The Summer 2012 PN Experience

Now that things have finally calmed down, I’m thinking it would be nice to do a post about this time’s Peer Network (PN) experience and continue to share some orange love =D.

As some of you may know, this was my 3rd time in the orange family. I must admit last year I was slightly hesitant about doing it again for the 3rd time, because – a lot of my friends were goneskies; I didn’t want to meet newies; Mingling always gives me a headache; Johnny Wu would bully me etc. Actually it was mainly the last reason.

But now, I can honestly say that this PN has been the best one I’ve ever done. I’ve met people who I know will be lifelong friends, inseparable by Orange Love, and have gotten closer with my fellow oldies. However, John still bullied me. Damned PPN power.

I don’t want to go through the experience day by day, but I shall try to make a list of what, for me, were the most memorable moments. If I left something out, I’m sorry, but every moment was just awesome. Orange Love Forever.

By the way, most of the photos were taken by Tuan Nguyen, who is the most awesome photographer ever.

• Training Day 2 was..like any other training day I suppose. I coordinated with my gang of oldies to all be on the same training day, and coming out of a 2 month break where nothing was really happening, well, I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again. However, the one thing different was that I actually got to know some newies quite well, bonding over Wong Fu and dirty jokes it seems. And I daresay that most of the newies I got to know very well during the 2 weeks were from that particular training day. Cheers guys~

• Oldies Newies was a pretty awesome event too, and it helped that I knew all the oldies, and more than half of the newies due to Training Day, InpUTS and SHS. It also helped that food was served early and everyone went a bit crazy on the dance floor. The karaoke session afterwards also helped, even though certain people *cough cough* didn’t  go.

• The first day – hectic as always. I must add in here that every morning I was half asleep, so that didn’t help my mood. But as someone put it: “his gloomy exterior is hiding a radiant sunshine that always fills everyone around him with warmth”. I’m paraphrasing, but you get the gist. Official Welcome was super busy, mingling was tiring. Even though I’ve done it many times, it is always scary as hell when you go up to a bunch of people and try to talk to them
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• Campus Tours – my favourite part of orientation. Most people would disagree with me, but there is just something about taking new students and showing them around the place that appeals to me. Maybe it’s the sense of being the centre of attention. Maybe it’s the power I wield. Maybe its the iPad. It feels good all the same haha. It was also funny when people told me “You have excellent voice projection”. I felt embarrassed as I think, and always will think, that the title of ‘Loudest PN’ should only belong to my dear friend Stanley Ibrahimavic.

• Ku-Ring Gai – I’ve never been to KRG, so I really wanted to do it this time around. The best thing about it was that I actually could sleep in because I live closer to KRG than City. And I must say KRG was pretty damn fun. The campus is small and cosy, albeit confusing, but it is easy to get used to. There was a bit more lazing around at KRG, so I definitely liked that. The national park setting helped too =D.

 

• BBQ – I’ve been in every BBQ PN’s have been involved with ever since I joined PN, but I must say this was the craziest BBQ line I’ve ever seen. I have never seen lines that curved up 2 enormous staircases and kept curving till past the great hall. That is amazing. Foodwise..it was BBQ food. I can honestly say, after basically 2 weeks of BBQ, I probably don’t want to touch BBQ for a long long time.

• Just Hanging Out at Mob, Rego Desk, PN Space – As usual, there was a lot of downtime, especially during the days where there was no official orientation. And we basically used that time to just annoy each other and do silly things, sometimes in the privacy of the PN space, sometimes in the not-so-private lobby of the Tower building. And we wonder why new students are scared.

• International Cocktail Party – It is usually one of the best events of the 2 weeks, as there is great company, and free alcohol. Unfortunately, this was also the most eventful day for me, and one that I will unlikely forget for the rest of my life. I was, for the most part of the cocktail party, stuck in an elevator with 18 other people. Even though the sign clearly stated the safe load was 12 people, people just couldn’t read and crammed in. It gets worse. One genius, in the middle of the ride, decides to tell everyone to ‘JUMP’, and so, a few other geniuses joined in, and, what do you know, the elevator jams, and we get stuck in there for an hour. It was hot. And sweaty. But I can tick that off my bucket list. I did however find it amusing that everyone’s main concern, including mine, was not the situation, but whether there would be any alcohol left by the time we got to the party. After an hour, the lift guy helped us, we got out, and the party was awesome.

• Last Day – The most pumped up day. For me though, I had extremely silly mood swings, which spoilt some people’s days (sorry ><). I did have a lot of fun though, as a whole myriad of feelings run through your body – the relief that comes with knowing PN is over (forever, in my case), and at the same time, extreme sadness that these 2 weeks of awesomeness have come to an end. Network Cafe was, as always, the highlight of the day, with the flashmob being the pinnacle of awesomeness. The look on all the international student’s faces is always priceless, and it is, without a doubt, one of the things I will miss most about PN’ing.

But the best, and most memorable moments about this PN experience, is, like all the other times, just making new friends and hanging out with old friends. It is amazing how people can become so so close over the span of 2 short weeks, but there is something special about our Orange Family.

To all my friends who I have done PN with in the past, thanks for doing it again this time. To all the new people I met and now cherish as really really dear friends, thank you for blessing me with your company. I hope, and know I will, see everyone soon in the near future. ORANGE LOVE FOREVER!