ALOHA!
So, haven’t really had
a chance to sit down and blog ever since the war ended! It feels so far away
now, all that studying and the stress, but yet the break seems like it has
barely started. I associate holidays with staying at home a lot and doing lots
of random things and things I need to do like clearing my room and yada yada.
But recently I have been going out and staying out way too much that I haven’t
actually been getting a lot of physical rest!
I like it though. I
like it that I am duly occupied with things I like to do and people I like to
be with, instead of being busy with things I don’t like to do, or too free that
I loaf around aimlessly.
The first project I
busied myself with after As was to do up the arrangement for my church’s Christmas
programme! I was initially going to perform too but I realized I would be
overseas then so doing the arrangement was my only and best way to still be
involved. In a way, it is really great how I now am confident enough to be able
to arrange stuff for other people to play. I wouldn’t say the arrangement is
wonderful or especially interesting, but to me it is a sign that I have grown
in…erm…musical manipulation skills??
Shortly after, it was
time to fly to Taiwan for a 6 day trip with the orchestra! Honestly before the
trip I wasn’t especially excited for it… because many people weren’t going, and
the people who were going weren’t people I was very close to, except one or
two. But I couldn’t wait to get out of the country for a bit! The cold cool weather
was very very nice even though I froze sometimes hahahah. And in the end it was
a rather enjoyable time, despite the many… ridiculous things and grumbles and
political frictions. CO is a very weirdly fun and funny bunch of people, with a
lot of surface-deep crazy relationships for me… But prolonged times with the CO
becomes a spiritual struggle because it seems there are so many people with
conflicting and sometimes outrightly warped morals. I guess life after JC is
going to plonk me into more and more of these kinds of social settings, with
more and more diverse groups of people, and then I will really need to
strengthen myself and remember what I stand for, and not be influenced the
wrong way by other people!!
The politically correct
purpose of the Taiwan trip was to visit schools for cultural exchange, so I
shall try to pen down my thoughts about them. We visited 3 schools there, one
was a senior high school where there were a few music classes. It was
interesting to see how much emphasis they placed on personal development, and
due focus on the arts as well as sports and other stuff. From the exchanges my
own school hosts though, I sometimes wonder how much of what they say and what
we see when we visit are lies, idealistic aims, and masks. Although those
school visions and stuff can be rather lofty and give unrealistic pictures of a
school, it is hard to fault the attitude of the people you see and interact with.
It seems that the people there are so much more enthusiastic, sporting, and
earnest in the things they do than we are. We tend to be so cynical, loatheful,
reluctant, half-hearted, in the things we do in school. Take PE for example. In
primary school it used to be the period we liked the most. It is natural, kids
like to run and play! But as we grow older, many people start to dread it for
various reasons… But these people in Taiwan are so excited and proactive to be
playing sports! It’s like they’ve retained that spirit of learning and enjoying
from childhood, whereas we have largely lost it.
The 2nd
school we visited was, I slowly discovered, a vocational high school. We
attended a lesson with them on cashiering, which was an interesting experience
I must say… I mean… I for one have never thought to go to school to learn how
to operate that machine?? I thought they’d just teach you if you went to work
at NTUC?? But yeah that was one of the lessons they let us try out. They also
have many ‘CCA’-like activities, of which I got to try out this… I don’t even
know what to call it. It is like wushu and uniform group mashed together. They
stand in formations and spin the fake rifles or fake swords. This is not
something I ever had much interest or aptitude in, so it was fun to try it at
least once in my life. I never knew it was so hard, because the rifle thing is
rather heavy, yet even the girls are spinning and tossing it so accurately! I
could hardly spin it, because of the fear I would drop it on my toes hahahaha.
I realized a large part of my inability is due to fear, not lack of skills per
se… This was also the school we lost our dignity to their chinese orchestra!!
It is true, they are good. They really take pride in their CCAs and I can tell
they must practice really hard! They reminded me of NYCO… whereas HCCO just took
a step back and disgraced ourselves utterly. Blame it on the cold, blame it on
lack of practice, blame it on pride, blame it on a general lack of rapport.
Juniors, please save our face T.T
The third school we
visited was an aboriginal school. It was very fascinating to learn about the
different ‘tribes’ in Taiwan and how those cultural studies people are studying
the evolution of these different groups and preserving the culture while
spreading modern education to those who may be still slightly more out of touch
with the modern world. I don’t know why but the notion of aborigines always
brings to mind people with paint on their faces in mountains and dancing around
campfires or welding spears. Like super ancient people out of touch with civilization.
To some extent, they do have their own tribal colours which they use for the
cloth they make and sometimes, paint on their faces. Some traditions are
preserved, like hunting, and some types of food or tools. And they still have
their own language. But they are also advancing together with the rest of the
world, they have phones and computers and whatnots! Yet it still seems
aboriginal people have a certain kind of innocence to them? A certain sense of
togetherness, brotherhood, warmth and humility.
Yeah so actually the
schools are quite interesting and eye-opening experiences. I wished there was
more time to interact and foster some friendships instead of just saying ‘hi’
and introducing yourself but then there is no time to do more. Other aspects of
Taiwan was mostly the goofing off we did, like singing/listening/laughing to karaoke
in the bus, taking selfies everywhere, slipping out at night to the nearby
shops, etc. It definitely isn’t the Taiwan one would experience going with a
conventional tour group!
Well I actually wanted
to continue on about church camp but it is late and this post is running really
long! So I shall save my thoughts for another day and hope I don’t forget them
so soon.