Today I went with all the Chinese students at our school to the Fo Guang Shan Temple in Howick. It's this really big flash Buddhist Temple that kinda looks like one of those buildings in Ancient China. I was the camera guy there so I wasn't put in any of the three groups and was given a lot more freedom to go wherever I wanted and do more than the students!
Everyone started off with Tai Chi, following the monk lady outside in the courtyard, followed by meditation. We did meditation in this little room with a shrine up in front. This tape was playing while we sat there in the dark room:
'Relax your brain......breathe in, breathe out.....relax your eyes.....breathe in, breathe out.......'
After that we did some walking meditation (walking around waving your arms) before watching this movie called Fluke, about this guy who dies in a car crash and returns to the world as a dog and starts to remember what his former life was like.
We then had lunch which was probably the best part of the day - rice, pasta, vegetables and spring rolls! And I mean full-sized spring rolls! I haven't had those in aaages! We had to eat everything we were given, and were allowed seconds and thirds which was great!
After lunch we got to have a tour around the temple where the lady just talked and talked and talked, while promoting the temple to us. Finally we discussed the movie we watched, before we left to return to school.
I forgot all about going on this Chinese trip and was planning on buying my ball ticket today! Today also happened to be the last day to buy ball tickets! My dean fortunately said she'd save a ticket for me tomorrow! Once that's sorted I've got to get the clothes I'll be wearing for the ball sorted, but I might just leave that to ball day Friday, since I've got more important things like my Chinese speech assessment to sort out!
Random but...I seem to get this feeling I must be the most boring person to chat to on MSN...how some people just kinda say a few words to me and nothing else (you know like those human auto-responders 'oh yip' 'oh yip' 'oh yip' 'oh yip'), and some people just chat to me whenever they need something from me...lol oh well...anyway
OTHER RANDOM STUFF:
Has anyone else seen the latest issue of the free English newspaper for the Chinese community IBALL? I would've thought there would be thousands of important Asian-related issues to feature in their newspaper, but guess what they have on their frontpage as one of their main headlines?
'I CUT MY HUBBY'S PENIS OFF'
They also feature a news article about an 18-year-old woman who was tricked into sleeping with a medium when he told her that he could transfer some powers that would help her underperforming boyfriend through to her by having sex with her. However after a few 'limp experiences' the couple smelled a rat...
They must be really desperate for some news...either that or people to read their news...
Tuesday, 27 June 2006
Monday, 26 June 2006
Slips and Trips
Yesterday morning I woke up late and had to rush to church. I was going to get someone at church to proof-read my Chinese speech but I couldn't print it in time. My mum had already honked the horn twice and had driven the car to the end of the driveway. So I ran out the door carrying the whole folder (where I thought my Chinese speech might be), jumped over the fence and...slipped. I dropped all my paper and grazed my knee and hands and made a hole in my only good pair of trousers :( Luckily I was able to wrap my knee with tissue from church to prevent the blood from getting on my trousers.
Later that afternoon I had to go to Takapuna where I was to perform in front of three accordion teachers (not mine) to let them critique me on my performance and presentation. I'm part of this 'development group' they're trying to prepare for the Accordion World Championships when it comes to Auckland in 2009. They want us to perform as much as possible, so this will happen every 6 weeks from now on.
Anyway I played my piece Russian Dance in front of them, and they gave me comments. One comment I kinda expected was to TRY NOT TO SMILE TOO MUCH, which my mum has been going on at me for the last few years. Whenever I smile you know I've done a mistake! So I'm going to have to work on keeping a straight face whenever I play.
Yesterday was also a very sad day. Last day of free texting. I'm going to miss you all!
Later that afternoon I had to go to Takapuna where I was to perform in front of three accordion teachers (not mine) to let them critique me on my performance and presentation. I'm part of this 'development group' they're trying to prepare for the Accordion World Championships when it comes to Auckland in 2009. They want us to perform as much as possible, so this will happen every 6 weeks from now on.
Anyway I played my piece Russian Dance in front of them, and they gave me comments. One comment I kinda expected was to TRY NOT TO SMILE TOO MUCH, which my mum has been going on at me for the last few years. Whenever I smile you know I've done a mistake! So I'm going to have to work on keeping a straight face whenever I play.
Yesterday was also a very sad day. Last day of free texting. I'm going to miss you all!
Sunday, 25 June 2006
Fitting Farewell
On Friday night the school held a farewell evening for our departing principal Mr Edmeades for the community to attend. I was there to perform as part of the string quartet and the choir, as well as to give a farewell speech. The function was supposed to start at 7pm but we were told by our beloved string quartet teacher to start playing at 6.30pm. The twins had somewhere else to go so they were adament they were going to leave at 7pm on the dot. So there was no chance of shifting our performance to start at 7pm and we ended up playing to people setting up the hall at 6.30-7pm.
After that I caught up with a few old friends from last year who turned up, as well as the head students who did stay, my family and some other people while enjoying some of the food the waiters and waitresses were serving us. What was really impressive was that their aprons had embroided on them 'Rutherford Hospitality' which was really impressive! Us head students who didn't get to go to Rangeview because of the history trip also managed to catch up with Mr Jameson! We kinda shuffled little by little while he was having a conversation with someone else till he was by himself. He didn't really say much. I then had to excuse myself so that I could join the choir.
That's when the programme actually started. Our choir started off by performing two pieces. We had quite a few people missing. Ms Faaea the music teacher talked a little bit, and mentioned that she was only here till the end of the year which is really a shame as she has brought the choir back from the brink of death! If there was any chance of her being retained I'd be four limbs in favour of it!
After us was Jipers and No Right Turn which was a real treat! They were superb. They also sang the school song which is a great song. Following that were many speeches, including one from his wife, which Mr Edmeades had no idea she had written and planned already. Heather and I also gave our speeches. I had only just made some changes a few minutes before I had to give my speech because I realised some of what I had written wasn't true! Our speeches went well although I hope I didn't sound as though I was about to cry towards the end of my speech! My voice got a little weaker towards the end as it only just hit me how much of a loss he would be to all of us and how much I was really going to miss him and his speeches. No longer would I be hearing his voice at assemblies and giving us words of wisdom!
There was also this crossword competition for chocolate our history teacher ran as well. No one really took much notice in the crossword till the long trip back home from Rangiriri when Heather was asking me how I had been doing, and said she wanted to beat me because she enjoyed it so much! That's when I thought it's about time to step up a gear and get going! At that point I hadn't done much. Now it was all on! Christine and I worked hard trying to solve the crossword, trading words with others in order to try beat Heather and Patrick. We were all down to the same last three words that we couldn't seem to get. When it started to seem as though I didn't really have a chance to win and Ellyce only needed one more word, Christine and I decided to put all our energy in trying to help Ellyce win! In the end though Casey ended up winning the chocolate.
Anyway it was good fun for a history trip!
After that I caught up with a few old friends from last year who turned up, as well as the head students who did stay, my family and some other people while enjoying some of the food the waiters and waitresses were serving us. What was really impressive was that their aprons had embroided on them 'Rutherford Hospitality' which was really impressive! Us head students who didn't get to go to Rangeview because of the history trip also managed to catch up with Mr Jameson! We kinda shuffled little by little while he was having a conversation with someone else till he was by himself. He didn't really say much. I then had to excuse myself so that I could join the choir.
That's when the programme actually started. Our choir started off by performing two pieces. We had quite a few people missing. Ms Faaea the music teacher talked a little bit, and mentioned that she was only here till the end of the year which is really a shame as she has brought the choir back from the brink of death! If there was any chance of her being retained I'd be four limbs in favour of it!
After us was Jipers and No Right Turn which was a real treat! They were superb. They also sang the school song which is a great song. Following that were many speeches, including one from his wife, which Mr Edmeades had no idea she had written and planned already. Heather and I also gave our speeches. I had only just made some changes a few minutes before I had to give my speech because I realised some of what I had written wasn't true! Our speeches went well although I hope I didn't sound as though I was about to cry towards the end of my speech! My voice got a little weaker towards the end as it only just hit me how much of a loss he would be to all of us and how much I was really going to miss him and his speeches. No longer would I be hearing his voice at assemblies and giving us words of wisdom!
The night turned out to be a truly fitting and moving farewell to Mr Edmeades and now we've got a lot of work to do to make Friday's student farewell assembly just as good!
Oh yeah on Thursday we went on our year 13 History trip to various historical locations around South Auckland and upper Waikato. It was amazing to see how some of the trenches that had been dug maybe over a century ago are still there today! You'll be pleased to hear our Ritchies bus didn't break down and in fact was one of those flash buses with curtains, radio in the background and air conditioning! I sat next to Christine throughout the whole trip so hopefully I didn't annoy her too much!
We visited Pukekohe East Church (where there were some bullet holes from past battles on the site), Alexandra Redoubt, Meremere and finally Rangiriri where we watched a DVD presentation and stopped for lunch. That's where I had to endure coconut soya drink my mum gave me...
Our history teacher created this photo taking competition for the best photo with caption and the wackiest photo, so throughout the trip people were taking heaps of photos. I have a strong feeling Nick has the inside running on winning at least one of the competitions!There was also this crossword competition for chocolate our history teacher ran as well. No one really took much notice in the crossword till the long trip back home from Rangiriri when Heather was asking me how I had been doing, and said she wanted to beat me because she enjoyed it so much! That's when I thought it's about time to step up a gear and get going! At that point I hadn't done much. Now it was all on! Christine and I worked hard trying to solve the crossword, trading words with others in order to try beat Heather and Patrick. We were all down to the same last three words that we couldn't seem to get. When it started to seem as though I didn't really have a chance to win and Ellyce only needed one more word, Christine and I decided to put all our energy in trying to help Ellyce win! In the end though Casey ended up winning the chocolate.
Anyway it was good fun for a history trip!
Thursday, 22 June 2006
Sing Along
It's been a very busy few days lately. On Monday we had a half day, and because our string quartet rehearsal was during lunch (which we no longer had) we weren't too sure if we were going to have rehearsal. According to our string quartet teacher it was always on and never cancelled and we were selfish for thinking otherwise and making our own arrangements home. Her fuse blew and she had a go at all of us. So straight after school we were going to have string quartet rehearsal instead. Fortunately for me I had to go to an extra Chinese class to work on my Chinese speech assessment, so I got out of the first hour of string quartet. The twins and Aonghas were unlucky. Apparently she unleashed her fury at Joon.
Anyway yesterday I got the first half of the day off school because I got to go to The Big Sing Choral Festival to perform as part of our school choir. Our choir actually sounded good this year! We sang three songs, and then afterwards watched a few other songs. I asked my mum to come and record us on video so the school could have a copy and we could also put it on the student website. I told her to come at 10am though when the performance actually started at 9.30am! Thank goodness her bus arrived on time and she made it. UNFORTUNATELY we didn't know the tape was locked and she didn't manage to record any of our performance! Something always goes wrong when we try recording things!
We performed again tonight at the Gala Concert which was really fun. About 20 schools out of 50 that performed in the festival got chosen to perform, including us, and we were the only West Auckland school so thats even better! A few of the girls in our choir managed to get some numbers from guys from other schools, and we got big cheers from the other school choirs. I also came across Stephanie, this girl who plays the accordion and is like Aonghas's number 1 rival!
I've been working on my Chinese speech throughout this week, and after wasting most of my Chinese periods, I had to get working, and ended up writing a 5 minute speech when the minimum is only 2 minutes! What's worse is that half of it doesn't make sense, and my Chinese teacher says she's not allowed to check it! Luckily I managed to find Phoebe who was able to help check it for me.
Anyway yesterday I got the first half of the day off school because I got to go to The Big Sing Choral Festival to perform as part of our school choir. Our choir actually sounded good this year! We sang three songs, and then afterwards watched a few other songs. I asked my mum to come and record us on video so the school could have a copy and we could also put it on the student website. I told her to come at 10am though when the performance actually started at 9.30am! Thank goodness her bus arrived on time and she made it. UNFORTUNATELY we didn't know the tape was locked and she didn't manage to record any of our performance! Something always goes wrong when we try recording things!
We performed again tonight at the Gala Concert which was really fun. About 20 schools out of 50 that performed in the festival got chosen to perform, including us, and we were the only West Auckland school so thats even better! A few of the girls in our choir managed to get some numbers from guys from other schools, and we got big cheers from the other school choirs. I also came across Stephanie, this girl who plays the accordion and is like Aonghas's number 1 rival!
I've been working on my Chinese speech throughout this week, and after wasting most of my Chinese periods, I had to get working, and ended up writing a 5 minute speech when the minimum is only 2 minutes! What's worse is that half of it doesn't make sense, and my Chinese teacher says she's not allowed to check it! Luckily I managed to find Phoebe who was able to help check it for me.
Monday, 19 June 2006
A Normal Day
Today I went to Sylvia Park Shopping Centre in Mt Wellington which even though hasn't been completed is still pretty flash, especially The Warehouse Extra. My dad, wary of spending any more of the last of his money, was pleased after we came out. We spent a grand total of $2.50 during our three hours at the shopping mall. Well we're poor people from the West, we can't afford anything from there except 50c soft-serve ice-cream cones from McDonald's for the family!
Throughout the day I was texting Aneesya and Melissa, two of the girls from Kelston I met at the Bruce McLaren Intermediate enrolment evening. They're pretty cool people with interesting lives!
I also made a $50 bet with Ayesha on...something...which I will win! It's a long term bet so I'll be 30 by the time we determine who wins and hopefully by then I'll have a job that pays enough for me to be able to afford to pay off a $50 if it comes to it.
My parents don't seem to be as keen on letting me drive as they are with my little bro Aonghas. They're already letting him park their cars in the garage! I begged to try, so my dad let me the other night and I managed to do it perfectly...while my dad stood in front and my mum stood at the back watching nervously and shouting at me with directions. Yesterday I got the opportunity to park my mum's car in the garage. She didn't really want to let me but yeah I hassled her...Anyway as I was slowly moving, and I mean SLOWLY MOVING, my mum was kinda holding onto the car (I don't know why...maybe she thought that if I drove too fast she'd be able to slow it down. Then again she'd probably end up flying into the garage wall!) while my dad was watching on once again shouting out directions. Once again I managed to park the car into the garage! Then I realised I did it with the hand brake on the whole time. Stupid me forgot to take it off and got a shouting for that DONG
I just want to retract what I said yesterday about saying stuff to someone that made me look like a retard. Not that it matters but what I said probably did make me look like a retard :D but I said it willingly and am glad I did to the right person.
Anyway I was chatting to...someone...I can't remember now maybe Phoebe when I came up with this analogy. Now it may not make sense or someone may have already come up with it but yeah I've been hoping to come up with at least one meaningful analogy during my lifetime. Here it is - that finding love is like playing a pokie machine, you may have many tries that don't work, but eventually you'll hit the JACKPOT. OK that was it, maybe it ain't so great.
Throughout the day I was texting Aneesya and Melissa, two of the girls from Kelston I met at the Bruce McLaren Intermediate enrolment evening. They're pretty cool people with interesting lives!
I also made a $50 bet with Ayesha on...something...which I will win! It's a long term bet so I'll be 30 by the time we determine who wins and hopefully by then I'll have a job that pays enough for me to be able to afford to pay off a $50 if it comes to it.
My parents don't seem to be as keen on letting me drive as they are with my little bro Aonghas. They're already letting him park their cars in the garage! I begged to try, so my dad let me the other night and I managed to do it perfectly...while my dad stood in front and my mum stood at the back watching nervously and shouting at me with directions. Yesterday I got the opportunity to park my mum's car in the garage. She didn't really want to let me but yeah I hassled her...Anyway as I was slowly moving, and I mean SLOWLY MOVING, my mum was kinda holding onto the car (I don't know why...maybe she thought that if I drove too fast she'd be able to slow it down. Then again she'd probably end up flying into the garage wall!) while my dad was watching on once again shouting out directions. Once again I managed to park the car into the garage! Then I realised I did it with the hand brake on the whole time. Stupid me forgot to take it off and got a shouting for that DONG
I just want to retract what I said yesterday about saying stuff to someone that made me look like a retard. Not that it matters but what I said probably did make me look like a retard :D but I said it willingly and am glad I did to the right person.
Anyway I was chatting to...someone...I can't remember now maybe Phoebe when I came up with this analogy. Now it may not make sense or someone may have already come up with it but yeah I've been hoping to come up with at least one meaningful analogy during my lifetime. Here it is - that finding love is like playing a pokie machine, you may have many tries that don't work, but eventually you'll hit the JACKPOT. OK that was it, maybe it ain't so great.
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