What I felt as the bus moved off towards Boon Lay MRT is probably indescribable. It’s astonishing how a mere 5 day camp would forge such strong bonds amongst us and result in such an emotional parting.
It almost seemed like leaving 4.9 all over again, just that this time I wouldn’t even be seeing these people on the corridor, or even having lunch with them after receiving a horrible mark for my English Commentary.
It was all so much of a blur. I still remember waking up at 5am on Monday morning to finish my 42 page mathematics portfolio. I was writing about being unable to solve question 5. The next thing I knew, I had arrived at NTU and was swearing about not having air-con or wifi.
The morning of the first day was spent on typical orientation styled games. However, they introduced this human foosball game which I thought was rather fun and creative, though I am in no way skilled in ball games. We then proceeded on our learning journey to IMCB. Most of it was uneventful though, because of my grogginess from late nights spent doing my math portfolio.
We started on card games on the very first day but I was tired, and after looking through my math portfolio again, I went to bed at 1230.
The second day began bright and early in the morning, at 5.45am. At this point in time, I am unsure how I got through the oily breakfast or how I got into my blazer. But I vividly remember commenting to my roommate how it heavenly it was just sitting on that air-conditioned bus on our way to the auditorium.
The keynote given during the opening ceremony must have been the best of the speeches given during the seminar and I regret not taking notes for this. After the grand opening ceremony, we proceeded to the parallel presentations. I don’t remember much from these though the short skit by NJC was rather interesting.
The rest of the day was spent planning for our special programme and brainstorming ideas for our project. It was only at this point that I began interacting more with the other members in our group beyond my ACJC roommate. I suppose the objective of the special programme was really met. We worked till 12 after which it degenerated into card games again. I had another early night, credited once again to math portfolio.
It was only on the third day that things really got interesting. Our parallel presentation was the first for the day. The Global Marketplace. I thought our group actually did well and I think Sean gave an excellent delivery of the points. I really thought our presentation was brilliant, despite (in asyikin’s own words) the startrek voiceovers.
The rest of the day was spent working on our project. Many hours were spent lying on the floor working on the laptop upside down because of the webcam being badly mounted for stop motion. We only finished the project at 3am and we didn’t even get in. But the experience was undoubtedly fun and worthwhile after all.
I don’t remember how I got up on the 4th day. But I was really tired and almost fell asleep during the panel discussion! I did finally give way during the Q&A, but hey, the whole row was sleeping!
In the afternoon, we went down to the istana to have tea with the president. The food was good and meeting the president in person would probably be a once in a lifetime thing judging by how I am doing now.
That night was inarguably the best night of our 5 day stint in NTU. We wanted to stay up to watch the sunrise. We played all kind of games, stress, big2, bridge and we watched in amusement as slippers were hidden in male toilets. It was truly enjoyable and fun while it lasted.
But the party was stopped by a teacher at about 3+am, right after I had caffeine. Bah.
The last day, the closing ceremony was the most emotional portion. Girls in our group cried as we sang a touching song and waved connected lightsticks around.
And it just ended, as abruptly as it had begun.
I don’t usually write narratives, partly because I am really not good at recounting stories but also because they become dry and boring. This particular time however, I decided to write everything down, almost like a schedule because memories fade and no matter how we cling and grab at them, the ephemeral substance would slip from our fingers.
As I write it, the memories themselves are losing the vibrancy they once had a few days ago and already school work is slowly but surely taking over my life once again.
Let’s hope the friendships stay strong, I’ll write about them another day.
For photos, refer to http://xiansabitch.blogspot.com/2007/05/lovely-experience-at-preu-seminar-2007.html
