The Singing Never Ends

Ryna Mayekar

Hi da hi da hi dee dee hi da hi da, hi da hi da!

These words will never leave our heads. The choir kids went over to Bangkok over the weekend and learned a lot. We worked together to make a beautiful sound that echoed through the auditorium. Not all of the class could go due to SATs, which was truly heartbreaking.

Waking up excited on Thursday for our departure later that day made it hard to focus in class. We sang our way over to the airport in three vans, making sure we know our notes. After reaching the airport, checking in our luggage, and grabbing a quick bite, we decided on doing a flash mob. We picked “Amavolovolo,” an African Folk song, to sing, since we had a dance to go along with it. We circled up as Ms. Goh set our beat for us.

3, 2, 1… Nge-ke si ye le la-Kwa-Ma-shu…

Ms. Goh and a few other parents filmed us as we took the strangers by surprise. The video was posted on the Dalat Fine Arts Highlights Facebook page and managed to get 1700+ views so far! The musicians who were taking a break even joined us in with their cajón and guitars.

After having a little bit of a bumpy flight, we made it to Bangkok! We were tired from the travel and passed out shortly after reaching our hotel. The next morning, we had breakfast and made our way to ISB. We were a little early, so we had free time to roam around and explore the campus, respectfully. We received our festival shirts that were too small for many students, which resulted in lots of trading around. Group photos were then taken with all the schools together on stage. We then rehearsed for an hour straight for the first time.

Hearing the sound a school choir makes can be so pretty, but is nothing compared to hearing that many schools all together. The sound we made together was truly beautiful, ignoring the wrong notes due it being our first time all together. We then had a 15-minute break to have snacks and mingle with the other schools. Matthew managed to meet Grace students that he hadn’t seen in years. Football girls recognized each other and chatted for a while. Lots of socializing was done during that break.

Our next rehearsal went on for an hour and 25 minutes. Everyone complained about how much their legs were hurting since we had to stand for all of it. We had lunch and then our third rehearsal of the day.

All the other schools were free to go except for a few. Grace, ISKL, and Dalat were scheduled to have a “special clinic” with Henry Leck. We played a few choir related games and learned that “Hi Da” song that will forever be imprinted in our minds.

This was just one of our days there. Our schedules were very packed. On Saturday, we rehearsed the music twice, once without the middle school choir and once with them. We then figured out the logistics of the order and ran through it all. We were then dismissed to have lunch and get ready for the concert.

Finally, it was showtime.

The concert went smoothly. We got to perform for many parents, as well as the cameras set up by ISB. They had us livestreamed too! The high school and middle school choirs first sang a song together, then the high schoolers had a seat. After 15 minutes of the middle school choir, it was the high schoolers turn.

After all the stress of the concert was done with, we went to the mall and did another flash mob, singing in the kid’s train around one of the floors. The next day, we went to the Chatuchak market where we got to split up and shop till we dropped. After the market, we headed straight to the airport, where suddenly the realization that we were students from Dalat truly hit us. We recalled how much homework was left for us to complete, and as we waited, some began working on it. Matthew Strong (12) even managed to finish his essay in the air.

We were greeted back by our friends sweetly. Many said they could tell how much fun we had from what we had posted on social media. “School felt empty without all my friends,” said Ruben Nyul (12).

Even though we dreaded all the work we had to catch up on, I think we’re pretty happy to be back home, especially since we know all our notes for sure, which we will show off in our concert on Thursday that you should definitely attend!