Life is like a roller coaster. Just hold on tight when it's going down.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

13 Jan 2013 - AFTC

AFTC

After BMT, we had a 5-day block leave. If you dont know how it feels like, let me try and explain it to you. Imagine you were charged with some crime you didn't commit and you were sentenced to 9 weeks in jail. Then imagine, on the day after your last day inside, how it would feel like. Yeah.

I did my best to make full use of it, by going out with friends and family. I played basketball, went to the movies and even went for a KTV session.

Then, on the last day, we were supposed to find out our postings after BMT. Basically, it means you are going to know, what you are going to be doing for the rest of our NS life. So the faithful day arrived and I was just crossing my fingers so damn hard for anything not too crazy. My clerk friend sms-ed me in the morning, "eh, you air force." He had a way to access my info but I wanted the confirmation. So I loaded the page and to my amazement, it read: Air Force Technician. I didn't exactly jumped for joy, but I was kind of happy all the same. HAHA.

AFTC, was my new home.

The days in AFTC passed fast and it involves mainly becoming a student again. And trust me, to a NSF, that's like HEAVEN. Slowly, we learned more about what we were supposed to do. Sounded pretty simple. And I was glad.

Well, but all wasn't perfect. Oh, not the vocation, just for me. I just came from a tough BMT and I had a principle, "If you are going to do something, give everything you have. If not, don't do it at all." So, I was what the people in army called, "SIAO ON". And to make things slightly worse, my surname was Onn. So yeah, you get it. Basically, being the more siao on guy, I was automatically nominated for most of the things. I was the I/C for class 3 for the first 2 weeks. Being the transition period, a lot of admin work and crap has to be done, so I did a lot. Our mentor didn't help either. He contacted me for everything even when I wasn't the I/C, so yeah.

And to make matters slightly worse, there were people that knew I was a dancer. Coincidentally, there was an upcoming event, which my mentor volunteered me to take part in. It was a talent competition. So I was paired with a dancer and 4 people that were forced into it, who didn't learn a single dance move in their lives. Basically, I was supposed to choreograph something that wasn't too hard for them and that was not too shabby that would cause us not to win. Perhaps I was being too competitive but, well, that's me. So I spent a lot of my time trying to choreograph and plan a full performance with two additional people beatboxing and singing respectively. And the songs were Maroon 5's Payphone and Justin Bieber's Eenie Meenie.

Teaching dance wasn't easy and getting people to practice it was even harder. In the 9 weeks I spent there, I spend half of it just practicing. Usually, people enjoy in AFTC. But for me, I had to choreo, teach and perfect my own part on the dance( I added solos). I am not saying I dont enjoy dancing, I am saying I don't enjoy performing and choreographing. Choreography is really a pain in the ass, trust me. When the competition commenced, to say we breezed through it was an understatement. We were like the undisputed winner. Apparently, the judges(who were high-ranking officers) never saw dance performances for the annual competition before, so to them, it was a fresh and new thing. We got the first prize and I just did my own first choreo-ed dance on stage. And trust me, after that, AFTC was a breeze.

Oh no, it wasn't a breeze. There was still this course we went through: BBCDT. Basically, it's a Chemical Defense Course. And there was a compulsory thing, whereby you have to enter the gas chamber filled with tear gas, take off your gas mask and attempt to say your name and nric number. To those who don't know how a tear gas feels like, let me once again, try and relate it to you. Yes, you do tear but it's not that simple. To add on to the 'crying', your face will feel like someone applied chilli padi on your face. Felt TERRIBLE. Add this along with my BMT field camp, to the list of things-I-am-glad-to-have-went-through-but-never-wanting-to-go-through-again.

After that, our graduation parade came up. Our last day at AFTC. For the parade, they needed an emcee. Guess whose name came up -___- Yeah, I became the emcee. The parade was a pretty weird one. Held in an air-con room. So we collected our badges and certs. That's all

Not everything is as easy as it looks. Different things require different type of skill and effort. So when you are going to judge anything/anyone, stop and think.

-Signing Off-

I'm still breathing;
9:14 PM