International Friendship Day and Friendship Woes

How I ended up schooling in an international school is entirely due to a twist of fate and maybe, luck. Up until late last year, daddy and mummy were still preparing me for Std 1 in one SJK(C) near our home back in Petaling Jaya (we only got news of our impending move to Shanghai in late Oct 2012). Everything that they had planned for me earlier did not materialise. Instead, we were all thrown into a whirlwind of events, including a complete lifestyle-restructuring, before settling comfortably here.

Well, here I am now, enjoying the many privileges of studying in a "guo ji xue xiao". Fostering international friendship is probably one of the best experiences for me so far. Mummy is happy to note that I have made friends with children from around the world. They are J from Korea, T from India, P from Spain, J and Y from Singapore, H from Malaysia, E and M from Taiwan, C from Brazil, A from Italy, M from Hong Kong and R from Japan.

Last Friday was International Friendship Day and we were encouraged to wear traditional costumes from our native countries. Luckily mummy did not forget to bring along my baju kurung. I have been wearing this same old outfit for all the cultural events in my kindergarten since I was 4 years old!

From left: 4 years old, 5 years old and 6 years old in the same baju during my pre-school years at Peter & Jane kindergarten.

Now... soon-to-be 7 years old but still donning the same baju... in China :) Oh, and it's not that I did not grow physically. Mummy bought a size 8 and had it altered (shortened the bottom) for me to wear when I was younger. It fits perfectly now and she doubts it will still fit next year ;)

Circular for International Friendship Day... I guess my ethnic costume should be cheongsam but err, nevermind... :p

From the circular that I brought back from school, mummy understood that there would be some snacks on sale too so she gave me RMB10 as pocket money to buy something to eat. This was my very first pocket money and it was an equivalent of RM5.00!! Daddy and mummy only had RM0.50 the most during their time but of course that was more than 3 decades ago hehe. I have never bought anything before in my entire life and mummy had to give me lessons on how to buy things… how to pay and receive change if there is any.

Mummy was eager to find out what I had bought with the RMB10 so that was the first question she asked me as soon as I alighted from my schoolbus that evening. To her shock and disbelief (couldn't believe I could be so naive and silly), I told her I did not get to buy anything because I gave the money to a friend. This friend saw the money in my purse and asked for it. I wanted to please her so I handed the money to her without any hesitation! International Friendship Day ma… whatever my friend wants, I give la… @_@ (ok, I did not say this. It's just mummy's sarcastic remark)

Mummy was not very happy with my "whatever... anything goes... never-say-no" mentality. She felt that I was being taken advantage of and I was also an easy prey for bullies. Earlier on, this friend also demanded for my dough figurines (3 of them that I made every week at my craft class until mummy had to intervene and put a stop to this). She also took away small gifts (rewards) given to me by my teacher for my academic achievements. Mummy did not know how to deal with this problem so she handed it over to my class teacher.

With friends come joy as well as problems. I feel very comfortable talking and playing with my friends but I find it extremely difficult to approach them when they borrow my things without returning them. I dare not open my mouth to ask. This has led to some of my belongings (mostly small items like erasers or pencils) dwindling in numbers. Despite numerous warnings from mummy to take care of my belongings, the situation kept getting worse. From one to two to four missing coloured pencils, I came home one day with just these...

More than half gone! How pathetic...

Daddy and mummy kept telling me that it is not difficult to ASK for whatever borrowed from me that is not returned. After all, those things belong to me and they are righteously mine! I really hope I can overcome this fear soon! (Fear of approaching people to ask for something)