I realised that I will probably never see these people ever again, yet they have impacted on my person so much and changed my perspective on the world so dramatically -- Kahunui is naturally an experience that I never want to forget.
^4 leaf clover found at a firedrill
Year 11 turned out to be one of the most enjoyable years so far. At the beginning of the year, I was seriously considering transferring to AIC. I even went to sit their entrance exam and had an interview. I got a scholarship, but ultimately decided not to go. Maybe it was intuition, and I'll never know what would have happened, but I can't imagine not staying at STCC for the rest of high school. The environment at AIC seems so stark, so cold compared to at STCC. I'm so glad I made the choice to stay. I had a mini crisis school-wise in the choice between IB and NCEA and subject choices later on in the year. I had to do a lot of soul searching and decide what I really wanted... it was the first time I had to make a tough decision like that and make it definitively. For anyone who knows me well, you know that I suck at decision making, so you can imagine how agonisingly painful this period of my life was for me hahahaahah. But, it all worked out. And i have to say, choosing to drop biology was one of the best choices I have ever made. I think I grew and matured so much in Year 11 that I regard everything prior to the summer between 2009 and 2010 to be 'the last stage in my life'. I feel like I have been reinvented through change that year; I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing, but that's just how I see it.
Year 12 was not really memorable for me school-wise. I just feel like the entire year was spent in the Art Department, and it was here that Art became such a huge part of my life. The Art Department at st. cuths is absolutely amazing -- as MKD said, St. Cuth's students come out with an amazing work ethic and skills at 2nd or 3rd year university level. We don't notice it, which is a credit to the way the department is run and the atmosphere within the school. I never considered that art could become such a big part of my life before -- it was already something I enjoyed, but it didn't truly become a passion til then, and I never actually noticed this transition until just now as I was typing this (This is why I blog!)... I also grew closer to staff members this year, having gotten over my semi fear (?) of older and more qualified people haha.
Without STCC, I would never have been given the amazing opportunity of experiencing Europe. It opened my eyes to another lifestyle in another country, and it was really amazing how different it is. Therefore it is worldly education, both literally and figuratively, that STCC has given me, and it has truly been up to us to choose which opportunities to take because there are simply too many to do them all. Even though I look around at my fellow graduating class and feel jealousy for some of the things they have done, I remember that we are all simply trying to grasp and hold everything the school hands out to us. It's impossible to hold it all, especially for someone with hands as small as mine :P
...to be continued...
Picking up from where I left off last time, year 10 was one of the years that really changed me. At the beginning of the year, I hacked off all my hair. I don't really know why it happened, but I just decided to cut my hair short suddenly, the day before school started. I was still pretty withdrawn, but starting to take more responsibilities and be more socially conscious. It was a slow growth mainly haha, but I think I grew up a lot in the second half of 2008. This can be largely attributed to Kahunui. I came out of my shell a lot. I guess I never really realised how isolated and quiet I was til people pointed it out. I tried to open up more to people around me, not only close friends but classmates as well. I learnt that it didn't matter if we weren't familiar, because all friends are strangers at first as well. Spending a month with these people brought out frustration, boredom and helplessness as well as confidence, self-realisations and fierce independence. And it is the latter qualities that are permanent; hardships are temporary, but experience is forever. The last time I cried, truly cried, was on the last day of Kahunui. I don't really know what caused it -- it was as I was hugging the instructors, and I realised that I will probably never see these people ever again, yet they have impacted on my person so much and changed my perspective on the world so dramatically -- Kahunui is naturally an experience that I never want to forget.
^4 leaf clover found at a firedrill
Year 11 turned out to be one of the most enjoyable years so far. At the beginning of the year, I was seriously considering transferring to AIC. I even went to sit their entrance exam and had an interview. I got a scholarship, but ultimately decided not to go. Maybe it was intuition, and I'll never know what would have happened, but I can't imagine not staying at STCC for the rest of high school. The environment at AIC seems so stark, so cold compared to at STCC. I'm so glad I made the choice to stay. I had a mini crisis school-wise in the choice between IB and NCEA and subject choices later on in the year. I had to do a lot of soul searching and decide what I really wanted... it was the first time I had to make a tough decision like that and make it definitively. For anyone who knows me well, you know that I suck at decision making, so you can imagine how agonisingly painful this period of my life was for me hahahaahah. But, it all worked out. And i have to say, choosing to drop biology was one of the best choices I have ever made. I think I grew and matured so much in Year 11 that I regard everything prior to the summer between 2009 and 2010 to be 'the last stage in my life'. I feel like I have been reinvented through change that year; I don't know whether it's a good or bad thing, but that's just how I see it.
Year 12 was not really memorable for me school-wise. I just feel like the entire year was spent in the Art Department, and it was here that Art became such a huge part of my life. The Art Department at st. cuths is absolutely amazing -- as MKD said, St. Cuth's students come out with an amazing work ethic and skills at 2nd or 3rd year university level. We don't notice it, which is a credit to the way the department is run and the atmosphere within the school. I never considered that art could become such a big part of my life before -- it was already something I enjoyed, but it didn't truly become a passion til then, and I never actually noticed this transition until just now as I was typing this (This is why I blog!)... I also grew closer to staff members this year, having gotten over my semi fear (?) of older and more qualified people haha.
Without STCC, I would never have been given the amazing opportunity of experiencing Europe. It opened my eyes to another lifestyle in another country, and it was really amazing how different it is. Therefore it is worldly education, both literally and figuratively, that STCC has given me, and it has truly been up to us to choose which opportunities to take because there are simply too many to do them all. Even though I look around at my fellow graduating class and feel jealousy for some of the things they have done, I remember that we are all simply trying to grasp and hold everything the school hands out to us. It's impossible to hold it all, especially for someone with hands as small as mine :P
...to be continued...
03 December 2011
From beginning to end of high school.... part 1
Just came back from leavers' dinner. It was pretty surprising that I still remember everything that was mentioned from year 7 til now. It's been 7 years at this school, and after going so long without graduation it really feels like a big deal. I can't even imagine what it would feel like for someone who's been there since year 1. I don't think I could ever say that it hasn't had an impact on me. The education at this school has changed the way I think and the way I respond to things. Yet, I feel as if I didn't take away from it all that I could have. But then, I'm not sure that I could ever have been a part of that world.
When I first heard I was going to St. Cuth's in year 5, I deeply resented my parents. I didn't understand what the difference was between private and public education, I didn't understand the difference between single sex and coed, I didn't understand why I couldn't continue onto MRIS and stay with all my friends. Year 6 was one of the best years of my life, even now. It may not have been the most morally instructive, I was surely not mature, but if I have to think back to my happiest memories, a lot of them were at that time. There are memories from then that stick with me even now, shared with people I still hold dear. It might be weird to think about it now. That was almost 10 years ago now, and I was merely a child. But a child is the foundation for an adult, and my experiences then remain very much a part of my identity.
When I entered Year 7 at St Cuths, I remember thinking on my first day that it wasn't really weird at all that it was all girls. I didn't even notice, because the different personalities were all there. In fact I CLEARLY remember that it was 3rd period before it even occured to me that yes, this is an all girl's school, and I was going to be spending a lot of time here in the year to come. Beyond that, I couldn't even fathom. Who knew that 7 years after that fleeting thought I would think back to it somewhat amused. What a long way we've all come since then!
That's not to say that an all-girls' environment didn't impact me eventually. I remember missing the company of guys several times during that year and the next. It was pretty hard to keep in touch with old friends at that time because there was no facebook and we only had MSN. Nobody really felt the compulsion to keep in touch with me since I moved away and most people went from MRPS to MRIS, so they saw each other all the time. The only person I remained really close to was Lucee, because we lived so close. We could take walks all the time in the park and talk about our schools, and how different things were in intermediate. She would tell me all the things that were happening in MRIS with people I used to know. She was like the gateway into the world I felt my parents had kept me from.
I didn't feel like I fit in much at my new school. Even though I had Joy who I kinda knew from MRPS, I actually got to know her better at St Cuths than at primary. Mind you this is back when I was pretty obsessed with anime haha, and I don't think ANYONE at that time had the same interests. Nevertheless I found a few friends and stuck with them. I didn't feel like I was as close to them as I was with MRPS friends. Plus, I was in the middle of my awkward shy stage so I felt really self conscious all the time and I was very veeerrryyyyyy quiet.
Y9 Bernie + someone else studying for exams :) ohh such is the crappy quality of 2007 camera phones.
Despite all this however, I feel like I learnt a lot in Year 7. Mrs Johnson is really one of the best teachers I've ever had. I learnt a lot of life lessons in her class haha, the most important of which is probably the importance of being resilient. When I look back now at that time, she was preaching to a bunch of clueless 12 year olds about this, and most of us probably learnt our lesson. When I look around now and see so many people my age and older who give up so easily, who are so thin skinned and don't get back up when they're knocked down, I am really in awe of Mrs J's foresight in teaching quite a diffult-to-grasp lesson to girls so young. I am equally impressed that she still remembers all of her students even now; she called each of us a few weeks ago and wished us luck for our final ncea exams, and tonight when I saw her we had a nice chat about plans for next year etc. Even though she pretty much retired a few years ago, she still works for the school. I have to say that she's definitely one of the people who have had an impact on me growing up at that time.
Year 8 was a lot better than Year 7 socially speaking. Maybe because we got to pick our classmates, so most of the people in my class were people I could relate to easily. I had a lot of good memories with people in this class, including doing $1-$2 drawings for Ally, but gave up when she tried to get me to draw jack sparrow cos I couldn't do realism at that time LOL, and certain sporadic poker club meetings which turned into weekly shared lunches instead cos it got so big that we couldn't actually play poker properly, and trying to think of an example of 'innuendo' in ms vos' class without making it sexual... yeah it was a pretty good year. I still felt pretty small sometimes, cos it felt like EVERYONE was sooo confident and outspoken, but I was still shy. I remember there were a few girls that teased and mocked me a bit, but it was like Regina George type semi friendly bitchiness, so I couldn't really say anything. It didn't really feel like bullying, but now that I think back I did feel pretty crap about it. However I didn't get suicidal or depressed cos I didn't really care about those girls ahhahaahah, it didn't seem like anyone else really liked them either so I just accepted that's the way they are.
I still met up with Lucee really regularly and she'd tell me about MRIS, but I didn't know most of the people she hung out with. Interestingly this year was the year that she started talking about Yujie cos that's when she moved to MRIS. I guess I consider this time to be the time I 'met' her, even though I never actually saw her in real life at all. But I heard so much about her I felt like I kind of knew her hahaha. When I actually did meet her in Year 9, we both already knew who each other were, so I smiled and waved and tried to make friends. I moved from sitting with my year 8 friends in soft tech to sitting with her cos she looked lonely haha. Through her I met Laina and Jimin, and we claimed Molly the Tree.
It's a little bit sad now that we didn't hang out at Molly much this year, even though in year 9 we vowed as a group that we would stay there until year 13. Since then, a lot of people have left the school, a few have joined, and different people have moved around and found new places to hang out. I remember either Tara, Ally or Roxy drew "HEART molly" on the tree in purple vivid at some point, but that's probably gone by now hahaha. (EDIT: just found out it was indeed Roxy :D) From the memories of Molly, Holly, Polly and Fred (who sprouts pink blossoms in Spring, and has grown sooo much since year 9 -sniff-), to the legend of Jonathan Livingstone the seagull, year 9 was still full of relative carefreeness. I guess year 9 marked the beginning of a lot of friendships that are the ones that I still have right now. If I had an awkward time fitting in in year 7 and 8, year 9 was a lot easier. I joined a few clubs and meet some upperclassmen, and was in general a lot less antisocial hahaha.
Hahahahah Eunji ♥
However, I was still pretty quiet and shy with people I didn't know. Adults and teachers and authoritative figures in general I didn't like dealing with. To be honest I still kind of have a thing with this and I tend to get flustered easily and don't know what's appropriate to say when I'm talking to adults, but it's a lot better now than it was hahahhaahah. I remember not liking how Mrs L is so friendly with students because I just couldn't think of her that way and it was awkward when she insisted on hugging me but yeah there you go
I started blogging on this blog at the end of year 9 actually... wowww this blog is pretty old huh.
Anyway, that was my brief recount of Years 7 to 9 at STCC. I don't know, someone might find it interesting I suppose, or it's a good time to say it all so I can read back and remember one day when I am old. I will cover the rest of my high school experience in part 2 and maybe 3, in a few days. It's getting a bit too late in the day for this now hahaha :P
ok so this is actually year 10 but naww isn't laina cute :)
When I first heard I was going to St. Cuth's in year 5, I deeply resented my parents. I didn't understand what the difference was between private and public education, I didn't understand the difference between single sex and coed, I didn't understand why I couldn't continue onto MRIS and stay with all my friends. Year 6 was one of the best years of my life, even now. It may not have been the most morally instructive, I was surely not mature, but if I have to think back to my happiest memories, a lot of them were at that time. There are memories from then that stick with me even now, shared with people I still hold dear. It might be weird to think about it now. That was almost 10 years ago now, and I was merely a child. But a child is the foundation for an adult, and my experiences then remain very much a part of my identity.
When I entered Year 7 at St Cuths, I remember thinking on my first day that it wasn't really weird at all that it was all girls. I didn't even notice, because the different personalities were all there. In fact I CLEARLY remember that it was 3rd period before it even occured to me that yes, this is an all girl's school, and I was going to be spending a lot of time here in the year to come. Beyond that, I couldn't even fathom. Who knew that 7 years after that fleeting thought I would think back to it somewhat amused. What a long way we've all come since then!
That's not to say that an all-girls' environment didn't impact me eventually. I remember missing the company of guys several times during that year and the next. It was pretty hard to keep in touch with old friends at that time because there was no facebook and we only had MSN. Nobody really felt the compulsion to keep in touch with me since I moved away and most people went from MRPS to MRIS, so they saw each other all the time. The only person I remained really close to was Lucee, because we lived so close. We could take walks all the time in the park and talk about our schools, and how different things were in intermediate. She would tell me all the things that were happening in MRIS with people I used to know. She was like the gateway into the world I felt my parents had kept me from.
I didn't feel like I fit in much at my new school. Even though I had Joy who I kinda knew from MRPS, I actually got to know her better at St Cuths than at primary. Mind you this is back when I was pretty obsessed with anime haha, and I don't think ANYONE at that time had the same interests. Nevertheless I found a few friends and stuck with them. I didn't feel like I was as close to them as I was with MRPS friends. Plus, I was in the middle of my awkward shy stage so I felt really self conscious all the time and I was very veeerrryyyyyy quiet.
Y9 Bernie + someone else studying for exams :) ohh such is the crappy quality of 2007 camera phones.
Despite all this however, I feel like I learnt a lot in Year 7. Mrs Johnson is really one of the best teachers I've ever had. I learnt a lot of life lessons in her class haha, the most important of which is probably the importance of being resilient. When I look back now at that time, she was preaching to a bunch of clueless 12 year olds about this, and most of us probably learnt our lesson. When I look around now and see so many people my age and older who give up so easily, who are so thin skinned and don't get back up when they're knocked down, I am really in awe of Mrs J's foresight in teaching quite a diffult-to-grasp lesson to girls so young. I am equally impressed that she still remembers all of her students even now; she called each of us a few weeks ago and wished us luck for our final ncea exams, and tonight when I saw her we had a nice chat about plans for next year etc. Even though she pretty much retired a few years ago, she still works for the school. I have to say that she's definitely one of the people who have had an impact on me growing up at that time.
Year 8 was a lot better than Year 7 socially speaking. Maybe because we got to pick our classmates, so most of the people in my class were people I could relate to easily. I had a lot of good memories with people in this class, including doing $1-$2 drawings for Ally, but gave up when she tried to get me to draw jack sparrow cos I couldn't do realism at that time LOL, and certain sporadic poker club meetings which turned into weekly shared lunches instead cos it got so big that we couldn't actually play poker properly, and trying to think of an example of 'innuendo' in ms vos' class without making it sexual... yeah it was a pretty good year. I still felt pretty small sometimes, cos it felt like EVERYONE was sooo confident and outspoken, but I was still shy. I remember there were a few girls that teased and mocked me a bit, but it was like Regina George type semi friendly bitchiness, so I couldn't really say anything. It didn't really feel like bullying, but now that I think back I did feel pretty crap about it. However I didn't get suicidal or depressed cos I didn't really care about those girls ahhahaahah, it didn't seem like anyone else really liked them either so I just accepted that's the way they are.
I still met up with Lucee really regularly and she'd tell me about MRIS, but I didn't know most of the people she hung out with. Interestingly this year was the year that she started talking about Yujie cos that's when she moved to MRIS. I guess I consider this time to be the time I 'met' her, even though I never actually saw her in real life at all. But I heard so much about her I felt like I kind of knew her hahaha. When I actually did meet her in Year 9, we both already knew who each other were, so I smiled and waved and tried to make friends. I moved from sitting with my year 8 friends in soft tech to sitting with her cos she looked lonely haha. Through her I met Laina and Jimin, and we claimed Molly the Tree.
It's a little bit sad now that we didn't hang out at Molly much this year, even though in year 9 we vowed as a group that we would stay there until year 13. Since then, a lot of people have left the school, a few have joined, and different people have moved around and found new places to hang out. I remember either Tara, Ally or Roxy drew "HEART molly" on the tree in purple vivid at some point, but that's probably gone by now hahaha. (EDIT: just found out it was indeed Roxy :D) From the memories of Molly, Holly, Polly and Fred (who sprouts pink blossoms in Spring, and has grown sooo much since year 9 -sniff-), to the legend of Jonathan Livingstone the seagull, year 9 was still full of relative carefreeness. I guess year 9 marked the beginning of a lot of friendships that are the ones that I still have right now. If I had an awkward time fitting in in year 7 and 8, year 9 was a lot easier. I joined a few clubs and meet some upperclassmen, and was in general a lot less antisocial hahaha.
Hahahahah Eunji ♥
However, I was still pretty quiet and shy with people I didn't know. Adults and teachers and authoritative figures in general I didn't like dealing with. To be honest I still kind of have a thing with this and I tend to get flustered easily and don't know what's appropriate to say when I'm talking to adults, but it's a lot better now than it was hahahhaahah. I remember not liking how Mrs L is so friendly with students because I just couldn't think of her that way and it was awkward when she insisted on hugging me but yeah there you go
I started blogging on this blog at the end of year 9 actually... wowww this blog is pretty old huh.
Anyway, that was my brief recount of Years 7 to 9 at STCC. I don't know, someone might find it interesting I suppose, or it's a good time to say it all so I can read back and remember one day when I am old. I will cover the rest of my high school experience in part 2 and maybe 3, in a few days. It's getting a bit too late in the day for this now hahaha :P
ok so this is actually year 10 but naww isn't laina cute :)
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