Susan Gouchee

Heylo one and all~

Sorry, this post isn’t about the most recent Broncos game I went to, like I said in my previous post; rather, it’s about my awesome music teacher, Susan Gouchee, who passed away yesterday with cancer. L

Firstly, her surname is pronounced ‘go-shayy’, not ‘goo-chee’. XD

I was never good enough at singing to be in either the senior A nor the senior B choirs that she conducted, but she was both my music and music extension teacher! (in my defence, I can say that I’m lucky enough to have somehow acquired perfect pitch along the way (although Mikey’s much cooler with absolute pitch XD) and I’m fairly sure that I can sing in tune. XD)

Music extension is a subject that’s only available in year twelve, but you’re supposed to drop one of the six senior subjects you’re currently doing to pick it up.

All throughout year eleven, Mrs. G had been telling me, “Emily, do music extension. Emily, do music extension,” and all throughout year eleven, I’d been responding, “Mrs. G., I’m not willing to drop a subject just to do music extension. Mrs. G., I’m not willing to drop a subject just to take up music extension.” XD Come year twelve, term one, continue that nagging. XD It wasn’t until the beginning of term two that Mrs. G approached me and asked, “Emily, if I ask the headmaster for you and he approves, would you be willing to take up music extension as a seventh senior subject?” my response had been something along the lines of, “Of course! That’s what I’ve been waiting for you to do all along!” Actually, if I remember correctly, which unfortunately, I probably don’t ><, I was lucky enough to top music extension class right when I joined in term two! Poor Josh Mckechie had been so pissed with me. XD

A big part of music extension focuses on composing; Canterbury College used an awesome program called Sibelius, and it was so cool, you could hit the ‘record’ button, playyour tune and the music would automatically be transcribed onto the score for you!

Now, I had the creativity to compose several pieces, but I lacked the creativity to name them! From memory, I simply called them ‘Untitled 1’, ‘Untitled 2’, ‘Untitled 3’, ‘Untitled 4’ and Untitled 5’. Obviously, Mrs. G. wasn’t impressed and sent them back, demanding that I rename them. Fine, whatever. XD So the songs became ‘Piece 1’, ‘Piece 2’, ‘Piece 3’, ‘Piece 4’ and ‘Piece 5’. Unsurprisingly, these names were rejected too; so next, I tried ‘Song 1’, ‘Song 2’, ‘Song 3’, ‘Song 4’ and ‘Song 5’. XD The final ultimatum comes from Mrs. G. “Emily, you give these compositions PROPER names, or I WILL fail you!” Fine, fine. So they get proper names. Actually, BCAC people, you may be familiar with one song: I actually wrote the opening song for PPP back in 2007! I’d called it ‘Power’ or something silly like that, but someone had kindly renamed it something like ‘Overture’ for me. The funny thing was that I didn’t know I had given my song to some PPP higher-up! It wasn’t until the opening night, after all the lights had been turned off, that my song had come on, and I’d been like, “Hey, that sounds familiar … wonder what it’s called?” then, looking at the program, I was like, “Oh my gosh! I wrote that song! Actually, Dr. Lee/fFsobao/Janice, did I send the song to either of you guys?

But back to Mrs. G. After the cruel and unfaithful god so wantonly destroyed my life back in 2007 with the brain tumour, I’d somehow forgotten that I could play piano semi-decently with both hands. Telling Mr. Hall (I wrote a post on him ages back) that, he’d said, “No worries. I’ll go back to Canterbury and ask Mrs. Gouchee (a proper man like him isn’t about to abbreviate anyone’s name XD) if she could find a recording of you playing piano.”

Awesome Mrs. G. did, and after Mr. Hall had brought back a DVD of me playing the piano, I’d e-mailed her, thanking her from the bottom of my heart. She’d replied back almost immediately, with “Of COURSE I remember you!  In fact, Mr Hall has been keeping me up to date with what's been going on - hence, the hunt for the video.

As you would see from the video, you were a lot more than "half-way decent".  I not only remember you for your excellent musicianship and intelligence, but you were also the first student to undertake Music Extension as a 7th subject AND you got straight A's.  You were always a very clever girl and an excellent musician.”

After that, she’d invited me to a Cantabile (Canterbury College’s top girls choir) concert, complete with a free ticket! (usually, they’re fifty bucks.) Mr. Hall had kindly driven mother and I along to St. Paul’s/John’s cathedral, and I’d been so excited to see Mrs. G., I called out her name! Lol, I got SLAPPED by mother for that, but I didn’t really care, coz I was just so excited to see Mrs. G.! Obviously, she was too, coz she immediately jumped down from the stage and rushed over for a quick hug and chat before returning to her singers. XD

Unfortunately, that was basically the last time I kept in touch with Mrs. G. We did exchange Christmas greetings, where she did hint about being ill, but really, I didn’t know anything was seriously amiss until Julz rang mother last night to let us know that Mrs. G. was seriously ill with breast cancer. ><

And the final devastation this afternoon, when I logged into Facebook to find my news feed littered with messages of R.I.P to Mrs. Gouchee. ><

So here’s to the bestest music teacher I was lucky to have; hopefully you’ll be happy in heaven. You’ll be sorely missed, mrs. G.~

Anyways, next post here … really, I’ve gotta post about that absolutely heartbreaking Broncos match the parents and I attended last Friday! Righteo, until then~

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. if anyone/any place is offended by me mentionng them in this post, please let me know and I’ll immediately erase  all traces of you being here.

People's Day 2012

Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the EKK day public show holiday called “People’s Day?”

Ever since the cruel and unfaithful god so wantonly destroyed my life with the disabling brain tumour back in 2007, obviously I haven’t been in any shape physically to attend the EKKA. Furthermore, I now have a drain running from my abdomen running all the way up to my brain, and mother insists that if I catch any kinda sickness in my tummy, it’ll travel straight up to my brain and I’d be six feet under quicker than … well, anything. XD

But I had a super good day that Wednesday, and here’s why:

Aunty Shuk Lai has been living with us the past several days. She used to attend AIC (Antioch International Church, our old church at Sunnybank Hills), but several years ago moved up to Townsville to teach English. However, she’s recently moved back down to Brisbane, and before she settles her own home down here, she’s been staying with us.

Anyways, dad decides to take us all down to the Gold Coast for fish and chips! And after breakfast of half a slice of yummy thick raisin toast with the merest dab of butter ever and one mug of warm Horlicks, we’re off! (Dad had somehow gotten three slices of raisin toast; he and Aunty Shuk Lai got one each, while mother and I halved the remaining slice)

Dad drives, obviously, with Aunty Shuk Lai sitting in the passenger seat, while mother and I sit in the back.

We have a smooth run down to Ian Dipple Lagoon (the place where Charis Seafood is, where they feed the pelicans everyday at 1:30pm) and arrive there about thirty minutes after midday. But did you know, those smart/hungry birds are already waiting for their meal! XD

Dad buys us all some fish and chips. I happily munch on one yummy scallop, (anyone know, are the orangey parts inside really their intestines?! Sounds disgusting, anyhow XD), one calamari ring, one wee chunk of battered fish and exactly ten chips. Originally, dad had only given me nine, but I begged mum for just one more, just “to reach double digits.” XD

After lunch and one loo trip, dad takes us walking along … lol, I dunno, the promenade? We get turned back at one area, though; some woman explains to us that they’re filming some kids cartoon series about dolphins that will be aired on channel Ten!

After our stroll, our other destination for the day is Reverend Lam’s house! See, we’d all been invited to dinner with them. ^^

The day before, dad had received an SMS from Reverend Lam’s number, but signed ‘ci mo’. Mother asked who that was, and I replied, “Duh, say that in canto. ‘Ci mo’ is the reverend’s wife, obviously.” XD

When we arrive, mother helps me once to the loo, after which I make a direct beeline for the pastor’s comfy armchair.

Again, he notices, and again, he says, “That’s the pastor’s chair! Only pastors are allowed to sit in there!’ Again, I reply, “But Reverend Lam, I thought only males were allowed to become pastors?” Only this time, there’s a difference! “Nope!” he grins, “Females are allowed to become pastors too, now!” Lol, fine. I may as well become one, seeing as the cruel and unfaithful god has left me too disabled and useless to become anything else. >< *sigh*

The parents, Aunty Shuk Lai and ci mo (the pastor’s wife) all head out to stroll the area around Reverend Lam’s place, while I doze in his comfy armchair. Reverend Lam whips up dinner, fields a phone call (so now, I will forever remember his car licence plate number has RBC on it, coz he told some guy, “RBC, radio broadcasting commission,” and when the guy didn’t understand, tried again with “RBC. Red blood cell.” XD) and even turns on the television for me so I can watch Ten’s news at 5pm, before I watch Seven’s at 6pm.

When Mrs. Lam, Aunty Shuk Lai and the parents return home from their stroll, mother helps me once again to the toilet. Then it’s dinner time!

Alas, the pastor and his wife eat what I call the ‘yucky rice’, which is like purple, red and brown grains of rice! Lol, I don’t think any white rice was used at all! There were also lotsa yummy beans (grown by mrs. Lam herself!) and most amazingly, some KFC chicken! I asked Reverend Lam, “Umm … you didn’t go out and specifically buy us some KFC for dinner tonight, did you?” to which he laughed and replied, “No, no! Him Wong (‘him sook’ in canto) came over this morning and brought us lots of KFC! You’re just eating the leftovers!” XD

Thankfully, reverend lam DIDN’T make us his famous chocolate COLOURED cake this time around! (You can read my reaction to it in a previous blog post, from memory entitled ‘pastoral visit2’.) We just had tea in little thimble cups and fruit (pear, strawberries and oranges, if memory serves me correctly, which alas, so often does not ><).

After chatting away till almost 9pm, mother decided ‘twas time we took leave of Reverend Lam and his wife. Before we left, Reverend Lam asked dad, “Do you know how to get home from here? And dad laughs, replying, “Sure! I got home last time, didn’t i?” XD

Anyways, I definitely really enjoyed the public holiday last Wednesday! Does anyone know when the next one is? Hopefully not Christmas, coz that’s still MONTHS away! XD

Next post here … should come by this Friday, at the latest. See, mother really DID order dad to take us to watch another broncos game; I’ll tell you the whole heartbreaking story of that hopefully sometime this week. XD righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^

P.S. I realise the EKKA public holiday’s over, but I still haven’t gotten a showbag yet! >< anyone going that can please buy one for me? I’m after the one called ‘Domo’; it’s twenty bucks and I’ll pay you back for it, of course! Please lemme know if you can help; many thanks! ^^

broncos

Having lived in Brisbane for the past twenty-odd years (the parents and I immigrated here from Hong Kong around October 1990) and being a rugby league, not rugby union, fan, it should come as no surprise to you when I proudly declare that I’m a supporter of the Brisbane Broncos!

I’ve only ever been to see one live match, though, and that was more than twenty years ago! I went to ANZ Stadium with dad, Pole, Pole’s dad and her grandpa, although I must confess that I’ve forgotten who we played, where we sat and even if we won or lost the match! The only thing I remembered about the match is that they let off fireworks before play began, and poor Pole was scared of all the noise. XD

For the State of Origin decider this year, someone had actually offered my dad two free tickets, but unfortunately, dad had to turn them down coz he wasn’t sure if I’d be able to manage the stairs involved with sitting at a stadium.

However, when I asked my UQ physio facilitator about them, she said, “Of course you can manage the stairs, Em! Here, how about this: when you come on Friday, you can trying climbing the little staircase we’ve got here (it’s four steps); I’ll even deck it out in Broncos colours all for you, how does that sound?’

That sounded like a plan to me, but when I came on Friday, I practised taking those stairs about twelve times, sans decorations. Why? Because just after I arrived and gone once to the bathroom, another teacher came out to the waiting room and told mother and I, “Sorry, there’s a little emergency going on. One of our elderly patients may be having a minor heart attack; we’ve called an ambulance for him, just in case.”

Anyways, after dad came home with our tickets, I e-mailed my UQ teacher, Jess, and she quickly responded, “Cool. My boyfriend and I have season tickets; I promise I’ll come find you during the match, okay?” Awesome~

The only thing I was debating about was what to wear. See, mother owns a Broncos polo, but I’ve only got a Queenslander State of Origin jersey. I thought I’d just wear that, but my awesome father goes out somewhere and buys a Broncos jersey for me, too! :D

Monday afternoon, and mother stops at the Runcorn Plaza bakery to buy us pork salad rolls, which she says will serve as our dinner that night.

And all too soon, it’s time to head off! Dad drives us all to the Eight Mile Plains busway station, where we board a special bus directly headed for Suncorp stadium!

When we arrive, dad leads me into the stadium. There’s people handing out these broncos coloured cardboard things; I take one, telling myself we’ll investigate it once we find our seats.

As we approach the seats, there’s a man standing there, taking our tickets. As I walk up to him, I cheer, “Go the Broncos!” He laughs, then apologises, “Sorry, I’m an Eels supporter.” I point my palm to his face – “In that case, sir, speak to the hand.” He laughs again, and then asks for our tickets. Mother hands them over to him; he takes a quick look, and then looks back at me, eyes twinkling. “Sorry, miss; there are only two tickets here. One for your mum and one for your dad. Guess you’ll haveta turn around and go home.”

“Damn, you win,” I grumbled back at him, and he laughs again before pointing us in the direction of our seats.

And dad found us very good seats, indeed! We were just slightly to the side of the goal posts!

The teams come out to warm-up, as do the cheerleaders. There’s even a courier mail blimp flying around the stadium somewhere!

For some odd reason, I was expecting the national anthem to get played, although of course it wasn’t; that only gets played for tests against other counties, grand finals and the like!

The teams come out, and all too soon, the whistle gets blown and the game starts! I cheer loudly every time I hear the Broncos supporters sitting directly in front of me cheer. XD

Because it was still the end of July, it was still fairly cold, and mother had put a beanie onto my head; actually, it was the bunny rabbit-ish hat that my cousin Carrie had sent me along with the rabbit head hat my uncle Dick Dick had sent me from Hong Kong early 2011. Anyways, I was watching the game, when I felt someone tugging at one of the rabbit ears. Annoyed, I turned around to tell dad off, but he was intently watching the match. Perhaps I’d imagined it, then. So I turned back around and continued to watch the game, only for the tugging to start again! This time, I turned my whole body around to try and see who the hell was playing with my hat, and there, grinning maniacally at me, was my UQ teacher, Jess! “Hey, Emilah,” she laughs. I may just tell you now that she finds ‘Emily’ too boring a name for me, and has come up with all these ones starting with ‘em’; like, Emilah, Embo, Eminem, etc. XD I said ‘no’ to Embo coz it made me sound like a bogan, and ‘no’ to Eminem coz I’m not a rapper! XD

So I introduce her to dad, and they shake hands. Then Jess tells me that she’s actually here with her boyfriend and some of his mates. “Just out of curiosity,’ I ask her, “how long did you play with my beanie until I noticed and turned around? Please don’t tell me that you’ve been sitting behind me doing that for the last twenty minutes, and I’ve only just noticed!’ ><’ “Oh, no, no,” Jess laughs. “Only like ten seconds.” Phew! XD

Unfortunately, the time that Jess wanders over to visit is about the time the Eels quickly pile on two more tries, and Jess stands to take her leave of us. “I’d better get back,’ she explains, “need to make sure my boyfriend hasn’t done anything drastic like commit seppuku or something because of those two tries.” XD

Anyways, once the half-time siren sounds, mother takes me to the bathroom once. As I climb the stairs, I see the guy who’d taken our tickets before the match and I moaned to him. “You must be happy; the poor Broncos are losing!’ he grins and says, “Don’t worry, here’s what we’ll do; we’re gonna plant a bomb in the Parramatta dressing room, okay?” Suspicious, I ask him, “But when will the bomb go off?’ he considers for a second, then replies, “when they’re coming back out of the change room.” I shake my head at him. “No, that won’t do at all, sir, I need the bomb to go off while all the players are still INSIDE the change room, not when they’re all starting to come out, coz that way, the bomb blast will miss some of them! No, for the biggest number of casualties, the bomb must go off while they’re all still INSIDE their dressing room.” He laughs and replies, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Anyways, after mother helps me once in the loo, I sit back down and munch like 2/3 of a pork salad roll for dinner, while waiting for the lads to come back out and play the second half.

Oh, and those cardboard things handed out before the match? They’re called ‘clappers’, and after you fold them up like a fan and bang them against any surface, they produce a really loud clapping sound! How cool~XD

When the players come back out and resume play, I watch the second half with great enthusiasm. For a short while, it looks like the Broncos are making a strong comeback, but in the end, the Eels whop the lads by twenty points. *cringe* XD

After the match, I leave the stadium with the parents. There’s about a five minute wait for the buses; we make it into the third or fourth bus that comes our way.

This time, it’s a female bus driver that takes us all back to the Eight Mile Plains busway station. Oh, something else I forgot to mention; the male bus driver that drove us to Suncorp Stadium, he didn’t know the way! Dad ended up standing beside him and giving him directions! XD

Once we get back into our 4WD, I was actually quite starving! 2/3 of a pork salad roll really isn’t that filling for dinner, see. But Mum tells dad to get us some Maccas! Dad orders a Mc Chicken medium meal for himself, then a Filet-o-fish for mother and I to share. Hey, does anyone know, are those burgers pronounced ‘fillet-o-fish,’ or ‘fill-aye-o-fish’?

Anyways, back home, I happily munch on my half a fillet-o-fish burger. Mother only gives me nine chips, but I ask dad please for one more, just to reach double digits, and he gives me two! :D

So ends the adventure of this Chan family going to watch the NRL last Monday night, actually, wait! Mother was so grumpy that we got flogged by Parramatta, I think she demanded dad take us to see another game next next Friday or sth like that! XD

Next post here … perhaps this Thursday night, after the monthly book club! The book we are doing for august is a HORROR novel, eep! XD righteo, until then!

Cheers,

Em. ^^