Most of us do know you wake up at 5:00 for the school transport everyday. It's usually a very routine task taking the van to school, we must say. How was the journey to school and were there any surprises along the way?
Before I begin I must point out that prior to this morning, I was the one who woke up the earliest for the van. That wasn't the case today. As I slid the door of the van to the side, inside was this kid sitting down on one of the seats. After sitting down and traveling across the Kesas Highway for about ten minutes, I tapped him on the shoulder and asked, "Hey, what time did you wake up today? Glad to know I'm not the only crazy one around waking up this early." "4:40," he answered quietly with a slight chinese accent. I later found out he was in Form 1 and was starting out his secondary schooling here at Cempaka. My next surprise came in the form of another new passenger on the van. Kevin Saw, was his name. He had told me a couple of days before that he was starting to use a school transport to get to school but I would have never thought it would've been my crummy old van. I called his name out a few times and tried to talk to him out of excitement. Unfortunately, he did not share my enthusiasm that morning. Must've been the Monday Blues or it was just too early for him. Of course, there were more surprises popping up that day. The rest of the ride was quite regular - sweat, reckless driving, the long road and nothing but the sound of Indian music being played on the radio.
Sounds like quite a ride you had there. Now, we obviously believe you miss your friends terribly though the long holiday season. We've also come to know you have a friends coming over to Cempaka Cheras this year. School doesn't start until 8:00, leaving loads of time to catch up before that. Could you enlighten us on the first people you met before school actually started?
Okay, stick with me here. If you go to Cempaka Cheras, you would very well know that every time school begins after a holiday the whole hill is jammed up; and I mean really jammed up. So instead of taking the usual long route from one quarter up the hill, we took an alternate road which lead up all the way to the junction right outside school. And right there in front of us as we were entering the road on the hill was the Cempaka Schools bus. But it wasn't the bus that caught my attention, oh no. It was the people inside. As the bus crawled up the hill, I could see familiar faces at the windows smiling and waving at me. I of course waved back. It's moments like these where I really feel at home in Cempaka. Where everyone welcomes you with open arms and you know that you've always got someone at your back. I've never actually felt like this anywhere else, to tell you the truth. Soon, we joined the massive queue up to Cempaka Cheras. The wait wasn't too particularly long and we soon arrived at the bus stop. I walked down the slope toward the gate and saw even more friendly faces. A few hugs and shaking of hands, and I was off to the front of the hall. There was an assembly that morning and I was all too ready for it. So I lay my bag down in the back store and went off for my next task - student management. The hall wasn't exactly full but there were still quite a handful of people about. It was about 7:50 at the time.
You said your duty was in the hall, but you weren't in the hall even as the assembly began. Was it that you had received other last minute duties?
Ah, yes. The International Prefects, the Year 10 ones to be exact, were called upon to bring the new International students to their respective classes. You see, that assembly it turns out was just for the National students. I headed off to my next rendezvous point with the other prefects. As I was coming up to the Main Lobby, suddenly Julie burst out of nowhere and said, "Come on! We've got to bring these guys to class!" in her usual tone - which you can imagine is pretty melodious. Behind her were four new students, all in Year 10 Aqua if I remember correctly. The problem was we had no idea where the classes were. With the floating classes about, it was nearly impossible to track down every class. Eventually we did get them to their classes. We were all split up though, the prefects I mean. We each had to take a student at least, seeing as we were clearly outnumbered. Right after the first four students, I went back to the lobby to see if there were any more. There were two more, Ikmal and Melanee - both in Terra (2). After dropping them off at their classes, I went back to get my bag and then I made my way to English.
You haven't been in class for over two months. Was it tough getting back into the studying mode? Also, how did you feel being back in class?
Being in class feels great! Absolutely. I missed seeing those Terran 1's everyday - although the class does seem slightly smaller and less ecstatic. Getting back into the studying mode? Hah, I'm not even sure I'm anywhere in it yet. Being away from class for two months does that to you. Though the work-load has increased tremendously this year. It's all part of school, I suppose. Another nice bit was seeing the teachers again. They, not only being our instructors but our
Oh, and were there any new students in your class this year?
Yeah! Well, just one. Her name's Elvina Khoo; she's from New Zealand. Get this: She knows my grandfather. No joke. Let me explain. See, you could count us as childhood friends who were never really exactly "friends". My granddad's a secretary at this temple in Malacca and her parents used to go there; as did my mum. Anyhoo, my grandpa's some big shot at the temple and I guessed he knows her parents too. I remembered seeing her during the Wesak Day festivals every time I was there, though I never really got to know her or talk to her. - it was no wonder why her face was so familiar. She's super friendly and great to talk to. Ellya feels she'll be a true friend as the year goes by.
What's your overall vision for yourself in the year 2009?
Call me insane if you want, but I really feel this year to be really bright. Seeing as it's sort of my last year here - with 2010 delivering my IGCSE papers, I'd be "cast off" from school approximately after Sports Day - I'm gonna make the most of it. There'll be changes before I leave. I'm going do all that I can do in school, as well; be it sports, commitments, societies or performances.
No comments:
Post a Comment