The Extraordinary Excursion ...

I woke up sharp six. I was anxious since last night. The idea of waking up late and missing the bus on the day before kind of haunted me. I was supposed to lead my beloved, young, vibrant and extremely cheerful kids to an excursion to PWTC. We planned to have a day out at the KL International Book Fair 2009. It was the 2nd for me and the 1st for them. They were 16 of them. All were very thrilled, thrilled to be out of the campus, excited to experience a journey together. We arrived even before the exhibition hall was opened. As soon as we stepped forward, the door was opened. It was magnificent. It was just like the door to heaven and beyond the magnificent door, there stood shelves of books of different colours, types, topics, publishers and all. Everyone was amazed. Not to say the lost ones. Too many to visit, too short of the time, they stood, confused. I was amazed myself, again. I told them that they were given 2 hours to venture through, “don’t let the amazement conquer and hold your feet still”. They moved. I lost track of them, lost myself among the books. I felt like buying everything, but I decided to buy nothing. I walked and walked around, a synopsis after the other. None has actually managed to seize my attention. I was actually looking for either Sidney Sheldon’s or Cathy Glass’s. None was in view. Therefore, I did think I should waste no money. I walked again. There stood the RM15 only shelf. Man! I wasn’t sure about the books seizing my attention, but the price surely did! I stopped by, browsed through a few books. At first I decided on 4. Browsed again, naahhhh! Just 2. I haven’t heard of these writers. I just assumed they were good because of the synopsis. Ok, am done and ready to go. I paid and followed 2 other colleagues looking for their other books. Am done. Nothing more. Once, everyone was about to finish, I informed the bus driver to fetch us at the point he dropped us. We left at about 12pm deciding to drop by McD at the highway for lunch. Grabbing our lunch, everyone was quiet enjoying the food. Kids! We arrived soundly at the campus ground at 1pm. It was wonderful. I got to know more childish characters of my students. They look matured yet they are kids, kids in their own way. To me, that excursion, is not like any other excursion, that excursion is an extraordinary excursion.