I again tugged down my school uniform skirt and twirled in front of my tall mirror. I again sighed. It was useless. I couldn't hide the faint reddish marks decorating the back of my thighs. The lady registrar had skillfully aimed her plastic ruler exactly under the hemline of my skirt. "Grgrgrgr!"
I ran downstairs, "Poppa please wait! Please help me with my school tie!" He did and smiled, "You look great Princess." I pouted, "I look like a ten year old!"
After breakfast I heard Emma ringing the bell of her bicycle. I gave a peck for Mum before joining her with my new bike. We rode to our college. As we got closer we rode with girls wearing the same uniform as us.
Two Asian girls behind us giggled, "Two Anglo newbies..."
"Well registered !"
We knew that whites are called Anglos, and there's no pejorative connotation to that. Two per cent of the locals are actually Anglos.
We turned around with smiles, and I asked, "Are all newbies smacked by the registrar?"
They laughed, "90% of Anglos."
"And only 50% of Asians."
Emma chimed, "Means that you are better behaved than us!"
They again laughed, "Means that our parents are more severe!"
They introduced themselves as Lia and Isa.
We noticed that we are about 70 in front of the JC 1 pennant, and JC 2's are about 50 while JC 3's are 30.
A very fit and stern looking lady clapped her hands. We immediately hushed and listened. "I am your PE coach and supervisor. I am going to take you for a tour of our school."
We visited the indoor sports complex with an Olympic size swimming pool and a basket ball court. Outside we saw a manicured field hockey lawn with a track running around it.
Next was the school itself. We understood that JC1 pupils would be divided into 3 classes. All classes had a raised platform for the teachers, something we had never seen back home.
We were invited to have a cup of tea at the cafeteria. The self service offered small cookies, I took three. We sat with Lia and Isa. Emma said, "Great school for only 150 girls must be costing a bundle!"
Lia nodded, "About 30 will be eliminated after two days of tests."
Isa also nodded, "It is one of the pricier Junior Colleges. What's your fathers doing?"
I answered, "They are both medical research docs, and yours?"
Lia was first, "Dad is into investment banking."
Isa added. "Father is into Artificial Intelligence."
Emma concluded, "It adds up !"
We laughed !
Later all the JC1's were gathered into the assembly hall, and Miss Prim our English professor announced, "Tomorrow and the following day you will be tested, math, physics, chemistry, English literature and etc !"
"You will be graded and you will be rejected if your average is bellow 10/20. We are a private school and we take who we want !"
"If you have made our minimum average grade you are welcome, and we will make sure that you have your A-level with honors!"
"If you have grades under 10/20 although you have reached our overall average you will be punished..."
Amelia and Emma
To be continued...
You are invited to play with us !
We have a new website !
https://oaks-and-pines.com/
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Complete that form and send it to oaksandpines@hotmail.com
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