~JcZw

Yesterday was Sports' Day, or, as its known in VJC, the Track and Field Meet, which is not really accurate since all the field events had already been run. Appropriately, the sun was at boiling point, and by the end of the event I felt nicely cooked. If you permit understatement, it was unquestionably a warm day especially since the sun had been already past its zenith.

Too bad I couldn't be with the class, but with the rest of the FAC plying our trade at the end point of the track. Chee Hoe, the ex-DHS OC n I were crouching at the edge of the tent (at least we had a tent... the other Phoenix people had nothing... talk about "in flames") lamenting the lack of Phoenix people running in the sprints. For long distance runs it seems the orange-clad runners easily vanquished their opponents though...

Casualties were not long in coming, the first one being a long distance runner from Ursa who collapsed after finishing the run. Xuan Yi and I ran over and found she had a cramp. Chee Hoe right behind us swept her up in a cradle and ran back to the first aid tent. I must admit that the ex-DHS first aiders work with remarkable coordination worthy of the titles they won as St. John members.

Following this was a lot of running about, to the general office to take more stretchers, to the PE Dept to take more ice etc. But coming back from one run Xuan Yi told me that another runner had collapsed at the far end of the track. So in my 4-and-a-little-bit-more of first aid experience I finally got to witness the spectacle of a stretcher being deployed in the front-line so to speak. This time was a guy from Phoenix who had strained his thigh. Ouch.

Thank goodness for the dry-fit material of the house shirt that did not retain sweat, considering all the running about we had to do.

Next was cheerleading. I missed the Aquila one while running about, but managed to catch the rest. Man, I think the Phoenix one was very well done, but then again, it deserves to be so if you consider the number of times the cheerleaders had to stay back to practise... So well done to Gerry, Stella, Xunai, Christl, Phoon, Greg, Chin How and the other cheerleaders =). The first aiders got a fright at Gerry's first throw though... Everyone winced and made "ouch"noises...

But the performance was spectacular for every house. The acrobatic prowness of the girls and even the guys who took part was fantastic as well as very rarely seen! Talk about pushing the human body to its limits... Haha...

Oh yeah... there was some whiney whiney dance in the after the programme.... The 9 FAiders just formed a little circle and danced where we were.... Derek came in the middle of the dance.. he was standing at the side grinning at us... haha...

After cheerleading were the relays. Xuan Yi deployed us to the diagonal opposite end of the field, nearest the school gate to render help to anyone who fell there... Although anyone can fall anywhere, considering that Earth's gravity is equal all round.

It was while standing near the school gate when I spotted Dawn and her friend coming in VJ PE attire... Haha... Ran over to say hi... She was happy to be back, though happy was also understatement... And we, or for myself, I, were / was also happy to see her! Although she n prap had been around on tuesday, it seems too long for OSSIS people to stay apart... =) Couldn't talk for too long though... I had to return to my first aid post..

Following was the most amusing FA situation I have yet encountered....

During the 20 X 100m relay, a Phoenix runner stumbled off the track after finishing her run, tore off her shoes the bent over cradling her foot. Yao Quan and I ran over and asked "are you okay". To our surprise and indignation, she looked up, smiled and said "oh, sorry, I just put on the wrong shoes". And if that was not enough, "do you have any water?" We didn't even know what to say, we were so incredulous. Haha

400 m later, a Lynx runner collapsed by the side of the track holding her head. Fearing an even worst injury, Xiao Yan and I propelled ourselves to the track side. "Sorry, my glasses broke, thats all.... Do you know how to fix?" Wow.... fractured glasses.... How does one treat FRACTURED GLASSES? We just managed to convey that glasses were a bit out of our area of expertise, considering they were not part of the body.

The third one was genuine though, an Aquila-ian who had a cramp in his leg.

The rest of the meet was routine... Just sitting there dodging red ants praying no one would get injured.... But that was the casualty toll for the day. We pushed off back to the tent shortly after the last race.

Prize presentation, clearing up.... And of course, there was mass dance! Which we haven't done for soooo long.... I couldn't remember a lot of stuff already.... haha... After that was a lot of photo taking... helping the cheerleaders take pictures... they put an encore performance.... I took a few video clips.... But sadly enough I couldn't manage to capture the throwing Gerry up and down properly... Pity about the 15 sec. limit.... Still didn't know how to configure the camera properly.... sighzzz...

Still... it was a spectacle that I wouldn't have missed for the world... As Geraldine said... it showed the class spirit that we hadn't seen for so so long... Watching happiness and relaxation flowing after weeks of stress and work. Maybe its too much to hope for everyone to become more relaxed, especially with SPA coming up, but well.... it can only improve yar.... haha...

Yupz... the day concluded with a dinner outing together at BK in parkway... It was terrifically fruitful though.... How many days do you get to see all your friends again? Not often.... but we'll treasure those that we can =)