Dead Poet's Society *

2003-05-12 6:02 p.m.

The movie itself is not the subject of this entry, as you should have realised by now after reading my other entries.

Saturday was one of the most relaxing and beautiful moments of my life, even though it would seem ordinary to you after this whole narration of events. The day began with 3 hours of Ms Champagne's extra lecture on Hard Times. We covered about one and a half chapters, finishing the Chapters "Hearing the last of it", "Gunpowder" and part of the last chapter of Book the Second, "Down." With the exception of the first chapter, the other two were about Human relationships, dealing with the character of Louisa Gradgrind and her life. These sections of the novel may not be my favourite sections, but they seem extremely appropriate in our lives in today's world. We face broken relationships, temptations, and unscrupulous yet charming people in our daily lives. Of course, we have progressed far away from the rigid Utilitarian Philosophy of those times, however, that does not necessarily make us any more prepared to face such situations. Everyday may not be plagued with such awful or heartbreaking incidents; however, it seems to me that this is the main thing we fight for. Our daily lives are so mundane and monotonous that we become "conscious dead", (according to Dickens) and the only time we feel alive is when we are in conflict with our world or ourselves. This may not seem enlightening to you, but it answers my questions on life.

On a much lighter note, lunch was extremely enjoyable. Chih Hung and I planned to hop down to the mini hawker centre at Coronation Plaza for a quick bite before our Lit Wing workshop at 12:30 and I invited Debbie along. Initially, she declined, stating that she wasn't that hungry and that she would rather read her Hard Times instead. Nothing wrong with that, I thought, it’s not like reading your Lit text would do you any harm. Besides, I have noticed that she doesn't eat a lot. However, she changed her mind later, citing that she needed to get a book from one of the stores down at Coronation Plaza. Well, that was much better. For all my trips out of college, I've only gone out with Chih Hung and welcomed this change from my usual routine. Besides, it was time to break away from my usual perception that boys should only go out with boys...

We found out that Debbie's transactionary motive was low, that is, she was desperately short of cash. We both had around $20 dollars between us, but since there was an ATM machine down at Coronation plaza, she saw no need to borrow money. Some how or the other, the conversation switched to Debbie stating that she need to buy her mom a present for Mother's Day, making both of us feel guilty. I guess that as we grow older, we tend to forget or dismiss those days in a year set aside for something special, except for events in which we stand to benefit, such as Christmas...

As we walked down Hillcrest Road, I left those two in their own conversation, wondering how nice it would be to have more friends like that. As we plodded on, Debbie said something on the lines that she wanted to take a bus down to our destination although we could easily walk there. As it turned out, she changed her mind, after seeing that it was only one bus stop away. Not that this was anything significant, it is just that I did feel a bit awkward having gone out with someone else for the first time.

The topic switched to the upcoming A04 outing next Saturday where they were going to watch the Matrix Reloaded to together as a class and celebrate Deborah's birthday at the same time. Debbie invited me, but Chih Hung said that it would be better off as a private class party. Well, no harm done.

Lunch: it was Debbie's first time over there, and she went peeking at the choices, written on the board. Still undecided, Chih Hung ordered Lemon Chicken rice for her. I wasn't quick enough, but I would have ordered the same thing for her--or would I? Something was amidst that day, and I just can't explain it. Anyway, our food came and Chih Hung wolfed down his food (well everyone's a fast eater to me). There was a talk about ordering one more plate of rice, but Debbie was picking (not pecking!) at her food and I wasn’t in the mood to fill my stomach to the brim. The atmosphere suddenly became more relaxed. Topics flowed from X men 2 to our favourite poetry (which we were suppose to bring for the workshop) and it switched to food. Debbie was protesting that she could not finish her food, and some how mentioned about Amandae and how she manages to cut down on her diet. Although we helped her with the chicken, there was still quite a bit left. You can tell that boys ordered those plates she said. Ah well, no harm done. (Besides Chih Hung paid for the food).

The Lit Wing workshop was suppose to be held in the Library Resource room, but since our dear publicity officer and vice president were in half grey, it was shifted to one of the TA classrooms. It was a lively discussion with Mr. Dio bringing us through a history of poetry writing. Poets flowing from Pound to Donne to Sassoon were displayed, poems raging from sonnets to metaphysical ones were introduced, including Chinese poetry. We were asked on why we loved poetry and I said something along the lines of “poetry transformed mundane and ordinary objects into something of greater significance and you are engaged it in whether you agree with the poet’s idea or not”. Debbie’s poems had the most impact out of all those shared; it had something to deal with love. I read out what I considered the most common war poem, “An Irish Airman foresees his death” by W.B. Yeats (rings a bell!) while Mr. Chan found his interest in Plath’s poem “Edge”, which I felt was all to common by now.

We spent over two hours on poems, but what else could one have done on a lovely Saturday afternoon? It was an eye opener and a refreshing change from Debate arguments and POIs. After that, I found myself waiting outside for my car when someone dressed in home clothes brushed past me and waved. It took my 5 seconds to realise that it was Debbie, walking out for her church activity. Well, what a surprise. As I mentioned, it was a wonderful a relaxing Saturday, all thanks to Chih Hung, Ms Champagne, the Lit Wing and Debbie. Here’s looking at you kid.

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