My 8th Grade Piano Exam

This video basically sums up my whole experience with piano from 2004 to the present day, with that last Milk Duds packet embodying today's 8th grade exam.

 

Well.......that was kind of embarrassing.

 

I feel like Liu Xiang at the London 2012 Olympics (but slightly less fit). I'd been training two years for that moment - pouring my heart and soul into my music. Even when I went 3 months without practice, I was still thinking about playing it. If that isn't dedication, I don't know what is. And because it's not painful enough that I had to live through it, I'm going to recap what happened today so you guys can share in my humiliation. Or you could just laugh at me.

 

I woke up at 7:30 (7:45 to be exact - god bless the snooze button) and left the house at 8:20. I wore professional looking clothes because I was thinking that would create a better first impression (it didn't - the examiner barely looked at the my clothes). My parents took the train with me to Wynyard. They said they wanted to come along for moral support but honestly, I think my mum just wanted to go shopping.

 

We walked to 117 Clarence Street and whilst getting there, passed a lot of people in professional-looking business suits. On a side note, what type of job would I have to do to get to work in a tall, shiny skyscraper? It seems like such a cool lifestyle. I totally should've done business, guys.

 

The waiting room at the AMEB place was the same as last time. In fact, I'm pretty sure the receptionist lady hadn't changed a bit. She was really friendly though and told me that since I was in 8th grade, I was entitled to a 5 minute warm up in the adjoining music room. I spent those five minutes working on my scales. They weren't too bad.

 

At about 10:15, the examiner came out and called my name. At that point, I was still feeling cool as a cucumber. It's not that I was confident though, I think I was just happy that after two years, this exam was finally going to be done and dusted within the next 45 minutes. He led me to studio 8. It was a pretty small room with white-washed walls and a little desk in the corner. A black piano dominated the other corner, direct within the desk's line of vision. I sat there and once again, got time to warm up while the examiner finalized some paperwork. Then the exam started:

 

Scales

 

Examiner: "Please play E flat harmonic minor, right hand only, crescendo ascending and decrescendo descending."

 

Me: "Um... harmonic minor?"

 

Examiner: "Yes, harmonic minor."

 

Me: "Okay, yep."

 

*commence the worst scale-playing in the entire history of scale playing before finishing clumsily on the wrong note*

 

Examiner: "..............................Right."

 

Piano Pieces

 

General Knowledge

 

To be honest, I think I nailed this section. What country is Villa-Lobos from? How many nocturnes did Chopin compose? Which keys did my pieces modulate to? I KNOW IT ALL.

 

Trust me to perform the best in the section that matters the least.

 

Aural tests

 

HAHAHHAHA......no.

 

No I do not know what chord you just played and what inversion it's in.

 

No I do not know whether that is a perfect, imperfect, plagal or interrupted cadence.

 

No I don't think I can sing the lower part of that piece you just played.

 

No I don't think I will pass this exam.

 

No. Just no.

 

Sight-reading

 

Let's not talk about this section, 'kay?

 

Memory test

 

And the less I say about this too, the better.

 

********

 

Welllllllllllllllllll..................... *cue tumbleweed* 

 

That could've gone better.

 

And I could tell the examiner thought so too. There were numerous moments in there where I could tell he was internally laughing at me. After a particularly bad scale, he would pause a bit, scribble something down on his paper and then say, "...That's okay, just do the next one." If that doesn't scream, LOL BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME, I don't know what does. Furthermore, before I walked out the door at the end of the exam, he said, "See you next time."

 

"See you next time."

 

 It seems like a innocuous statement but when you think about it, the only reason I would be seeing him again was if I failed and had to redo the exam. Uuuggghhhh.

 

Even though I'm joking about the experience right now, inside, I'm actually still dying, bit by bit. How embarrassing is this? I was all set on finally finishing piano after ten years, saying goodbye to my teacher, putting it all behind me and getting on with the next chapter of my life. Failing wasn't an option. Retaking the test at a later time and forking out another $130 was NOT an option. I don't have the time, I don't have the money and to be honest, I don't have the drive.

 

So yeah. I am the packet of Milk Duds in this scenario. And what a fitting name that is for me.

 

 

 

 

Humans are like Animals

Hello everyone, it's currently 11:25pm on Monday night and I'm sitting here blogging because I don't want to go to sleep. I don't want to go to sleep because that will bring me closer to Tuesday morning, aka the morning of the dreaded 8th grade piano exam. I will most likely fail this exam because a) I just passed the 6th and 7th grades b) I hardly practiced for 8th grade and c) my examiner is an Asian man (and therefore he must have unrealistically high expectations). Is that racist? Probably. But it doesn't matter because I'm Asian too and therefore allowed to bag out my own race.

So to take my mind off the impending humiliation of tomorrow's exam, let's talk about other stuff.

I'm not sure whether I read this somewhere or someone told it to me (probably the latter) but humans are like animals in that we seek comfort from those who are familiar to us. A few days ago, I proved this theory correct.

Basically, Tian had her 18th birthday party on Saturday night, which was a large family and friends gathering at Green Peppercorn in Fairfield. My aim that night was to forget about how my mid-semester break was ending (kind of hard when every second person you bump into ends up asking you, "How's uni?") Despite that, I had fun. Nancy and I drank our first Long Island.... which tastes like an island about as much as an apple tastes like smushed horse poop.

 

Kind of like coke. But with rum, vodka, gin, tequila and ice tea. Also not as fizzy, sweet and it leaves a burning aftertaste... so probably not like coke at all.

 

So yes party was great and we got back at around 9pm.

 

But then I started feeling antsy (and no it was not the alcohol). I felt antsy because somewhere in the back of my mind, a voice was telling me that I had to do something with my last free Saturday night before uni resumes. I was all like, "get me out of this house right noooooooowwwwwwwww". (You guys don't understand how crap I felt about having to go back to uni). 

 

I ended up going to Nancy's house intending to get some Disney movies off her. Instead, she, Tian, my sister and I ended up vegging out on her bed watching Hannah Montana the Movie.

 

It was awesome.

 

The moment I got back from Nancy's house, the feelings of anxiety about uni started to come creeping back. (To be honest, I'm not sure why I dread it so much. Maybe I've just conditioned myself to despite it through repetition). I started feeling panicky again and somehow that resulted in me flopping onto my parent's bed imitating a dead starfish. They rolled their eyes at my repeated, "I DON'T WANNA GO TO BACK TO UNI MUUUUUM, DON'T MAKE ME"'s but in the end, couldn't get me to budge from the spot. So I basically spent the night in my parent's bed, hogging their blanket.

 

That was great too.

 

There was a moral to this story but I can't quite remember it now. Oh right, humans really are like animals, is what I'm trying to say. We tend to seek comfort from those that are familiar to us, especially when we're particularly overcome by feelings of anxiety, sadness, etc. It's kind of why I always call Othilia when I have a particularly bad day - not to vent (although I do plenty of that anyway) but just to hear someone familiar. It's why I force my sister to watch Doctor Who episodes with me even though we're perfectly capable of watching it by ourselves. And it's why I commandeered my parent's bed last Saturday night, kicking my parents to the carpet in the process.

 

As you can see, I am a mature and sophisticated young adult very firmly in control of my life.

 

Till next time then everybody.

 

 

Movie Review: "Sunny"

 

 

Has anyone ever looked through their parent's old photos? I did recently... and kind of wished I hadn't because, oh lordy! Those high wasted pants. That perm. Denim jackets. Colour blocking! It was all too much for my poor, sensitive eyes.



Watching this movie, I was reminded of tragic '70s - '80s fashion. Thankfully, the movie itself wasn't tragic at all. In fact it was pretty freakin' awesome. I laughed so hard, I almost fell off the couch - no joke. There were some sad bits in there too and these were pretty gut wrenching but the humour really does outweigh all of the other stuff. (Or maybe that's just me and my superhuman ability to remain emotionally distanced from films.)

 

 

I bet you can't tell which one's the new girl.

 

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In a nutshell, Sunny is about seven close friends who hung out in high school and then drifted apart afterwards. Many years later, the protagonist (Im Na Mi) tries to reunite the group because one of the other members has cancer and wishes to see everyone together one last time. It's filmed in flashback mode, alternating between a 1980s and a present day setting.

 

You can probably tell from the trailer but one of the best things about this film was the interaction between the cast. These girls are crazy. Like legit, let's go jump off a bridge crazy. But you would kill to have them as your friends throughout high school. I also love how they didn't change much once they reached adulthood.

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There's a hilarious scene where the adult versions of themselves get arrested for beating up a couple of teenage bullies. While they're riding in the police car, they start singing the Sunny song (Sunny, yesterday my life was filled with rain / Sunny, you smiled at me and really eased the pain). It's hilarious because it's so incongruent to the situation that they are in. Actually, I just found it on YouTube:

 

 

And here I thought my dancing was pretty terrible.

 

Interesting fact about the film: it's actually the second highest grossing Korean film ever. It sold over 7.38 million admissions. Of course, that statistic is from wiki so you might want to take it with a grain of salt.

 

Anyway, I really liked the movie and I'm sure you guys would too. So check it out if you have the chance to.

 

 

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Denial

I've been in denial these past two weeks. I've been in denial about uni, about assignments, about current affairs, about work and about the future in general. Now all these things are coming back with a vengeance, kind of like an unstoppable tsunami wave of utter crapness (crapocity? crapation?).

I can't say I've wasted my holidays though. I mean, I did catch up on some of my favourite shows. I watched the latest episodes of Doctor Who (which were kind of boring to be honest), True Blood (still stuck somewhere in Season 4), The Walking Dead (for a tv show about a zombie apocalypse, there really isn't much going on) and Game of Thrones (need MOAARRR of this stuff). Oh, and I also started Grey's Anatomy. Can't say I'm addicted but it is interesting. Do a lot of people watch this show and then decide to become surgeons? Even I had a moment there where I thought, "hospital life isn't actually that bad!" ....And then I remembered my hate for science and quickly scrapped that dream.

 

Last few episodes of Doctor Who weren't that great but this moment was cute.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if I had chosen to take the science path in high school. The only reason I didn't choose it in years 11 and 12 was because I'd hated the class and the teacher - not because of a disinterest in the subject. What would I do be doing right now if I had taken it up? Would I have taken UMAT? Would I have aimed for the med field? Would I be happier than I am right now?

Probably. Something tells me that even accounting would make me happier at this point.

Oh past Cynthia, if only you could see me now.

Moving on: I'm doing my last ever piano exam in a few days. My lessons are coming to an end - all ten years of them. And all for what? A piece of A4 paper which I can frame and hang in the living room? I'm not even doing my Associate levels so I don't think I'd be able to teach. Okay, I shouldn't be too cynical. I love piano and I love playing music so it hasn't all been a waste. I'll also miss my teacher who I've had since I was eight. Eight! Can you imagine?

I still remember my first lesson with her. I literally spent 30 minutes just pressing the C key. I pressed it softly, I pressed it loudly, I pressed it really quickly and I pressed it slooowwwwly. I also pressed it to the rhythm of "Mary Had a Little Lamb". I didn't know at the time, but my teacher must've had a whole lotta patience to be sitting down with a girl of eight years, watching her repeatedly attack the C key on a piano for 30 minutes straight. Good times, good times.

Catching Fire Trailer

 

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Oh shaky cam, shaky cam, where did you go?

 

I understand why they didn't go any further than the first third of the book. At the same time, I don't think it's possible to go into the movie without hearing about the big twist. Seriously. The internet is dark and full of spoilers.

 

Here, have some photos:

 

 

The pictures are so gloriously cheesy... I love 'em.

Celia Pavey from The Voice

I'm happy that The Voice Australia is back on. If I wasn't drowning in work, I would be watching the heck out of that show right now. Last year, it was literally the only thing worth watching on Australian TV. This year... well who needs TV when you've got YouTube? LOL.

Aaaaaaand this is another thing to add to my "why Cynthia is incompatible with journalism" list. It seems like everyone else in the course (but me) spends their weeknights watching A Current Affair, ABC News, Q & A, 60 Minutes, SBS World News, Dateline. I seriously need to up my game if I'm going to continue in this field.

But yes - back to The Voice. I didn't get to watch the last few episodes but I did stream some parts of them online. I saw Celia Pavey's audition in which she did a rendition of Scarborough Fair (Othilia, Tian, remember this song??). It was fantastic and awesome and I swear there were angels flying out of my laptop. Afterwards, I youtubed her and it came up with this:

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And yes, that cover is fantastic and glorious and you should watch it too to witness the flying angels that appear everytime she hits those high notes.

One complaint though - I really wish she hadn't picked Delta. Delta is a great singer but when it comes to song choices, she's like the Nat Bassingthwaite of the show. I can't see her giving Celia songs like the one above - songs that are unexpected but at the same time, can do so much for her voice. I just... urgh! (She should've picked Joel).

Stop, Revive, Survive

 

I don't know how it happened but this has become my go to song for those moments where I've had a mini existential crisis. Even if you're not feeling stressed or particularly unhappy about anything, you should  just stop whatever it is that you're doing right at this moment and click the play button. You'll thank me later :)

 

I recently got my second assignment for journalism. This is the one where we get assigned a suburb to write a news article about. A lot of people in the course were assigned suburbs like Fairfield, Bankstown, Strathfield, Manly, etc. Not me though. Oh no, let's make this as hard as possible for Cynthia, shall we? Let's give her Kiama!



 

I don't know what I've ever done to anyone to have deserved this but it must have been something real terrible. It's almost as if there's someone up there going, "Cynthia seems to be having it tough these last few weeks.... What else could we do to fuck up her life even more?"

 

I've been to Kiama before. I went for a family vacation back when I was 6 or 7 years old. Lovely place - don't get me wrong. I just don't know what's out there for me to write about. If it was somewhere relatively close, like Parramatta for example, a few trips there and back wouldn't be such a big deal. But this isn't Parramatta. This is Kiama. I would probably only be able to afford one trip. One trip to find two potential news stories. One trip to get all my interviews, sources and their contact details.

 

So yeah, roadtrip anyone?

I should have done visual arts at school

Sorry Jun but I think my drawing skills are kind of better than yours. I did a portrait of Juliana. I know - the resemblance is uncanny.

 

This blog has been such a sad and depressing space lately. I'm sorry for that guys. Life is kind of wonky at the moment but I really am trying to figure it all out. For the moment just bear with me. For the people still reading, thanks for sticking around :) I really appreciate it.

Black Thursday

I had another one of my "black days" today. I've had about three of those since the beginning of the semester and every time they come around, it seems to feel a little bit worse. (The rain didn't help either.) It was the same old questions that ran through my head:

• Do I like what I'm doing at the moment?
• Why aren't I more proactive?
• Why didn't I get involved in more leadership things at school?
• Am I even suited to this course?
• Would I be happier if I was doing something else?
• What am I doing with my life?

The worst moments always hit when I'm on the train, which is why travelling by myself is such a bitch. I need someone to talk to, otherwise everything gets bottled up inside and I feel twice as worse by the end of it.

There isn't really a solution. On some level, I feel as if I'll never really know the answers to these questions. I just have to wait it out I suppose. Or try to change the direction of my life if I really do hate it. I don't even know how I feel anymore. Everything was so much simpler last year. I wish I could rewind time. I could really use a TARDIS right about now.

People I Admire

 

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The band is MFBTY. It stands for My Fans Better Than Yours or, according to one of the members, "Miss Fat BooTY". Either way, the song is pretty catchy and the music video ain't too shabby either. Seriously. They should just have giant, electrical tigers in every single MV ever.

 

I wouldn't have known about the song if it wasn't for Eat Your Kimchi's interview with them. To be honest, I've barely touched any of their videos in the last 6 months - not that they were bad or anything but I guess I just lost interest in the Korean music scene. I'm glad I started watching Simon and Martina's stuff again though. It's nice to see that they've moved out of filming in their apartment to filming in an actual studio. Good for them. Now they can appear much more legit when they interview people haha.

 

I really admire what they've managed to do. They started off as English teachers in Korea, did a bit of vlogging on the side, realised that they really liked what they did, quit their jobs and concentrated on the channel full time. To be able to say goodbye to a stable salary in order to pursue their interests (and be successful while they're at it) is pretty freakin' admirable. People like that simultaneously give me hope about the future whilst also scaring the bejeezus out of me. After all, what are the chances of actually succeeding in such endeavours? Would I ever have the guts to do something like that? Probably not.

 

(Random side note: If anyone ever gave me a plane ticket to Korea, I would take it, travel there and then camp out outside the Eat Your Kimchi studio until they agreed to give me a job. I don't even care if they make me their coffee girl or use me for domestic slave labour - working for them would be absolutely the most awesome thing ever.)

 

Speaking of admirable people, did anyone else watch the Jenna Marbles "Draw My Life" video? THAT VIDEO MADE ME SO SAD OMFG. It made me think about the future (again). Why has everything I watched recently made me think about the future? I never used to be like this. Somebody bring back Cynthia pre-2013. I miss her obliviousness. But right - Jenna Marbles. I have so much more respect for her after watching that video. Sometimes, it's so easy to assume that successful Youtubers must be 100% happy with their life. After all, they've got MILLIONS of people who watch them, look up to them and basically wish they could be them. Apparently that's not the case. It's cliche but they really are just like us - people who haven't really got everything figured out either.

 

This post was just supposed to be about MFBTY but it seems like I've gotten off track. You guys should check out their interview with Eat Your Kimchi. It's one of the better and more humorous ones. They seem like genuinely cool people to hang out with. Click here for it.