June 7, 2011 @ 9:03 PM
So here's the long long blog post as promised.
The trip was really wonderful, in so many ways. I think our team really got a lot closer as a whole- perhaps a little too late, we only got over all our differences only at worlds, but it's still good (: all those late-night gossiping sessions were really fun haha!
The 25 hour plane ride was... I don't know what to say. Let's just say that I'm a proud survivor of 45+ hours of plane rides! All in 2 weeks. And probably another 24 hours of bus rides along with that. But the cathay entertainment system i so good, surpassed only but the singapore airlines one. All the music and tv shows and AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL haha! That was real amusing. And swooning over food shows with Callista on the flight to HK and falling asleep watching house on the way to JFK. AND ALL THE WAY BACK AS WELL. Playing random poker games and UNO! (:
So. Uni of Maryland life. It was quite good laa, apart from the fact that the SHOWERS were really )< but other than that it was good. Oh and everything seems to be uphill! ): especially walking to the Diary for icecream. Like when you go back along the original route you'd expect to walk downhill right?? But no, none of that luck ): sigh. The only nice route is the one to the comcast centre! With a nice pond on the way even heh. But the grass patches there are really nice (:
Setup was... completely exhausting. 2 days of tempers running really high (especially at the adults with their fussing around and wasting our time. And THEN complaining that we're too slow. WHAAT?! I mean like, you're the ones who say you're not allowed to help. so why don't you just GET OUT and let us do it! Shouldn't start ranting here but ugh.) and going crazy and "losing" the pyramid package and carrying boxes around and being completely exhausted. But the sense of accomplishment when we were done AHEAD OF SCHEDULE was so good :D :D
Opening ceremony was... T_T. Mass sleeping session more of. and for Chung and I it was a laugh-at-people-sleep session! Oh yeah people have the most amusing poses when sleeping and it's so amusing watching whole teams+coaches zonking out. hahaha. It was boring and none of us really got the feeling of "opening" the world finals so yeah. But well, for many people it was a cozy sleeping session at least. :P
And then there was spon! With our super last minute storyline about lovebirds love birds which we didn't actually need to use. Amusing, I say. It was okay lah we didn't really screw up so well (: (: (:
And LTP was screwed. Really screwed. Okay not that screwed the sudience still liked it I think, but we didn't do our best and we all know it. The energy wasn't very high and Sarah was sick and everything was so last minute and all, but it's over so there's no point fretting! Not that we had time to, it was a desperate running-to-catch P3D3 affair. The whole RG crowd was there at both performances and it was
such a happy and uplifting thing to see almost 70 people cheering for you (:
P3D3's performance was
wonderful I'm so glad they did so well they totally deserved it. It was hilariously funny and we were all laughing like maniacs :D although ACS was good too but I thought they were better. And P5D3! Dictator dictator. HAHA. Loved that one and Nicolette was so funny and Amirah and Satay were epic. And minyan! Her high pitched squeal/yell/cry was so funny. And so unexpected that no one thought it was her. (x amusing really. But ACS P5D3 was really really good with all the OM related puns- but the rg storyline was better.
And closing/results release- the nail-biting time. And as usual I absolutely LOVE the comraderie and the school spirit when RG's name is announced and everyone just starts cheering like crazy for the team. A lot of good news haha- P1D2 P1D3 P2D2 P3D3 P5D2! They did so well so proud of them. Although I still think P5D3 deserved better but that just goes to show that there are incredbly pro people in the world. And I admit I was disappointed when we weren't part of the top 6, and Myrth cried and I almost did and we were all quite sad about it because we'd all put in so much- but who didn't? And ninth is really good already I suppose I'm happy, though still slightly disappointed. It was great though.
Cheering for ACS when they won was an interesting experience. The thing is, we're travelling as one whole Singapore contingent, but we don't really feel the national spirit. The AC/RG competition is too strong and the roots too deep for us to feel as one Singapore and not as individual schools. Despite how we clapped for them and them for us, it's very sad that we don't feel the sense of identity as a country.
The party after closing! Haha that was quite fun with all the drinks and nachos and the FOOSBALL GAME. That game was really good and the foos table was actually really smooth and I loved it so much. And WE WON. Rachel we rock haha (: (: Partying partying yeah!
But the post tour was the best part laa~
Day 1- National Malls! We only went to the Natural History Museum but it's the BEST PLACE EVER. I could stay there forever omg haha it was so wonderful. The gems were so nice and RADIOACTIVE ROCKS- seriously?! and we magnetised a hair clip- on a STONE. hehehe. But really, it was amazing, and nature is amazing. And human evolution, how much we went through to become
Homo sapiens and still evolving constantly even now- it's so so amazing.
Day 2- Gettysburg really reinforced why I love studying history . So many people died in 3 days, and so many more were injured and missing. How the issue of slavery became a full-blown war I don't really understand but we can't really take sides in this. I mean, there are so many different reasons, and we can't judge, we can't exactly agree or disagree with any of them because they're too varied and all incredibly valid from their point of view. It's about empathizing in this ase. But it's really scary how so many people can die in such a small space in just a few days... Gettysburg is one of those times that human nature is really reflected very very clearly.
Day 3- Shopping+Hersheys :D so dang awesome. CHOCOLATE IS AWESOME. 'nuff said. Milton Hershey is an amazing guy.
Day 4- what was day 4? Oh right. Lancaster! The open country was so nice although the Amish are way too extreme for my liking... I think if I were an Amish youth I'd leave just for the freedom. No electricity- seriously!? But their philosophy is good, though they're way overdoing it. And then New York! It's a great place but omg CLAUSTROPHOBIA. How can so many people fit in a city crowded to such absurd dimensions. How do people live there, unable to see the sunlight in the crowded narrow streets! I suppose it's fine for them who live there all their lives but I can't take it. Argh. But the central park is really nice I love it (: and horse carriages and cars coexisting on the same road is pretty much amazing. :D
Oh and sitting with minyan on the bus was epic.
The trip was pretty much wonderful, and the only bad thing was that I missed sportsfest- the saddest thing ever, I bet sportsfest alone would have been better than the entire trip but nevertheless I love you Tarbet <3
OM has been a super amazing enriching experience that nothing else would have given me and I'm so glad I joined- but it truely isn't for me. It's not my thing, if you know what I mean. I don't feel right in OM, despite how much I love it. And I have other priorities, so no OM for me next year I suppose. But it's great that I joined this year- I still don't know if it's been worth it. But it was amazing in so many ways. Although it's caused me more problems than anything but ohwell it was a good experience. :D
