Long Overdue: Austria Trip - Church Edition (Part 1)

yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes IknowIknowIknowIknowIknowIknow this is loooooong overdue - but here it is now!!! The long-awaited post about my trip to Austria~!

Let me begin by saying that this trip, as a pilgrimage, had a slower pace (and  more shopping) than the previous pilgrimages with my parish priest, according to the regulars who go for these trips. So although there seems to be more shopping-than-pilgrimage, this was purposely slowed down for the older folks, I think. Also, to make it easier for the usual people, considering that the other pilgrimages to France and Italy were way too packed, with all the rush of travelling up and down. We also did a couple of touristy stuff, like visiting the local attraction of Hallstaat, their salt mine, going to mount Titlis (lul) in Switzerland, and went Swarovski shopping. We even crossed borders: we went to Germany for less than a day to visit one of the churches, and went through Liechtenstein, saw two churches there, and then went to Switzerland to stay overnight. Ain't so Austrian after all! I also got a poop-ton of postcards and pictures of flowers, so I'll probably put those in a separate post.

Back to business though: unlike the previous pilgrimages, where they had booklets with all the information of the churches, this time round, we had to fill in our own booklets, so that people would actually pay attention instead of just taking pictures all the time lol. We also had sessions on most nights, where our parish priest would talk about certain things about Lyfe, which I'll probably put in another post as well.

Anyway, you wouldn't think of Austria being a country for pilgrimage journeys, compared to places like Italy, France, Israel, Jerusalem etc but Austria is quite a Catholic country, in the sense that most of the churches we went to were all relatively close by to one another. Compared to the other pilgrimages, it took them hours to reach the next cathedral or shrine. Not saying that those countries are any less Catholic, but just that I think it shows how strong the Austrians' faith is. We went during the time of Corpus Christi (celebrating the belief that the bread and wine during Eucharistic celebration in mass is the true body and blood of Christ) and the Austrians seem to take it quite seriously - but I'll explain more about that later.

So with that done, I'll start with the churches we went to! I think we missed one in Switzerland (St Francis Cathedral I think?) but apart from that, we covered quite a lot as well. Also forgive my horrible photography orz

Maria Zell

As it is with most of these churches, they didn't start out very fancy, and were simply little shrines or chapels. So this, started out when this dude, Monk Magnus, was going somewhere, but there was a huge rock in his way. He prayed to mother Mary, and it split, so he placed a statue of her on a branch in her honour, and created a little chapel. There are also two statues in the front of the church: one of Hungarian king Ludwig, who was fighting a battle against the Portuguese, and won after praying to mother Mary; and another of dude was healed from gout after praying at the church.

There are a couple of unique things about the church: it is the church with the most ex-votos (gifts of thanksgiving) than any other church - in the world; the tabernacle (where the body of Christ is kept in the church) is a globe, which is actually quite unusual. Only a few other churches have that I think. There's also a figure of baby Jesus, and he  holds and apple and fig in his hand, but I can't exactly remember what they were meant to symbolise lol Anyway, the  yellow-white flag in the front is supposed to signify that it is the designated pope's basilica in Maria Zell.

Maria Taferl

Maria Taferl is around in the same area, I think. Anyway, it's three centuries old, 200 000 people visit it annually, and it's the second largest Marian pilgrimage church in Austria. It was during the time when Celtic people were living in the region, so a group of Christians fixed a cross onto an oak tree in the area to prevent Celtics from praying there or something I'm not sure lol Anyway, The Christians nailed a cross to a board, with Mary and John on it. There are two main stories that certain around this, and it's even painted in the church as a fresco!

In 1643, a cattle herder came across the rotting tree and tried cutting it down - but he cut himself twice while trying to do so. It was then that when he fell down, he saw the cross, prayed for forgiveness and was healed. The other story, is that the local magistrate, who suffered from fits and depression, decided to replace the rotting cross with a statue of Our Lady of Sorrows - and was cured soon after. A couple other miracles were things like miraculous flashes of light in the town, and apparitions. There was even a time when an altar boy accidentally burned down the altar, but the holy image of the Our Lady of Sorrows was untouched I think. (I have horrible handwriting, and writing in those books with glossy pages ain't good for a person with inky pens orz)

Anyway, the church was raised to basilica status in 1947 by Pope Pius XII. What's also unique about the church, is that it has a depiction of Joseph's assumption, which is very rare.

Dude who cut his leg

Dude who put the statue in the tree

The fresco of Mary's assumption is like hella fine omg

And here it is in its full glory, with some of the scenes of Mary and Jesus as a child. There are actually some inaccuracies in it, but it'd be quite a lot to go through them lol

Linz Cathedral

Linz cathedral is also known as Our Lady of Immaculate Conception, although I can't remember why lol Anyway, the cathedral has 2000 stained glass windows, and holds 20 000 people. There's quite a lot of stained glass windows, such as the one you can see from the outside, which is a rose window. 

The stained glass window here is split into three sections, which is supposed to represent God, Mary, and life in Linz. I'm not sure which one is which, but some of the pretty important people in Linz are like Kaiser Fredrich III, Maximillian the poet (I think), Johannes Kepler (whom the University of Linz is named after), Anton Brugner (something like that) and Beethoven. 

The church's layout is such that it looks like a cross, so it's like the altar is at the head, and at the two arms, are rose windows. The rose window on the right represents war and the seven deadly sins, and on the left represents peace, the four cardinals virtues and the seven works of mercy. There's even a huge pipe organ at the back, which I have a postcard of lol. There were also quite a couple of depictions of Mary, considering it's a Marian church lol. One was of Mary's assumption as the apostles finding flowers on her bed, but not her body, and another was of her as the mother of the church, sheltering the people under her arms.

Christkindl Steyr

This was one of the Christmas churches we went to, and it was quite cute, 'cos the building beside it, that is usually a restaurant, gets transformed into a post office around Christmas, where children come in by school bus-loads to send letters and such to friends and others. There's even a display of a huge nativity scene and mechanical moving scenery kind of thing that is opened around the Christmas season - but they were opened specially for us!

The story behind this altar is actually p cool. There was a dude who had epilepsy, and went to the forest to pray, and used a holy image (can't remember what of, though) to help him focus as he prayed. He later put a little figure of Jesus into a hole of a tree. And that tree is the very same tree that is in that altar piece, with the figure of Jesus in it. Like, holy poopers bro they got a tree as an altar piece like !!!!!!!! Also, it has a golden globe tabernacle too.

There was also a dude who asked the bishop, who was in a place along the border of Germany and Austria, for allowance to build a church, but they fought about it, and even while they were fighting, the dude was getting it built anyway lol such a rebel

The mechanical moving scenery comprised of 300 wood carvings, that took the dude, Karl Lauda, 40 years to make - by hand. It was initially moved using bicycle chains and turned by hand, but now it's motorised. Anyway, it goes through different biblical scenes, apart from just the birth, like the annunciation to the shepherds, and some of the people in it are the apostles, king David, Saint Paul etc.

There was also a large, something like a diorama, that went was a 58 square metre nativity scene, that had four scenes: the shepherds, the birth, the magi, and oriental women at the well in their village.

Traunkirchen

This church is pretty well-known in its area for it's Fisherman's pulpit. On it, has a depiction of Saint Francis Xavier, who dropped his cross in the sea, and a lobster (or sometimes shown as a crab) comes out of the sea to give it back to him. It also shows the scene of the miracle when the disciples' boat was filled with fishes when they tossed the net on the other side.

I can't remember if there's any significance of this altar, but hey, it's p cool and vibrant lol

Gmunden

Well, that's not the name of the church, but rather the town, but we visited their local parish church, which is dedicated to the three magi - a rather uncommon church, I'd say. (The pictures here were poop, so uh, no photos ono)

Loreto

I don't remember much about this church, considering we couldn't spend much time in it, and it wasn't in our book either. But I think it had a miraculous statue, that was only shown during mass. Otherwise, it was kept with the nuns.

Salzburg

Just to side track a bit: we got the chance to walk around Salzburg, which is p famous for Mozart. That's where they sell the original Mozart balls (*immature snicker*), had a plaza where they played a Mozart piece every day, and had those cute, hanging iron signs to show what the store was for (before people could read). It was home to Mirabell gardens as well, which is one of the sites where they filmed The Sound of Music. Heck, we went to a few places where they filmed it lol I'll put photos of the Mirabell gardens in one of the other posts lol

Salzburg also means "salt fortress", 'cos they transported salt via the river there, and there's a castle fortress thing on the hill nearby too. (Even Hallstaat is in reference to salt, considering they have a salt mine there lol)

cutie owl omg

cutie lederhosen omg

Salzburg Cathedral

omg don't get me started on Salzburg cathedral - it's damn huge. It's so huge, that I didn't get a chance to take down everything about it lol But what I did get, was of The Virgin's Column, which depicts Mary right on the top, with an angel, the devil, Wisdom and the Church at each corner. The Church symbolises how Mary is the mother of the church; The angel represents Mary in God's kingdom, as the queen of angels; Wisdom is represented as a woman, and how she knows the will of God for her (which is essentially what wisdom is from the Catholic point of view of the gifts of the holy spirit); and the Devil represents what is said in Revelations of a woman giving birth and the devil comes to get the child, but the mother and child are both saved. There's also a lightning bolt heading towards the devil, which is supposed to be about how the disciples saw the "devil fall like lightning" when they went out to preach. 

Another thing about the Virgin's Column, is that if you stand at a particular angle, in front of the statue, the crown on the cathedral lines up perfectly with Mary, such that it looks like angels are crowning Mary.

Inside, was where Mozart was one of the organist for awhile, I think. There are like four organs in each corner of the main section of the church, and like all four organs are only used during special masses. There was even a crypt kind of thing under the church, but I think they only keep the old parish priests there or something, can't really remember lol orz

You can see the holy spirit, represented by a dove, riiiight in the top

Oberndorf Bei Salzburg

Just outside of Salzburg, is a little chapel where Silent Night was written. Franz Gruber and Joseph Mohr did the music and lyrics respectively. It was first performed, here, on Christmas eve in 1818, before it spread all around the world after that. It was sung in Germany and New York City in the 1830s by then lol There's also a replica of this in Frankenwurth (I think) in in a German themepark in Michigan, 1973 lol

Maria Plain

The church overlooked quite a huge piece of land, since it was on a hill. You could actually see the Salzburg fortress from all the way up there! And there was a large scene of the crucifixion there too.

You can see the fortress riiiiiiiiight there!

Anyway, the church houses a miraculous image of Mary inside. Once, a fire broke out in a family bakery, and destroyed everything in the town - except the image. The image was then brought to the plain, where people visited it, and church was eventually built there. The anniversary of Mary's coronation was also celebrated in this church, and Mozart wrote his coronation mass for Mary here too. It was also raised to minor basilica status in 1952.

The other thing that is quite interesting about this, is that there is a hanging statue of Mary in it. What most people wouldn't notice though, is that on the wire that holds the statue up, are big beads, to represent the rosary lol Even I didn't notice it at first.

Saint Michael's Church (Mondsee)

That's St Michael there lol

Now this, is my favourite church, mostly 'cos it's yellow, and it's Saint Michael's church holla~ Anyway, it's a Benedictine monastery, and one of the largest Gothic churches in Austria. It was also the church where Maria and Von Trapp got married in The Sound of Music lol The oldest German translation of the bible was also here. The other funny things in the paintings, are things like in one of them, the painter actually included himself in it, and the church can be seen somewhere in the paintings.

Maria Hilf (Help)

We went inside here, but it was more of a veeeery small chapel, and we couldn't get past the gate inside the chapel, (apparently a lot of the small churches and chapels have gates on the inside, although I don't relaly know why) so we didn't do much except enjoy the scenery outside. Inside though, are pictures of Mary and Jesus and stuff, and I think they might be ex-votos, but some of them were pretty unique. I remember one of them being sort of like a sketch, and it showed Mary kissing baby Jesus' hand, and she looked young, yet gentle and motherly, compared to the usual depiction of just her and Jesus with the two angels beside lol idk made her look a lot more real and human.

Saint Wolfgang

In Saint Wolfgang, there were two altars: one main one, and the other dedicated to St Wolfgang, which they don't use for mass I think. The main one has these panel-doors that can be moved, so it can be opened or closed. On the inside, shows the coronation of Mary, while the other panels show Mary praying to baby Jesus, circumcision, presentation of Jesus in the temple, and the death of Mary. What's unique about the last panel though, is that it shows Mary's soul going up with Jesus.

The story of St Wolfgang, is that he wanted to be a hermit, and the devil came to tempt him. But he prayed hard, and eventually the devil left. He then decided that he would build a church wherever his axe would land when he threw it. So he did, but then the devil came back again. The devil then said that he wouldn't torment St Wolfgang anymore, if the first person that enters the church was to be given to the devil. So St Wolfgang prayed about it, and lo and behold, a wolf entered the church, so that was given to the devil.

Hallstaat

Hallstaat is a rather small, picturesque-kind of town on a lake, which I'll probably talk about more in one of the other posts. It has two churches: one Catholic and one protestant. 

Anyway, the Catholic church, Maria Am Berg (a.k.a Mary's Assumption Church) was on one of the hills. It has a bone house, where they keep bones from graves every ten years. I mean considering how really small the town is, there isn't a lot of land for graves in the church, so they get dug up, but kept in the bone house. 

The Catholic church

The protestant church

Much like the previous church, they also have panel-altars, but with two "wings", so there's an inside, an inner pair of panels, and then a second pair of panels. Depending on the occasion, different altar panels are shown. The first position (when the inside of the outermost panels are shown) depict the meeting of Anna and Joachim, Mary and Elizabeth, circumcision, and the wise men. The second position, when everything is completely closed, shows Jesus in the temple as a child, the wedding at Cana, Jesus and Martha, and the ascension. The position that we saw, was the one of Mary's birth, annunciation, presentation of Jesus in the temple, and the death of Mary. Inside, shows Mary, with St Catherine and Barbara on her left and right. There's also a second altar, that shows Gethsemane, Pilate, the scourging, and carrying of the cross.

The Marian altar

According to our parish priest, the protestant church that we went to demonstrated that protestants kinda "contradicted" themselves? I mean like in the sense that some protestants don't believe in "praying to statues" - yet there were statues in this church; there were votive candles which are used to for praying through a saint/person - yet these weren't dedicated to anyone; and protestants don't use a crucifix - yet there was one in that church. I'm not sure which denomination it was, so I'm not sure whether there are any denominations that keep in line with certain traditions that the Catholics have, but yeah. I guess, from what he saw it as, is that they were kinda "lost" in the middle of all the different beliefs that denominations and Catholics had.

The other thing about Hallstaat, was that we went there to witness their Corpus Christi procession, which is actually quite a big thing: it even gets news coverage lol There were other tourists who came on the same day as us to catch a glimpse of their procession. First, they bring the Eucharist to the plaza, where there's some prayers and stuff (it was all in German so I have no idea what they were saying lol), and then they bring it out onto the lake and sail around for a bit. There was a previous trip that went to Austria as well, led by the same priest as this trip, so when they went, they only saw the procession - but this time, when we visited the Catholic church, the priest there offered our priest a chance to get out onto the water to join them! And he did lol - in his Hawaiian shirt (cos he initially tried to go undercover).

There are a couple of townsfolk who go out onto the water themselves to try and catch a glimpse of the boat with the Eucharist on it.

That aside though, the way they celebrate Corpus Christi is very different from how we do it in Singapore. At some of the churches we went to, they were making serious preparations for it. They have outdoor processions with the Eucharist in a monstrance, and a banner-tent-like thing to protect it as it's brought around outside the church. In Singapore though, apparently we're not allowed to have processions - not even just outside our own church. I don't know why though ono

I guess I'll stop here for now. There's about 15+ more churches to go, so I'll see if I can finish them up in another post lol (Hopefully not too long from now!)

be the person you want to be

Resolution Recap

Since I had the time, I thought I might as well write a post. I mean I could spend this time writing on my writing blog - which I should, since Saturdays are my designated writing days HAHAHAH sigh orz Anyway, I suppose I should do a quick update on how life's going on.

In reference to my resolutions: I didn't really set up a newspaper club, but I am part of the school's online newsletter and school magazine, so that's close enough! It's been p okay so far. I mean Claire and I have an interview to do, and I recently did a joint article with some of the other writers, so that's good.

My second resolution was going pretty well for awhile, but ever since I started getting work and Chinese tuition again, I don't really get the chance to even think about plot development, let alone actually get to write orz Hopefully, I can figure something out and see if I can at least getting something out once a month, be it on this blog, or my writing one. I know it's not a lot, but I guess it's better than nothing.

My third resolution has kinda worked? I mean, I suppose I try to stagger and spread out my workload. It's not that easy, considering my HL subjects are content heavy lol (Chemistry, Biology, History). My SL subjects are still p okay, I suppose: Chinese, Math and Lang Lit. School does get quite busy, when you put subjects aside. There are school events, CAS, class stuff... But I guess it keeps me on my toes c:

I shan't say much about my fourth resolution because it has worked too well - maybe to the point of technically shattering it? But speaking about brofriends: I did once had a dream that I was some sort of band manager of some guys in a school? I mean I was p rad, and the guys didn't mind me and I was one of the bros - although there was one guy whom I hung out with a lot lol He was like the guy version of Julia, and I remember him wearing a skirt in my dream... I don't know why he did, but I didn't mind! [Hmmm, maybe it was a sign of sorts? I think a certain someone would understand...]

Speaking of friends though: I suppose I've integrated well into my class! I mean we're a p small class, so we kinda stick around each other quite a lot, and we can't really afford to have cliques anyway. I wouldn't really call them friend-friends yet, like my usual circle of secondary school friends, but it's only been a bit more than a month, and there's still plenty of time ahead of us. (Only my brofriend can be on the same level as them though lol)

And yeah, I don't know about a craft store lol Maybe I can set one up at the end of the year? Or next year, once school is completely over? I mean there'll be at least three months of nothing, so I might as well earn some cash. I recently learned how to make friendship bracelets out of embroidery thread, so das cool. I'm very tempted to make so many because it's kinda mindless, and my hands are itching to make something!

Hmm... I suppose I could talk about my one-week holiday?

I spent most of my time either lazing around or doing homework-- or maybe it was more like a balance of both lol Probably the highlight of the week was yesterday, when Julia, Brofriend and I went to a cat cafe at Boat Quay. We hung out with cats for two hours, and put them to sleep before our time at the cafe was up lol We sedated them with scratches behind their ears and brushing, leaving the other guests to just take pictures of sleepy kitties lol After that, we just had lunch and hung around c:

Time for some CATZ YEEEEEEEE

~They're so soft and cute I WANT TWENTY~

- Micaela c:

Orientation Week: Day 3-5

omg should I even write what happened during orientation week? I don't know if I can remember every single thing we did, and I already have homework and files to get and stacks of paper to file hnnnnnng I suppose I should probably give a rough idea of what went down.

On the third day, the main event was the telematch, which was hella dirty. I mean like, rolling around in oyster sauce, mustard, orange syrup, bandung syrup, and ketchup dirty. The first station we had was Crap Twister, which is basically like twister, with any body part, and the dots are plates of yesyouguessedit. I felt like puking just smelling all of it together. I tried getting into the game, but the overwhelming smell of mustard and oyster sauce on my face just radiating towards my nose just made everything worse.

The other games weren't as bad, I suppose. The next one involved us belly crawling through yesyouguessedit towards a plate filled with flour and scrabble pieces, so we were supposed to try and make the longest word. Even with the word "adventurers", we couldn't beat the other team, who only had one letter longer than us. The third game was pretty much captain's ball, but with a broccoli covered in tartar sauce or something. Not as bad, considering we've played with cabbages in school before - the stench wasn't as bad this time. The last game was basically five people from each team sit on ten chairs, and play scissors paper stone, and the team who manage to push the other team off and get all the chairs, win. The catch was though, that yesyouguessedit drenched the seats. It wasn't that bad, considering that by this time, you at least don't get to see or smell it that much.

At the final end, there was a caterpillar race, the kind where you pass the last chair forward to the front, and everyone squeezes onto the line of chairs. At least this one wasn't really dirty, until we were told that there were bags filled with either water or syrup at the end of the race, and people were free to take them and throw them at each other. My class just took the water bags to wash ourselves off.

Apart from our dirty demise, the games earlier in the day were at least better. There was one game though, where we get in boy-girl pairs, and hold a stick of uncooked pasta between us - with our mouths. If it breaks halfway, you have to use the longer piece. We had to go back and forth three times in total, going over chairs together, bending over, and touching the floor. I suppose it wasn't that bad, considering that we were going through worse later that day anyway.

The fourth day was dragon boating, our visit to SAM, and our late night treasure hunt! And our sleepover, of course. Dragon boating was quite fun, actually. Each boat had two classes, and we just paddled around Kallang basin, played a couple of games, and had a race at the end. Unfortunately, the teachers won.

Our trip to SAM was rather enriching. I learned a couple of new things that I never heard before from my dad, like the flying turban, or the haunted toilets. The flying turban is about how there used to be an Indian guard (called "Jagas" by the students at the time. I'm not sure if it's spelt like that) who used to walk along the corridors, but for some reason, died. Despite that though, there were sightings of his turban floating around the same corridor. Another story from my dad was about how one of the Indian guards saw the gardener in his sleep at night, and told him where his body was. When the guard woke up, he went to where the gardener had told him to go, and found his body there, covered in ants.

Our treasure hunt was basically station games, where we were supposed to look for at least four out of six pegs at each station, before we could proceed to play the actual game. Some of the games involved the station masters asking questions to the whole class and each class member have to come up with an answer. At least seven of the answers need to be the same in order to get the point. One of the questions though, was who would be the best and pole dancing - you wouldn't expect us to have an answer, right? The game ended with one of our dear manly man classmates, pole dancing around a basketball post.

On the last day, we had our mass dance - I mean rave party - and campfire. We had been practicing a couple dance kind of thing over the past few days, and our hard work was paid off in a rave. We were given two glow sticks each, and danced the dance twice. It was kind of a strange and foreign experience for me, because it was completely dark, save some strobe lights behind the DJ and our glow sticks. I have no idea how they can dance with reckless abandon and go wild, so I uh, just ended up jumping up and down. I had a girl partner by the way, so I was the man.

Our campfire was probably the funniest part of the camp. Some of the skits put up by the classes were pretty good. I kinda liked my class's skit, but uh, it was kinda inappropriate at times. It was pretty much about the guys doing cheesy, kinda racy pick up lines at the girls of our group, only to be rejected by them. It ended with the last dude - yes the pole dancing one - pole dancing, only to have the girls go crazy for him. Yeah, p much. We ended up having to do a "viewer's discretion is advised" warning in the beginning because it was just that suggestive.

Talking about my class: I suppose I've assimilated rather well into the class - save the times when things get off the deep end and they talk about inappropriate stuff. I mean I know they're free to talk about whatever they want among themselves, but seriously, sometimes I think it's just too much - even for our (yes, us gurls) standards. Talking about kinks? I don't think we've gone that far... Apart from that, I do enjoy their company, yeah.

Anyway, first day of actual school was pretty okay. I like the teachers that we have so far (save one but I don't think I should judge) and I think school's going to be pretty fun. I haven't signed up for any CAS yet, but I'll probably do that over the weekend. For now though, I'm going to arrange all my stuff, and figure out what things to bring and leave in school.

~ Claire please save me from my classmates when things go too far~
- Micaela c:

Orientation Week: Day 2

Aw man, do I even remember what happened yesterday? All that has remained from yesterday, are the aches and pain from running around on the beach at Sentosa. Good thing I didn't get sunburnt, though.

Anyway, yesterday was a continuation to our orientation - this time, by bonding through games on the beach! (After the CAS talk and administrative stuff, of course.) I think I genuinely had fun yesterday, albeit very tired. We got splashed and wet multiple times, and got down and dirty in the sand. There was so much sand in my shoes, that I was literally walking on the beach as I went home. My clothes dried surprisingly fast, although my hair still feels dry from the salt water.

Apparently, the games this year weren't as dirty and disgusting as last year's - they had eggs and mayonaise, and I don't think I want to know what actually happened. Or maybe we will know what's going to happen - on Monday, which requires a change of clothes and shower things. Anyway, I think the most strenuous game was the bucket one. I mean come on, I haven't done sit ups for the longest time, and we're expected to lift a full bucket with just our feet? My shoulder hurt the most after that one, 'cos I was leaning on them too much from behind. The dirtiest one was the obstacle course, which I offered to do, considering that it wasn't very wide and I was small enough to go through the whole thing. We were splashed with water along the way, which made it worse 'cos then sand stuck to me like glue. I was completely covered in sand after crawling on the beach, and probably scratched my knees too. Why must the sand at Sentosa be so rough? The most vertically challenging one though, is the one where they strung marshmallows on a line, and you have to eat them - the catch, is that they're tied to trees. With a class of six girls and four guys, you can pretty much picture how it went. (I'm so sorry to the guy who had to piggy back me omg)

After that, we watched the animal show at the beach. I had no idea that it even existed, to be honest. I only got excited about the dog lul. We also had tug-o-war, which was surprisingly tough. I couldn't get a good grip of the rope or the sand, so uh, I fell once or twice. Our class lost, but ah well.

School aside though, I'm getting my birthday presents from DFTBA HOLLA~ It was a good thing I didn't order earlier, because their shirts are going at USD $10, as compared to $16-20 initially. I ordered Alex's and Charlie's CDs too, so yey c: Ah yeah, and my birthday was yesterday too. I kinda forgot about it as the day went on. My villagers celebrated my birthday in the morning, and I had cake at my grandparents' place at night.

~I am the dancing queen, young and sweet, only seventeen~
- Micaela c:

Orientation Week: Day 1

First day of a NEW school AHSDOFASDHFJADOFASDFALSDF

Yesterday, when we were getting our results by sms, I thought I'd be the only one going to SenorSchool. Until lo and behold, Claire and Ning messaged me, saying that they ended up at SenorSchool too. They had put it as their second choice, and I honestly didn't expect them to come because 1. didn't expect that to be a choice for Ning and 2. a very small intake of students. Anyway, I'm happy I'm not alone c:

Anyway, to start off the day, I left the house at 6.30 in the morning, was dropped off at the MRT station and took a train ride, which honestly, was kind of a strange experience first thing in the morning. At least I had been to the school by public transport a few times, so that's okay. The awkward bit though, was walking to school, surrounded by secondary students and a couple of the JC students behind me. You could probably pick me out of the aerial view of the crowd, because different school uniform sigh. I didn't see anyone else who wore a different uniform, let alone someone from school...

After getting through the school gates though, it wasn't so bad. One of the secondary school teachers I think, just told me where to go, so I went. There were already a couple of new students there, so I just joined in. Wasn't too hard, I suppose. Just talk about what school we're from, subject combinations and all that jazz...

The form class I got is pretty cool, I guess. I mean it's kind of nice to have the seniors physically join us for the rest of the year, in an actual classroom. One of their voices sound ridiculously close to my sister's, so I was a bit creeped out by that. Anyway, apart from that, I suppose my form classmates are from a range of schools, which is kind of nice, because it brings some diversity to the cohort. A couple of them read manga and watch anime though, which I don't mind, but I don't want to relive past experiences plsnotagainI'mseventeennottwelve. My only problem at the moment is trying to remember everyone's names sigh.

Apart from meeting everyone, we also got a lot of talks: about the IB, subjet choices, school spirit... It was way too tiring after listening for so long, that I genuinely felt like sleeping. Or maybe it was because I hadn't drunk enough water idk. I kinda have a rough idea of what I want to do, and as for the school songs we have to learn, well I guess I could just listen to my dad sing them out overdramatically, considering he's an old boy.

Speaking of meeting everyone: there was an unexpected, certain someone who suddenly appeared at the school - not as part of our cohort, though... I don't intend to be mean, but I didn'treallywanthertocomeintoourschool. Although, after learning that she actually wants to go to poly, and has no interest in IB or JC at all, and is instead being forced to, I feel kinda bad for her. I mean I know my dad was initially hesitant about SenorSchool, but I guess he turned around at some point, so he supports where I want to go, so... Anyway, I kinda hope she gets to where she actually wants (andnotreallyintoourschoolI'msorrybutasdhfalsdfhasodfd)

Overall, I think it was a pretty good day. Quite tiring, considering we ended at 5 pm. Got home at six and ended up animal crossing until 7.30 lol. I should probably sleep soon because sentosa tomorrow and birthday holla. Also choir cantor auditions on Sunday and I haven't practised hnnnnnnnng

~First day of school sigh~
- Micaela c:

O Level Results!

Well, I guess we knew this post was going to have to come. I don't really know where to start really... I guess we should start from the hall?

I guess we had the typical nerves, because based on past experiences on our mid-years and prelims, it wasn't bright and sunshiny. A lot of people were stuck in clouds or thunderstorms. I was mostly concerned for my history and lit, especially after what happened in prelims. I couldn't help but expect myself to get Bs after thinking about all the mistakes I could've corrected. I even thought that maybe the invigilators thought I was cheating when I merely blankly scanned the hall. Anyway, all I wanted in that time of fear, was to get less than nine. If I got a nine, I might just had a chance to get to Senorschool through appeal. Apart from Senorschool, I didn't know where else to go. So, below nine was my best chance.

Anyway, then came when they were announcing those who got at least seven A1s. I felt really proud for the people I knew up there. I know most of them have struggled through, and I think they all deserve it. There are some people that are predictably going to get it, though. But besides that, I think they have honestly put in the effort to reach where they are now c: Honestly, I had the hope that I might just be up there too, but that was merely wishful thinking, the kind where you hope for miracles that could become half true. Despite that though, I am pretty happy with my eight c: I mean in hindsight, I maybe could've shaved off a point from my A Math or Biology (or even History!), but I think that would be my best.

I am pretty proud with myself though, for my full history (A2) combined humans (A1), and Chemistry (A1). I was rather concerned about history, especially since I had failed prelims. I honestly don't know what I did right this time, though. I mean like, I don't think my Cold War essay was that solid lol. Anyway, my combined humans was quite surprising too, because well, social studies is most people's Achilles heel. Literature was also a concern, because I had just passed that in prelims lol. I even thought that my Chrysalids essay's last paragraph was rather sketchy, but I had to write it anyway, because three paragraphs. I was rather happy with my poem analysis, so I think that might be what saved me c: Also Chemistry, which was a surprise, because I had been getting Bs for at least midyears and prelim. I could've done better for A Math and Biology, to be honest. Physics was an A2 which is what I got for prelims, so uh, I don't really know what that shows...

I'm not saying I'm unhappy with my eight (I think I've got a respectable score), but after all the hype, the buzz, the anticipation, I can't help but wonder where I could've done better. Maybe I could've gotten a seven, with a deduction of one point for CCA... Ah well, not like I can change my score now. I think eight points is still rather commendable and something to be proud of c:

I guess all that's left to do is hope that I'll get into Senorschool, as long as the six-pointers don't try and get there. I mean if they have six points and want to do IB, they should be able to get to the otherIBschoolthateveryoneknows. Here's to starting out fresh and anew in a new school!

~Sigh, now there's no excitement until school postings are out~

- Micaela c:

Little Old Lady

(I was awake because I was hoping to catch the Sherlock stream again (on a site with no chat to lag the stream, yay!) so I woke up at three. The episode finished not too long ago, so now I'm continuing this post at six in the morning.) Anyway, two posts in a week, wa-hey!

Sometimes I see posts on Tumblr about why we should talk to the elderly. Well, yesterday on Sunday, an old lady approached me! I don't know if I should talk about her here, because some bits are a bit personal, but I thought that I should record this down because of writing purposes. I mean I know I shouldn't just see people as just "things" to write about, but writers write based on experience - and being a sixteen-year-old, I almost have none, so I could learn a bit from her.

When I went back to church for a choir meeting of sorts. There's a new plan for all the different choirs to come together once a month for some spiritual discussion... That kind of thing. Anyway, I was dropped off half an hour early because my mum was heading off for her some meeting in Hougang. I was sitting downstairs in our canteen, waiting for the meeting to start, until I noticed some of my catechism classmates at another table. I thought it would be nice to go and chat with them, since I've always felt a bit awkward to be alone at times... Anyway, I was about to get up, when a little old lady sat down next to me, and just started talking!

I don't know how she knew I was here for the choir meeting, but she just started chatting, saying that there weren't any chairs in the room yet. I pointed out to her that it was still early, so they chairs probably weren't arranged yet. She then followed up by saying that she's always early. When her children tell her what time to visit them, she always goes early. She's not even punctual - she just goes earlier than expected! She says that this way, there's no worry, no rush, which is dangerous at her age, since she could fall.

She paused for awhile. I guess this is when I describe her! Her skin looks a bit tanned, had short, silver hair, with a bit of black still on its ends, hands smaller than mine, and eyes so black, that I can't help but think she's seen a lot in her lifetime.

All of a sudden, she starts talking about herself. I mean I don't know why she would - I didn't even think she would approach me, except maybe for inquiring about the choir meeting. But I think she's quite talkative! She's eighty-two years old, Hakka, and is in one of our choirs (obviously). She then went on saying that her father died when she was one, and her mother left her at the convent soon after. She was fostered in that convent, surrounded by the nuns. When she grew up, she intended to become a nun, just like the ones she grew up around with. At the age of nineteen, she entered the nunnery - but only stayed for two years.

It seems like she didn't actually know how strict life was at the nunnery, considering she was still only nineteen. Her mother superior was extremely strict, painfully blunt, and quite aloof. All the nuns in training sat in silence, doing what, I'm not sure, because it seemed like they couldn't do anything! She tried asking for a pencil from one of the other nuns-in-training, only to discover that she got in trouble because she hadn't told mother superior. Mother superior called her too proud, just because she didn't "open up" - but it was just a mere bloody pencil!

I mean I'm not that surprised to hear the harsh, clinical life of the nunnery. I think my dad said my grandmother wanted to become a nun at some point, before becoming a nurse. She couldn't visit her friends, and even if she was visited, they had to talk through a gate - quite like behind bars. Needless to say, I think she couldn't handle it and ended up leaving. Just like the little old lady said, it was worse than being a prisoner. I mean I'm not saying that life of chastity, self-control and sacrifice that the nuns live is horrible, but I think at the time, it was a true test of endurance and patience, and whether you're fit to serve in the church wholeheartedly.

Anyway, our dear old lady ended up leaving the nunnery when she as twenty-one. She was sent with no goodbyes from the other training nuns, and was quickly bundled into a taxi by the mother superior, with everything packed and in the boot. She was sent to a separate convent in her home village, I think, where she spent a couple of years preparing girls for their first holy communion. When they were ready, she intended to give some holy pictures that she had while in the nunnery - only to discover that mother superior had taken them all! It was then that she went on a mission all the way back to the nunnery, and called for mother superior at the gate. It was then that she said that mother superior couldn't control her anymore since she's out, and mother superior gave her back her pictures.

She was about to go on about how she met her husband, (at the age of 24) but I think she said some things in dialect. I think it was about how he was introduced to her by her godmother, and that maybe he was too old or something - I'm not too sure. She went on saying that she was so young, how could she have known, or something to that effect, but then we were told to go inside for the meeting.

I didn't get to sit next to her because she ended up sitting with her choir members. Speaking about that, she seems rather friendly and very talkative. When our priest came by while she was telling me her life story, she stopped him to have a quick chat, and gave him some fruits! She seems in the know about her choir members, one of whom I know as a fellow catechist of my mum. She seems very friendly with kids too - she waves and smiles at little children who watch her as they walk past. Even she herself had said that when she was thinking about leaving the nunnery, she prayed to ask God for guidance, and she was told to leave, and instead use her gift elsewhere. I think she's found her gift, which is to share her stories with others.

Anyway, I didn't really manage to talk to her after the meeting - I don't even know her name or the name of the choir! I guess that's just me, talking to people who don't leave their names... I never expected myself to have an almost-half-an-hour chat with an elderly person before. Then again, not a lot of them are that chatty, otherwise, I have no idea what to talk about.

Anyway, I'm going to re-watch Sherlock now, since the second half of it buffered a lot for me.

~Little Old Lady: lol~
Micaela c:

First Post of 2014!

Yay! I don't know if this can be called an achievement, but I haven't written a post since last year! Haha, okay I'll stop. Honestly, it doesn't feel like a new year - probably because I'm in the middle of writing a couple of posts for my writing blog. But, apart from that, in the spirit of the new year, I shall list some of my resolutions for the new year:

1. If I can make it to the school I want to go, I want to set up a Newspaper club, and call the newspaper "Newspaper Of The Monthly Agenda Daily" a.k.a NOTMAD (or NOMAD, if you take out "The"). When I went to the open house of the school I want to go to, I realised that they don't have a CCA for writing or literature of some sort, so I thought it would be a good idea to start one of my own! I have yet to figure out how to handle the administrative aspects of it, but I do hope I'll get the chance to set the club up!

2. This also ties in with the first part: I want to write more often. I am sort of on the way to doing that, since I started my writing blog not too long ago. I think I should force myself to at least sit down and write out ideas or chapters once a week on Saturdays. It may not necessarily be in a row and consistent, considering I might have some interference, but at least write enough so that I can post one each week.

3. If I can get into the school that I want, that offers the International Baccalaureate (IB) course, I intend to work a lot harder this year! I mean considering the IB means daily work, I'm going to have to force myself to work consistently. I do hope that I can get to the school I want, because I've lost momentum to work, so going back to school is going to be good!

4. Lastly, I hope to find a brofriend. I don't think that I'm emotionally mature enough to handle a romantic relationship, so I'm going to get myself a guy friend heck yeah.

5. Maybe possibly start up an online craft store? That just means I'm going to have to come up with more craft ideas and stuff, but I think I'll do this secondary to my writing endeavours.

 6. Yeah, I haven't really thought of any other resolutions. I do hope that I'll do well enough for O levels, which is mostly what I have on my mind so far.

Anyway, since this is the new year, I should say that my intention in starting a new blog is to have a fresh, new (mostly writing) start. I've had my previous blog since the start of Secondary School, and since I'm going to JC, I thought a new blog would be a good idea c:

~Can't wait for 14/14/14 lololol~
Micaela c: