First Time-table Day

Today's thursday, the first day nyjc J1 students are finally following the confirmed timetable. The first day, in otherwords, of a normal, official JC life.

But if things are going to go the way they did today for me, JC life is going to suck more than this blog.

Well, for starters, we have PE. Not that I'm still surprised at the toughness of JC PE, I'm not surprised anymore, but PE just isn't as fun as it used to be. Yeah, I used the word fun. I mean, for a guy like me, the chance to have a real work-out and attempt to work off those spare tyres and extra chins is... enjoyable. (Not so much that I'd like going into TAF club that is) For the first three months, PE have been a sort of weekly de-toxification for me. I've always felt like I've been sweating out those unhappiness, darkness along with my fats. Today's PE wasn't really tough. Its been tougher, but its just not as fun.

For lessons, I had econs tutorial today, which was absolutely disastrous. Well, at least it was, from my point of view. When I first found out who my Econs tutor was, I was absolutely jumping for joy that it wasn't Mr Soh, or Mr Soo or however his name is spelt. His lectures were so slow, I wanted to run up the theater to slap him.

However, today's Econs tutorial, the 'first official tutorial', turned out to be just as slow and time-wasting. I can't say I hate my current econs teacher, at least she talks at an average speed. But the content she was teaching was "essay writing skills", which in itself, wasn't too bad. But she had to go through every single line as if we had reading disabilities. We're not babies. We're not primary students. Maybe by reading to us, we can understand better, but I don't believe in wasting a perfectly fine tutorial for that.

Shit you. Get some real work done! Or at least go through those homework assigned us! For goodness' sake.

Next up was CT, with the same teacher (yes, she's my civics tutor too) and what was she planning to do with us? Take pictures. Oh for goodness sake. Maybe you're alittle slow at recognizing names. But did you have to, again, waste another perfectly fine hour for that sort of thing? If not let us do something civics, then spend that time getting to know a few of us better by talking to us or something while letting us do some self-reading, self study, self revision.

Did I sound pissed? Let me tell you something. I wasn't. I was mildly irritated. Because the worst parts are coming.

A freaking 3 hour break.

Okay, so maybe that freak up in the timetable was our fault. That we had to be, as Yvonne would say, "kiang". So kiang that we, as Arts students, who are generally looked down upon, even by teachers (but that's another story all by itself) are taking 4 As and even cross-combi.

Dear school admin. If you guys were so unhappy that we are taking such combis and making it hard to make a timetable, and are now whining about it, why the hell did you give us the choice in the first place? And now that you have, you'd better jolly well swallow that resentment and shut the fuck up.

Sorry, I digressed. I was talking about the 3 hr break. It wasn't too bad, I actually managed to do alittle work in that time. So yeah, it was the brightest spot in today, I guess.

Chinese was up next, and I was alittle, (no, actually, I was a-freaking-lot) tired by then. I was hoping for a real lesson. Late though it might be, at least a real lesson. When the teacher walked in and caught us playing poker cards while waiting, I was kinda surprised and happy. He was quite a good teacher, at least, from the impressions I've had of him. Kitson seemed to like him, and that's always a good sign. Kitson has a good teacher-sense.

He closed one eye for the poker cards and didn't look like he was going to mention it. In fact, he looked downright amused. He was young, which means he understands us better, which is good, and he was (as he said it himself) "effectively billingual". Which is also good. I was like, thinking to myself, well now, what do you know. I might actually have a decent teacher, and a decent school year for chinese!

It looked good, right? Did it turn out good? No. And it wasn't the teacher's fault. My opinion of him still stands.

It was the class.

I do not have anything against 05A5B. In fact, that was the class I wanted to be in. I do not have anything against 05A5A, my class, even though I didn't like it the first day I met them all. I just have something against a couple of people here, and a couple of people there in both classes. The lesson was going fine, he was starting off with exam structure (to be expected, even if I don't like it) and he was actually going through it pretty darned fast. I mean, I had estimated that by the time he finished, we'd still have 2 more periods to go for a real lesson.

He never got to finish it.

Well, it was a combination of reasons. First of all, there was Joel (or however his name is spelt) from A5B, who happened to be like Marcus (from XMS) and kept on talking over at his side of the classroom, as if he was all great and mighty. XMS people should know what I'm talking about. Just picture a leaner, shorter Marcus (with a better hairstyle, but that's another story all by itself) trying to impress the girls sitting around him during a chinese lesson.

Over at my side of the classroom, there was a general feeling of "i'm tired" vibes being given off.

All those, I guess the Mr. Ng (the teacher) could have put up with. He knew we were tired. He knew what being on an ego-ride would do to a person's already loose mouth. But I guess all that, combined with one last straw, pushed him over the edge. Mark, from my class, A5A, was sleeping, which was looked upon pretty unfavourably, and when Mr. Ng woke him by calling his name, (with a smile, I must add. Mr. Ng was actually planning to forgive Mark and shrug it off) Mark returned it with a "salute" with a pen he was holding in his hand. Obviously, being just woken up, groggy and everything, Mark's face would be totally expressionless. That, and the salute he made (which looked like Mark was mocking Mr. Ng) conspired to make him, as Sweez said, "kao bei looking."

Snap.

For a few minutes, there was dead silence (after a round of giggles around the class by Mark's "comical" act) while Mr. Ng struggled to control his rapidly deteriotating composure and bring his boiling temper under control. (I'm making conjectures here, but yeah, he really looked pissed, as in fucking pissed, in my opinion)

I don't want to go into details here. My opinion of Mr. Ng as a good teacher still stands. Because he managed to salvage part of the lesson, despite being angry. He discussed our behaivour with us, and managed to build up a rapport in the place of the scolding we would have received if he had one iota less control over his temper.

But the fact that he was angry, the fact that he had to control his temper, the fact that he was disappointed cannot be denied. And that irrevocably spoilt the lesson.

Oh yes, you're thinking, that's it. The day can't get any worse.

In actual fact, it could, and it did.

I was called up for AVA duty of rehearsal for the international Friendship day NY performance. Being AVA fanatic, I was alittle sad that I can't be with my Umojan friends, but not very sad. I had AVA at least. It was, afterall, the first major AVA event for me.

Well, the 'first' things today all went sour. What do you think happened at the 'first' AVA event today?

Good guess.

Yes, I know I should be immune to it. Afterall, being in my line for 10 years, I should be more than immune to the up-startness of non-AVA teachers who assume everything and make an ASS out of EVERY FUKING BODY.

First, the AVA crew, who are students, who are JC students I must add, who have their homework, who are freaking tired after a long, hard, stupid, fucky day, were STOOD UP FOR 50 FUCKING MINUTES while the teachers were busy doing god-knows-fucking-what. I didn't even want to care anymore. And then, some guy came to tell us we weren't needed and could go home.

Fuck.

We were packing up, swtiched off the air-con and everything, had our bags slung across our shoulder, and then, guess what.

Yup, that's right. That guy had been wrong. We were needed.

Double fuck.

I'm really sick and tired. I'm not going to describe anymore. All I can say, is that we watched teachers who knew ABSOLUTELY nothing about AVA try and be so 'kiang' and test the mics themselves, by tapping on the mics. Well, yeah, since they didn't know shit about AVA, they fucked up and ended up tapping the mics to test. Can't blame them afterall, since they didn't know doing so would spoil the speakers.

Ah well, all in all, it's been not a very good day, but still passable.

BTW, did I sound pissed? I'm not. I'm only fucking, god-damned pissed.

Tomorrow would be a better day... I hope...

Looking to the future~
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