Zhen Min I know you were referring to me when you wrote the not playing at all part. ): But, all negativities aside, WE DID WELL! :)
Let's take huge rewinds on our cassette memories. Remember the times when we all struggled with March during the December holidays? How we dreaded every practice, instead of looking forward to it with such zealous anticipation.
As our days slowly inched closer to Concert Day, we were still deluding ourselves, burying ourselves in the bubbles of disbelief. The crazily intense practices were just another commitment we had to fulfill and we never really thought much of it. The pep talks, the practices which proved how badly we played then, were not-so-subtle hints to us that we needed to pull up our socks.
But we didn't realise that, only until a week before the performance. To see Ringers trying so hard, not to chat and fool around so much during free periods and instead memorise scores, and putting in their best (you can tell by the smiles, even during rehearsals), the feeling was really heartfelt. It's like a whole community of people, coming together to pull off an event, giving in their all. It also served as a mutual encouragement to each other - hinting that we're all in this together (cues song!).
Now, a day after concert and briefly glancing through the photos on Facebook, I must admit even though I dreaded Ringers so badly I am willing to go through this rollercoaster ride with you all, all over again. :)
Don't you think that all the effort we've put in has been made more than worthwhile? The heart-wrenching praises from both parents, friends, distinguished guests just made our hearts pound harder than ever. The nerves we had from sitting and waiting inside the creepy tunnel, as well as the weird, indescribable feeling when we saw the huge amounts (joking) of crowd in our (pathetic) KS Chee theatre! Then when we started playing and heard their "OHHHHH" and "OMG"s (i.e., Korobeiniki), we all knew we were smiling so broadly deep inside.
Of course, we've had our fun times. Making M&M Oreos and writing cards at the very last minute, camwhoring with the bimbos and teasing the seniors. These are the fun times which will be inked so deeply into our hearts, stronger than any ink tattoos can manage. We've worried about many things (like the emcees) but all our minds can finally be put to ease.
It was a touching experience overall. We went through this together, and we'll forever remain that way. Surely, we've had setbacks and last minute emergencies (e.g. the video refused to play, and ingenious me coming up with lines heheh) but we survived it all. Thank you so, so much for the beautiful memories which would be adding another huge diamond to my tiara of recollections.
That feeling, when we took our VERY, VERY last bow for the concert, I felt this sense of accomplishment and strange satisfaction even though I screwed up massively. I could also feel that they were impressed that we managed to bow so synchronisedly! Also, this sense of disbelief - is this long-term project finally over? But we started it together, supported each other along the way, and ended everything perfectly together with a bang! :)
When we were packing up, a lot of people were reduced to pools of tears. They were certainly not tears of agony or pain, but tears of love, joy, and more importantly, relief. It was that feeling, that annoyingly indescribable one which managed to break through our walls around our hearts. We've been through so much (maybe not), and truth be told the tears were already waiting impatiently to be released when we first saw the videos. :)
Yesterday, we saw people who truly loved us and we saw all our hard work pay off, possibly more than we deserved. 2 years down the road, we'll constantly raise the bar for our juniors to better and continue the tradition of Ringers Concert successes!
Concert2012,
Miao Ling.
P.S. If my love for y'all can be doubted in any way, may this post written from the bottom of my heart be a testimony.
