Sibu

Class camp was an amazing, amazing experience.

I think I'll actually do a photopost when Jiayun and Grace've uploaded their photos (thanks both of you!), looking forward to seeing them (!!!)

I'll talk about the rest of the days when I get the photos, but I have to say the last night was one of the most magical nights of my entire life. The jetty where I just felt this huge sense of belonging, the talking and sharing with the class illuminated by the autumnal orange glow of the lamps, watching the ocean blend with the horizon and the sky into a pitch-black void that was simply amazing to behold. Later, lying together on the beach, singing, sharing, talking, laughing; lying on our backs and watching the stars slowly wink into existence, wondering whether the stars were really still there or whether we were just watching their dying embers from eons ago, watching the ocean waves and listening to the surf crash onto the beach, enjoying the poignant silences punctured by the rustling of the wind through the tree branches and falling asleep by the shore. (and later waking up shivering with cold cause I didn't wear long pants. thanks for the jacket, my legs would've frozen if not for it [: ) and later watching the clouds get brighter (it really wasn't a sunrise, unfortunately) until it was time to go.

I wish I could've captured that moment and preserved it for eternity, to make that single moment last forever and ever. I felt really, really happy that whole night. Maybe if I put it into verse I'll be able to do so, but I doubt my poetry is any good. Words couldn't really do it justice. At the end of it there's this sense of loss that the moment's gone, it can't be recreated anymore no matter how hard I try, but what's left is the memories of it; memories that I hope will never fade. Maybe in this little post I can capture and remember what it felt like. Maybe I won't lose it. Nights like these really must come more often, but I guess what Jiayun said was right: its precisely because these moments are so fleeting and elusive that they are so precious.

I'll end on that. The rest of the camp was just as special, but this moment was really the defining moment for me. I wish things will stay as they are right now.