Two Goodbyes and One Hello
So, I don't know about you guys, but I am feeling increasingly uncomfortable during this period of time. Everything is so unsettled and temporary, and we drift in and out of jobs, internships, relationships. So a couple of things happened to me in the past few days which makes me really want to go to unversity right now.
A bit of background. For the past six months I joined a neighbourhood gym, which was quite a good decision because I had to pay the six month membership all at once, which gave me an incentive to go as many times as I could in a week. So for three to four days a week I saw, almost everyday, Candy and George. Sometimes another trainer comes (she happens to be my favourite) but well I seem to have misplaced her name.
I always wondered how boring it must be for George to work at the gym. She's from the Philippines, and I think she has a degree in physiotherapy (she and the other trainer always speak of medicine in glowing terms, as in, "why don't you want to be a doctor!" and "oh so you still can do med school after you graduate, right?"), so working at a gym must be really banal for them.
I think I may have trouble connecting with people, because during my whole six months I never really managed to hold a conversation with either trainers. So while the trainers talked to the other women working out at the gym about their holidays and children, I could never muster more than a "hi" and a "bye". On good days I would tell them that I would see them tomorrow before leaving.
On the day before my membership expired, I managed to say bye to Candy. As with all conversations, it didn't go as planned and we both ran out of things to say very quickly.
That night, I baked cupcakes for them.
I didn't have much time to linger the next day, because I procrastinated before stepping out of the house (I always do). When I finished working out, I wanted to thank George for helping me out for the past few months, but it so happens that she was on the phone when I was leaving. I asked for her Facebook page on the back of a promotional flyer, and I realised for the first time that her name is spelled "Jurdz".
A couple of hours later, during my singing lesson, Candy called to thank me for the cupcakes. Yet again, I couldn't really find the words. She ended the call and told me she would see me again. Which is unlikely.
Then today.
I have been teaching a very likable primary school girl called Jhanani-- likable because she reminds me of myself when I was her age. She would get really excited during lessons and make strange sounds (today she performed a rendition of the Wonder Girls' Nobody Nobody which goes like this: I want nobody nobody but you *shriek shriek*), and amongst my primary school kids, she was the one who was the most willing to learn. Although I'll be dropping my primary school kids come July, I thought I would really like to continue teaching her.
Anyway, today we had a lesson, which started out as usual, with her two brothers making a huge ruckus and things going on here and there. I had promised Jhanani to take her out for ice-cream a couple of weeks ago, on the condition that she did well for her examinations. Turns out she failed most of them, but I decided I wanted to take her out anyway.
We started at twelve oh five, so by the time one twenty five came along she became slightly angsty. I could tell she really wanted some ice-cream, but at the same time she had to wait and ask for her mother's permission. So she asked me to extend that particular lesson to two hours, ending at two instead of one thirty.
It was quite fortunate that I made the decision to wait, because when her mother came back she informed me that she's hired another tutor for Jhanani. It was actually a good thing, because she did dismally for her examinations and to be quite honest, I'm really not a good teacher. In any case I gracefully agreed (because previous times I actually became quite angry, also, because I had no say in the matter) and asked if I could take Jhanani out for ice-cream.
She looked a little down on the way to West Mall, but she said that was because she has never been out alone before. When we reached West Mall I bought her ice-cream. She had rocky road and cookies and cream. I had Earl Grey and Chocolate Orange. We talked, but I guess it wasn't what I imagined. She told me she is scared of blood. She told me she changed her cousin's diapers with gloves. She told me she wants to be a doctor. She told me that if she couldn't be a doctor, she would be a make-up artist.
Right before she left to queue up for the bus she told me that she had never touched a mimosa before. Plenty of ferns, was what she said, but never a mimosa. I tried telling her that there were mimosa growing all around my house, but by then she was already in the queue. I wanted to to give her a good-bye hug, but I guess they don't do that in primary school and so all I managed was some sort of awkward one-armed flail.
These are four people* I will likely never meet or exchange more than three words with again, but for a while we saw each other almost everyday. I guess even more of the transitional-relationships that I've formed with people during this nine months will end, so I better get used to this...
*I will probably meet my gym instructors on my way around Jurong. That is, until I move in August.
**I may also meet Jhanani, because there is a high possibility her mom might drag out paying me and I'll have to visit her and stuff.
P.S. There is no hello. I included it in the title to make this sound less depressing, and I was planning to make up something as I go along. But I can't come up with anything so ohwell.
A bit of background. For the past six months I joined a neighbourhood gym, which was quite a good decision because I had to pay the six month membership all at once, which gave me an incentive to go as many times as I could in a week. So for three to four days a week I saw, almost everyday, Candy and George. Sometimes another trainer comes (she happens to be my favourite) but well I seem to have misplaced her name.
I always wondered how boring it must be for George to work at the gym. She's from the Philippines, and I think she has a degree in physiotherapy (she and the other trainer always speak of medicine in glowing terms, as in, "why don't you want to be a doctor!" and "oh so you still can do med school after you graduate, right?"), so working at a gym must be really banal for them.
I think I may have trouble connecting with people, because during my whole six months I never really managed to hold a conversation with either trainers. So while the trainers talked to the other women working out at the gym about their holidays and children, I could never muster more than a "hi" and a "bye". On good days I would tell them that I would see them tomorrow before leaving.
On the day before my membership expired, I managed to say bye to Candy. As with all conversations, it didn't go as planned and we both ran out of things to say very quickly.
That night, I baked cupcakes for them.
I didn't have much time to linger the next day, because I procrastinated before stepping out of the house (I always do). When I finished working out, I wanted to thank George for helping me out for the past few months, but it so happens that she was on the phone when I was leaving. I asked for her Facebook page on the back of a promotional flyer, and I realised for the first time that her name is spelled "Jurdz".
A couple of hours later, during my singing lesson, Candy called to thank me for the cupcakes. Yet again, I couldn't really find the words. She ended the call and told me she would see me again. Which is unlikely.
Then today.
I have been teaching a very likable primary school girl called Jhanani-- likable because she reminds me of myself when I was her age. She would get really excited during lessons and make strange sounds (today she performed a rendition of the Wonder Girls' Nobody Nobody which goes like this: I want nobody nobody but you *shriek shriek*), and amongst my primary school kids, she was the one who was the most willing to learn. Although I'll be dropping my primary school kids come July, I thought I would really like to continue teaching her.
Anyway, today we had a lesson, which started out as usual, with her two brothers making a huge ruckus and things going on here and there. I had promised Jhanani to take her out for ice-cream a couple of weeks ago, on the condition that she did well for her examinations. Turns out she failed most of them, but I decided I wanted to take her out anyway.
We started at twelve oh five, so by the time one twenty five came along she became slightly angsty. I could tell she really wanted some ice-cream, but at the same time she had to wait and ask for her mother's permission. So she asked me to extend that particular lesson to two hours, ending at two instead of one thirty.
It was quite fortunate that I made the decision to wait, because when her mother came back she informed me that she's hired another tutor for Jhanani. It was actually a good thing, because she did dismally for her examinations and to be quite honest, I'm really not a good teacher. In any case I gracefully agreed (because previous times I actually became quite angry, also, because I had no say in the matter) and asked if I could take Jhanani out for ice-cream.
She looked a little down on the way to West Mall, but she said that was because she has never been out alone before. When we reached West Mall I bought her ice-cream. She had rocky road and cookies and cream. I had Earl Grey and Chocolate Orange. We talked, but I guess it wasn't what I imagined. She told me she is scared of blood. She told me she changed her cousin's diapers with gloves. She told me she wants to be a doctor. She told me that if she couldn't be a doctor, she would be a make-up artist.
Right before she left to queue up for the bus she told me that she had never touched a mimosa before. Plenty of ferns, was what she said, but never a mimosa. I tried telling her that there were mimosa growing all around my house, but by then she was already in the queue. I wanted to to give her a good-bye hug, but I guess they don't do that in primary school and so all I managed was some sort of awkward one-armed flail.
These are four people* I will likely never meet or exchange more than three words with again, but for a while we saw each other almost everyday. I guess even more of the transitional-relationships that I've formed with people during this nine months will end, so I better get used to this...
*I will probably meet my gym instructors on my way around Jurong. That is, until I move in August.
**I may also meet Jhanani, because there is a high possibility her mom might drag out paying me and I'll have to visit her and stuff.
P.S. There is no hello. I included it in the title to make this sound less depressing, and I was planning to make up something as I go along. But I can't come up with anything so ohwell.