The Plushie
The object I chose to bring with me to my class was a plush doll dinosaur. It may not look like an attractive plushie, nor does it look like something a kid would want to pick up when they visit Toys R Us, but to me, it is a plushie filled with memories and excitements.
The plushie has a very simplified shape of a dinosaur, with sharp teeth and furs sticking out on its back to act as the spikes. Unlike the real historic animal, soft colour plaided cloths were used to give the plushie a friendlier quality. Various shapes and colours of buttons were used to create the eyes, bowtie and, buttons. Another interesting part of this plushie is that its mouth is made of a thread of black lace, again, something that is not very suitable for scary, strong animals like dinosaurs. Not a lot of cottons were stuffed into the toy, hence the soft and squishy sensation when holding it. Overall, this made the plushie have a very soft and relaxing nature, as I was never the type of person to like any drama or complicated things.
It may be weird to consider this plushie as an item that held sentimental values, as the time I spent with this plushie wasn’t long at all. In fact, I’ve just acquired this plushie from less than ten days ago. It was the fifth night in New York City, I received an email from the university inviting freshmen to attend one of the workshops. I immediately chose the plushie workshop, because I’ve always wanted to try and make a plushie on my own, but for various reasons wasn’t able to do so. The night before the workshop begins I was almost too excited to fall asleep, as it is my first class, at my first college, on my first week in New York.
That morning, I went out earlier in hopes to not be late — and I was glad I went out earlier, because I got lost. New York’s grid system is very different from where I came from, Hong Kong. Supposedly it should be very simple and quick to understand, but it still took me a while to figure out the avenues and streets and where I’m suppose to go. I guess it still takes time for people to get used to a new surrounding no matter how convenient it is. When I walked into the class room, a sudden shock hit me as the classroom was a lot bigger than what I was used to. I chose a chair to seat on and we begun work shortly. The moment the professor handed me a paper for designing the plushie, I knew I had to make the dinosaur into life. I wasn’t sure if this decision was because of the feeling of nervousness in a new city, or just out of first instinct.
I did not just make the dinosaur because I like it, its because the design of this dinosaur held special meaning to me. During my high school days I would doodle around my friends’ notebook, and they would doodle on top of it. The design of this dinosaur plushie was a collaboration with one of my close friends during Chinese class, just thinking of it reminds me of lots of funny memories in high school. As I stitch the plushie, it almost felt like I was stitching the past memories held within it and the up coming new experiences together. This dinosaur plushie meant so much to me, it meant the first time to sew, the first friend made, the first time in university, the first time alone in New York… it was literally a plush full of memories and excitements.
Now the dinosaur plush is placed on the corner of my desk, watching me work on projects and assignments. Sometimes, when I slack off from work, or just want to take a little break, I lay back on my chair and let it move backwards, then I would look at the dinosaur. That ridiculous smile, as usual, was on its face, as if telling me — you’d better get ready for a new chapter of life!
