Maybe I should try updating this blog more often and the night directly after the event... Hmmm... MOVING ON, before I say anything else, I'd first like to acknowledge that no matter how festive and happy people (Australians) can get for Australia Day (26 January), the Aboriginals of Australia may not share the same glee. Australia Day is "Invasion Day" (26 January) to them and I fully understand the context of which they're coming from. This is why amidst all the celebration, I'd like to remind people of the legacy and the thriving society and that is, the Aboriginals. So for the Australia Day celebration at our school, my friends/classmates and I prepared a little song cover and performed it in front of the whole school! Sounds awesome? Because it was! But most importantly, I am so proud of the whole class for pulling off setting everything up, practicing and whatsoever in such short notice. I would just like to say that I am lucky to be in the same class as these very incredible people.
We played the song Wavin' Flag by K'naan, which I admit is best known as being the theme song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, but... yeah. ANYWAYS, our little band was composed of Esther on keyboard, Mariam on cajón, Salma on acoustic guitar, Lilas, Fahad, Mustafa, Msendoo and Mary on vocals, and last but not the least, me on electric guitar and vocals. The rest of the class was either on the tech team, the people who made sure that we wouldn't have any technical difficulties and fixed them if ever one was to arise (thankfully nothing did), or the art team, the people who were in charge of setting and decorating the stage. We, the whole class, had one week to do all that we did that day. It was crazy! Everyone was rushing around, people were stressing out, nobody was getting any sleep, and some people (me) were in the verge of a mental breakdown! It really, really was hectic because we had tests, assessments, homework, and other CAS activities to attend to (the AD Golf Championship I talked about in my last post took my whole weekend prior Australia Day). It was just chaos. I felt like quitting, some of my friends felt like quitting. Actually, I really did already quit. But on the day before Australia Day, I joined my friends during their practice session, gave them advice (I'm in a choir and I've played live before so I know some stuff), and the next thing I know I was part of the performance again. Everything was just so unplanned. Thank goodness, I've had some practice sessions with them before I initially quit, plus the chords were quite simple and the melody repetitive, that's why it wasn't that hard for me to cope. But WE DID IT! We played the song pretty well, in my opinion. We received good feedback from the spectators, and thank God everything really just went swimmingly! P.S. Unfortunately, considering our very tight schedule, we don't have much pictures of the event. However, I'll be posting some pics if ever I get some from other people who might've taken pictures of the event ^_^ Ahhhhh, this post is so late. I apologize for the tardiness. So last weekend (22-23 January), my friend, Esther, and I volunteered at the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship 2016 @ the Abu Dhabi Golf Club. It was a pretty cool experience. Not to mention, I got a bunch of free stuff as a volunteer. But that's not really what I came there for, was it? Haha, go figure. Anyways, it was the very first time I've ever seen a golf game, much less a championship, live. And the crowd was so different compared to other sporting fans of a variety of other sports. I can honestly say that that was somewhat of a surprise for me. I mean, I know that golf is the kind of sport only wealthy or at least well-off people usually play. The crowd was so... they just lacked the overpowering excitement of let's say basketball fans, or football fans. While I understand that the latter sports are high-action games compared to golf, I just really expected, in a way, a much more animated crowd. To add that the golfers there are amongst the best in the world: Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, and Rory Mcilroy to name a few. Nonetheless, it was a pretty unique experience and I wouldn't mind doing it again. P.S. My CAS experience reflection and pictures from the event can be found on the Reflections and Gallery pages. UPDATE: Congratulations to Rickie Fowler for winning the Falcon Trophy! Last Friday, on the 15th of January, I almost died to get my diploma. In its most literal sense, I really did. To those who know about my condition (I have an abnormality in my knee cartilages that makes me injury-prone), they also know how dangerous it could've been for me if my knees acted up during the hike. But alas, I am writing this blog post and I am alive and well. Quite surprisingly, I don't even have any scratch nor bruise on me from the trip . And I feel great! And dare I say, I feel like a little daredevil for persevering till the end and actually finishing the hike. My happiness may sound punitive or childish to any other person, but I'm actually proud of myself. I'm proud that I got through this.
But of course, I wouldn't have done it without the help of some very special people. Really, I am grateful and I hope I could be of use to them as well when they need the help. So thank you to Mr. Arshad, Lilas Shaadi, Mr. Imran, Mrs. Mei and Johann van der Linde. |
AuthorI may cry myself to sleep, but I can survive this beCAS I Believe. Archives
July 2016
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