Sometime in late Nov last year, I met this 37-yr old S'porean guy on a online dating site. (MSN's match.com) I wasn't keen in him coz (1) he'll sure act like he knows a lot than me coz he ate more salt than me ate rice! (2) he's still single at this age, is he ok or not? (3) his profile just didn't interest me that much (4) he seems really serious abt finding a life partner
I was just play play online! hey, i'm all prepared to be married off to Japan leh... dating online is just for fun. I don't want to give people false hopes. I don't want to waste people's time. BUT I still replied his email coz his email to me was really very sincere, so I felt no harm in replying & making friends.
We chatted on msn about job etc... but I never disclosed I'm attached. He didn't ask anyway. At one of our chats, I was in a bad mood and was irritated with stupid questions from him. I sort of told him off. After that no more msn/email.
On V-day I dropped him a note, wishing him all the best, to which he replied he's attached with someone from Match.com. After that no correspondences btw us till tdy when he msn me out of the blue, announcing he's married & his wife is expecting. Am I being over-sensitive here, thinking he's just out to show that he succeeded in a relationship?
And he kept saying good luck to me (for my relationship with Teru, and I replied I need luck for getting a job in Japan only), wished me luck in finding happiniess (I replied I've already found it!), said true love is more than sugar & honey (coz I said we've overcome many barriers for our r/s, and I replied we're beyond that), emphazised that age isn't a big factor --> he & his wife are matured so they got married soon after knowing each other... (I feel it's bullshit --> he's desperate!) Then he said another lady he met in Match.com married a Jap guy, and he reminded me not to forget that I'm a Chinese... that last one is really nonsense to me! Dating & marrying a Japanese doesn't mean I become a Japanese!! I'm still a S'porean & I will always be one! Living overseas doesn't mean I'll lose my roots, esp when I've spent 27yrs of my life here!
Anyway, back to the egoistic guy from Match.com. I'm just so glad I don't have to resort to that to find Mr Right, coz based on those I've met, none meets the mark.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Saturday, June 03, 2006
The Class Terror
As mentioned in my previous post, there's a female class terror in my P3 class. She's noisy, bullies the rest, and it's very clear that she isn't popular in class. Once I had an extra chair, and the rest preferred to squeeze at a small table rather than sit with her.
Yesterday I realised that she's a super attention seeking child who can be violent too, and that really scares me...
They were doing a mini cut/paste project and I think she quarrelled with her team mates over some pictures for it. When I went to check on their progress, she was crying. The rest simply ignored her. I tried my best to console her but she continued crying, so I left her alone a while coz I had to check on the rest. Next moment when I came back, I saw her using a pencil trying to poke thru the project paper. The scene of her grabbing the pencil tightly, poking at the table, moving towards the paper, is quite scary. You don't know when she'll go crazy and stab someone with it. Remember there're many cases of children killing classmates in Japan....
Her team members kept moving the paper away from her. Then she tried to tear off a picture from it. All these while with her face down, covered by her hair. (imagine Sadako aka Zhenzi from "The Ring"). Finally her team members moved onto the floor to do their work. She went over, and cried again. This time with her face facing down on the paper, as if she's out to ruin the project paper with her tears since she couldn't snatch/destroy the picture earlier on.
Anyway she cried till the end of lesson and left just like that. The rest continued ignoring her, and a classmate even laughed saying it's the 1st time he see her like this.
It's not easy teaching children. I finallly understand that now. I've done my best to prevent/stop fights, console them when they're sad.... but it just doesn't seem enough... haiz...
Now I know why my supervisor came up with a form for us teachers to report on difficult kids, so that their form teacher can talk to their parents or counsel the kids... I'll not use the form for now & hope I don't ever need to resort to that....
Yesterday I realised that she's a super attention seeking child who can be violent too, and that really scares me...
They were doing a mini cut/paste project and I think she quarrelled with her team mates over some pictures for it. When I went to check on their progress, she was crying. The rest simply ignored her. I tried my best to console her but she continued crying, so I left her alone a while coz I had to check on the rest. Next moment when I came back, I saw her using a pencil trying to poke thru the project paper. The scene of her grabbing the pencil tightly, poking at the table, moving towards the paper, is quite scary. You don't know when she'll go crazy and stab someone with it. Remember there're many cases of children killing classmates in Japan....
Her team members kept moving the paper away from her. Then she tried to tear off a picture from it. All these while with her face down, covered by her hair. (imagine Sadako aka Zhenzi from "The Ring"). Finally her team members moved onto the floor to do their work. She went over, and cried again. This time with her face facing down on the paper, as if she's out to ruin the project paper with her tears since she couldn't snatch/destroy the picture earlier on.
Anyway she cried till the end of lesson and left just like that. The rest continued ignoring her, and a classmate even laughed saying it's the 1st time he see her like this.
It's not easy teaching children. I finallly understand that now. I've done my best to prevent/stop fights, console them when they're sad.... but it just doesn't seem enough... haiz...
Now I know why my supervisor came up with a form for us teachers to report on difficult kids, so that their form teacher can talk to their parents or counsel the kids... I'll not use the form for now & hope I don't ever need to resort to that....
Friday, June 02, 2006
Life of a 2 part-timer
I just started on another part-time job last week. Income from my school isn't enough, esp. when I'm used to an expenditure based on my previous income. And since I end work by 1pm everyday, I might as well use the time to earn more $$$.
Initially I wanted to take up tuition assignments. However the market's too saturated with tutors. Parents are also more fussy & demanding compared to those during my uni days. And for that bit of money, I've to rack my brains for more teaching materials, get stressed up during exams etc... it just isn't worth it.
Working in the mornings means I've lesser chance of getting a part-time office job. I'm not exactly keen in F&B nor telemarketing. Retail sales isn't really that attractive coz I don't wana burn my weekends. So here comes the perfect part-time job -- worksheet marker at a commercial education centre.
I just need to work 4 days a week, incl. Sat, totalling 20hrs/wk. Just sit down & mark papers. I've admin duties too, but yet to start on it. I don't earn a lot from this, but it's better than nothing!
Initially I wanted to take up tuition assignments. However the market's too saturated with tutors. Parents are also more fussy & demanding compared to those during my uni days. And for that bit of money, I've to rack my brains for more teaching materials, get stressed up during exams etc... it just isn't worth it.
Working in the mornings means I've lesser chance of getting a part-time office job. I'm not exactly keen in F&B nor telemarketing. Retail sales isn't really that attractive coz I don't wana burn my weekends. So here comes the perfect part-time job -- worksheet marker at a commercial education centre.
I just need to work 4 days a week, incl. Sat, totalling 20hrs/wk. Just sit down & mark papers. I've admin duties too, but yet to start on it. I don't earn a lot from this, but it's better than nothing!
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Pri 3s from Hell
Yesterday's lesson for the primary 3s was eventful & a good learning experience for me. I learnt that sweet girls who look demure with a voice of an angel can be very fierce & violent. I'm glad that I understand some Japanese w/o the students being reminded of it. And I handled the first crying case in class. All these packed in a 45-min lesson.
There's this girl who speaks well & has a doll-like face. She's always so sweet in class, always so well-behaved. But don't push your luck too far! The troublemaker in the class (this irritating boy who's ntg but trouble) had teased her with some awful nickname which i didn't catch nor understand. I let them be since lesson hasn't start. Next moment, I saw the girl raising a chair, threatening to hit the boy. Stopped it in time with no injuries. I hoped she was just planning to scare him & not hurt him!
I gave them a worksheet to do, with plans to re-distribute out to different students to mark it. The troublemarker & his frd couldn't finish on time & refused to give me the worksheet, so I had to take it almost by force. And they started saying in Japanese "Take it! I don't want to do the worksheet anyway". That really pissed me off. One girl who knew that I understand Japanese told them (that I understand) when she saw how black my face turned. The moment she ended her sentence, I shot the 2 boys saying 'If you don't want to do the worksheet, you can sit on the floor alone.' This shut them up for a while.
After the worksheet was games. Sitting in a circle, the students had to snatch some word cards in the middle. The "angel" (the one who threatened to throw a chair) changed her seat during the game & the class terror told her off rudely. The next moment, the "angel" started crying. I had to juggle between conducting the game & consoling the girl. Finally gave up & had another student to run the game.
Quite a learning experience where i learnt to pacify the crying girl while not exactly scolding the class terror. Class terror knows she was in the wrong for scolding the girl but refused to admit it but kept her head down throughout. So I left it as it is. As long as the crying is stopped, and the bully knows her mistake, it's case closed.
And yes, class terror is a girl. Super hyperactive, lousy in studies, tries to act like big sister. She refused to let this quiet girl sit beside her because she wanted her best friend (Miss Bulliable) to sit with her yesterday. That made 3 other girls angry coz they were concerned that the quiet girl will be uncomfortable sitting with a boy. I didn't interfere in this. All seats are first come first served! hehehe...
From Day 1 I knew the P3s are a difficult lot in terms of discipline. Both class terror & troublemaker are scolded by me almost on a daily basis. For your info, we're not allowed to punish nor scold them. I wonder how on earth you can discipline a bunch of monkeys by being nice only. I speak in a stern/fierce voice to make it like I'm scolding yet not quite scolding. I isolate them in class (e.g. sit on the floor alone at corner) as punishment. That's all I can do & I know most teachers use these methods too.
How do teachers in local primary schools survive in a class of 40 kids? Likewise how do the Japanese teachers handle a class of monkeys? I only have 13 in my class & it's hell for me! Thank god there're a few little angels around to light up my day.
It's hell here but I still enjoy teaching for now (^-^)
There's this girl who speaks well & has a doll-like face. She's always so sweet in class, always so well-behaved. But don't push your luck too far! The troublemaker in the class (this irritating boy who's ntg but trouble) had teased her with some awful nickname which i didn't catch nor understand. I let them be since lesson hasn't start. Next moment, I saw the girl raising a chair, threatening to hit the boy. Stopped it in time with no injuries. I hoped she was just planning to scare him & not hurt him!
I gave them a worksheet to do, with plans to re-distribute out to different students to mark it. The troublemarker & his frd couldn't finish on time & refused to give me the worksheet, so I had to take it almost by force. And they started saying in Japanese "Take it! I don't want to do the worksheet anyway". That really pissed me off. One girl who knew that I understand Japanese told them (that I understand) when she saw how black my face turned. The moment she ended her sentence, I shot the 2 boys saying 'If you don't want to do the worksheet, you can sit on the floor alone.' This shut them up for a while.
After the worksheet was games. Sitting in a circle, the students had to snatch some word cards in the middle. The "angel" (the one who threatened to throw a chair) changed her seat during the game & the class terror told her off rudely. The next moment, the "angel" started crying. I had to juggle between conducting the game & consoling the girl. Finally gave up & had another student to run the game.
Quite a learning experience where i learnt to pacify the crying girl while not exactly scolding the class terror. Class terror knows she was in the wrong for scolding the girl but refused to admit it but kept her head down throughout. So I left it as it is. As long as the crying is stopped, and the bully knows her mistake, it's case closed.
And yes, class terror is a girl. Super hyperactive, lousy in studies, tries to act like big sister. She refused to let this quiet girl sit beside her because she wanted her best friend (Miss Bulliable) to sit with her yesterday. That made 3 other girls angry coz they were concerned that the quiet girl will be uncomfortable sitting with a boy. I didn't interfere in this. All seats are first come first served! hehehe...
From Day 1 I knew the P3s are a difficult lot in terms of discipline. Both class terror & troublemaker are scolded by me almost on a daily basis. For your info, we're not allowed to punish nor scold them. I wonder how on earth you can discipline a bunch of monkeys by being nice only. I speak in a stern/fierce voice to make it like I'm scolding yet not quite scolding. I isolate them in class (e.g. sit on the floor alone at corner) as punishment. That's all I can do & I know most teachers use these methods too.
How do teachers in local primary schools survive in a class of 40 kids? Likewise how do the Japanese teachers handle a class of monkeys? I only have 13 in my class & it's hell for me! Thank god there're a few little angels around to light up my day.
It's hell here but I still enjoy teaching for now (^-^)
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Super-RICH band?
I'm shocked. A digusting band consisting of people who:
1. Can't seem to play musical instruments (which i can forgive if i think of them as pop-band, but they are far from idol status)
2. Dance like ah-gong/ah-ma (i think some elderly can do better than them!)
3. Sing like they're learning to talk with voices that'll scare the dead out of graves
.....is STILL IN the band competition.
With a judging criteria of 30% judges + 70% sms votes, I believe the band members are rich. It doesn't make sense for them to be in when the judges had failed them. With that standard of performance, they should change their band name to XiaSuayFeng. Don't they feel embarassed to still be in the competition? so xia suay!
1. Can't seem to play musical instruments (which i can forgive if i think of them as pop-band, but they are far from idol status)
2. Dance like ah-gong/ah-ma (i think some elderly can do better than them!)
3. Sing like they're learning to talk with voices that'll scare the dead out of graves
.....is STILL IN the band competition.
With a judging criteria of 30% judges + 70% sms votes, I believe the band members are rich. It doesn't make sense for them to be in when the judges had failed them. With that standard of performance, they should change their band name to XiaSuayFeng. Don't they feel embarassed to still be in the competition? so xia suay!
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