goodbye
Today I finished my last exam and handed up my last assignment. I ended my exam at 4pm! I was supposed to do all manner of things after the exam, such as handing up a transcript request form and filling in an evaluation form. But in the wave of emotion that overwhelmed me, I forgot the tasks at hand until it was after 4.30 and all the Canadian admin staff went home to roost.
Farewell. London, and Tim Horton's with its coffee and doughnuts, and the hallways shaped in a manner that confused me for quite a while. Goodbye to Room 100, where I had some of the most enjoyable lessons of my life; to Room 51, with its immensely boring sleep-inducing lessons in which we watched the water level in the teacher's bottle of Diet Coke slowly decline (although studying for the exam, I found the textbook interesting!); goodbye to room 204, where I had mostly fun NAFTA classes. I really enjoyed them, maybe because I always had interesting people to look at and a nice walk back home with friends later. I also had one of the most horrible presentations of my life in 51: I forgot what I had to say as soon as I opened my mouth and was very conscious of my Singaporean accent, which I am aware of, a lot. Thankfully the presentation was ungraded. Room 34 with the sweetly droning social welfare teacher and the vastly different negotiation class, in which I interacted the most with other students. University College, where we went sledding on trays after midnight, for the first time in the winter, on virgin snow. On another occasion, early into my birthday, we tried to find our way to the bell tower at the top of University College, but we never succeeded. Goodbye, quaint Attic Books. Goodbye to John Labatt Centre, where I watched a hockey game that made me a fan of the game. To the fortnightly mid-week Dennings where I learnt how to club. My home, where I often lay my handphone on one table, and later spend ten minutes trying to find it just before I go out, and resort to logging into my father's skype account to call my phone! Haha. The home where I've cooked a lot and have grown fat. :P Yes, record weight.
The people. V, the Indian who amazes me with how he is genuinely good-willed but he doesn't not get conned - in fact, he's very street-smart. S, the girl who talks a lot - too much for many people - but she's very kind. Another S, whom I met once at the horse show, from Romania, hoping to develop a cure for diseases. A, my peer guide, who was absent-minded but very friendly. M, the Canadian chinese boy sweet on another Singaporean girl and I hope they work out somehow because they both fit perfectly. Another A, one of the friendliest girls I know. R, the very sporting dutch girl and L, the uncertain and endearing English girl. P, whom I admire so so much after his skills in one of the negotiation classes that it totally changed my impression of him. H, who asked me to church with her and A, who joined me another time.
These are just some. I suppose if there's one thing that I regret, it's that I think I've gained much more from them than I have given back.
The lady downstairs whom I suspect of withholding my Singapore parcels, because how can they take so long? One day when she was not there, I asked the guy next door to help me check and he only found two parcels (not from Singapore) that I had been searching for since the week before. The lady downstairs is not very efficient and she intimidated me when I first came, with her spray-tanned skin and mascara and platinum blonde hair. But she's actually not that bad.
The snow. The way it got both of my exams postponed. The snow swirling around me, discovering I was bad at group snowball fights because I can't track who's throwing what, although I can retaliate rather well one to one. Piling up on my balcony, softly. Turning hard after people have sledded on it multiple times, giving us bruises from our trays gone awry.
I suppose this post is a bit rambly. But I feel there's so much I have to say goodbye to. I feel like the girl leaving her house for her first school camp and saying goodbye to everything: Goodbye plant, goodbye fridge, goodbye teddy...
I wish - I wish - I wish. That I could stay longer. And that I would make use of it to fulfill all the things I still want to do. But I can't, so I must keep the memories well, and learn, and flourish in Singapore.
Farewell. London, and Tim Horton's with its coffee and doughnuts, and the hallways shaped in a manner that confused me for quite a while. Goodbye to Room 100, where I had some of the most enjoyable lessons of my life; to Room 51, with its immensely boring sleep-inducing lessons in which we watched the water level in the teacher's bottle of Diet Coke slowly decline (although studying for the exam, I found the textbook interesting!); goodbye to room 204, where I had mostly fun NAFTA classes. I really enjoyed them, maybe because I always had interesting people to look at and a nice walk back home with friends later. I also had one of the most horrible presentations of my life in 51: I forgot what I had to say as soon as I opened my mouth and was very conscious of my Singaporean accent, which I am aware of, a lot. Thankfully the presentation was ungraded. Room 34 with the sweetly droning social welfare teacher and the vastly different negotiation class, in which I interacted the most with other students. University College, where we went sledding on trays after midnight, for the first time in the winter, on virgin snow. On another occasion, early into my birthday, we tried to find our way to the bell tower at the top of University College, but we never succeeded. Goodbye, quaint Attic Books. Goodbye to John Labatt Centre, where I watched a hockey game that made me a fan of the game. To the fortnightly mid-week Dennings where I learnt how to club. My home, where I often lay my handphone on one table, and later spend ten minutes trying to find it just before I go out, and resort to logging into my father's skype account to call my phone! Haha. The home where I've cooked a lot and have grown fat. :P Yes, record weight.
The people. V, the Indian who amazes me with how he is genuinely good-willed but he doesn't not get conned - in fact, he's very street-smart. S, the girl who talks a lot - too much for many people - but she's very kind. Another S, whom I met once at the horse show, from Romania, hoping to develop a cure for diseases. A, my peer guide, who was absent-minded but very friendly. M, the Canadian chinese boy sweet on another Singaporean girl and I hope they work out somehow because they both fit perfectly. Another A, one of the friendliest girls I know. R, the very sporting dutch girl and L, the uncertain and endearing English girl. P, whom I admire so so much after his skills in one of the negotiation classes that it totally changed my impression of him. H, who asked me to church with her and A, who joined me another time.
These are just some. I suppose if there's one thing that I regret, it's that I think I've gained much more from them than I have given back.
The lady downstairs whom I suspect of withholding my Singapore parcels, because how can they take so long? One day when she was not there, I asked the guy next door to help me check and he only found two parcels (not from Singapore) that I had been searching for since the week before. The lady downstairs is not very efficient and she intimidated me when I first came, with her spray-tanned skin and mascara and platinum blonde hair. But she's actually not that bad.
The snow. The way it got both of my exams postponed. The snow swirling around me, discovering I was bad at group snowball fights because I can't track who's throwing what, although I can retaliate rather well one to one. Piling up on my balcony, softly. Turning hard after people have sledded on it multiple times, giving us bruises from our trays gone awry.
I suppose this post is a bit rambly. But I feel there's so much I have to say goodbye to. I feel like the girl leaving her house for her first school camp and saying goodbye to everything: Goodbye plant, goodbye fridge, goodbye teddy...
I wish - I wish - I wish. That I could stay longer. And that I would make use of it to fulfill all the things I still want to do. But I can't, so I must keep the memories well, and learn, and flourish in Singapore.
Labels: exchange
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