For this local pageant thing we decided to organize for the New Year's celebration in our provincial community.
Seriously, I didn't think we'd really do it.
At first we were just kinda planning ( me, my older sister and a cousin [ actually an aunt but meh ] ) and all that, but then we found out that no one else was willing to organize a program so we went and did it.
We did ask for materials from the other people who usually set these kinds of programs up in order to complete the sashes for awards ( this is how it usually works for us, no kidding, nothing big ) and I was 'shining-shimmering' at the end of the process. We used glitters and ribbons lmao.
I decided to lay off on the internet for a while so I made a log instead. If you're not interested in my life ( which no one probably is interested in ), don't read it xDDD
Ok so the first day was cool enough. We went around during the morning hours looking for children from 6th grade and below who were willing to join this little pageant.
At first there were 2 potential candidates, but when we got to the reception hall ( which is now a cafeteria for the highschool where the programs are usually held ), they said they didn't want to join. So we were, like, "holy shit???"
But then this one girl with no eyebrows ( I'm serious, guys ) volunteered and we were sooo happy about that, then another one came. A 7-year old ( who iS SERIOUSLY TOO CUTE FOR YOUR IMPURE EYES ) and another ( whom I suspect has a serious case of ADHD ), and then we had three.
We asked them about their talents and sportswear to show off for a little bit and I was assigned to download shit for their music and all that. I was in charge of the sequencing and the technical work and crap. Also, for the doxology ( ironic af ) and the shadow play the other kids would do. We originally had 4, but something happened on the 3rd day ( which will be narrated in not-so-specific detail later on ) so now we subtract 1 from that number.
Then two more kids ( 11 and 9 year-olds ) enlisted sooo the 5 of 'em began to practice the dance for their production number. My older sister was put in charge.
We also put a 12-year-old's name on the list because my cousin knew she wanted to join these kinds of things, so we expected to have 6 by the next day and no more, no less.
We decided to meet up 8 in the morning the next day.
We got there at exactly 8, but the reception hall was closed ( we aren't allowed to hold the keys to the said room ) so we sat outside. It's an outdoor court so it's of concrete and the bleachers were fashioned with rocks and cement ( which is surprisingly very nice ). Two minutes after 8, the girl without eyebrows came and sat away from us ( she's quite shy because she's been in the city 'til now ) as she plugged her earphones on and started practicing her song for the talent portion ( which painfully reminds me of someone from the past who's feeding me her dust now ).
The ADHD kid came, along with one friend who also enlisted her name and then the old lady ( who pushes carts and carries vegetables whoa ) holding the key came and opened the reception hall for us.
Idk how the others came along, but by the end of morning, we had 8 contestants. YAY!
Going back to morning break, our aunt gave me money to buy snacks for everyone aaand we went up the road to get some kinda banana rolled in ummm the wrapper they use for spring rolls ( ??? ) and sugar, plus 2 bottles of 1.5 litre soda. Yes, I just described the food.
It was cool enough.
And the seven year old who is too cute for your impure eyes had smol, fluffy hands ( because she insisted I hold one while we walked, and I gave her a piggyback ride on the way back xDDD ) .
Okay, despite the fact that she's literally half my age, I'm not being pedo. She's just like a stress-relieving teddy bear, LMAO sorry. But I did mean that in a really positive way.
There were two other guy kids who joined us ( because they happened to be playing basketball outside, in the court ) in the shadow play practice ( which I am in charge of ) and one had a family store so he dealt some plastic cups for us.
Fast forward to after lunch ( because I don't wanna talk about what happened during lunchtime [ I got mad at a 5-year-old cousin of mine { and now my goal of clearing my record in regards to being short-tempered in the eyes of my provincial companions got bombed } ] ) and now there were 10 people. THE BEST NUMBER-- //kicked//
The production number was still, uh, unsatisfactory, but they were children ( though the older ones were fine, so we're good ) and we have to understand that they have lower attention spans and mental capacity AND discipline ( please don't compare your past selves to them, okay? ).
I went home for a little while ( because our provincial home is, like, 2 minutes away from the reception hall if you kinda speedwalk ) and found them practicing when I got there, along with a blonde person ( whom I thought was just another user of hair dye at first ) playing with the idle kids.
I was informed she was actually a Canadian dood younger than me by 2 years ( so she's 12 )-- ANYWAys, the kids liked her because she also did like them, lmao, and that one skinny guy kid whom she was playing with was struggling to keep up with her English ( he even complained to me, and I was like, what am I supposed to do??? xDDD ).
It was good because the kids got along with her, but I just hoped they weren't too distracted when the others were playing uhhh soccer ( ??? Idk, they were just kicking randomly ) with her. So her mom called her over and we resumed practice ( though they still couldn't pay full attention to the instructor lmao ). We also tried out our shadow play ( they dance, I sing the doxology [ very fucking ironic ] ) and they were excited about it because, apparently, they haven't done it before yet.
It was nice. Only issue we encountered was about the materials.
We went home 17:00 and decided to meet up 9:00 the next day.
We were constantly occupied by the making of other props and the clothes the kids would wear for the production number ( which was ordinary crepe paper and all, but it turned out like cloth xD ). My back kinda hurts by now because the children were constantly trying to convince me to do a goddamned backbend so I did, and hoeee no, I'm old. I did manage, but I am old. I never did backbends for a year now.
So moving on to the third day. We got there 9:30. No one else was there and the reception hall was still closed.
The girl with no eyebrows ( whose voice is seriously friggin angelic, like, I was almost lulled to a peaceful sleep [ I don't mean boring; it was so good ] ) was the first one to arrive AGAIN. There were two more, but they went to practice for the children's choir ( which was founded and is being run by my uncle LMAAAO ) because they were members of the said group. They were 10 and 12 anyways, so they were fine with the production number by that time.
The ADHD kid arrived next, followed by the lady holding the key, then the SEVEN YEAR OLD WHO IS TOO CUTE FOR YOUR IMPURE EYES and her sister ( who joined the shadow play and is constantly persuading the others to practice [ and I'm like... "lead on, faithful disciple" ] ), then everyone was finally gathered ( except those who went for the choir and the other 12 year old and one kid who decided to dance 'Baby Shark' for her talent [ hey, she's six, and besides, we need breathers xD ] ). So there were 6.
We practiced. Snack time. Practice. Much uneventful, but atleast I didn't have to deal with anything else LMAO. I was also supposed to teach the ADHD kid a dance for Waka Waka, and I DID teach her, but ehhh she forgot the steps right after, when we finally perfected it. So she'd be making her own now, I guess.
And went for lunch. We already bought snacks for the afternoon ( which apparently spent our aunt's money [ because that makes 5 snack time schedules since kids can be really hungry ] ).
We got back 14:30 ( I'll shamelessly confess that I slept through my 13:30 alarm [ and I slept by 12:00 ] ) and practiced the production number, talents, introduction, and the ramp thing before we finally went outside to asses the progress.
Before that, by the way, we finally found some long rope and tied both ends the the basketball rings on either side of the court, with the help of some dood ( who, I remember, had been my friend when we were young but now IDK, maybe I'm not recognizable anymore??? ) to test the shadow play setup.
When we were collecting the rope, I held it and started making a knot.
Then one kid suddenly approached and started to stare at me, the rope, then called three more kids over and they started to ask me if I was going to commit suicide. I was, like, "what the fffff--???" then I just laughed at them and said I wouldn't. But they kept pestering me about it so I seriously said I wouldn't. Then they were convinced ( I don't know how 8-year-olds could possibly think of suicide ).
We practiced outside, practiced for the shadow play, then went home by 18:00 departing without the usual vigor of one of the shadow play-ers because he seriously stole food from the stock of the school canteen and the others drove him away because they said he was an awful person by doing that. I agree, man, he ruined their trust at an early age LMAO. I guess he was hungry, but I already gave up my cookies for him so uhhh IDK.
I made two more sashes that evening after stuffing myself with dinner ( WHICH WAS COOKED OVER FIRE, YES BITCH ) and organized the criteria after our aunt put it up. I also made the question for the top 5 ( which is; "IF YOU WERE GIVEN A CHANCE TO CHANGE ONE, AND ONLY ONE THIS NEW YEAR; YOURSELF, SOMETHING IN YOUR COMMUNITY, OR YOUR FAMILY, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO CHANGE AND WHY?" ), made the props for one contestant in the sports attire segment, and put glitterssssss on the letterings while having problems on which decorations to put for the stage.
I was 'shining-shimmering' at the end AGAIN and ate cereal late in the evening instead of eating it tomorrow morning.
----
OK HAPPY NEW YEAR IN MY TIME ZONE NOW THE PAGEANT WAS A SUCCESS MWAHAHAHAHA I WAS SO PROUD OF THE KIDS
One of 'em started calling me "MY FATHER" just because I joked about it lmao xDDD I went and donned my new coat ( FUEFUEFUE ) when I showed up behind him in the shadow play thing and said "I AM YOUR FATHER".
Lmaolmaolmao IM SO PROUD
AND THERE WAS THIS GROUP OF DANCERS WHO VOLUNTEERED FOR THE INTERMISSIONS, PLUS THE CANDIAN DOOD ALSO DID GO FOR A PERFORMANCE, AND SHE SANG HALLELUJAH ( I'm gonna tell you this; her voice was good af too ), AAAND ONE OF THE GIRLS WHO DANCED FOR THE INTERMISSION SANG TOO ( she's part of the choir my uncle holds so expect the cool voice ).
There was one kid who cried during the question and answer portion ( either because of the question itself [ 'twas a sensitive topic ] or maybe because of embarrassment since she erased her answers [ we did a different type of Q & A ] and didn't say anything at all ) but she's fine now, after she went to sleep and I played tickle fest with her xDDD
BYE BYE I'M TIRED