Sunset means the end of another day;

Saturday, December 05, 2009

she picked up her pen at 6:53 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

I am posting from the internet kiosk in Terminal 3, Changi Airport (:

We've just went into the lounge, haha. By right, only one guest is allowed, but then the woman made an exception when my father asked, so my mum and I could go in. We ate quite a lot of food, actually, hee. (: The food is pretty good, yup.

We're flying in about an hour. Then it will take about 10 hours for us to get to the other side. That's pretty long D: I guess you know what I'll be doing - yup, movies, writing, sleeping and probably more writing. I really dig writing, even though I'm not too good at it :D

I was looking through this year's school pictures back at home, and I really realise how much I'll miss 207. Every time I remember something, it does link back to 207, in a way. I really will miss 207 a lot. D: I know I mention that every chance I get, but then it hits home harder each time.

Oh wells. You won't see me back in Singapore till the 17th. That's a long way to go. And then it will be close to Christmas, then the whole bunch of Guides initiatives, Tribune camp, carolling, etc! :D And then there goes the holidays, oh-so-fast. I'm not even sure I managed to take much of a breather! And then there's a slight worry for next year's classes. And then the Sciences I'll have to take - I know RG won't go easy on us, but oh well. I'll try my best (:

BREAKINGNEWS: As usual, none. (: Except that I'm still singing VBS songs, they are so incredibly addictive!

Alright, better go soon. The timeout for the usage of the internet is approaching.

Me, out.

xX ~ But the treasures are buried somewhere you can't find

Even if you dig through, it's intangible

Because they're deep in my heart ~ Xx

Labels: 207, VBS

she picked up her pen at 3:54 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

VBS is officially over!

):

So saddd....

Between raising my voice to lower the kids' volume, to worrying about how to teach the lessons, to Auntie Clara's quotable quotes, to getting the snacks and everything, VBS really was a blast. It was different this year, because I was in Missions, which meant I spent most of the time in the same room and listening to the same lessons 6 times over, but then it was still really fun.

It seems to pass so very fast! ): Last year, too, and now this year as well. I MISS VBS ZOMEE. I miss the Missions team, too. It's been a blast working with Steph, Auntie Jane and Auntie Clara. (: At first I had my reservations about being in Missions, because then I'd have to teach those relatively difficult lessons and you know how I am about these kind of things. But God carried us through everything.

I'm also really happy that tons of people came to look at our Missions exhibition because we did put in effort to prettify it, if there's such a word (I know there isn't xD). And then the best part is that the kids' parents all said that their kids really enjoyed VBS and they want to come back next year! It's pretty rewarding to hear that. God really works through the church to reach the kids. (:

And not only do the kids benefit, I think the teachers really benefit the most. God teaches us faith throughout it, because we never know what might happen, but God helps us through the tough things that we have to do. (:

And now for the list of Auntie Clara's quotable quotes, right here:

1. "Have you been UNKIND to my net?"
2. "I am apologetic. For no reason at all."
3. "All eyes on me."
4. "I am NICE, and STERN, and BEAUTIFUL."

And etc, etc. x)

HAHAHA okay, well I'm going to leave for New Zealand later today, so farewell friends, and see you only on the 17th, when I'm back!

BREAKINGNEWS: None (:

Me, out :D

xX ~ Our heart in the right place ~ Xx

Labels: Off on the holidays, VBS

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

she picked up her pen at 6:48 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

First thing up: Yes, the lessons. They went a lot better than I expected. I'm not exactly too clear on what I expected - maybe to melt into a puddle of mush? Nah, not to that extent - but it went... well, not that bad.

I was pretty nervous, actually. Not as much as I normally do, but I could hear my heartbeat, which practically declares that I'm nervous (thankfully, I'm the only one who can hear it ;D). The first lesson was, of course, harder. I knew what I wanted to say, but my eyes kept skittering down to the teaching paper as a sort of I-am-nervous reflec action. -.- Well, other than that, it still can be, I hope, considered okay. Nowhere near as stellar as Auntie Clara and Auntie Jane are, and also not close to Steph, but good for a first try? xD...

And then the second time I did it, I wasn't nervous anymore. It was much better, I hope. Apparently, according to Jessica Heng, I teach like my dad o_O "Even stupid questions you answer" seems to be the clincher to define that I resemble my dad while teaching. HAHA don't ask me, I have no idea.

And just now I was just thinking of 207 again. :/

I'm not going to mention everyone here, but don't worry, it's not because I forgot, or anything. I just have specific people in mind because I just checked my saved messages and had a lot of recall. :D

I will really, really miss Az - yes, Azalea Wang xP - for all her eccentricity, funness and everything. Eating out together, being in Tribune together for the longest of times, and even in the same patrol in the first year of Guides. She actually gave me a Sims 2 expansion pack, and had lots of laughs and everything. Ohman, Az, I'll miss you D;

And then there's Hilaryy, aka Hilili, who is always so nice and cheerful :D Ahaha and how we can talk about personal stuff and share easily with one another and everything, and all our random jokes, like the zebra-man one. (Don't ask.) HAHA oh and how we can talk about how we will annoyed at how we are being taught Lit sometimes *cough* :D

Haha, and Pan Yu with her absolute snarkiness and brutal honesty, and she being my absolutely reliable beta-reader - I can always count on her to give me truthful constructive criticism - and advisor in terms of stories. She's even drawing the mask from Chapter XII: Perfection for me :D

Okay, not forgetting Cher - Cherlynn Cha May Xing xD. Yep, you know her, the one with the adorable pixie face - yep, I'm awaiting death inflicted on me from her now - and the one with the low voice, aheh. xD For all the times we also ate out together, talked about stuff, did the sarcastic/dry humour thingamajig on everything, and just laughing. Yeesh, I'm miss you too, Cher. Hope you'll keep in touch :D

CHAN LEE CHIN, you know I won't miss you out here xD (I just capped her name for the fun of it. I get a kick out of saying her name loudly and really fast. Who doesn't?) For coming to church and being so inherently nice and patient to the point of impossibility, for learning all my little quirks (how I like to be a little *cough* violent with my friends, as in the slapping the back and shoulder etc), my little words ("dieded"? Yeah, that certainly came from me ^^") etc.

Who else but my angel - well, angel/mortal letter kind of angel! - Cui Qin, CCQ, and whatever other namae she goes by! Got to know her through the letters and found out we absolutely digged HISTORY <3>Immortal in my heart.

BREAKINGNEWS: Teaching two more lessons tomorrow!! D: Scar-ee, but not so much anymore :D

Me, out.

xX ~ And my heart slammed the door at your face ~ Xx

Labels: 207, VBS

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

she picked up her pen at 7:20 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

Whoa, busy day. Stress levels hard to regulate, haha, especially since I am teaching tomorrow. No mean feat.

Wait here while I release dangerous levels of stress. You may wait over here.

Okay, on the count of 1, 2, 3...

;fjgl;djhgfgl;hjf;hj;sdf;aursufdh;jkdg

And again:

;dgjsl[asosldjhkdhgkhgdjhguvbfrdtlk

And just one more time for good measure:

s;dfjsljkfgjn,rntipeuoslkv;x.znjlsdhiper

Yup. Done. Not that that really helped me to feel any better, just so you know. Pounding the keyboard is nothing to do with therapy.

Okay, okay, so I'm not that stressed, thanks to the RG training of sorts - which means endless powerpoint after powerpoint - but then I am naturally, inherently, very shy. Yeah. A bit weird, I know. No wonder I write so much - it's like an outlet for my verbal vomit or something. (I'm unexpectedly dry today.)

BUT ARGH.

Point is, I don't do too well in front of people. Making friends, I can still do that, yeah. But once you say, "Oh, Dee, do some presentation", I freeze up like a malfunctioning robot - or computer - and stall. And then after that my mind begins to do a mental meltdown and then I sink into a puddle of irrevocably sticky goop and then -

Well, second thing that happens if I'm struck with the not-too-infrequent stage fright: I will start to babble incessant nonsense, of which I am doing right now. D:

You catch my drift about the whole fear thing.

Apart from this, VBS went fine today :D Yes, for your information, I did not teach any lessons today. Just by manning the computer and the slides, I feel like I am on the verge of a neurotic streak expression when the audio accidentally muted itself. (Haha, today I'm like the Queen of Exaggeration! Or at least a princess of that, yeah. I'm embellishing, maybe. Sort of. And by Labyrinthian logic, you should never just take anyone's word for it without probing further. Ha.)

But okay, seriously speaking, I felt a wave of who-knows-what strike me when the audio decided to be stubborn today. A teensy casualty and I'm already a fraction frazzled. Imagine tomorrow. Worst case scenario, and then there'll be tons of kids crawling over me as though I'm an obstacle course, and then they drive their toy trucks over me (oh, that came out of nowhere!) and -

- Okay, okay, overreacting again.

I've taken a bath, calmed down a bit, looked at my slides, freaked out some more, and now I'm back to a pseudo calmness again.

Okay, things I really need to remember:
All my stress? It's self-imposed and dumb. My duty is to go out there and say the message, not to impress/make sure I don't embarrass myself/look cool or whatever. So no pressure. It's the message that counts.
And then, it's God's strength! I keep thinking that I can't do it, and yeah, I can't do it. But God can, and He'll just be using me to get the message across, so I shouldn't panic. Really.

GOD'SSTRENGTHTHEMESSAGETHATCOUNTSGOD'SSTRENGTHTHEMESSAGETHATCOUNTS

Yup. Okay.

BREAKINGNEWS: Busy bee am I (: (Technically, there's not even a bit of BREAKINGNEWS there, but what can I say, I'm not feeling too up to the proper definitions I defined myself.)

Going to prepare now. Me, out.

xX ~ Fear is like facing your worst enemy - yourself ~ Xx

Labels: VBS

Monday, November 30, 2009

she picked up her pen at 5:06 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

Uh-oh, I'm not kidding when I say I'm really busy. Well, here's the break-down of things:

SUNDAY >> Whoa, VBS deco full-steam! We finished perhaps earlier than some other classes, seeing that we did start on Friday, after all. The lighthouse was pure hilarity - you know, Auntie Audrey was going to help us with it, except that Auntie Clara forgot to mention it to us. When we came in on Friday, we mysteriously saw red strips of paper forming the rings of the lighthouse, and we thought Auntie Jane had did it for us, only to find out that that wasn't the case. And then we almost finished up the lighthouse, and Auntie Audrey found it weird that someone had been working on the lighthouse mysteriously. On Sunday, we came and found the latest addition to the lighthouse (some light bulb thing) and declared there to be an angel working on the scene for us :D

AHAHAHA.
Yeah, it was that funny.

Our classroom looks splendiferous! (: Well, a lot of effort went into the making of it, as well as a whole lot of manpower (my father looked perfectly comfortable handling the hammer and nails, just like the handy, physical-art person he is). And not forgotting how we got a few guys to lift the fooseball machine for us to a few places before deciding where we really wanted to put it ;D

Oh yes, inconsequential this fact may be, my father won the 2nd Individual Prize for the Adults Section of the Bible Quiz 2009! :D My mum and I are incredibly proud of him :D Because it shows how dedicated he is to reading the word or what not.

And don't ask how I did; I did so incredibly, eye-wrenchingly terrible that it's best not to mention my marks. :D

And before I forget, here is my checklist for today, excluding the things in my previous checklist (so hopefully I won't miss out anything that I'm supposed to do!):

VBS preparation

Prepare slides for:

Day 1
Definitions of port, stern, starboard and bow
The word 'Missionary'
Bible verse
Review Questions

Create simple custom animation

Day 2
Foreign words and their definitions
Bible verses
Review Questions
Open Doors Missionaries Profile
(K1 - P1 version, P2 - P4 version, Day 2 version)

Create simple custom animation

Day 3
Foreign words and their definitions
Bible verse
Review Questions

Create simple custom animation

Day 4
Foreign words and their definitions
Bible verse
Review Questions

Create simple custom animation

Overall slides testing
Double-check
Beautify things a little
Triple-check

Day 3 Activities
~~Cut out 48 slips of paper for the 6 classes~~

Lesson Plans - Editing
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4

I'm so familiar with the presentation formats now that I think I could sing them in my sleep. Ahahaha.

BREAKINGNEWS: I'm not teaching tomorrow, not just yet. Steph and I are teaching on Day 2, and I'm a tad nervous. Actually, make that very nervous. I need to remember that it is in God's strength and not mine.

BREAKINGNEWS2: Been a long time since I've actually had a BREAKINGNEWS2, but now that I actually do need one today - Casandra has suggested joining in the carolling like I did last year (oh, and wasn't that a blast! <3), so I'm going to (:

Alright, better get on to the more important things. Me, out.

xX ~ Today is a gift, that is why it's called the present

(Anonymous) ~ Xx

Labels: VBS

Saturday, November 28, 2009

she picked up her pen at 12:10 PM and she wrote;

Hello world,

Wow, who knew my holidays would be so packed? Instead of going to school, this is more like working from home. Anyway, I've managed to strike off a bit more things off the checklist, but I still have enough on plate as of now. Ah well.

Thursday was a pretty eventful day, and so was yesterday, so here's the breakdown of things:

THURSDAY >> Swimming lessons in the morning when I was fully bleary-eyed. It was so cold that I was shivering! Of course, when she asked me to float in the water, I was shivering, and not because of the cold. Yeesh, the compulsive shaking-like-a-leaf thing was really annoying, and I couldn't stop. Yeah, I was pretty much that scared. Of course, it did work out in the end - I can swim! Sort of. In a weird fashion, yes, but it counts for something, right?

Then at night, I went to Edward's concert with Hui Shan and Casandra. We said to meet at 7.30pm, and I thought I was late, but it turned out that they were the late ones, ahahaha. It was quite fun, after all. The RI performance was the funniest - showed the Raffles spirit of being good sports (aka not afraid to embarrass oneself) (: It was cool :D

FRIDAY >> Woke up pretty early because we were set to decorate the TZ room for Missions (VBS). It's going alone fine, even though our box of materials mysteriously went missing from the Resource room >< Actually, we're almost done. My only worry is the lessons. *sigh*

TODAY >> I'll have swimming lessons later. D:

BREAKINGNEWS: Nothing much. I'm trying to write but it's getting hard. The feel isn't there, you know? x(

Me, out.

xX ~ And the last flickering flames turned the paper into ashes ~ Xx

Labels: Swimming lessons, VBS

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

she picked up her pen at 10:23 AM and she wrote;

Hello world,

I am back (: I wonder when I'll ever have the patience to blog every day, but for now, this will have to do.

The checklist is still brimming with things to do, but I've managed to strike off a lot of it yesterday. If you checked back every hour, you'd find that there would be a few more striked-off items! (: But nevertheless, I still have quite a bucket load more to go. I spent a good half of yesterday watching environment-related films to pass that Environment badge.

And lately I've been trying to check up on this show called the Adventures of Shirley Holmes. It is one awesome kid's show! (: It's rare to find, too, but worth it to watch. My mother borrowed two of the books from that series for me about seven years ago, and the fact that I still remember it means that there must be something really good about it, isn't it? xD No wonder I love writing mystery stories. Whatever it is, all my stories have a little bit of mystery/crime-fighting-related stuff sneaked in. I just love intrigue and all that, and mystery is such a winner genre to write about.

So I managed to find episodes for it, and it was great! (: I must be backsliding; watching all the shows I watched as a kid - UBOS, for example, which is also pretty much as good as I'd remembered it. (: And now Shirley Holmes! I must be degenerating or something xP I'm also going to try and find JLU's Starcrossed, simply because I saw the quotes for it and thought it was absolutely cool -and hilarious. (Little secret: I've always liked the Flash's witty tendencies. *cough* xD)

BREAKINGNEWS: My leg is healing up!

Alright, off to complete more things. Me, out.

xX ~ It's time to grow up and leave childishness behind,

But sometimes, for no reason at all,

It's alright to call on those child memories again. ~ Xx

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

she picked up her pen at 10:41 AM and she wrote;

Hello world,

Here is the almost neverending checklist of what needs to be completed.

Guides

Environment Badge

~~1. Watch Sharkwater~~
~~2. Watch Blue Planet~~
3. Watch Quotes from the Earth
[Fable on Climate Change]
4. Watch 5 National Geographic/Animal Planet Documentary episodes on the environment/natural world/conservation
[Hunter and Hunted: Mangrove Man-eater, Dolphin Attack, Ghost in the Snow, Wild: The Whale that Ate Jaws, Lion Army: Battle to Survive]
~~5. Get my parents to sign~~
6. Get my form teacher to sign

Sharks kill 5 people each year.
Elephants and tigers: 100
Execution: 2, 400
Illegal drugs: 22, 000
Road accidents: 1, 200, 000
Starvation: 8, 000, 000

- Sharkwater
[Debunking the myth that sharks are vicious man-eating creatures and
therefore should not be saved]

In fact, zooplankton contributes 70% of the oxygen we breathe in. Without sharks, there would be no control over the fishes that eat zooplankton for food, and then we'll be in an even bigger pickle with global warming than we are now. So save the sharks, and then we'll save ourselves.

And also, by eating sharks, we are adding more and more mercury into our system, which is poisonous.

So stop eating shark fin soup today!

Observer Badge

1. Get my parents to endorse 3 good deeds by me and sign

Writers Badge

~~1. Write an original story of one thousand to two thousand words.~~
~~2. Write a short poem in recognised verse form.~~

At the test write:
1. A letter of at least two hundred words describing an incident she has enjoyed.
~~2. An exercise in punctuation given by the tester.~~

Reader Badge

~~1. Read a book in any language, written by one of the Eastern authors and write a summary~~
2. Read a story book written by one of the Western authors and write a summary of it
3. Read and write a summary of:
3.1 Travel or exploration
3.2 History
3.3 Biography
3.4 A book of poems
4. Show how to use a book of reference and the index of a book.

5. Read aloud:
A passage of her own choice from a sacred book (is the Bible counted?)
A passage chosen by the tester.

Church/VBS

Decorations

~~1. Bring paints and other useful materials this Friday~~
2. Contact Auntie Yvonne to borrow some Guides materials
3. Ask Auntie Audrey for the Australian map

Lessons

1. Prepare lesson plans for:
1.1 Track 3
1.2 Track 4
1.3 Track 5
2. Practise/Visualise lessons
~~3. Make presentation of bible verses~~

That's about it. As I go about doing all of them, I will strike them off, one by one. It's doable, I just know it! I shall go and try now, and with the soothing melodies of As the World Falls Down (Felly will probably give me her "diao" expression), I depart now! (Just being melodramatic here.)

Me, out.

xX ~ Success is how high you bounce when you hit the ground

- Anonymous ~ Xx

Labels: Church, Guides, VBS

she picked up her pen at 9:59 AM and she wrote;

Hello world,

386th post! Yes, I just checked (:

I forgot to mention the swimming lessons that I had last Friday. It wasn't particularly memorable in a good way ~~more like in a scarring way~~. x) Well, you see, I can't actually swim. Asking me to swim is like asking a snail to jump through a ring of fire, and we all know the possibility of that is skyrocket high, isn't it? (If you couldn't tell, I was being jokingly sarcastic xD). Alright, so it wasn't that bad, I'm probably just exaggerating. Now I can sort of hold together a few strokes. SORT OF. And I still have to continue with my lessons because I'm painfully bad at it. Tough luck xD

I also underestimated how important my heel was. Now I have to tiptoe on my left foot to avoid taxing the injury on my left heel. I would actually pun on how it can be my Archilles' heel if not for the fact that it would just flop like a bad joke, so, no. xD But anyway, it's pretty painful. It looked like a small cut - and it is, lengthwise - but it's pretty deep. The fact that I got some of it in my shoe (but awesome Gladys helped me clean it up when I was still out of sorts) means that, well, it was "oozing blood" (as quoted from Gladys, again). Oh wells. Let's hope it heals in time for Thursday, where I'm going to get chlorine in it (swimming lessons :X) and then the concert that I'm going to with Cas and Hui Shan.

I was just pondering about this when I was brushing my teeth this morning, and came to the realisation that RGS does provide quite a good training for the future in the most unorthodox way possible.

Presentations every single week > To get us used to talking on the "stage".
Skits almost every week, too > To help us to think creatively, practise gaining confidence etc.
Piling us with unsurmountable mountains of homework > Help us to be able to adapt to working effectively and fast / Help us to discern which task is more important and therefore the one that we should do first
[And this is a gag one, but: Lousy canteen food > Should we ever get in a war, we will at least have some tolerance for bad food]
Etc.

So, in a weird and twisted way, it actually helps us! And not to mention 207's ultimate kind and good ways rubbing off on me, inexplicably but surely. <3

BREAKINGNEWS: I'm writing, but things are coming out wrongly. I probably should take a break - or a long, long sabbatical.

My mum and I were talking about the travel journals that we keep for every trip we take (: And then she was saying that she enjoyed reading mine and my father's, because you can actually see what we are thinking, like injecting a tiny piece of us inside each of our individual entries :3 My father isn't the type to complain about anything, so if the food is bad, he'll say it's okay, if he thinks something is expensive but he's paid it for us anyway, he'll say it's fine, etc. But in the journal, you can actually see his thought process which is brill. (:

My mum said that she writes pretty boring-ly, if there's such a word, and I am inclined to agree. (My mum isn't the sort who has hard feelings over her own shortcomings, so when I told her that she was "so boring that it's funny", she didn't mind the least bit.) So now here extends another similarity between my father and I (as if we didn't have enough already xP).

As I've always said, from my mum I got the language (of course not half as good as hers, she has staggeringly good and varied vocabulary) and from my dad I received the awesometastic gift of creativity (not so sure how much I got, though xD). And my mum brought out a very, very important fact about writing: It's like, for a moment, you can see yourself reflected in the story, by the way you're writing, the tone you're setting, and everything. It just makes the story you. That's what is so awesome about writing (:

Later I'm going to post this list of what I'm supposed to do, and I shall set about doing it immediately. I'm not sure if I can finish it up this week, but I can still try!

Me, out.

xX ~ A paintbrush paints something out of something, but a pen picked up creates something out of nothing ~ Xx

Labels: Say hi to RGS., Swimming lessons, Writing