Exploring The Wondering Minstrels - While Looking For "Secret"

The Secret Sits
We dance round in a ring and suppose,
But the Secret sits in the middle and knows.
...Robert Frost

Hamlet
Said Hamlet to Ophelia,
'I'll do a sketch of thee,
What kind of pencil shall I use,
2B or not 2B?'
...Spike Milligan

the other day i was suddenly whisked out of the adrenaline of Because Of The Times (BOTT), a conference going on in my church, back to AHS, where i met with madhu and meghna (who is threatening me with all kinds of horrible deaths if i do not link her on my blog. i shall try to be brave.) and tq and a whole herd of familiar students i still do not know the names of, waving and shouting "Hello Ms Claire!" across to me.

and i realise that stripped of the authority of the whiteboard i really did not know what to say to them, or how to react.

and i must also confess that i saw one of my more difficult students and made a run for it.

ANYWAY! going back to BOTT, i have loved every moment of it! there are over 20 nations represented in our now-cramped church auditorium, and so i walk through them, smiling and nodding and trying to be as helpful as possible, while at the same time thinking of camera angles and duty roosters (rosters? roosters? JIAXUN!) and whether my hair is going to take a stand against organised hair-dos and explode during service. we have sessions in the morning and the evening, so in the afternoon we waft about trying to be busy. but we are girls, so short of testing microphones (yesterday we sang the victorian anthem, and it was EXCITING in its own sad, nostalgic way) and acting cute, there's really very little we can do. usually when something breaks down in the video room, we exit graciously, or offer to buy people coffee.

ANYWAY! yesterday during the break between the morning and evening sessions, mel, pam and i, armed with our delifrance mixed fruit tarts, made our way to the chill-out-and-chit-chat depot : the kids room. mel got very excited over making "beds" for us by lining up eight chairs in two neat rows facing each other. she then proceeded to make more of these things (mel: "THEY'RE NOT THINGS, THEY'RE BEDS!") until the whole room was full of them. yes, it was slightly alarming, but mel was very protective of them. pastor tim did lay down on one of them momentarily though, so WE DO HAVE CELEBRITY ENDORSEMENT PEOPLE. pam introduced a game to induce conversation.

pam: okay, your word is "Wakefulness"
me: eh?
mel: it reminds me of Wakefield, the coolest sirname ever!
me: JESSICA AND ELIZABETH!
mel: YES!
-prolonged screeching occurs-
pam: TIMES UP. next word is "Kitchen"
me: i want to have a big kitchen.
mel: i want to have a wooden kitchen.
me: er, then it will kind of burn down.
mel: no it won't because there won't be any fire.
me: -splutters for awhile-
mel: yes, all our cooking will be done at the communal bonfire.