TOUGHSTUFF: I KID YOU NOT!

Well I certainly can't go through 2 weeks of *coughcoughtorturouscough* orientation without writing about it, no? So there we were, divided into 12 groups of maybe 20 each and we had our first meeting. To be honest I thought my group sucked--hardly any hot people (sorry guys I love you people anyway) and worse of all, they were SO shy!

And then there were the seniors taking care of the group: actually, I lost count on how many of them they were but that's besides the point. Ah, the seniors--which group could live without them? Driving us all around, making us do things just for more points for the group, pushing us harder EVERY time. But again, I'm getting ahead of myself--must learn to plan ahead the next time.

And so, my group decided on the name "Dirty Tactics" just because we can. Personally, I would've picked a much cooler (and vulgar) name, but as we all know, majority wins everytime so why bother trying anyway? 'Sides, the seniors advised us to pick a clean name, which we did. Sorta. But other teams were much more liberal with their names--take 4play and 3some as an example. (I was told the senior's orientation groups had names referring to certain anatomical regions, so i guess ours ain't so bad after all) Also, let us not forget the group flag--some were cute (imagine bananas) some were cool ("7") some were plain tacky (a panty? c'mon people you can do better than that) but ours was uh.. bordering on tasteless (think wastepaper basket mounted on a bamboo pole).

But that's only the begining.

Orientation essentially involves getting dirty--I mean really dirty, which makes me wonder sometimes what is it about seeing your juniors getting all muddied up that is so gratifying. On the other hand, forget it. I don't wanna know--I need an unscarred brain for the next 5 years. Oh and also, it involves a LOT of stagework. Again, apparently seniors love seeing their little kiddies embarrassing themselves on stage/in public. They must be a very bitter lot.

Anyway.

Well our first major activity as far as I can remember was the icebreakers. Pretty standard fare, to be honest--I barely knew anyone from there but whatever goes. Just when i thought it was all over (it was dinnertime, mind) we were dragged for the wet-icebreakers (which goes without saying involves a lot of water AND more). Let's just say the results, while worthwhile, was NOT pretty. It bloody took me 5 hairwashes to remove the margarine, eggs and flour on my scalp (which naturally, smelled like cake). On another occasion I had to soak my shirt in a mixture of mouthwash, garlic, toothpaste and god knows what else and perform a treasure hunt which lasted well up to 10pm. (the life of a student *sigh*)

Allow me to list down some other ridiculous things we had to do:
1.Translate (and sing!) the national anthem in English
2.Spell out names using our bodies on the floor (right in front of everyone)
3.Play “wheelbarrow” in public
4.Have 2 guys act out a love scene in public (yours truly not spared)

That wasn't so bad, was it?

While a lot of my peers dreaded the stage performances, I had a blast (me being an attention-whore and all). So yeah, we had to act out Annie and shit but I got my 15minutes of fame performing a dance routine to the song “Candyman' “Please Don't Stop the Music” and “Yeh Atha Aththo”. Yep, an Indian dance at the end but hell, the judges loved it so who cares. 'Sides, i was the 2nd runner-up so no complaints there. (The winner was like an OMFG musical instrument routine by ONE person which was SO good I almost crapped my pants. But that's irrelevant.)

I can't say I hated the whole event, actually-- as a matter of fact I (as well as the other 200-odd batchmates) would attest that it was one of the best times we ever had. (as to those that didn't participate, well, shame on you).

Did I mention my group was the winning group of the whole thing?