January 2005

Settling into the routine of school life has been a breeze, and the transition from South Korea to Raffles Junior College has been eased by the purchase of a new football by Mr Kenneth Loh, as well as the presentation of fresh opportunities to cut classes and spend the better part of my time languishing in the canteen of a spanking new campus. What has not been so easy to swallow, however, is the successive reprimands I have received from teachers, who while claiming in one breath that it is not the amount of work done that matters, warn me of dire consequences if I persist in turning up unprepared for tutorials. The humorous side of this otherwise grave affair is, as always, in the delivery. Nothing pleases me more than interesting diction, and a threat to "marginalise" me in class should I not get on task seems to me the spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down. The better news is that I, along with certain individuals in my class, are due for a treat at Swensen's as a result of our perfect scores for an Economics MCQ test - the ineluctable fate of the smart and/or scheming.