Delicious Logic

Student A called Student B a grape. when Student B asked Student A why she called him that, Student A answered, "Cos I love to eat grapes."

therefore, logically, Student A loves to eat Student B.

delicious.

[ed: as corrected based on comments...]

Lame, really lame

i went jogging just now.

tried to push myself on the last 100m or so. realised that i can't. not because of lack of stamina or muscular fatigue. but when i try to widen my stride, my left knee buckles when my feet lands.

it sucks. big time. knowing that i am not, and probably will never be, back to my full fitness level.

sigh.

On TV

and so the new Singapore Idol single is called "You Give Me Wings". should get Red Bull to endorse the show then, and adopt the song as their new theme song.

and yes. i was on tv again. grr... i looked horrible, didn't say what i should have said. sigh. i think i've let my school down. grr...

Teaching and Educating

so we were trying to explain to someone what it is that we were doing in our school. what we mean by character development. that it is beyond just the structures of the programmes, it is more than the activities. that these activites and programmes are really just means to impact the lives of the students by touching the hearts.

however, so many people don't get it. because they want quick fixes. they want to know how things are done, as they always have been done, within the framework of something that they can take away and run with. but they cannot. because each student is different, because you really have to be sensitive to their hearts, their emotions, their feelings and then reach them in an emotional level, touch them, inspire them. that takes time outside of formal structures, that takes effort beyond structure, that is not something that you can follow from a script or a lesson plan. worst, it doesn't have easily measured KPIs.

and many Singaporeans, because of the way we are brought up, do not understand that and do not want to understand that.

but it's ok. i do. and i believe in it. i believe that it is just as important to spend time making small talk and idle chit chat with the students as it is to teach them the subject.

after all... we aren't just 'teaching books' (jiao shu), but we are also educating the person (yu ren).

Random

i thought i had tonnes of random things to say... but now that i (finally) sit down and try to blog... i realise that i've forgotten about the many little bits of random things that i had wanted to blog about.

perhaps a random poem...

silly poo,
lots of goo.
wear your shoe.
miss you too.

ha... now that's completely random. no wonder some of my students think i'm lame... but i am lame. i blame it on NS. injured myself (tore a ligament...) and surgery didn't really work (i'm one of the 15% where the surgery fails...). so i'm really kind of (physically) lame.

Touched

so as we walked down after we got our passports checked, i recognized a whole group of familiar faces at the glass panel, waiting, peering.

26th, thanks for being there to give us such a warm welcome.

i'm really really touched. i should have told you guys right there at the airport. but i was overwhelmed.

you guys make it all worthwhile.

thanks. :)

p.s. work hard for your upcoming exams.

p.p.s. i give you tip for your Physics exam... STUDY! ha.

Shangri-La

is a beautiful place. not the one in Singapore. that one's quite nice... but Shangri-La in Yunan. THE actual Shangri-La.

and i've not even been to the supposedly most scenic places. in fact, all i've seen is the inside of a hotel, the sights along a road, this lounge place (which had really great local cultural performances) and its toilet, the airport.

it's the people. the people that i've met there are just amazingly warm and wonderful. i'm not sure whether one can generalise from the group that i've met there. afterall, they are damn good friends with one of the people in my group.

regardless... i would love to go back to Shangri-La again (plus other parts of Yunan). this time to stay for longer. sigh...

the other thing that struck me on my trip... so on the last day, we decided to pamper ourselves and went for some spa/massage thing (first time i did this kind of stuff...). i started chatting to the girl who massaged me. she's from a village and moved to Kunming city. her parents don't know that she's a masseuse (they think she works in some store selling clothes). it's one of those professions that a good young lady (and the girl is close 19... or 20... or something like that...) shouldn't work as. yet... it's a job. and it pays the bills, she gets to send some money home. she intends to quit after a couple of years with the money she earns, bury that part of her life and get settled down in the city. i don't know... i am not relating the story properly. but... i just felt the... tensions of liberal, modern urban life vs conservative, old rural life.

this trip to Yunan was an interesting trip all in all. culture-shocked many times over. learnt loads. loads of work to do arising from this trip.

Back

i guess i'm back. at least for now. no... i still have loads that i've not settled. but... well... there have been some uplifting moments in the last few days which are enough to get be back to writing.

what are these uplifting moments?

time spent with my students.

i think they are wonderful kids. infinitely teachable. i am really fortunate for having met them and really privileged to have the honour of being their teacher.

why do i say that?

because regardless of how harsh we are on them, they understand that it's for their sake. and instead of begrudging us, as some kids would have, they become more appreciative, more protective of us.

example, one of the days when we were in Medan, i fell asleep talking to some of them. at pre-dawn, i woke up to find an improvised blanket over me.

another example, i was able to share with my students some of the things that are on my mind.

they are wonderful. and for them, regardless of whatever burdens, i shall strive on.