Lightsabered!

First day at the new school! New teachers, new regulations, new friends! Compared to my old school in Jakarta, this school in Bali was much more laid back. The students didn't have to wear school uniforms and the school hours began at 7.30AM (it was 7AM in my old school!). But, I still had to drag my feet to enter the school gate. I was nervous! All new faces! I wasn't even sure where to find my classroom. I wished I were like my sister, who already joined the traditional dance club even before the school started! She performed the traditional Balinese dance on the FIRST DAY of school. I was just standing from afar among strangers, watching her performed.

People will be able to easily tell that my sister is an extrovert and I am the exact opposite. She likes hanging out with people. She cares about how people think of her, feel about her, and reacted to her. Making new friends for her is never a problem, especially my sister is also blessed with a beautiful look. My parents, and moreover Dad, love her much. In my family history, she has been the lucky child, who always receives many good presents, has the opportunities to take arts lessons, and grabs all attentions from people around.

I guess Mom didn't really care of how I dressed to school on this first day at school. She put the white Star Wars t-shirt with navy blue sleeves (with a red stripes on both shoulders) on me. She tucked the t-shirt into a pair of bright turquoise blue up-to-the-knee-long flannel shorts. There was no zipper on that shorts. After the "accident", she never let me wear any zippered pants. Deep down, I could feel something didn't look right with this combination. Like water and oil, they didn't go together! I felt like a clown! But I realized that I had not many choices. Mom always bought me funny clothes (she thought they were cute!). While my sister was dressed beautifully, Mom liked to dress me "cute". Look into my cabinet, and you'd understand my struggles.

Imagine my first day at school! The third graders first impression when they saw me walking into the classroom was a disaster. I could see the boys and the girls looking at me, whispering and giggling to each other. What a nightmare for a shy little boy like myself! I wished Hansolo warped me away with his Millennium Falcon, or Darth Vader lightsabered me so I could vanish just like Obi-Wan. The funny thing about life, in a situation like that, time crawled. The day felt long. I was waiting for the bell to save me... but it never came until five hours later. And of course, when I walked out of school, people knew me as my sister's little brother. I just lost my identity on my first day at school! Oh, how can I ever forget that day?