(Taken and tweaked from the back of THE END, the last book in A Series of Unfortunate Events. XD)

Anyway, yes. We have finally come to the end of our trip, the end of the long trek… and sadly, for some of us, it also meant reaching the end of the line. Unfortunately, not everyone made it; some had to abandon ship along the road while some had the gates closed to them. It doesn’t matter to us, though, for once a Hitomi, always a Hitomi, whether you passed the app process or not. As far as we are concerned, they are all still members of our batch, our family, because you just can’t erase all those months of various experiences, no matter how cheesy and clichéd it may sound.

Yes, the road was long and hard, but we leave no regrets behind. Each and every step of the way was worth all the effort of putting our foot forward in the first place. Countless times we have considered giving up, and countless times we have been tempted to just up and leave… but now each of us, accepted or not, are thankful that we have stayed.

We wouldn’t have become good friends if we left, after all.

(And now I leave you to think of the Butterfly Effect and quantum physics and all that jazz like I am right now.)

And so. This isn’t the end of the end, nor the beginning of the end; it is the end of the beginning, and the beginning of another beginning. Because there are no real endings; there are just new beginnings, and countless ones at that.

Because we certainly can. Oh yes, we certainly can.

Now that our sigsheets are done and the period for gathering the signatures is over (phew. we made it!) we now face the greatest obstacles we would ever encounter on our journey to *Ithaca. lol kidding* the gates of Tomo-Kai: the Formal and Informal interviews. *DUNDUNDUNDUUUN!!!* Can you hear it?! The thunder crashing, the loud thumping of our hearts, the annoying yet heart stopping orchestral themes in movies that always play when danger is approaching…

Yeah. It’s that bad.

The informals start next week, which is why we may not be able to update this at all next week. Who knows what kind of depression we would be going through then?

At this point, all we can do is study our sigsheets, wait, and hope that this doesn’t kill us.

Wish us luck.

This week, however, shows us a considerable improvement in the state of our sigsheets: from the empty and forsaken pieces of paper buzzing with flies, they have transformed into these nicely bound and slowly filling up documents we dare not step foot into the tambayan without. Who knows just who senpai you would encounter and be able to get the signature of? Missed opportunities; time is too short for them. Missed opportunities lead to regrets, and regrets lead to all sorts of misfortunes that I need not elaborate on, and misfortunes lead to brooding, and brooding takes up a lot of time. Which we do not have.

And so. As we chase senpais around, submitting/performing tasks and requirements, we all fervently hope that we make it in time… Which, in this case, is Friday the 9th.

Wish us luck… goodness knows we need it.

…. Right?

Nope. Wrong. Dead wrong.

Sure, you need do only two things for their coveted signatures, but who said those two were easy? First, each member has a requirement, a task for you to do (Task difficulties range from free signature easy to extreme effort hard.) Second, you must know the full name of each, including first, second/third, middle and last names. Middle names. Not initials. Names. And the members won’t tell you what they are either.

With amazing cooperation, teamwork, and stalking skills, however, Batch Hitomi proudly announces the joyous fact that yes, we have completed all their names. Huzzah!

I think all our stalking skills have just leveled up. Good job.

Yes. We have been given a week to relax, to take a break from all the challenges we have been given, but that does not mean we won’t do anything TK related entirely. There are still numerous requirements to be done for the signatures of the members and, of course, the obstacles still looming over our heads: the formal and informal interviews. While this may perhaps involve the least effort (goodness knows how much effort one must exert to create a costume or present a play, as we have done for previous tasks) this could very well be the most nerve-wracking. Imagine being seated in front of the members, alone, with them firing off questions that you have to answer satisfactorily… one wrong answer, one misunderstanding, one misplaced comment and all the effort you have exerted thus far could come crashing down. And then… it’s over. You’re done.

We are now fast approaching the climax of this story, which I now believe is the final deliberations. In this type of story, there is no denouement, no falling action, there is only the end. And the end… well, we’ll just wait and see about that.

Nurse Joy. At your service. >:D

Now that Tambay Night is done, we have the whole of next week to finish our sigsheets. :> After that, we will be having our informal and formal interview. The app process is nearing its end. The moment of truth is about to come. *dokidoki*

HITOMI! WE CAN DO THIS! >:D< BIG HUG~! >:D<

<3 tenshi

….

Ahaha, just kidding. Couldn’t resist putting that in. XD

Anyway. As we have mentioned in our last post, Tambay Night is just around the corner and of course, we have started practicing for the program we have prepared (not telling you anything other than yes, there is a program *and food!*) and, despite the lateness of our practices, we’re pretty excited as well for this. Who wouldn’t be excited, with a theme like Psychological Thrillers? (Yeah, that wasn’t the theme that we expected to win, we were all taken by surprise, but what the heck, right?)

So yeah, we’ve started practicing like the show’s tomorrow (which isn’t that far from the truth, actually) just to try and raise the members’ general opinion of our batch, after the poor evaluation we got for our Day 1 of Challenge Week (yes, we admit, that presentation was rush-practiced and a fail.) After all, we’ve got ourselves to prove, prove that we’re more than just that. Whatever that is.  (LOL no, you do get it, right? )

And so we practice, practice, and hope for the best… because yeah, nobody’s perfect, but that doesn’t mean you should stop trying, right? The very act of striving hard and giving your all just to achieve the best results… that’s where 98% of the fun comes from, after all.

The remaining two percent? Whatever else follows falls here. ^_^

Anyway. You may ask just what is Tambay Night? As the name suggests, it is an evening wherein we do nothing but tambay… No, just kidding. Actually, it is an evening wherein we apps host a program of sorts with a set theme for the members of the org, showcasing our various talents and keeping the members amused for an evening, usually held in an applicant’s house (we are the hosts, after all.) Staying overnight is optional, though that’s how things usually end up, as the programs tend to finish late into the evening. For the themes, applicants give suggestions and the members vote… As for this year’s theme, the people have spoken, and they have chosen…. *cue drumrolls*

Psychological Thrillers! *cue confetti and party poppers here*

An interesting theme, considering the number of psychological thrillers that have become box office hits over the years (Black Swan or Silence of the Lambs, anyone?) and we hope we can do this theme enough justice.

Anyhoo, this year’s Tambay Night will be held in the home of Marielle Fresno (ooh. That’s the first time we ever mentioned one of our names… I wonder if a list of all members of batch Hitomi should be posted in this blog.) this Friday, September 2, 2011. All members, alumni and Japanese friends are invited, and we sincerely hope you can come. (Please wait for the formal invites for directions to the location – we’ll be handing them out soon. )

Actually, introduction, or what UP Tomo-Kai calls “jikoshoukai” (literally introducing oneself in Japanese) is an essential part of one’s application, for members and applicants get to know each other through this (though of course repeating the jikoushoukai process is unavoidable as one cannot expect someone to remember his/her name after only one meeting… unless of course you do /say something to that person that renders you unforgettable, haha.)

Anyway. Here we go:

Hajimemashite! Watashi wa insert name here desu. insert age here desu. insert course here no insert year level here desu. Douzo yoroshiku onegaishimasu!

…

Just kidding.

Anyhow, you may ask why we are writing a separate post about this, when we could have included it in our introductory post. Well, other than the fact that we have just learned the enormity of the jikoushoukai’s importance, the answer is that though this may seem like an inconsequential ritual, you’ll find that (at least in our batch) 50% of all our problems lie in this jikoushoukai, which is why this is not something that you should take lightly. After all, how do you expect to get in the organization if the members do not even know who you are? You might just as well have been a random person on the street trying out what the applicants are doing, for no apparent reason.

Yes. We have learned our lesson. A little too late for one or two of us, maybe, but we have learned our lesson nonetheless. *nods head*

In any case, this week is going to be as hectic as ever with our preparations for Tambay Night, our working on the different members’ tasks and, in some cases, trying to cram in as many tambay hours as possible just to try and meet the minimum requirement of 40 hours. From here, it seems like the rising action is about to end and the climax in sight, though what exactly the climax is and how the conflict will be resolved is still unclear.

Ah well. The only thing to do now is work twice as hard and hope the end will not be painful for any of us.