Bohemia Bunny

Rockin’ it Old School

August 7th, 2006 by lynnylchan under Blogroll and School Life

Since I came back for this new iteration of the academic year, I’ve felt nothing but old.

The boys from my JC batch have come in. The girls and I have never shared college space. I feel old, and the boys have taken to calling me ‘auntie’.

Tomorrow is Flag Day, and I am so disillusioned by the pretense of raising money for charity that I ran away to the library to avoid the briefing. I am adamant that I won’t be taking part this year. If I’m wandering around downtown tomorrow and see a Eusoffian or an Arts student, I’ll donate. Just because I have some spare cash, and well - I won’t contribute otherwise.

On the walk uphill to Central Library, a large yellow almost-full moon hung in a twilight cloudless sky. Looking at it, I almost felt like reaching out and touching it. Would it be like touching eternity? Like touching the hand of God?

The library was silent, but the lobby outside wasn’t. Something rowdy was going on in the Forum. But inside the air-conditioned confines of the library, it was lovely and quiet and there was a distinctive bookish smell in the air, such that I smiled slightly to myself upon inhaling it. Was it 2 years ago that I wandered into the library that still bore “Under Renovation” signs, and wondered what it had looked like for previous batches? Has it really been 2 years? I remember that I spent those 2 years taking modules and exams, but I can’t fathom where all the time went.

Some jerk cut my line at the RBR counter. To be precise, there was no line. He just pretended he got there first, when the service personnel came to collect our request slips. I darted my eyes sideways to glare at him. But I had the last smirk, because my book was retrieved sooner. *smirk*

I went to the toilet, which still amazes me with its newness although it’s been that way for a couple of semesters now. I waved my hand Jedi mind trick-style in front of the motion-activated paper towel dispenser. The gadget geek in me gleefully tore off the paper, while the concerned greenie had a twinge of guilt at the waste of paper. I don’t really need such a large piece of paper to dab water off my hands, thank you.

I felt the familiar apprehension as I exited the library via the theft-detection gates. I’m always irrationally worried that I’ll set them off, and this time it wasn’t that irrational because I had a borrowed book in my bag. I like to believe that the system needs time to digest the loan information.

A bunch of foreign freshmen seemed to be moving their belongings from a room in my wing. Stupid noisy freshmen. Why am I, a 3rd year, living with stupid noisy freshmen? Oh that’s right. Because the upstairs is full of stupid noisy not-so-freshmen too. Their music is too loud, and I’m too old.

Too old to be waking up at 4 am, and hauling ass to MRT stations around the country at 6 am in order to catch the first wave of commuters. Too old to be smiling ingratiating smiles to people who inadvertently made eye contact. Too old to be silently cursing you behind your back as you quick-step away, not because you didn’t donate but because you acted as if I didn’t exist. Too old to be treated like an invisible, inaudible being. Too old to be angry.

So this auntie is going to hide in an undisclosed location tonight, to avoid the wake-up call, but the hordes of eager freshies will still go out tomorrow. And for their sakes, that they don’t grow up to be bitter seniors like me, at least acknowledge their presence. Because if you walk past them acting like they’re not there, they’re going to pretend that the tin can that brained you didn’t come from their hands.