Vanish
Monday, July 20, 2009 @ 5:16 pm.
I regard my likeness, and she returns my gaze. I place my finger on her forehead and say, "Vanish," but it is she who will stay; I am the one who is vanishing.
-The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger
Anecdote for Monday. In present tense. Because I feel like it.
Before School
A little surprised to see that all the people that were quarantined on Friday are still quarantined today. And Claire, who is feeling sick.
The class is somewhat silent. Everyone is tired. People are imploring, all in fun, people like Glenda who have a wide radius of adjacent people including them, to get H1N1 so they can all get quarantined. Others joke, "Hey, I have a runny nose. Can I go home?" and yet others say "I wouldn't mind get quarantined, but not after Wednesday, because I don't want to miss Listening Compre."
[my sister says to type "My sister is so tired."']
Assembly/Chapel
Ms Lau admits today that she is very tired; even though we're four weeks into the term, it feels like an entire semester. And, she's been having a backache. "I'm getting old," she says.
I make a week countdown on a page of my notebook from weeks 1 to 10 of Term 3. I cross out weeks 1 to 3 and boxed week 4. Almost halfway there.
Felicia and Hui Xian lead Chapel. Ms Lau shows a video from the same guys (nooma.com) about anger with random bits of footage in a store slotted in it. Then we share about what makes us angry in little groups. Ms Lau joins ours.
Wendy says that being hungry makes her angry. I say that people waking me up makes her angry. Ms Lau shares about how she used to get angry when her domestic helper in primary school slapped her shoulder every day to wake her up. And about her boyfriend's obsession with World of Warcraft and neglect to call her.
Biology
We finish the Mid Year paper and all the Respiration worksheets. Ms Lau reminds us of the informal assessment on Wednesday ; respiration, 15 marks SEQ, 20 minutes.
I feel somewhat grateful that some Bio was taken up by Chapel. I kinda hate 1h 20 minute periods.
New Homework: NIL
Lit
Ms Tan returns our unseen papers which are dismal; the highest is 15/25. She says our writing is very "high-flown". I feel a little sad. I wish I could do better. I wonder how I had managed a 20/25 for the first CT. Maybe I should ask Ms Tan to re-mark it and see what happens.
She says that I make too many points within a point.
New Homework: NIL, but Character Analysis due tomorrow, and Unseen due on Wednesday
Recess
I sit at Charlotte's table, who's apparently feeling rather down, and her temperature's pretty high too (37.5 C). Claudia is there too. And the rest. I eat frozen yoghurt.
Higher Chinese
I am dead tired. I want to sleep. Luckily we do writing today. Bao zhang bao da, which lao shi says we will drill continuously until she is happy. Then we move on to other writing things. We do it in pairs. It is unbelievably slow. Glenda and I agree on that.
New Homework: NIL
SS
We go to the LT a little scared that we are late, but there's Tutorial today. No lecture until next Wednesday. Some people groan.
I am falling asleep. I nearly do. I see an entire row (Li Cheng, Yun Hua and Alison, separated by a passable awake Ka Yi) asleep.
Mrs Raj takes ten minutes off Mr Liu's time for a bit because Mr Liu is just standing outside or something.
New Homework: NIL
Physics
Everyone is really tired now. Nicole and Felicia half-scold Mr Liu for not chasing Mrs Raj out.
Mr Liu mentions him wanting to book an air-con room for this lesson so that we can wake up. Felicia says that air-con is conducive for sleeping. I think if we go to the library it will be too cold to sleep.
He also asks us if the class is any different without Carolyn and Stephanie; we say it's quieter. (Nicole and Felicia say "and we get to take over everything".)
Our side doesn't ask questions today, observes Mr Liu, especially Eleanor. Too tired, he assumes. He's right. Or that's my assumption.
We do specific heat capacity. Which is just Math.
New Homework: Worked Examples in Heat Capacity worksheet. No idea when it's due.
Lunch
Liz Chan goes home complaining of a headache. I have a headache too. Can I go home? Anyway, I trudge down to the canteen and order a $1.50 chicken rice. Then I go and sit with Diana, Yun Hua, etc.
I ask Diana whether she wants a Drama Night. She says no, because she should focus on her studies.
I don't know if I should post it here [tell me to remove it if you don't want it here, please! Sorry!] but she mentions also quitting drama to join dance in Sec 4, because dance is more organised and apparently less demanding. And, she likes dance better.
I still want a Drama Night. I grab an ice Milo then trudge upstairs to the washrooms, then sprint back to class though the teacher was nowhere in sight.
作文班
I'm even sleepier, which is made worse by my boredom. Why did I even stay back in the first place? I should have gone home. I try vainly to stay awake and only wake up fully when we start writing the speech. I write the easiest, shortest topic on a Campus Superstar winning speech and am a bit surprised when only two people besides myself do so, while the rest of the class all write on the same topic.
Ten minutes before the class ends, Wendy and Ellie finish and Wendy stands up with her bag and Darth Vader bottle (so named by... Mrs Raj I think??), asking "老师，我可以走吗？", but the teacher doesn't let her, saying that ten minutes is ten minutes and why doesn't she sit down and rest, especially with her big bag and big bottle? Wendy doesn't, and she just stands at her seat.
Five minutes before the class ends, Wendy roams out of the class only to be stopped by the teacher, so she just stands by the door. The class is laughing sporadically. Ellie is sitting placidly at her table reading the Lit handout on banned books.
After That
I find the Poetry Slam group in the canteen practicing for Ms Chong (they're really good!). I go with Sheralyn to the toilet again later. We find Xing Xing. We discuss why Sheralyn doesn't consider Xing Xing fit to be in her field of vision.
I go home.
Now I'm here.
Vanish.