Came back from Kuching earlier this evening. Got a new Nike knapsack from my aunt, had my fill of the wonderful wonderful Sarawak guolong mee and ever-yummy Sarawak Laksa, a slightly burned face from walking one hot morning all the way back to my grandpa's place from the Dayak market.
Was really happy to see my grandpa again. Only get to see him once a year and I know how happy it makes him to see the old house get filled up with people again. There's always so much noise, I suppose it reminds him of the past. Apparently the local Chinese newspapers came and interviewed him earlier this month. They published his story in over two days in a ten or eleven-part series about people and events that affected the history of Sarawak.
I always knew that my grandpa was a really great person and I always saw him as something of a hero. But that two-part news feature really made me feel so proud that he was my grandpa. Of course the whole family also had a bit of fun translating the article, since besides my grandpa, my sis and I are the only ones who are more fluent in Chinese. As with most Chinese newspapers, there was all this flowery language which served to emphasize or serve as anologies as to my grandpa's achievements. So there was great fun and laughter as my sis and I ran literal translations of the proverbs and similies used, which made my grandpa sound like some kind of demi-god. And my grandpa, never one to miss out on putting on a good show, quite matter-of-factly agreed with it all, claiming all that the reporter put in to be "absolutely true!" Well... For him to actually be the reincarnation of the legendary Hua Tuo is a bit of a stretch but hey! We all had fun with it and he was greatly amused.
What really saddens me though is that even though my grandpa still obviously has a really brilliant mind (he can still remember his Japanese along with at least 3 other languages besides English and here I can barely remember my Jap... Not to mention all that history he's experienced... It's all in there in his head!!), his body is shutting down at an increasing rate. Last year, although he needed help getting up, moving around and with meals, he was still turning the pages of his newspapers himself and was still able to hold long conversations before getting too tired. This year I never even saw him lifting up the papers. His arms had become too stiff and his fingers are completely frozen. His ability to have a proper conversation is so stunted now because he gets so physically tired just from getting up and moving around the table. Sometimes we're all seated at the table with him and talking, and his eyes will close or he'll start to sink a little in his chair. We know he can actually hear what we say because sometimes he'll suddenly comment and it's not just the random mumblings of a senile old man. He really knows what we were talking about. It's only because his body can't physically stay awake for very long. I'm ashamed to say this but sometimes I look at him and actually wonder if this man was really once the same grandpa that would lift me and my cousins onto his shoulders and turn us upside down, even when he was already 60-odd years old. He did so many wonderful things in his life... He doesn't deserve to have to grow old like this. It's not fair. Sigh... But... Such is life. I just hope he can stay happy for as long as possible.
In other news, I also received my Christmas present from NUS via the internet. I actually wanted to make an entry on the day itself but was attacked by teenage cousins. The cousins aren't so bad by themselves, I quite like my cousins (except for one anti-social bottomless pit currently taking refuge in my house and one she-monster from my dad's side who is gladfully going off to Dubai coz her dad got posted there for two years. Muahahahaha). The problem is that the presence of cute cousins means the presence of an uncle who is in constant need of an ego boost(goodness knows why). Back when my brother was serving NS in the air force and my eldest cousin (the bottonless pit) was in the M'sian navy, he was forever trying to compare the two. Even now with my brother on study leave and my cousin working in S'pore, he tries to find something to compare. Last year he tried to compare me and my other older cousin who's studying in Illinois. If he had found out about my situation there would be endless condescensions. Huh... Aiyah... Maybe Nicholas can help you lah.. Even though he's in freakin'faraway-Illinois doing bloodyhell-Engineering that has forPete'ssake-nothing to do with your major but Nicky's a scholarship boy lah and he can help you... *roll eyes* Save me. My uncles from both sides were all married into the family and for some reason there has to be a weirdo one to balance out the nice one on each...
Anyhow I got 2 C+s, 2 C's and a Satisfactory for Genes & Society. Not bad, considering that most of my second year was filled with F's. But I don't think it's enough for me to be put out of academic probation. I needed a B average for that. And considering that this sem was my critical sem, I'm actually expecting to see a dimissal letter for the Registrar's Office any day this week. Don't get me wrong, I'm not actually giving up hope yet. Just this morning before I left my grandpa's house for the airport I sent an "Intent to Appeal" e-mail to the Dean's office. A sort of "pre-appeal" letter. Actually my mother helped me with it coz I was still half asleep. Heh... Then I forwarded it to Ms Tan (my Resident Fellow when I was in KR) and Terada in hopes of establishing a support base should I actually need to appeal. Ms Tan has already replied and thankfully has offered to give me any help I need. Terada on the other hand, is off on another one of his gallivants and according to his auto-reply system will only be back next month. Hopefully he returns before the appeal period is over. So Ms O8ight, don't go booking your holiday ticket just yet. You might find yourself without accomodation. Hahah. But to all of you who've posted supportively on my chatterbox and those who've kept tabs on me through sms... RJ, O8ight, Eskie, Nekoweenie, Jemalelinh... I wanna give you all a BEEG HUG and THANK YOU for just being there. It's nice sometimes not to be told what to do. *Big teary-eyed grin* Thanx.
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