Friday, March 30, 2007

Ways I’m Preparing Myself For NS (a.k.a. ways to enjoy myself as much as I can in a few months).

Like I mentioned in my previous entry, I’m thinking that enlisting into the army is going to be a pretty radical change in my life (and I’d think you guys would agree with me) so, since I’m not terribly great at adapting to new circumstances, I’ve decided to come up with ways to slowly make my transition into army life more gradual, instead of coming up slap-bang against it one day.

Since I don’t have that much time left (I only graduated in mid March) and I don’t actually have any real, concrete idea of what NS life is like (plus the fact that I’m lazy and a terminal procrastinator), I’ve come up with a list of what I think I should do for the next few months to integrate myself better. Of course, some of my points might seem just like excuses for me to enjoy myself, but (ssh!) it’s all in the name of *ahem* character building.

1. Exercise
Every single guy that I’ve talked to (as well as common sense, of course) has told me that going into national service is going to be both demanding physically and emotionally. So, since I’ve never been particularly gifted at keeping fit (can’t really keep something you’ve never had, eh?) and I usually scrape barely by the annual NAPFA tests, I figured now would be as good a time to whip myself into shape as any.

After all, settling on a good, regular exercise plan would not only help me to become more battle-ready (read: less embarrassing) when it comes to physical tasks and challenges, it’ll also help me iron up my self-discipline and mental strength, words which, up till now, have been mere vague concepts to me.

2. Spent as much time as possible with family and friends
Going into NS is, needless to say, a pretty full-time job that requires lots of overtime and staying overnight at my “office” so, while it’s not as serious a separation as, say, permanent immigration, I guess it would be a good idea to spend as much time as possible with the people I’m closest to since I won’t really get to do that much for the next two years.

Plus, it’s all part of my plan to spread my irresistible charm and unavoidable charisma (please note the sarcasm; I don’t feel like getting a dozen reply emails telling me otherwise) as much as I can so when I leave, it’ll be like, to quote several cheesy inspirational movies, I’ve left a huge, irreplaceable hole in the hearts of those I’ve been spending time with (which basically means I want them to miss me, lar).

3. Enjoy myself as much I can
Thanks to my hectic work schedule for the past few months when I was serving my final year 6-month attachment (who says polytechnic students have it easy?), I’ve had barely any time to indulge in any of my usual favourite hobbies. Now that I’ve left school and since I have a bit of time to spare, I’m going to engage myself in my favourite activities with a vengeance.

What do I plan to do? Read as many books as I can (as any respectable bookworm must aspire to do), play all the computer games I’ve wanted to rip into but haven’t had the time to, catch up on all the movies and television shows I’ve missed, play the occasional game of tennis (that is, if my bones haven’t been broken by my exercise plan mentioned in [1.]) and, of course, inundate you, dear reader, with the unbelievably exciting tales of my life (again, note the dripping sarcasm).

4. Clean up my act
And I really do mean clean up. As my friends can attest to, I’m a closet obsessive compulsive neat freak and I love to keep things tidy. Since I haven’t had time to the past few months, I’m going to clean up the house, pack (and clear) all my wardrobes, cupboards, shelves and drawers, rearrange all my CDs and books (alphabetically) and even organise my Gmail contacts list which, after months of emails to and from an overwhelming number of clients, is now in a certified mess.

While it might not sound terribly fun, I’ve always loved the feeling I get after I’m actually done tidying up something so I’d just have to push myself through the boring part, which is the actual cleaning up part. I did mention my activities are to build character right?

Thoughts About Enlisting.

I guess NS has always been a pretty daunting aspect of Singaporean life for all guys. Since young (well, as young as I can remember), we guys have always been regaled (and sometimes petrified) by the many stories stemming from the two (and a half, for the more mature ones) years of serving the nation, adventures ranging from the mundane whines (physically torturous, days without showers etc.) to the supernatural (I’m guessing that there are more ghost stories revolving around Pulau Tekong than there are people who have actually gone through NS).

So, naturally, I’ve been brought up with the promise that NS would provide a radical change to my lifestyle, to my physical (and emotional, most would say) self as well as all I hold dear in life. I’ve grown up with the belief that, at 18 (or 20, in my case now), life as I know it would stop to exist and I would be thrown into some parallel universe where I would be isolated from my family and friends, have face paint splashed on my face and have to trek through jungles and swamps, all the way operating dangerous machinery that could well destroy the universe if I so much as flicked the wrong button.

While I know now that going into NS isn’t as dramatic as that (at least not about the potentially universe destroying gadgets. I hope.), I’ve always thought of serving my national service with a tinge (or, more accurately, a torrent) of trepidation, not sure of what those two years might hold for me. Horror stories aside, though, almost every guy I’ve met who’s over the age of 30 will tell me that NS is definitely an exercise in character building. Guys go in immature, naïve and childish and emerge, well, none of those (usually). That promise of maturity is the one that helps to offset any fear of going into the army, I guess.

From young, I’ve always been a pretty pampered (but not spoilt, I would like to add) single child, brought up in relative comfort, sleeping with the air-conditioner on for most nights, building the strength of my fingers by playing countless games on different game consoles and getting to eat all the fast food I want (which probably resulted in my less-than-ready-for NS physique at the current moment).

Being the optimist that I am, I hope that serving my NS would make me stronger, fitter, leaner, more patriotic and, above all, more sensible. Cliché as it might sound, I’m pretty tired of being a boy. It’s about time Gabriel becomes a man.