While i welcome any opportunity for a non-working day as much as anyone else, sometimes i don't welcome as much the reason behind it (though it being a non-working day i tend to keep my complaints to myself). Together with CNY, National Day ranks as the holiday that i'm least enthusiastic about. I'm probably the last person you'll see wearing red anything on these days, though on other occasions i've no issue with doing so.
While in school, i wasn't as turned off by National Day as i am now. I even voluntarily went for one NDP when once someone offered me a ticket. However, no way would you catch me being like one of those who would try and predict which army camp would be the one handing out the free NDP tix that coming year and stalk the camp gates like a hungry pride of lions a sick, old bufffalo - thank goodness for the relative sanity of the recently-implemented balloting system (and extra points for thwarting the ambitions of the serial NDP attendees). Whilst still in choir i even managed to grin and bear my way through leading the singing of national songs in school and at other functions.
Then came NS, which i guess was when i started to shift from a mood of ambivalence to sheer and utter annoyance. Overkill, to put it lightly.
Uni times were slightly better, since for the first time i was no longer obliged to participate in any National Day celebrations. I remember the National Day of 2006 the best. Why? Cos for the first time i was out of the country, having left for the States a few days earlier for holiday and exchange. No better place to spend a National Day than in Portland, OR.
Last year i was so fed up with being made, involuntarily, to do a lot of crap thanks to the nie people that i decided to skip the culmination of this crap which was meant to be the nie national day celebrations. Didn't take too well to being back in the mode of being obliged once again to participate in such activities.
And this year, it has struck me that it's something that i'll have to get used to, at least for the next three years or so.. However i'm still trying to stay true to my (warped and, to some, meaningless) principles. I made a conscious effort not to wear red to school this morning (though it was quite a mindless choice as the only red top i have is pretty unsuitable for school wear). But, just to make sure i would not step on too many toes, particularly since i'm still new, i came in white instead. It's a national colour after all. That, together with my inspired choice of Rote Grütze for dessert the other day when i had dinner at Werner's, will probably be as so-called patriotic an act as i'm willing to pull off this year.
Did i already say this National Day stuff is something i'll have to get used to? During the school celebrations there were so many moments when i just had to close my eyes. No, not because i was moved to tears by the song singing, the message, or the multimedia presentation. Rather, it was so that i could roll my eyes in safety, without fear of being detected by anyone around. I had to go against my aforementioned principles a bit though, for during the singing of Reach out for the Skies, some overenthusiastic students of mine pulled me up on stage to join several other less-than-willing fellow teachers to do the elaborate waking up, heart-pumping, and fly-swatting exercise that is the accompanying cheesy dance to the song. Dance schmance. Hmm, i guess at least i masked my cynicism well methinks..
As i'm sure i've said before somewhere here (just look for the archived August posts), it's not that i don't like this place. Far from it. I just don't see the point in all these outward displays of patriotism, especially if they come just at this time of year or when we host some sporting event of otherwise token importance to the international community, but of ridiculously over-magnified importance here. This is along the same lines as the whole Sunday/Christmas and Easter Christian thing - the important thing is not how you are on the so-called important days, but on whatever day it is. It may be just me with this view, and i surely don't force it on anyone else. As long as my family doesn't drag me along to the parade i'm perfectly happy with letting my father enter my name for the NDP ballot (which thankfully for me we've not yet kena-ed as of yet). And i hardly think i'm the worst of the lot. Better to not display the flag at all than to hang it the wrong way round or with laundry draped on either side of it.
Friday, August 07, 2009
Monday, August 03, 2009
interdire
I, obedient S'porean that i am, usually am quite a stickler when it comes to following the rules. The theory behind it being God's call for us to submit to the governing authorities that have been put in place. To that end, whenever I fly i grudgingly adhere to the flight attendants' request that you leave your footwear on during takeoff and landing, as uncomfortable as that may be. As a student, i almost never skipped classes or other school-sanctioned events (which incidentally left me rather miffed by the end of the moe induction programme earlier in the year, but that's another story). And now whenever i have to cross the road, jaywalking is almost always out of the question, unless it's legal (i.e. cross on the correct side of the signs demarcating 50m from the nearest pedestrian crossing) or if i succumb to peer pressure.
So imagine my shock when it finally dawned on me after more than a decade of riding the mrt that when that lady with the contrived accent cautioned in an ascending register that "eating or drinking is not allowed in stations and trains", she meant every bit of it. I'm hardly like one of those toots who open a tarpow container of wanton mee and slurp it up happily on the train. Rather, i am guilty of the apparently equally illegal offence of drinking water on the train. When i read that they were now going to enforce an immediate fine for offenders i thought i was safe as, after all, it's only water. It seems though that even water drinkers are not immune, which strikes me as a bit much. I mean, even in the library, while eating and drinking were no-nos, at least they still did allow water-drinking. I thought it was a given exception to the no eating and drinking rule wherever you went in S'pore.
While i definitely understand the preventive rationale behind the rule, in that they don't want to inconvenience other passengers and risk messy spills, i wonder why (some) trains in other places have no rule against eating or drinking, yet remain comparably clean as our own mrt trains. While granted that a lot of these foreign metro trains are not air-conditioned, and so may not facillitate the spread of foul food odours as much as on an mrt train, there are other longer-distance trains of say the intercity variety which are air-conditioned and have no qualms about letting passengers eat whatever they want. Heck, some trains even have dining/snack cars. Which begs the question, is it just that S'poreans just can't be trusted with such liberties? I'd tend towards answering in the affirmative...
So imagine my shock when it finally dawned on me after more than a decade of riding the mrt that when that lady with the contrived accent cautioned in an ascending register that "eating or drinking is not allowed in stations and trains", she meant every bit of it. I'm hardly like one of those toots who open a tarpow container of wanton mee and slurp it up happily on the train. Rather, i am guilty of the apparently equally illegal offence of drinking water on the train. When i read that they were now going to enforce an immediate fine for offenders i thought i was safe as, after all, it's only water. It seems though that even water drinkers are not immune, which strikes me as a bit much. I mean, even in the library, while eating and drinking were no-nos, at least they still did allow water-drinking. I thought it was a given exception to the no eating and drinking rule wherever you went in S'pore.
While i definitely understand the preventive rationale behind the rule, in that they don't want to inconvenience other passengers and risk messy spills, i wonder why (some) trains in other places have no rule against eating or drinking, yet remain comparably clean as our own mrt trains. While granted that a lot of these foreign metro trains are not air-conditioned, and so may not facillitate the spread of foul food odours as much as on an mrt train, there are other longer-distance trains of say the intercity variety which are air-conditioned and have no qualms about letting passengers eat whatever they want. Heck, some trains even have dining/snack cars. Which begs the question, is it just that S'poreans just can't be trusted with such liberties? I'd tend towards answering in the affirmative...
Saturday, July 25, 2009
oink
"I'm taking a tour of France, without ever leaving my kitchen" boasts Laura Calder, in the promo to her French cooking program, French Food at Home, which they air constantly on AFC (and incidentally, where camera amgles, seductive poses and grandiloquent, mellifluous usage of vocabulary are concerned, she's basically Canada's answer to Nigella).
Whenever i see that, i'm inclined to think to myself "well Laura good for you but i'd rather leave my kitchen and hop on a flight to the real France and eat the food there.
But well, since there's something called work, Ms Calder's option is the best i can do at the moment i suppose. And along these lines something i've been spending more and more time on nowadays is surfing random food sites and watching random food programs. For example, even when i'm not hungry, HungryGoWhere is a frequent stop for me, just to ponder upon places i've eaten at and others i want to eat at.
Oh to have a nice $100 per pax steak dinner at Mortons including a hearty onion soup with cheese topping and some Godiva hot chocolate cake. Paying $100 (or more) for a meal is just not right to me though (perhaps if i thought of it in terms of foreign currency it might be less of an issue to me), and especially when i've been trying (with little success) to cut down on cow-related products just so to do my part to discourage the farming of too many of those methane belchers (and farters). Then there are all those hotel buffets with an amazing range of delicious stuff. I manage to keep myself away from those mainly by considering how a significant proportion of the hefty price tag for one of these meals would go into paying for the sashimi and crab legs and oysters and what have you, things that i don't eat (and it's not just cos i watched Mr Bean in Room 426).
But still, there is a whole host of food that i do eat, and would like to eat a lot of. I suppose the good thing though is that i am prevented from extreme gluttony by the fact that inspite of how many rave about the food scene here, i personally am not too enthusiastic about most local food, and, again like Ms Calder, get really interested only in the food from places further away (The trouble being that with the way i prefer to travel nowadays, it makes it hard to actually eat a lot of that sort of food from sit-down establishments when i am away and instead i subsist mainly on a diet of grilled paninis and ready-to-go salads, which coupled with the amount i walk is probably why i always lose weight whenever i go on holiday). Until then, it's back to more virtual pigging out i suppose..
Whenever i see that, i'm inclined to think to myself "well Laura good for you but i'd rather leave my kitchen and hop on a flight to the real France and eat the food there.
But well, since there's something called work, Ms Calder's option is the best i can do at the moment i suppose. And along these lines something i've been spending more and more time on nowadays is surfing random food sites and watching random food programs. For example, even when i'm not hungry, HungryGoWhere is a frequent stop for me, just to ponder upon places i've eaten at and others i want to eat at.
Oh to have a nice $100 per pax steak dinner at Mortons including a hearty onion soup with cheese topping and some Godiva hot chocolate cake. Paying $100 (or more) for a meal is just not right to me though (perhaps if i thought of it in terms of foreign currency it might be less of an issue to me), and especially when i've been trying (with little success) to cut down on cow-related products just so to do my part to discourage the farming of too many of those methane belchers (and farters). Then there are all those hotel buffets with an amazing range of delicious stuff. I manage to keep myself away from those mainly by considering how a significant proportion of the hefty price tag for one of these meals would go into paying for the sashimi and crab legs and oysters and what have you, things that i don't eat (and it's not just cos i watched Mr Bean in Room 426).
But still, there is a whole host of food that i do eat, and would like to eat a lot of. I suppose the good thing though is that i am prevented from extreme gluttony by the fact that inspite of how many rave about the food scene here, i personally am not too enthusiastic about most local food, and, again like Ms Calder, get really interested only in the food from places further away (The trouble being that with the way i prefer to travel nowadays, it makes it hard to actually eat a lot of that sort of food from sit-down establishments when i am away and instead i subsist mainly on a diet of grilled paninis and ready-to-go salads, which coupled with the amount i walk is probably why i always lose weight whenever i go on holiday). Until then, it's back to more virtual pigging out i suppose..
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
unbalanced
Almost four weeks into school term and the pattern in posts here is becoming very apparent - seems like most, if not all of my life as of late has to do with school in one way or other, since there's been precious little else that i've talked about.
Ironically, this comes at a time when, at least compared to practicum time, i spend at least an average of an hour less in school than i used to, something i guess is a result of not having to draw up detailed lesson plans for every lesson so far. Actually, the truth being that up till now i've not done so for any one lesson this term :p, though the tediousness that is the teacher's record book is something that i'm still coming to terms with.
In fact, the time has now come for me to be the one to urge the new practicum people to go home, rather than be the one chased home once the a/c is switched off come 6:30pm. I used to have the twelve-hour rule, whereby i make sure i leave school less at least than twelve hours after i've signed in for the day. Now, i find it hard to top eleven, though it's not so much about not having enough work to do (far from it!) but more from a reluctance to do it, and an even greater reluctance to bring it home..
My reticence towards most Chinese stuff has thus far has had to necessarily take a step back for now, in view of having no choice but to help Mandarin-speaking students translate words into English and vice versa. And after today's parent-teachers' meeting, i realized that things will only get mroe interesting since there'll be have to be a lot of communicating going on with Mandarin-speaking parents/guardians in the future - my attempts today were laughable at best... Even in invigilation duties, i was not spared - some of today's instructions for the MT listening comprehension over the radio came purely in Mandarin, which meant a lot of careful listening on my part just so i didn't screw anything up (and believe me, especially for something like listening comprehension, the invigilator can feel just as , if not more nervous, than the exam candidates, since any wrong antenna positioning or flat battery here of a wrong button pushed there can cause the prospects of a class full of students to dim significantly all thanks to you...)
Ironically, this comes at a time when, at least compared to practicum time, i spend at least an average of an hour less in school than i used to, something i guess is a result of not having to draw up detailed lesson plans for every lesson so far. Actually, the truth being that up till now i've not done so for any one lesson this term :p, though the tediousness that is the teacher's record book is something that i'm still coming to terms with.
In fact, the time has now come for me to be the one to urge the new practicum people to go home, rather than be the one chased home once the a/c is switched off come 6:30pm. I used to have the twelve-hour rule, whereby i make sure i leave school less at least than twelve hours after i've signed in for the day. Now, i find it hard to top eleven, though it's not so much about not having enough work to do (far from it!) but more from a reluctance to do it, and an even greater reluctance to bring it home..
My reticence towards most Chinese stuff has thus far has had to necessarily take a step back for now, in view of having no choice but to help Mandarin-speaking students translate words into English and vice versa. And after today's parent-teachers' meeting, i realized that things will only get mroe interesting since there'll be have to be a lot of communicating going on with Mandarin-speaking parents/guardians in the future - my attempts today were laughable at best... Even in invigilation duties, i was not spared - some of today's instructions for the MT listening comprehension over the radio came purely in Mandarin, which meant a lot of careful listening on my part just so i didn't screw anything up (and believe me, especially for something like listening comprehension, the invigilator can feel just as , if not more nervous, than the exam candidates, since any wrong antenna positioning or flat battery here of a wrong button pushed there can cause the prospects of a class full of students to dim significantly all thanks to you...)
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
le quatorze
It's been close to two-and-a-half weeks since the new school term started, and not a moment too soon, i think i'm finally starting to get used to the pace of things. However, considering that due to all the measures put in place against H1N1, things have hardly been going along at the rate in which they are rightly supposed to, perhaps once all this is over and done with, there'll be more to adjust to.
Thus far i've been having pretty mixed reactions to this whole H1N1 business. On the one hand, there are a lot of directives given by the people up there that my cynical layman self cannot help but roll my eyes at. Perhaps the cherry on this overfluffed cake is the seven-step handwashing theory and practical test that was conducted for all students. While admittedly until this moment i don't recall ever having used soap from any public washroom soap dispensers (even the fancy ones in hotels), and now i use them fairly infrequently due to all the handwashing hype - which is a step up in any case), to spend minutes on end scrubbing my hands and wrists in every possible configuration known to man just doesn't do it for me. It's not as if i'm about to perform surgery rite...
However, on the plus side, i couldn't have thought of a better time for CCAs to stand down, and oh what a pity that they start again next week. Ah well, three weeks off is already three weeks longer than i thought i'd have ya... But this still means that from next week onwards, once CCAs come into the picture, and i step up the pace of my lessons, things are going to get a whole lot more interesting for me. It certainly has been a lesson in itself for me in terms of being adequately prepared beforehand for lessons, especially since i think my teaching load is pretty much close to doubled since practicum. And i'm trying to get away from the counting-down-to-the-end-of-the-week mood that i've perpetually found myself in since the beginning of term (and for the record, half my load for the week is over :p), just cos i think my underlying attitude towards it is wrong.
It being the fourteenth though, i can't help thinking of holidays again. And since i belatedly realized that part of my long-forgotten travel wish-list was partially (and unknowingly) fulfilled through my past two trips since writing it, i wonder where i should head to next. Now here's hoping that H1N1 doesn't pull a SARS and lead to an extension of the school term into the holidays. At least on my part, i'm willing to wash my hands till kingdom come if that's what it'll take...
Thus far i've been having pretty mixed reactions to this whole H1N1 business. On the one hand, there are a lot of directives given by the people up there that my cynical layman self cannot help but roll my eyes at. Perhaps the cherry on this overfluffed cake is the seven-step handwashing theory and practical test that was conducted for all students. While admittedly until this moment i don't recall ever having used soap from any public washroom soap dispensers (even the fancy ones in hotels), and now i use them fairly infrequently due to all the handwashing hype - which is a step up in any case), to spend minutes on end scrubbing my hands and wrists in every possible configuration known to man just doesn't do it for me. It's not as if i'm about to perform surgery rite...
However, on the plus side, i couldn't have thought of a better time for CCAs to stand down, and oh what a pity that they start again next week. Ah well, three weeks off is already three weeks longer than i thought i'd have ya... But this still means that from next week onwards, once CCAs come into the picture, and i step up the pace of my lessons, things are going to get a whole lot more interesting for me. It certainly has been a lesson in itself for me in terms of being adequately prepared beforehand for lessons, especially since i think my teaching load is pretty much close to doubled since practicum. And i'm trying to get away from the counting-down-to-the-end-of-the-week mood that i've perpetually found myself in since the beginning of term (and for the record, half my load for the week is over :p), just cos i think my underlying attitude towards it is wrong.
It being the fourteenth though, i can't help thinking of holidays again. And since i belatedly realized that part of my long-forgotten travel wish-list was partially (and unknowingly) fulfilled through my past two trips since writing it, i wonder where i should head to next. Now here's hoping that H1N1 doesn't pull a SARS and lead to an extension of the school term into the holidays. At least on my part, i'm willing to wash my hands till kingdom come if that's what it'll take...
Friday, July 03, 2009
Don't Turn Around
I'm quite amazed at how quickly this past week, the first back at school, has gone by. It's not been much of an issue getting adjusted back to the school environment, but perhaps the same cannot be said about the school hours. Especially when coupled with the remnants of jet lag and late nights, this has meant that i'm sometimes wide awake when i really shouldn't be, and conversely very sleepy in school, of all places. I'm still trying to figure out how purposely sleeping an extra two hours the previous night contributes to me being extra sleepy the following day. I've all but lost count of the number of times i found myself at the sink splashing water on my face. As such, i'm very glad to see the weekend come, and a long one at that. I have to say, never have i been so happy to see a youth day holiday, not even in the twelve years as a student. Not that school has been bad - on the contrary, i think it's been quite a good first week (aside from a giant cca bomb dropping on me, that is), but i really do need the break.
Not that the last break that i had was a long time ago. Why, it was only last Friday morning that i got back. But it really was a good break, and i don't see this first week back at school having gone as fairly smoothly as it did without the holiday beforehand. If there's one thing i regret (ok, actually there are many things i regret - that's just the nature of me and my sometime overanalytical mind), it's that the holiday wasn't long enough and so unlike what i ideally look for in a good holiday, which is a nice, relaxed pace, due to a shortage of available time out of here i spent much of my time on various modes of transport shuttling from one city to another, and much of the rest on my feet shuffling from one place of interest to another, with little time left to just sit back and chill. Ironically, perhaps the most time i had to do something like that was when i was shuttling from one city to another, but as at the time it was on a sixteen-hour ferry, the opportunities for chilling (literally too) were too plentiful for me to not take them up.
If i could sum things up, perhaps the one thing i really enjoyed about where i went was that, degree of modernity aside, it was refreshingly different from here. And as you would probably know by now, the Singaporean-ness of Singapore is at times what makes me so inclined to get out of here so often (and i'm already thinking about where to go at the end of the year, though with the aforementioned giant cca bomb dropping on me, that might be of a far less grand scale than i hope for - and that's before taking into consideration the northern hemisphere flu season rearing its ugly head). While at the same time many of my illusions/fairytales of the place were gently shattered by the end of the trip, methinks that just helped to make the place more real and less artificial/functional/clinical (i.e. less Singaporeanesque).
At least one out of two people who find out i travel/travelled alone give me that kind of "what are you thinking?!" kinda look, and i can definitely understand why. My rationale for doing so basically boils down to the people. I just find it too difficult/troublesome to find people who want to go to the same places as me with a similar worldview (i realise now how important that is especially when travelling), on a similar budget, and for a similar period of time. I mean, each day there there would be a time when i would think to myself that if there was someone with me and he/she were any different from me i'd probably be abandoned anyways.
That being said if i could find good travel buddies i would probably enjoy that at least as much, but from the way things have been going maybe there would be a need first for much prayer and fasting...
Loneliness when travelling is definitely an issue - i don't doubt that one bit. My solution to that during much of this recent trip was CouchSurfing, and i think it probably turned out far better than i had expected it to. At least for me at this point in my life, on holiday i think you can't beat not only meeting up with locals but even staying with them, and this trip made me all the more skeptical of packaged tours too (particularly the Singapore-based ones which never fail in bringing busloads of S'porean tourists to a whole host of exotic cities around the globe, and then taking them for dinner in a Chinese restaurant - oh the shame). And the fact that on the trip, with the help of my hosts, i got to do so many things that a packaged tourist would come nowhere close to doing, just punctuates my point. Apart from that there also was the chance and arranged meeting with friends, which i really enjoyed as well.
Comes as no surprise therefore that the only time i felt rather down during the trip was on my last evening there before flying off the following morning, when there were no more people to meet, and instead i found myself wandering solo for hours on end in an amusement park. As cool as that place is, after eight whole days of quality human contact, the anticlimax perhaps could not have been more anticlimactical.
But well, the highs far outweighed the lows. And speaking of highs (no innuendo, if you got any, was intended), here's one for the road: definitely something you won't see gracing any S'porean tourist attraction anytime soon.
Well, at least when i was there, i didn't do this (caution - R21-ish shot, and if you see nothing that looks like the above, try some of the following pictures)
Not that the last break that i had was a long time ago. Why, it was only last Friday morning that i got back. But it really was a good break, and i don't see this first week back at school having gone as fairly smoothly as it did without the holiday beforehand. If there's one thing i regret (ok, actually there are many things i regret - that's just the nature of me and my sometime overanalytical mind), it's that the holiday wasn't long enough and so unlike what i ideally look for in a good holiday, which is a nice, relaxed pace, due to a shortage of available time out of here i spent much of my time on various modes of transport shuttling from one city to another, and much of the rest on my feet shuffling from one place of interest to another, with little time left to just sit back and chill. Ironically, perhaps the most time i had to do something like that was when i was shuttling from one city to another, but as at the time it was on a sixteen-hour ferry, the opportunities for chilling (literally too) were too plentiful for me to not take them up.
If i could sum things up, perhaps the one thing i really enjoyed about where i went was that, degree of modernity aside, it was refreshingly different from here. And as you would probably know by now, the Singaporean-ness of Singapore is at times what makes me so inclined to get out of here so often (and i'm already thinking about where to go at the end of the year, though with the aforementioned giant cca bomb dropping on me, that might be of a far less grand scale than i hope for - and that's before taking into consideration the northern hemisphere flu season rearing its ugly head). While at the same time many of my illusions/fairytales of the place were gently shattered by the end of the trip, methinks that just helped to make the place more real and less artificial/functional/clinical (i.e. less Singaporeanesque).
At least one out of two people who find out i travel/travelled alone give me that kind of "what are you thinking?!" kinda look, and i can definitely understand why. My rationale for doing so basically boils down to the people. I just find it too difficult/troublesome to find people who want to go to the same places as me with a similar worldview (i realise now how important that is especially when travelling), on a similar budget, and for a similar period of time. I mean, each day there there would be a time when i would think to myself that if there was someone with me and he/she were any different from me i'd probably be abandoned anyways.
That being said if i could find good travel buddies i would probably enjoy that at least as much, but from the way things have been going maybe there would be a need first for much prayer and fasting...
Loneliness when travelling is definitely an issue - i don't doubt that one bit. My solution to that during much of this recent trip was CouchSurfing, and i think it probably turned out far better than i had expected it to. At least for me at this point in my life, on holiday i think you can't beat not only meeting up with locals but even staying with them, and this trip made me all the more skeptical of packaged tours too (particularly the Singapore-based ones which never fail in bringing busloads of S'porean tourists to a whole host of exotic cities around the globe, and then taking them for dinner in a Chinese restaurant - oh the shame). And the fact that on the trip, with the help of my hosts, i got to do so many things that a packaged tourist would come nowhere close to doing, just punctuates my point. Apart from that there also was the chance and arranged meeting with friends, which i really enjoyed as well.
Comes as no surprise therefore that the only time i felt rather down during the trip was on my last evening there before flying off the following morning, when there were no more people to meet, and instead i found myself wandering solo for hours on end in an amusement park. As cool as that place is, after eight whole days of quality human contact, the anticlimax perhaps could not have been more anticlimactical.
But well, the highs far outweighed the lows. And speaking of highs (no innuendo, if you got any, was intended), here's one for the road: definitely something you won't see gracing any S'porean tourist attraction anytime soon.
Well, at least when i was there, i didn't do this (caution - R21-ish shot, and if you see nothing that looks like the above, try some of the following pictures)
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Gone too soon..
Ever since getting back it's been one crazy day after another. While initially i was very pleased with myself that i had the foresight to choose a holiday destination that did not fall under the "affected country" label (since i had also considered places in Australia, the States, and the UK), think i soon came to regret that decision mere hours after the plane touched down at Changi as less than three hours after that i found myself in school for a staff meeting (when i could instead have been tucked in bed under LOA). It's no one's fault but mine that i was distracted by the inflight entertainment from what i had originally set out to do for the latter half of the flight (which was, of course, to sleep), and as such i only snatched less than two hours of precious shuteye before landing. By lunchtime at the staff meeting, i was already craving for the bed, but well, didn't make it there until past midnight. And so began a cycle of totally warped sleeping hours over the weekend, which has now 'stabilized', if you could call it that, to a midnight to five am sleep cycle.
Speaking of the inflight entertainment, i randomly ended up listening to the song Ben and thinking about how that probably was one of my favorite MJ songs. (In fact, i think all the songs by him that i like are generally of the slower, more minimalist variety (at least relatively speaking) like Human Nature, Man in the Mirror, Childhood, Heal the World etc) How strangely ironic that after him being somewhat in my thoughts for the first time in years, that i should arrive back to hear that he was admitted to hospital, and then dead. And while now i am semi-boycotting CNN and even BBC World because of the far-too-excessive coverage of his death at the expense of far more pertinent world events (and by that i don't mean Farrah Fawcett), as troubled as he ended up he was a very talented guy. Even though i did feel somewhat cheated in the aftermath of his death to realize that he in fact did not write some of those favorite songs when i had always thought he had (Was under the impression that Ben was written by him for his pet mouse, when in fact it was written by two other guys and was originally intended for Donny Osmond). Ah well.
Speaking of the inflight entertainment, i randomly ended up listening to the song Ben and thinking about how that probably was one of my favorite MJ songs. (In fact, i think all the songs by him that i like are generally of the slower, more minimalist variety (at least relatively speaking) like Human Nature, Man in the Mirror, Childhood, Heal the World etc) How strangely ironic that after him being somewhat in my thoughts for the first time in years, that i should arrive back to hear that he was admitted to hospital, and then dead. And while now i am semi-boycotting CNN and even BBC World because of the far-too-excessive coverage of his death at the expense of far more pertinent world events (and by that i don't mean Farrah Fawcett), as troubled as he ended up he was a very talented guy. Even though i did feel somewhat cheated in the aftermath of his death to realize that he in fact did not write some of those favorite songs when i had always thought he had (Was under the impression that Ben was written by him for his pet mouse, when in fact it was written by two other guys and was originally intended for Donny Osmond). Ah well.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
æøå
About to head home to a staff meeting mere moments after touching down, and also have elearning stuff to prepare thanks to H1N1 (and guess what, i have the textbook with me now). Also, on the plane, i will seriously be freaked out if anyone starts sneezing or coughing incessantly, not cos i don't want to get the flu, but more cos of the hassle involved (and not turning up for your first week of work isn't exactly the best way to start things off, is it?). Please don't let this be a so-called 'affected country'...
On the plus side, this has been a very good, albeit as usual way too short holiday. Met new people, surprisingly bumped into old ones, did new things, experienced different weather and so on and so forth. It also occurs to me that i never said where i am here. Well, i consciously did that, for no particular reason other than that i'd feel somewhat paiseh to announce it here. So, before i leave, using the local keyboard that i have, here are some parting clues: æøå..
On the plus side, this has been a very good, albeit as usual way too short holiday. Met new people, surprisingly bumped into old ones, did new things, experienced different weather and so on and so forth. It also occurs to me that i never said where i am here. Well, i consciously did that, for no particular reason other than that i'd feel somewhat paiseh to announce it here. So, before i leave, using the local keyboard that i have, here are some parting clues: æøå..
Sunday, June 21, 2009
jiang-ing hua yu
Yesterday i had a rather interesting experience - the precursor to what happened was that there was a Chinese (as in, PRC) girl seated in the seat in front of me in the train, who was not sure when her stop would come. Armed with the timetable, i got her attention and let her look at the timetable. She asked me where i was from and i said S'pore, and she was like oh no wonder we look similar. That's somewhat besides the point, but anyways what i am getting at is that i made a conscious effort to not speak Mandarin, just because i didn't want to.
The experience itself was that after reaching a certain ulu train station i had to take a tram from, there was this elderly Asian man who saw me and immediately went up to me and asked me something in some undecipherable Chinese tongue - i guess cos again, we looked similar. Anyways initially i had half a mind to feign ignorance, but eventually uttered some words in Mandarin which caused his eyes to light up and so the rest of the conversation continued in the said language (of course with much difficulty on my part).
Turns out he was stranded cos he had missed a connecting transport back home and didn't speak any of the local languages. So i ended up helping him by providing English-to-Mandarin translation through the tram and subsequently a train, before leaving him to take a connecting train. En route i learnt a bit more about his fascinating history (or at least whatever i could gather - i was usually just nodding while understanding only 80% at most of what he was saying), and before i said goodbye to him we exchanged contacts, and if he ever ends up in S'pore maybe we can meet up again...
Well, i hope he found his way back home. And on my part, well, maybe speaking Mandarin isn't all that bad...
The experience itself was that after reaching a certain ulu train station i had to take a tram from, there was this elderly Asian man who saw me and immediately went up to me and asked me something in some undecipherable Chinese tongue - i guess cos again, we looked similar. Anyways initially i had half a mind to feign ignorance, but eventually uttered some words in Mandarin which caused his eyes to light up and so the rest of the conversation continued in the said language (of course with much difficulty on my part).
Turns out he was stranded cos he had missed a connecting transport back home and didn't speak any of the local languages. So i ended up helping him by providing English-to-Mandarin translation through the tram and subsequently a train, before leaving him to take a connecting train. En route i learnt a bit more about his fascinating history (or at least whatever i could gather - i was usually just nodding while understanding only 80% at most of what he was saying), and before i said goodbye to him we exchanged contacts, and if he ever ends up in S'pore maybe we can meet up again...
Well, i hope he found his way back home. And on my part, well, maybe speaking Mandarin isn't all that bad...
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
charity post
Just a random post cos when i was about to buy one hour's worth of internet access this guy called me over and offered me his remaining 55 min for no charge. :)
Arrived without a hitch, and so far have not been bothered by the absence of the stuff i forgot to bring - apart from one guy winking strangely at me when i was in one corner looking at the free city map i got at the tourist office. Creepy.
Now i have to get back all my stuff and trek across the city to the ferry terminal on the other side of town - and i wonder why it's hard to find people who want to travel with me :p
Arrived without a hitch, and so far have not been bothered by the absence of the stuff i forgot to bring - apart from one guy winking strangely at me when i was in one corner looking at the free city map i got at the tourist office. Creepy.
Now i have to get back all my stuff and trek across the city to the ferry terminal on the other side of town - and i wonder why it's hard to find people who want to travel with me :p
tootified
Before this falls into disrepair...
Am now at the airport waiting for boarding to begin.
I was confident that this time i had left nothing at home.
Turns out by the time i got to the airport i realized i had left 1) phone charger, 2) medication, and 3) all (five - thanks to nlb's new policy) the guide books behind.
Hardly the end of the world, but still...
Am now at the airport waiting for boarding to begin.
I was confident that this time i had left nothing at home.
Turns out by the time i got to the airport i realized i had left 1) phone charger, 2) medication, and 3) all (five - thanks to nlb's new policy) the guide books behind.
Hardly the end of the world, but still...
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Awww...
I just rescued this kitten from the second-floor awning in my building. Not in the way i'd have hoped to though. The intention was to use a ladder to climb onto the awning (about three metres high), pick the kitten up, and bring it down to safety. Instead, once i got onto the awning, it decided that leaping off the ledge, something that it had hesitated to do in the four or so hours since i first found it there, was still preferable to ending up in my clutches. So off it went. Hope it was light enough to not cause itself any harm by doing so...
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
time to spare
Things have suddenly become a whole lot slacker ever since practicum came to an end. It certainly feels so weird to have (close to) nothing to do after weeks after weeks of almost never seeing daylight out of school (ok so that's a big exaggeration).
Of course, this state of affairs is all too fleeting, and a part of me is thinking i should just sit back and enjoy it while it lasts. And it's not as if i actually have nothing to do. There still is nie to deal with, though i can still tolerate it because 1) i don't have to wake up at 5am anymore; 2) i don't have to at work for almost twelve hours every weekday anymore; 3) i don't have to wear work shirts and long pants anymore - all of these summed up in the fact that i can slack off, somewhat.
Not totally though, as there is still some token work to do. Also, not surprisingly moe/nie never fails to find new ways to unecessarily add to the number of things that eat into this precious free time. I don't care if they save us $300. I'd much rather save $6 and a good portion of my sanity and not have to trundle down there for some test. A test of my patience, that's what it is.
Other things that i want to do while i have the opportunity include buying a bike, since i realize that it's now been more than a year since my last one was stolen. Furthermore, i've been eating too much (like practically a whole cow last fri) and exercising too little lately and actually have time to do something about it for a change.
And as usual, still thinking about a (flying) holiday. Unfortunately, the H1N1 virus generally seems to have the same preferences in places to visit as i have and while i'm not too worried about catching it per se (though the chances are slim and the fatality rate is like 0.16 apparently), untimely (and methinks unnecessary) quarantines i can do without. Hmm..
Of course, this state of affairs is all too fleeting, and a part of me is thinking i should just sit back and enjoy it while it lasts. And it's not as if i actually have nothing to do. There still is nie to deal with, though i can still tolerate it because 1) i don't have to wake up at 5am anymore; 2) i don't have to at work for almost twelve hours every weekday anymore; 3) i don't have to wear work shirts and long pants anymore - all of these summed up in the fact that i can slack off, somewhat.
Not totally though, as there is still some token work to do. Also, not surprisingly moe/nie never fails to find new ways to unecessarily add to the number of things that eat into this precious free time. I don't care if they save us $300. I'd much rather save $6 and a good portion of my sanity and not have to trundle down there for some test. A test of my patience, that's what it is.
Other things that i want to do while i have the opportunity include buying a bike, since i realize that it's now been more than a year since my last one was stolen. Furthermore, i've been eating too much (like practically a whole cow last fri) and exercising too little lately and actually have time to do something about it for a change.
And as usual, still thinking about a (flying) holiday. Unfortunately, the H1N1 virus generally seems to have the same preferences in places to visit as i have and while i'm not too worried about catching it per se (though the chances are slim and the fatality rate is like 0.16 apparently), untimely (and methinks unnecessary) quarantines i can do without. Hmm..
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
imbalance
In the close-to-a-month since i last rambled here a lot has happened - excellent lesson observations, unacceptable lesson observations, lots of resetting and retyping, the death of Bingo, gaining a wee bit of street cred through being in the second-place team in the school sports day staff/parents race, getting burnt at the aforementioned sports day, taking a quick overseas trip with friends over the recent long weekend, coming back to school and having to fill that trip in an H1N1-related travel declaration.
Gah - so many things eh. Sian to type out so much. I think the reason why i've been absent from here for so long is that i finally got as close as i'll be getting during this soon-to-end (woohoo) practicum to a full teacher's workload. Which included having to forget about stoning over the weekend but instead planning lessons and marking piles upon piles of students' work [of which i've about four or so more sets which i've absolutely zero chance of returning to the class before their exam (in two days' time)]. If i'm to be honest i was quite impressed with myself (or rather, God working in me) that that much managed to be done.
But even if so much actually was done, it sure is not the brightest of signs for the years to come. While i've successfully kept to the 12-hour rule (sign out less than 12 hours after signing in), it's happened just barely a couple of times, and really the only thing keeping me from breaking that rule in the future is that they normally turn off the a/c by 6:30. The concept of a work-life balance is an illusory one, or at least on weekdays it certainly is. The scale may inched ever so slightly back over the past weekend, but it's poised to revert back sooner or later.
Of course, there is all of three days left of practicum, after which it's back to nie (which strangely enough i'm looking forward to just that little bit, if only cos even with the thrice as long travelling time and transport costs, it still will take up less of my day). And I don't care what viruses stand in my way, i'm going to find some place to take another (as long as possible) trip out of here before things get back into full swing once again. So maybe there is still some more hope in the life part of the equation...
Gah - so many things eh. Sian to type out so much. I think the reason why i've been absent from here for so long is that i finally got as close as i'll be getting during this soon-to-end (woohoo) practicum to a full teacher's workload. Which included having to forget about stoning over the weekend but instead planning lessons and marking piles upon piles of students' work [of which i've about four or so more sets which i've absolutely zero chance of returning to the class before their exam (in two days' time)]. If i'm to be honest i was quite impressed with myself (or rather, God working in me) that that much managed to be done.
But even if so much actually was done, it sure is not the brightest of signs for the years to come. While i've successfully kept to the 12-hour rule (sign out less than 12 hours after signing in), it's happened just barely a couple of times, and really the only thing keeping me from breaking that rule in the future is that they normally turn off the a/c by 6:30. The concept of a work-life balance is an illusory one, or at least on weekdays it certainly is. The scale may inched ever so slightly back over the past weekend, but it's poised to revert back sooner or later.
Of course, there is all of three days left of practicum, after which it's back to nie (which strangely enough i'm looking forward to just that little bit, if only cos even with the thrice as long travelling time and transport costs, it still will take up less of my day). And I don't care what viruses stand in my way, i'm going to find some place to take another (as long as possible) trip out of here before things get back into full swing once again. So maybe there is still some more hope in the life part of the equation...
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Blame Game
As the past week was an insanely hectic one for me, I barely had time to stay updated with what's been happening in the news. When i finally had time to catch up on the week's happenings, the tragic Geylang Serai food poisoning cases got my attention. Honestly, i got so bothered by what's been going on that if i were not bound by the cs code, i probably would have written in to the forum (not that there would be much chance of it being published though). So i guess being pissed off here is the next best thing.
Read any of the mainstream local media (out of necessity more than anything else) and the blame always seems to gravitate towards the stall owner, Mr Sheikh Allaudin and his staff. Since ultimately it was his stall that served the tainted food, definitely at least some of the blame for what has happened lies with him. To give him some credit, he has accepted the blame and apologized for what has happened and is prepared to face the consequences.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the NEA and the Environment and Water Resources Ministry as a whole. I really don't know how they can sleep at night after all the shifting of blame and responsibility that they've been engaged in in the wake of this incident.
For starters, NEA gave the incredulous response that they are not directly responsible for the hygiene in temporary markets and food centres, but only at permanent ones. Instead, the management committee is supposed to be in charge, and the NEA just conducts spot checks. I wish someone could enlighten me on the logic behind such a move. Logic, that is, beyond the NEA trying to shirk from its rightful responsibility. Even if the choice to build a temporary market is not up to the NEA and may be a voluntary undertaking by the local traders' association, surely there is the need for the relevant government agency in whatever case to take an overall policing and enforcement role. And this should all the more be so in temporary markets such as the one in Geylang Serai, where the workmanship, facilities and what not may possibly not hold up as well as those at the permanent site and therefore require more hand-holding on the part of the government agency. After all, they are the logical experts when it comes to food hygiene, not any management committee. If not, why bother to have such a body in the first place? At the very least, the NEA should apologize for instituting this policy in the first place and change it in the wake of its painfully obvious shortcomings as demonstrated in this case.
According to the ST, all the cooked food stalls in the temporary market have received a mixture of B and C hygiene grades. In other words, there's not a single A amongst them. I must admit that I'm not the most frequent visitor of food centres islandwide but nevertheless i'd like to think that at every food centre there are at least a handful, if not even just one, stall that manages to be hygiene-conscious enough for an A rating to be warranted. That not even a single stall was able to attain an A grade ought to have triggered alarm bells at the NEA, at least during one of their so-called spot checks. This ought to have signalled to them that it may not simply be an issue with the hawkers, but also with the venue itself. Didn't they spot even one of the now famous sixty-one rats during these checks? One wonders if they had not let their guard down since they were not directly responsible for the hygiene there, and hence would not kena if something happened to them, as in fact turned out to be the case.
And speaking of the rats, the ST also mentions that Mr Ahmad S. Said, the president of the Geylang Serai Traders' Association had raised the matter of rat and roach infestations with the NEA as early as March last year - more than a year ago. I wonder what the NEA had done, if anything at all, upon being alerted to this matter. Were any large-scale rat-catching exercises like the one that coughed up sixty-one, 'tip-of-the-iceberg' rodents following this food poisonong outbreak carried out in response to Mr Ahmad's notification? It's somewhat tragically amusing to see how all these wayang efforts at improving the hygiene standards can pop up everywhere, alongside the blowing of much hot air from the relevant ministers with choice quotes like "it's outrageous that this has happened". This instead of the constant vigilant policing that should have been the case long before this incident happened and that is but expected of a place with a carefully-cultivated reputation for cleanliness such as S'pore.
Yes, Mr Yaacob, it's outrageous that this has happened. Don't forget though, that it's also outrageous that you and your ministry let it happen. How disappointing it is that this is the level of accountability that we get with million-dollar ministerial salaries.
Read any of the mainstream local media (out of necessity more than anything else) and the blame always seems to gravitate towards the stall owner, Mr Sheikh Allaudin and his staff. Since ultimately it was his stall that served the tainted food, definitely at least some of the blame for what has happened lies with him. To give him some credit, he has accepted the blame and apologized for what has happened and is prepared to face the consequences.
Unfortunately the same cannot be said about the NEA and the Environment and Water Resources Ministry as a whole. I really don't know how they can sleep at night after all the shifting of blame and responsibility that they've been engaged in in the wake of this incident.
For starters, NEA gave the incredulous response that they are not directly responsible for the hygiene in temporary markets and food centres, but only at permanent ones. Instead, the management committee is supposed to be in charge, and the NEA just conducts spot checks. I wish someone could enlighten me on the logic behind such a move. Logic, that is, beyond the NEA trying to shirk from its rightful responsibility. Even if the choice to build a temporary market is not up to the NEA and may be a voluntary undertaking by the local traders' association, surely there is the need for the relevant government agency in whatever case to take an overall policing and enforcement role. And this should all the more be so in temporary markets such as the one in Geylang Serai, where the workmanship, facilities and what not may possibly not hold up as well as those at the permanent site and therefore require more hand-holding on the part of the government agency. After all, they are the logical experts when it comes to food hygiene, not any management committee. If not, why bother to have such a body in the first place? At the very least, the NEA should apologize for instituting this policy in the first place and change it in the wake of its painfully obvious shortcomings as demonstrated in this case.
According to the ST, all the cooked food stalls in the temporary market have received a mixture of B and C hygiene grades. In other words, there's not a single A amongst them. I must admit that I'm not the most frequent visitor of food centres islandwide but nevertheless i'd like to think that at every food centre there are at least a handful, if not even just one, stall that manages to be hygiene-conscious enough for an A rating to be warranted. That not even a single stall was able to attain an A grade ought to have triggered alarm bells at the NEA, at least during one of their so-called spot checks. This ought to have signalled to them that it may not simply be an issue with the hawkers, but also with the venue itself. Didn't they spot even one of the now famous sixty-one rats during these checks? One wonders if they had not let their guard down since they were not directly responsible for the hygiene there, and hence would not kena if something happened to them, as in fact turned out to be the case.
And speaking of the rats, the ST also mentions that Mr Ahmad S. Said, the president of the Geylang Serai Traders' Association had raised the matter of rat and roach infestations with the NEA as early as March last year - more than a year ago. I wonder what the NEA had done, if anything at all, upon being alerted to this matter. Were any large-scale rat-catching exercises like the one that coughed up sixty-one, 'tip-of-the-iceberg' rodents following this food poisonong outbreak carried out in response to Mr Ahmad's notification? It's somewhat tragically amusing to see how all these wayang efforts at improving the hygiene standards can pop up everywhere, alongside the blowing of much hot air from the relevant ministers with choice quotes like "it's outrageous that this has happened". This instead of the constant vigilant policing that should have been the case long before this incident happened and that is but expected of a place with a carefully-cultivated reputation for cleanliness such as S'pore.
Yes, Mr Yaacob, it's outrageous that this has happened. Don't forget though, that it's also outrageous that you and your ministry let it happen. How disappointing it is that this is the level of accountability that we get with million-dollar ministerial salaries.
Friday, April 10, 2009
good in every way
This past Wednesday i left school early (3ish - more than an hour earlier than the next earliest i've ever left) as i had to go to nie (yes, nie, all of an eternity and then some's journey from my school) to submit something. It was due that day and i only was finished with it earlier that day so i had no choice (the result of my usual procrastination).
Made it there with just enough time to submit it before the offices closed and then since i was there decided to go for cf since the time and the date were right. It was a welcome change from my usual afternoon/evening routine (i.e. stay holed up at my desk doing work, leaving for home and arriving as the sun is setting) even if it meant extra work to do the following day.
Unfortunately while there i realized i was starting to fall sick. My throat had started to feel very dry and sore that morning once my lesson observation had finished and had remained that way since then - three 'extra strong' strepsils had only succeeded in freshening my breath. During cf i blew out one entire packet of tissue's worth of sick from my nose. On my way back i had no water with me and my tongue started to turn sandpapery dry.
I don't normally take sick days - partly cos i rarely fall sick to a severe enough extent (or when that does happen, it's at other inopportune times like during the MEET trip/overseas holidays that don't require me to miss any school) and also cos i find the paperwork very leceh (that applying especially once nie started up till now as well). And so even though i felt like the following day things would only get worse, i was determined to not miss school the following day. So i wanted to get an early night.
But well as we all know nie is just that far away from anything else of any consequence in S'pore (except maybe JP), and added to that, it's a long story but basically i temporarily misplaced my phone, only finding out where it was at close to 11pm that night (which already was way past the targeted bedtime). In other words, no early night for me, and i must have been quite delirious, for i set my alarm for 5am, half and hour earlier than i usually do.
Come Thursday and i managed to struggle through my only real class for the day - i wonder if the Lord made it such that since i hadn't the strength nor adequate pre-lesson prep due to the sick to do a good enough lesson, he dare i say blessed me with a class that turned out to be extra distracted that day despite repeated warnings from me, which gave me the justification (excuse?) to finally cut short my lesson and play the "if-you're-going-to-show-that-little-interest-in-my-lesson-i-might-as-well-not-teach-at-all" card. The lot of them did seem to show some semblance of remorse by the time i did that, thankfully (and hopefully too - their next class is also my next observation, and a twin one at that eek).
My only classes left for the day were not to involve any actual teaching on my part. But that morning i got thrown a major curveball in the form of a last two period relief with one of my 'favorite' classes. I knew i was in no physical shape to deal with this bunch for one period, let alone two. Another long story which i'd better not get too into here follows, but well it ended up (relatively) well i suppose, with a better rapport being established with a handful of them (those i could keep my eyes on, anyways).
So fast forward to today and something i uttered at cf on Wed rings even more true - this Good Friday is really good - in every respect. The added goodness of it this time round for me is that there is a much needed respite from work, and a chance to be sick at home, rather than at school, while not missing any school either.
Of course, that's far from the main reason why as we remember this particular Friday, it's really that good eh. When i was making the few references that i did about this day being Good Friday and all to students, there was scant recognition on their part of what it was. That left me with one added thing to think about as this week of school ends...
(and to close, since recently i've been trying to read the Bible in French, here's some translated hillsong words to think about)
A la croix je me prostèrne
Où Ton sang coula pour moi
Aucun amour n’est plus grand
Tu as gagné sur la mort
Ta gloire remplit les lieux tres hauts
Rein ne peut nous separer
Made it there with just enough time to submit it before the offices closed and then since i was there decided to go for cf since the time and the date were right. It was a welcome change from my usual afternoon/evening routine (i.e. stay holed up at my desk doing work, leaving for home and arriving as the sun is setting) even if it meant extra work to do the following day.
Unfortunately while there i realized i was starting to fall sick. My throat had started to feel very dry and sore that morning once my lesson observation had finished and had remained that way since then - three 'extra strong' strepsils had only succeeded in freshening my breath. During cf i blew out one entire packet of tissue's worth of sick from my nose. On my way back i had no water with me and my tongue started to turn sandpapery dry.
I don't normally take sick days - partly cos i rarely fall sick to a severe enough extent (or when that does happen, it's at other inopportune times like during the MEET trip/overseas holidays that don't require me to miss any school) and also cos i find the paperwork very leceh (that applying especially once nie started up till now as well). And so even though i felt like the following day things would only get worse, i was determined to not miss school the following day. So i wanted to get an early night.
But well as we all know nie is just that far away from anything else of any consequence in S'pore (except maybe JP), and added to that, it's a long story but basically i temporarily misplaced my phone, only finding out where it was at close to 11pm that night (which already was way past the targeted bedtime). In other words, no early night for me, and i must have been quite delirious, for i set my alarm for 5am, half and hour earlier than i usually do.
Come Thursday and i managed to struggle through my only real class for the day - i wonder if the Lord made it such that since i hadn't the strength nor adequate pre-lesson prep due to the sick to do a good enough lesson, he dare i say blessed me with a class that turned out to be extra distracted that day despite repeated warnings from me, which gave me the justification (excuse?) to finally cut short my lesson and play the "if-you're-going-to-show-that-little-interest-in-my-lesson-i-might-as-well-not-teach-at-all" card. The lot of them did seem to show some semblance of remorse by the time i did that, thankfully (and hopefully too - their next class is also my next observation, and a twin one at that eek).
My only classes left for the day were not to involve any actual teaching on my part. But that morning i got thrown a major curveball in the form of a last two period relief with one of my 'favorite' classes. I knew i was in no physical shape to deal with this bunch for one period, let alone two. Another long story which i'd better not get too into here follows, but well it ended up (relatively) well i suppose, with a better rapport being established with a handful of them (those i could keep my eyes on, anyways).
So fast forward to today and something i uttered at cf on Wed rings even more true - this Good Friday is really good - in every respect. The added goodness of it this time round for me is that there is a much needed respite from work, and a chance to be sick at home, rather than at school, while not missing any school either.
Of course, that's far from the main reason why as we remember this particular Friday, it's really that good eh. When i was making the few references that i did about this day being Good Friday and all to students, there was scant recognition on their part of what it was. That left me with one added thing to think about as this week of school ends...
(and to close, since recently i've been trying to read the Bible in French, here's some translated hillsong words to think about)
A la croix je me prostèrne
Où Ton sang coula pour moi
Aucun amour n’est plus grand
Tu as gagné sur la mort
Ta gloire remplit les lieux tres hauts
Rein ne peut nous separer
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
got the carolina blues
While it may be coming to three years since i was there for just about four months, and goodness knows how long before i go back again for a visit, i'm no less thrilled for the Heels and their 5th (woo!) national championship. Rather than being on Franklin Street or anywhere near Chapel Hill though, i was instead doing some relief teaching duty and then sitting at my desk watching the live updates of the game score online. Well i'm no fan of both crowds and spontaneously-lit and clothing-fueled street bonfires, so maybe it's just as well that i wasn't on Franklin Street. From a strait-laced, S'porean perspective though it's kinda mind-blowing to think that something that potentially can be a huge threat to law and order is at the least tolerated to some extent, if not even welcomed with open arms. Try to pull a stunt like that here if we were to win anything of significance (and please, how often does that happen?) and it's police custody for you.
But i digress. I still do miss the Hill. Heaps. All the more so when i compare it to what the future has in store over here. No matter how good an experience the five-ish weeks at school thus far have been, nevertheless what a foretaste it has been of the many probable eyerolls and grumbles there will be in time to come. Maybe i should invest in a punching bag. Oh, to be a quitter...
Well, in the meantime, go heels!
But i digress. I still do miss the Hill. Heaps. All the more so when i compare it to what the future has in store over here. No matter how good an experience the five-ish weeks at school thus far have been, nevertheless what a foretaste it has been of the many probable eyerolls and grumbles there will be in time to come. Maybe i should invest in a punching bag. Oh, to be a quitter...
Well, in the meantime, go heels!
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
trips
I've almost never been one to do complete any piece of work way beforehand. For me it has always been those proverbial last bursts of fire that do the trick. At the same time, while i'm hardly the type who can't care any less about the quality of work that i produce, i'm also, at least in this regard, far from being a perfectionist. Putting in a reasonable effort which suffices in getting the job done just before it is due is what i'd normally do.
Now that, for the first time, i'm no longer the one that is simply assigned work to do but instead has to not only assign the work to others but also plan and prepare for classes that will help them toward the end of being sufficiently equipped to do that work, as well as mark the returned work promptly, my normal way of doing things as a student can't really hold anymore. Why? Cos now any screw ups on my part no longer only serve to be to my own detriment, but also potentially that of a whole host of others, who regardless of how much (or little) they hold you in regard, or for that matter cooperate with you to begin with, would normally at least trust that you are holding up to your end of the bargain even if they ever should not be doing the same. Already, on a more basic, primal level, i wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt of doing that. And hence all the more so on a higher level as one who is placed in a position to glorify God in whatever manner that may come up, including being as a channel of Christ to others.
It's not been easy thus far, and perhaps i still end up doing things last minute. For starters there hardly seems to be enough time... However, if the aforementioned higher level has yet to kick in, at least the prospect of feeling guilty over what could have been has worked to enough of an extent such that some i have been putting in reasonable effort into whatever i've been doing. I hardly feel like that effort is being appreciated by them (and come to think of it, i still have my doubts as to whether it is worth being appreciated in the first place), but someone has to start somewhere eh...
Random praise point for the day: Finally figured out how to photocopy double-sided using the feeder - it took five weeks (+ close to five years, if you count uni)
I need a holiday...
Now that, for the first time, i'm no longer the one that is simply assigned work to do but instead has to not only assign the work to others but also plan and prepare for classes that will help them toward the end of being sufficiently equipped to do that work, as well as mark the returned work promptly, my normal way of doing things as a student can't really hold anymore. Why? Cos now any screw ups on my part no longer only serve to be to my own detriment, but also potentially that of a whole host of others, who regardless of how much (or little) they hold you in regard, or for that matter cooperate with you to begin with, would normally at least trust that you are holding up to your end of the bargain even if they ever should not be doing the same. Already, on a more basic, primal level, i wouldn't be able to deal with the guilt of doing that. And hence all the more so on a higher level as one who is placed in a position to glorify God in whatever manner that may come up, including being as a channel of Christ to others.
It's not been easy thus far, and perhaps i still end up doing things last minute. For starters there hardly seems to be enough time... However, if the aforementioned higher level has yet to kick in, at least the prospect of feeling guilty over what could have been has worked to enough of an extent such that some i have been putting in reasonable effort into whatever i've been doing. I hardly feel like that effort is being appreciated by them (and come to think of it, i still have my doubts as to whether it is worth being appreciated in the first place), but someone has to start somewhere eh...
Random praise point for the day: Finally figured out how to photocopy double-sided using the feeder - it took five weeks (+ close to five years, if you count uni)
I need a holiday...
Friday, March 27, 2009
Bright Lights
In just under twelve hours or so Singapore will be plunged into darkness.
Ok that's almost certainly an impossibly inflated exaggeration, but i suppose from all the buzz that's been going around, Earth Hour this year will at the least probably be far more widely observed here than the last.
I'm somewhat ambivalent about it though. Granted that tomorrow at the scheduled time i will probably take a break from planning for next week's lessons and setting exam questions, but that will probably be as much me being lazy and unmotivated as anything else. I suppose beef with the whole event is that i am not too convinced about how much of a long-term effect this will have on the energy consumption habits of S'poreans. It seems pretty much like a touch-and-go sort of thing to me - kinda like a "hey let's all be cool and save the environment for one hour" and then after that go back to one's old ways. I'm not denying that the cool and hip factor is working to some extent, and yup, why not just milk it for all its worth. But as in all these campaign thingies, if there's no accompanying mindset change, then whatever relief to the environment that one hour of darkness can do will be nothing more than cosmetic.
Let's just say that i don't really have confidence in the average S'porean's resolve to take global climate change and our role in it more seriously. Not that we're alone in ultimately being pragmatically minded in our approach to environmental awareness, but there's much i feel i can justifiably take issue with in how S'poreans view the seriousness, or in their minds, lack of seriousness of the situation. While i suppose i can be thankful we're not a nation of Sarah Palins who continue to be in a sad state of denial on our role and responsibility when it comes to climate change, on the other hand, i would be thrilled if turning to CNG-powered passenger vehicles would not be considered an option only when pricing incentives and high gas costs came into play, or if people would voluntarily do away with plastic bags (even if they be biodegradable) every day and not only when you have to pay a ten cent fee.
Talking about lights, would the one hour of darkness make more than a dent to the overall pattern of energy consumption here? I'm thinking of the vegas (or make that hong kong- tackier still)-esque neon lights that front one of the nightclubs near my place, and the increasing number of brightly-lit facades in new or renovated buildings in town. Also the appalling golf course (like we needed another one) next to the Sheares bridge (which incidentally was built on a nice forested patch of reclaimed land) which at night is lit more brightly by floodlights than it is by the sun itself during the day. And the 24-hour ntuc at Jurong Point which is seriously overlit by at least 100% during all 24 hours of its operation every day of the week.
Some things in this world man, they don't make sense...
But still, as cheesy as it sounds to me, i will be "voting earth" tomorrow. And will try my best to do so on every day following tomorrow as well, and not stop. Wish that others would do the same.
Ok that's almost certainly an impossibly inflated exaggeration, but i suppose from all the buzz that's been going around, Earth Hour this year will at the least probably be far more widely observed here than the last.
I'm somewhat ambivalent about it though. Granted that tomorrow at the scheduled time i will probably take a break from planning for next week's lessons and setting exam questions, but that will probably be as much me being lazy and unmotivated as anything else. I suppose beef with the whole event is that i am not too convinced about how much of a long-term effect this will have on the energy consumption habits of S'poreans. It seems pretty much like a touch-and-go sort of thing to me - kinda like a "hey let's all be cool and save the environment for one hour" and then after that go back to one's old ways. I'm not denying that the cool and hip factor is working to some extent, and yup, why not just milk it for all its worth. But as in all these campaign thingies, if there's no accompanying mindset change, then whatever relief to the environment that one hour of darkness can do will be nothing more than cosmetic.
Let's just say that i don't really have confidence in the average S'porean's resolve to take global climate change and our role in it more seriously. Not that we're alone in ultimately being pragmatically minded in our approach to environmental awareness, but there's much i feel i can justifiably take issue with in how S'poreans view the seriousness, or in their minds, lack of seriousness of the situation. While i suppose i can be thankful we're not a nation of Sarah Palins who continue to be in a sad state of denial on our role and responsibility when it comes to climate change, on the other hand, i would be thrilled if turning to CNG-powered passenger vehicles would not be considered an option only when pricing incentives and high gas costs came into play, or if people would voluntarily do away with plastic bags (even if they be biodegradable) every day and not only when you have to pay a ten cent fee.
Talking about lights, would the one hour of darkness make more than a dent to the overall pattern of energy consumption here? I'm thinking of the vegas (or make that hong kong- tackier still)-esque neon lights that front one of the nightclubs near my place, and the increasing number of brightly-lit facades in new or renovated buildings in town. Also the appalling golf course (like we needed another one) next to the Sheares bridge (which incidentally was built on a nice forested patch of reclaimed land) which at night is lit more brightly by floodlights than it is by the sun itself during the day. And the 24-hour ntuc at Jurong Point which is seriously overlit by at least 100% during all 24 hours of its operation every day of the week.
Some things in this world man, they don't make sense...
But still, as cheesy as it sounds to me, i will be "voting earth" tomorrow. And will try my best to do so on every day following tomorrow as well, and not stop. Wish that others would do the same.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
No Brainer
In the spirit of the oh-so-originally-named Budget Terminal and of course the $400,000 Marina Bay, should it come as any surprise that two of the winners to name the turns of the S'pore F1 circuit, more specifically the turn under the Benjamin Sheares Bridge and the turn near the Civilian War Memorial won with their chosen names being "Sheares" and "Memorial" respectively. Of course, they couldn't just name the bends as such, giving them what are only the most obvious names possible. No, they just had to hold a competition.
So much for encouraging creativity when the overall winner of the two grandstand tickets, a pit lane walk and a two-night stay at a trackside hotel did nothing more than stand at the turn in question, look heavenwards, see the bottom of the Sheares Bridge, think to himself "hey, that works", and then conjure up some smoke to justify the totally duh choice of name. If only all things in life were that easy, pay cut be damned...
Anyways, if things continue to follow this pattern, then i won't be surprised if the as-yet-unknown name of this mascot (which looks more like a Sun Wukong-esque monkey to me but apparently is a lion? I dunno) turns out to be something like Monyet/Singa, or why bother even with another language - monkey/lion.
So much for encouraging creativity when the overall winner of the two grandstand tickets, a pit lane walk and a two-night stay at a trackside hotel did nothing more than stand at the turn in question, look heavenwards, see the bottom of the Sheares Bridge, think to himself "hey, that works", and then conjure up some smoke to justify the totally duh choice of name. If only all things in life were that easy, pay cut be damned...
Anyways, if things continue to follow this pattern, then i won't be surprised if the as-yet-unknown name of this mascot (which looks more like a Sun Wukong-esque monkey to me but apparently is a lion? I dunno) turns out to be something like Monyet/Singa, or why bother even with another language - monkey/lion.
Saturday, March 07, 2009
looking beyond
Over the past week there've been three incidents involving the deaths of foreign students/former students here that have hit the news. It's given me something to think about on top of the lots of stuff that have been occupying my mind with practicum and all.
I must admit that i was hardly one to second-guess the local mainstream media's portrayal of the first incident (the stabbing cum alleged suicide at ntu). I just thought that, if not for the (thankfully) very strict gun laws here, it would be nothing more than akin to the many troubled-student-goes-on-shooting-rampage stories from places like the States and Finland that have popped up from time to time. In other words, i pretty much did nothing more than accept what was presented, what apparently were presented as facts.
Then i received an email from an Indonesian friend and former ntu student which suggested that things may not in fact have been as straightforward as they were presented to be. It included a forum response to the online ST article (re: post dated March 04, 2009 Wednesday, 09:40 PM) which i thought was a very sobering assessment of the portrayal of those involved in the incident and a justifiable questioning of the so-called facts that have been presented to the public, as well as the conclusions that we have drawn about them from what we have read and viewed. Like in the case of the second alleged suicide (interesting to note btw that this time they did at least make it clear that this was an alleged suicide - i don't recall the same being done for the first case, though maybe it was, and in my own reading of the story i conveniently discarded the word "alleged"), this time of a recent graduate and then-current staff of ntu, there are so many assumtions based at least in part of stereotypes that we tend to assign to foreign students methinks that perhaps are really less-than-helpful to say the least. At the least, i can only hope and pray that in whatever official/unofficial reviews that do take place in response to these incidents, colored preconceptions do not feature at all, and, specifically where Christian ministry to the international community in school campuses is concerned, that these incidents will serve as a good learning point when it comes to planning and preparation.
After i heard about the pgp incident and read about it in the ST, i went googling for reports on what had happened from the American perspective. I came across articles like this one and again, based on my more or less wholehearted acceptance of what i had read in the ST report, figured that the American reports had conveniently left out details regarding how he had passed on cos they didn't want to talk about the drinking and pill-popping that were inferred by the ST report to be the cause of his death. I then found this rather strongly-worded indictment of the campus observer for their speculatory take on the incident (to their credit, they did at least publish and respond to it, though there's no indication of any amendments made to the original article, let alone an apology being made, since they stand by what they had reported). I'm no student of journalism so i can't pass judgement, but i can't help but wonder if the original report was influenced by stereotypes of Western exchange students as well - stuff like their gathering at the pgp foyer steps every wednesday night before heading en masse to town to go clubbing and coming back in shared cabs in the wee hours of thursday morning all liquored up, and then waking up late for class with an almighty hangover (yes i admit i've held that view myself, especially when i was staying there - though of course in itself there's nothing really wrong about that)... In retrospect, surely no one, be they a local or a foreigner is so one-dimensional and readable (i know i wasn't when i was on exchange), therein lying a big challenge to student ministry - how to see each person as unique and special (in God's eyes, and therefore as it should be in our eyes as well), beyond any albeit sometimes partially true generalizations that can be made about them.
I think of this also because in my second week of practicum i've come across some international students as well, who are incredibly diverse in their backgrounds and all, and also in their needs. Looking at some of them, i'd have to say that it's hardly a stretch to see what has happened in the aforementioned ntu cases possibly happening to them as well in the near or far future, if perhaps they find no one to unberden themselves to and receive the appropriate help from... It's quite a worrying thought...
I must admit that i was hardly one to second-guess the local mainstream media's portrayal of the first incident (the stabbing cum alleged suicide at ntu). I just thought that, if not for the (thankfully) very strict gun laws here, it would be nothing more than akin to the many troubled-student-goes-on-shooting-rampage stories from places like the States and Finland that have popped up from time to time. In other words, i pretty much did nothing more than accept what was presented, what apparently were presented as facts.
Then i received an email from an Indonesian friend and former ntu student which suggested that things may not in fact have been as straightforward as they were presented to be. It included a forum response to the online ST article (re: post dated March 04, 2009 Wednesday, 09:40 PM) which i thought was a very sobering assessment of the portrayal of those involved in the incident and a justifiable questioning of the so-called facts that have been presented to the public, as well as the conclusions that we have drawn about them from what we have read and viewed. Like in the case of the second alleged suicide (interesting to note btw that this time they did at least make it clear that this was an alleged suicide - i don't recall the same being done for the first case, though maybe it was, and in my own reading of the story i conveniently discarded the word "alleged"), this time of a recent graduate and then-current staff of ntu, there are so many assumtions based at least in part of stereotypes that we tend to assign to foreign students methinks that perhaps are really less-than-helpful to say the least. At the least, i can only hope and pray that in whatever official/unofficial reviews that do take place in response to these incidents, colored preconceptions do not feature at all, and, specifically where Christian ministry to the international community in school campuses is concerned, that these incidents will serve as a good learning point when it comes to planning and preparation.
After i heard about the pgp incident and read about it in the ST, i went googling for reports on what had happened from the American perspective. I came across articles like this one and again, based on my more or less wholehearted acceptance of what i had read in the ST report, figured that the American reports had conveniently left out details regarding how he had passed on cos they didn't want to talk about the drinking and pill-popping that were inferred by the ST report to be the cause of his death. I then found this rather strongly-worded indictment of the campus observer for their speculatory take on the incident (to their credit, they did at least publish and respond to it, though there's no indication of any amendments made to the original article, let alone an apology being made, since they stand by what they had reported). I'm no student of journalism so i can't pass judgement, but i can't help but wonder if the original report was influenced by stereotypes of Western exchange students as well - stuff like their gathering at the pgp foyer steps every wednesday night before heading en masse to town to go clubbing and coming back in shared cabs in the wee hours of thursday morning all liquored up, and then waking up late for class with an almighty hangover (yes i admit i've held that view myself, especially when i was staying there - though of course in itself there's nothing really wrong about that)... In retrospect, surely no one, be they a local or a foreigner is so one-dimensional and readable (i know i wasn't when i was on exchange), therein lying a big challenge to student ministry - how to see each person as unique and special (in God's eyes, and therefore as it should be in our eyes as well), beyond any albeit sometimes partially true generalizations that can be made about them.
I think of this also because in my second week of practicum i've come across some international students as well, who are incredibly diverse in their backgrounds and all, and also in their needs. Looking at some of them, i'd have to say that it's hardly a stretch to see what has happened in the aforementioned ntu cases possibly happening to them as well in the near or far future, if perhaps they find no one to unberden themselves to and receive the appropriate help from... It's quite a worrying thought...
Monday, March 02, 2009
1234
Well since yesterday we remember the 123rd, why not go one more number further. Anyways i thought that this was pretty cute.
And so is the original video upon which this was based. Feist kinda reminds me of a saner, more coherent version of Björk. Sway your hips like she does there at your own peril...
And so is the original video upon which this was based. Feist kinda reminds me of a saner, more coherent version of Björk. Sway your hips like she does there at your own peril...
Sunday, March 01, 2009
123
The best is yet to be,
But only now are you 123...
Happy birthday, absence makes the heart go fonder...
Friday, February 27, 2009
week in review
At the end of week one i've somehow managed to get up at 5:30am every morning thus far (and at 5:31 have each morning then muttered to myself that i won't be able to keep that up in the long run), have already been on two learning journeys (and at the least have learnt how to better jaga very energetic and restless students), and have yet to eat at the purported best thing about being posted to the particular school (though on the plus side even the fare in the school canteen already beats that at nie).
This upcoming week will feature my first (of so many) attempts at conducting lessons in this school, and to that end i was racking my brain trying to think of interesting ways to lead up to a compo for monday's lesson (and no success yet). Somehow though doing up lesson plans now seems less of a chore than it did all of two weeks ago. Maybe cos this case they're done with a tangible audience in mind (and maybe also just cos this is not nie). Thankfully the people at the school (at least thus far) have been real nice and welcoming, so things are hardly as daunting as i thought they might have otherwise turned out to be. Workload has also (again at least thus far) still been manageable. Still a long way to go, of course, but at least it's a promising start :)
This upcoming week will feature my first (of so many) attempts at conducting lessons in this school, and to that end i was racking my brain trying to think of interesting ways to lead up to a compo for monday's lesson (and no success yet). Somehow though doing up lesson plans now seems less of a chore than it did all of two weeks ago. Maybe cos this case they're done with a tangible audience in mind (and maybe also just cos this is not nie). Thankfully the people at the school (at least thus far) have been real nice and welcoming, so things are hardly as daunting as i thought they might have otherwise turned out to be. Workload has also (again at least thus far) still been manageable. Still a long way to go, of course, but at least it's a promising start :)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
at long last
I was pleasantly surprised to read this news a day or so ago. After having written more than one's fair share on Filipino Americans, including if i remember correctly one whole chapter on the veterans' fight for proper recognition of their efforts in WWII, it was heartening to see that whoever still is around got what they deserved. Almost makes me want to write a follow-up paper (just kidding!). Pity the more than sixty years it took for this to happen and thus also the tens of thousands of veterans already dead and therefore unable to claim these very belated benefits (and of course relatives of the deceased aren't eligible...). US$9000/15000 isn't exactly a real big amount of $, though maybe when factoring in inflation it may differ, i dunno...
And while initially i was not too thrilled with the fact that this distinctly non-economy-boosting measure somehow figured in the so-called stimulus package that was just signed into law, on the other hand i suppose this provision simply needed to be tucked within this much larger package, where many of the lawmakers would not have been afforded the time to look through each and every of its constituent components, if it were to have any hope of being signed into law in the first case. Well i suppose those who will benefit will take it whatever way it comes, even if the way in which it did come really screams for lots more articles to be written...
And while initially i was not too thrilled with the fact that this distinctly non-economy-boosting measure somehow figured in the so-called stimulus package that was just signed into law, on the other hand i suppose this provision simply needed to be tucked within this much larger package, where many of the lawmakers would not have been afforded the time to look through each and every of its constituent components, if it were to have any hope of being signed into law in the first case. Well i suppose those who will benefit will take it whatever way it comes, even if the way in which it did come really screams for lots more articles to be written...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
the bane that is boon (lay)
Coming not a moment too soon, yesterday was the last time, for a while, when i'll have to go on a long journey to the west, and certainly not on a daily basis for a longer while. The past seven or eight or so months of taking the mrt, more often than not during peak hours, has reminded me of the sheer inconsiderateness (this word exists?) of many S'poreans, and hence needless to say has been quite the test of my patience.
There have been the pesky youths who receive texts or calls but after taking out their phones hold them up for the whole train car's worth of passengers to hear their already loud and jarring ringtones at least until more than half the tone goes by before finally reading the text/answering the call. Along the same line, those who find it within the kindness of their hearts to compensate for the lack of tv mobile (the bane of my sbs bus-sitting existence) by broadcasting their own selection of choice (read: crap) music for the listening pleasure (read: where's my earplugs when i need them?) But worst of all, the motley crew of passengers awaiting entry into the train who either are color-blind (oops i'm an English teacher now so i must use the British spelling eh? - make that colour-blind) and hence cannot see the yellow arrow markings on the floor, or just don't care for anyone apart from themselves. Hence they form a crowd immediately outside the train door and hinder the way of those trying to exit, and even worse, attempt to push their way past the alighting people. Must have mentioned this before. Anyways, it annoys the hell out of me. This problem is especially prevalent in boonlay in the morning, which has let me to the uncorroborated conclusion that people in the far west are just about the S'poreans most lacking in social graces. One day (must have been a bad mood day) i lost enough of my patience to not only push back at one auntie who were trying to worm her way in to get a seat, but also scold her (in Chinese, no less) and then scarper before she could react. Not my finest hour, but well at that moment i felt that it was warranted.
Well hopefully those days at boonlay will soon be gone, now that the two new stations are opening and the western mob will be spread out to these stations as well. Inconsiderate S'poreans aside though, the trains are seriously getting too crowded for my liking. The other day, on the rare occasion that i headed to nie during an off-peak hour (3ish pm), the trains came at six-minute intervals, and needless to say, each train was packed to the brim. I've definitely taken the train before at those times, and the intervals were not so spread out as they were this time. What alarms me is that this nonsense is apparently the intention of SMRT, since Saw Phaik Hwa (the President and CEO) actually believes that packing as many people into the train is what our trains are important for. Something tells me she drives to work...
There have been the pesky youths who receive texts or calls but after taking out their phones hold them up for the whole train car's worth of passengers to hear their already loud and jarring ringtones at least until more than half the tone goes by before finally reading the text/answering the call. Along the same line, those who find it within the kindness of their hearts to compensate for the lack of tv mobile (the bane of my sbs bus-sitting existence) by broadcasting their own selection of choice (read: crap) music for the listening pleasure (read: where's my earplugs when i need them?) But worst of all, the motley crew of passengers awaiting entry into the train who either are color-blind (oops i'm an English teacher now so i must use the British spelling eh? - make that colour-blind) and hence cannot see the yellow arrow markings on the floor, or just don't care for anyone apart from themselves. Hence they form a crowd immediately outside the train door and hinder the way of those trying to exit, and even worse, attempt to push their way past the alighting people. Must have mentioned this before. Anyways, it annoys the hell out of me. This problem is especially prevalent in boonlay in the morning, which has let me to the uncorroborated conclusion that people in the far west are just about the S'poreans most lacking in social graces. One day (must have been a bad mood day) i lost enough of my patience to not only push back at one auntie who were trying to worm her way in to get a seat, but also scold her (in Chinese, no less) and then scarper before she could react. Not my finest hour, but well at that moment i felt that it was warranted.
Well hopefully those days at boonlay will soon be gone, now that the two new stations are opening and the western mob will be spread out to these stations as well. Inconsiderate S'poreans aside though, the trains are seriously getting too crowded for my liking. The other day, on the rare occasion that i headed to nie during an off-peak hour (3ish pm), the trains came at six-minute intervals, and needless to say, each train was packed to the brim. I've definitely taken the train before at those times, and the intervals were not so spread out as they were this time. What alarms me is that this nonsense is apparently the intention of SMRT, since Saw Phaik Hwa (the President and CEO) actually believes that packing as many people into the train is what our trains are important for. Something tells me she drives to work...
Friday, February 13, 2009
oh hush rush
This image was circulated in certain Christian circles (and remarked upon as being a pic which will never make it to the mainstream media) - thought it was somewhat heartwarming to see this taking place. While i have doubts with regards to the theology of the pastors/church leaders who are laying hands, it's a reminder nevertheless of the importance of praying for those whom God has put in authority, and for that matter whether you agree with them being there or not (which i think i should remind myself more of from time to time), rather than unapologetically and openly denounce them with unnecessarily harsh and partisan invective, and even worse, take pride in it. Speaks volumes about one's (lack of) humility and (abundance of) ego, and not to mention also reflects really poorly on conservatism to have such folk so highly esteemed among its ranks.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
absolutely fabulous?
I chanced upon this article the other day, which started me thinking, and then the same topic came up in random conversation just now as well, and yup come to think of it, i wonder what comes to mind in the minds of foreigners when they hear or read about S'pore holding an annual parade called 'Chingay'. I've no idea what's the etymology of the word anyways, but surely you can't blame people for getting the mistaken impression that it's similar to more famous parades in places like Sydney or San Francisco, can you?
In any case that's about the limit to my interest in the parade. Especially since the route this year apparently impedes upon my newfound running route. Bah.
In any case that's about the limit to my interest in the parade. Especially since the route this year apparently impedes upon my newfound running route. Bah.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
battle's at midway
This seven-week sem at nie has been, and will continue to be, very packed, and the amount of work to be done before it runs out and practicum starts is quite something. When you look at all the stuff to do, it actually isn't too big a deal. The problem for me lies in how all this is squeezed into such a tight timeframe, and this week (specifically, tomorrow) marks the midway point. Goodness knows the only reason why i've looked forward to cnys in years past has been for the break, but this year more than ever before, the break is pretty academic (in all senses of the word). Even though it's a total of five days long including the weekend and the free day, it doesn't seem like enough time. Not that i'm behind schedule though, but that's only because i didn't bother to set one...
As is the case in every cny, at least some point of the Aussie Open seems to be ongoing. I'm glad though that we don't subscribe to the sports channels at home though, since it would be a waste of $ as long as the grand slams and maybe college bball would not be showing, and all that would be on were just (imo) boring soccer, and also cos if this were the case i'd be even more distracted than i already have been thus far, which would be a disaster where attempts to complete nie work would be concerned. So as much as i'd have enjoyed seeing AI get thrashed and ND retiring (ok i'm mean), i guess it's for the best that i don't...
Three and a half weeks to my transport costs being halved...
As is the case in every cny, at least some point of the Aussie Open seems to be ongoing. I'm glad though that we don't subscribe to the sports channels at home though, since it would be a waste of $ as long as the grand slams and maybe college bball would not be showing, and all that would be on were just (imo) boring soccer, and also cos if this were the case i'd be even more distracted than i already have been thus far, which would be a disaster where attempts to complete nie work would be concerned. So as much as i'd have enjoyed seeing AI get thrashed and ND retiring (ok i'm mean), i guess it's for the best that i don't...
Three and a half weeks to my transport costs being halved...
Friday, January 23, 2009
revealed
I don't know how discreet i'm supposed to be about school postings so i won't say exactly where i've been posted to (for both practicum as well as for the final posting), suffice to say that i hadn't expected to be posted there, though in retrospect it makes sense distance wise (glad the road diversion has been done away with). That being said my previous place was far nearer to the school than my present one is, but then again, how many schools are there near to my place anyway? Anyways, it'll be nice to have to head back east again, even if it's not too far east...
At the moment, my main concern with this place is the same one i had with it when i was concerned i'd be posted there for my two-and-a-half week stint two years ago - that it'll be too much of a culture shock. Which come to think of it is a bit strange given how there were quite a few from this school in my previous church, so it's not as if i was totally clueless about the school culture. All (i.e. two) my short-lived church tuition stints were also with children from this school actually... But well i guess i had the same concern with the ese school, and that turned out fine. Could really see why the Lord brought me there, and in the same vein, i'm sure in time i'll see why He is bringing me to this new place ya...
At the moment, my main concern with this place is the same one i had with it when i was concerned i'd be posted there for my two-and-a-half week stint two years ago - that it'll be too much of a culture shock. Which come to think of it is a bit strange given how there were quite a few from this school in my previous church, so it's not as if i was totally clueless about the school culture. All (i.e. two) my short-lived church tuition stints were also with children from this school actually... But well i guess i had the same concern with the ese school, and that turned out fine. Could really see why the Lord brought me there, and in the same vein, i'm sure in time i'll see why He is bringing me to this new place ya...
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Le Cordon Bleagh
When i came across this, i was somewhat surprised that the backlash from the article was that sizeable. Initially when i read the article, i thought that it was quite a cool idea. Then i read that the guy actually was a perm sec, and started to get miffed. I, lesser mortal that i am, distinctly remember him being quoted as saying stuff like "taking five weeks leave is easier that you think". What a lack of foresight on his part, to say something like that, and of course, to disclose with so much pride the expensive details of his little cooking holiday to the whole of S'pore. A bit worrying that someone of his standing can be so aloof (but then again, it's not as if this is an isolated case, so it's not as if i was surprised).
Didn't expect it to lead up to this though. Didn't think it was that big of a deal (or at least that it would be allowed to become as big a deal as it has). Of course, i'm sure they only decided to reprimand the guy, or at least to make it public, cos of the larger-than-expected backlash, a kind of damage control measure. Can't help but feel a bit for the guy though - the timing of the silly article i suppose couldn't have been any worse, and whether done intentionally or not it sure seemed as though the writer/editor styled the story in such a way as to get as negative a reaction as possible to the holiday. I bet the guy wishes he'd brought his family to Shermay's Cooking School instead :p...
Didn't expect it to lead up to this though. Didn't think it was that big of a deal (or at least that it would be allowed to become as big a deal as it has). Of course, i'm sure they only decided to reprimand the guy, or at least to make it public, cos of the larger-than-expected backlash, a kind of damage control measure. Can't help but feel a bit for the guy though - the timing of the silly article i suppose couldn't have been any worse, and whether done intentionally or not it sure seemed as though the writer/editor styled the story in such a way as to get as negative a reaction as possible to the holiday. I bet the guy wishes he'd brought his family to Shermay's Cooking School instead :p...
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Thoughts on Gaza
During the time of intercession at church last Sunday there was a time of prayer for the current crisis in Gaza. Prayer for world events is something that i've become more passionate about (even if admittedly i still don't do enough of that if it's not a prayer led by someone else), so that was heartening for me.
By the end of the prayer however, alarm bells were ringing in my head. Cos (at least in my opinion) the prayer was clearly directed more towards Israel and less towards Gaza. No mention of the Palestinians whatsoever was made, and the closest there got to this was praying something to the extent of "for the families of the dead and injured". There however was plenty of mention of stuff like the protection of the Jews and the salvation of God's chosen people. Fair enough, but i thought that to include this without mentioning the Palestinians and the hundreds, if not thousands more (compared to the Israelis) of Palestinian casualties, including many civilians among them, wasn't right. I almost felt like i was in some church in Texas... No matter how positively the whole story is spun in Israel's favor, and how horrible Hamas may be, the fact is that both sides have a part to play in delaying a tentative ceasefire, which should at the least be a major, if not the top priority at the moment. Instead we see continued heavy shelling by the Israelis with even the UN HQ being shelled. To me, it's disgusting.
I must admit i have yet to understand full enough about how what is written in the Bible applies to the current Israeli state and the Israelis as God's chosen people. Is this purported 'act of defence' against Hamas (and by virtue of the density of Gaza, the entire Palestinian population there) really akin to the battles against the Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites and whatever other -ites there are., lending Godly justification to what has been going on for almost three weeks now? I'm certainly not convinced, and am waiting to be convinced otherwise...
By the end of the prayer however, alarm bells were ringing in my head. Cos (at least in my opinion) the prayer was clearly directed more towards Israel and less towards Gaza. No mention of the Palestinians whatsoever was made, and the closest there got to this was praying something to the extent of "for the families of the dead and injured". There however was plenty of mention of stuff like the protection of the Jews and the salvation of God's chosen people. Fair enough, but i thought that to include this without mentioning the Palestinians and the hundreds, if not thousands more (compared to the Israelis) of Palestinian casualties, including many civilians among them, wasn't right. I almost felt like i was in some church in Texas... No matter how positively the whole story is spun in Israel's favor, and how horrible Hamas may be, the fact is that both sides have a part to play in delaying a tentative ceasefire, which should at the least be a major, if not the top priority at the moment. Instead we see continued heavy shelling by the Israelis with even the UN HQ being shelled. To me, it's disgusting.
I must admit i have yet to understand full enough about how what is written in the Bible applies to the current Israeli state and the Israelis as God's chosen people. Is this purported 'act of defence' against Hamas (and by virtue of the density of Gaza, the entire Palestinian population there) really akin to the battles against the Hittites, Jebusites, Canaanites and whatever other -ites there are., lending Godly justification to what has been going on for almost three weeks now? I'm certainly not convinced, and am waiting to be convinced otherwise...
Monday, January 12, 2009
Public Service Announcement
I don't know why i don't seem to have anything better and less frivolous to do than watch the repeat of the Golden Globes on tv (although i'm at least trying to do some minor nie stuff in between)
Anyways, last week i happened to be in the library (a regular haunt, now that it's near enough to my place) and went up to the tenth floor, after seeing a sign below that advertised for a special exhibition on Lee Kong Chian and Tan Kah Kee. However, i was about five days too late, as it had closed with the year's end.
Instead however, there was this real brilliant, if still somewhat abrogated exhibition on the life of David Marshall, which i'd highly recommend, even if you're not a history buff. Anyways half the exhibition is on his life before the stuff we all know (or hopefully still remember) from lower sec history and is rather fascinating. Like apparently he was born just down the road from my place, in a house that (surprise surprise has been demolished) occupied the land where peace centre now is, and that his family came from Baghdad of all places.
There also is this even smaller but nonetheless interesting exhibition on the same floor on the origins of some road names in S'pore, and the short biographies of the people they were named after. Just so happens that two of the roads were named after my ancestors (my proverbial grandfather's roads, or more accurately, great great grandfather and great great great great grandfather). Not that it has any influence on my recommendation of course.
So if you're in the vicinity, do check it out (have no idea when they will end though, so don't complain if they're gone by the time you get there...)
Anyways, last week i happened to be in the library (a regular haunt, now that it's near enough to my place) and went up to the tenth floor, after seeing a sign below that advertised for a special exhibition on Lee Kong Chian and Tan Kah Kee. However, i was about five days too late, as it had closed with the year's end.
Instead however, there was this real brilliant, if still somewhat abrogated exhibition on the life of David Marshall, which i'd highly recommend, even if you're not a history buff. Anyways half the exhibition is on his life before the stuff we all know (or hopefully still remember) from lower sec history and is rather fascinating. Like apparently he was born just down the road from my place, in a house that (surprise surprise has been demolished) occupied the land where peace centre now is, and that his family came from Baghdad of all places.
There also is this even smaller but nonetheless interesting exhibition on the same floor on the origins of some road names in S'pore, and the short biographies of the people they were named after. Just so happens that two of the roads were named after my ancestors (my proverbial grandfather's roads, or more accurately, great great grandfather and great great great great grandfather). Not that it has any influence on my recommendation of course.
So if you're in the vicinity, do check it out (have no idea when they will end though, so don't complain if they're gone by the time you get there...)
Sunday, January 04, 2009
E'pean musings
Now's as good a time as any to ramble on about the recent trip, primarily for the sake of my own memory (i.e. or else i may forget what i did), since that would be a likely thing to happen once nie starts again. And don't those credit card commercials always say that such and such costs so much, but memories are priceless? Anyways, i dunno how much time i may have to do that from tom onwards, and before i know it it's already been more than a month since i left... So maybe let me correct the first statement, it's not as good a time as any, rather, it's as good a time as any time before tomorrow.
Amsterdam was where i landed, and was probably the place i went to this time that i was most familiar with, since i've been there two times before. The first time was seventeen-and-a-half years ago though, so that doesn't really count, while the second was for a choir trip in 2001 where we had a day tour of the city that can best be described as the exact opposite of free-and-easy (given the reputation that the city carries, and that the way the choir tours tends to lean towards the ultimate control freak variety, i guess it's no surprise that the red light areas were not part of the tour). I think we only did the token day tour cos we happened to land in Schiphol in the first place. And come to think of it, that my flight happened to be to Amsterdam was probably the only reason why i spent two days there as well. Well as it turned out it was quite an interesting and intriguing starter to the trip, and i'm glad i decided to go there again since i managed to see things that i had not seen before (including some stuff through some windows that i probably in retrospect should not have seen).
Amsterdam was the only place i actually experienced snow falling during the trip - it was at night in the hostel and i was prepared to go to sleep. It had been drizzling outside, but then i guess it got colder and soon some others remarked that the raindrops had turned to snow. Just for the sake of it i went outside to the fire escape and do all those things you'd expect a suaku S'porean to do like take pictures and stick out my tongue to catch snowflakes. Just as well in any case, since there was to be no more actual snowfall (apart from when i was in the train) during the trip.
I've always been rather obsessed with visiting as many countries as possible, and while i'd been to Belgium before, it was only a non-stop drive-through that just happened to pass through Belgian soil since that was what lay between the Netherlands and France. So saying i've been to Belgium before would have to come with an asterisk. This time i finally set foot on the soil for a change. Again, coming from S'pore, it was a refreshing change to go to Bruges and find that seemingly almost every building of note was older than S'pore itself. Talk about an embarassment of riches. If i'd any regret about Bruges, it would be that i knew of the existence of the movie "In Bruges" before the trip, but had conveniently forgotten about it while planning and during the trip itself, and then only remembered it again during my next stop.
I ended up traveling alone cos i figured i would not be able to find anyone who would want to do Europe, or at least at that time and in the way i would have wanted to do it. Over the whole course of the trip, the occasional thought like "oh you idiot why are you walking along this poorly-lit street at this time of night, you wanna get mugged?" came to mind but thankfully none of these came to fruition. It was actually pretty safe, come to think of it. Just had to make sure that i didn't do stupid things like count my $ in public and such and such. In fact, i thought that at the end of the day the only two drawbacks to being alone were 1) the usual how to take pix of oneself problem, and 2) feeling paiseh to step into a proper sit-down place for a meal on my own. So it was in Bruges that #2 came into effect, as even though there's all sorts of interesting Belgian food to try, i never got around to eating any of it, cos i'd have to go to one of the fancier sit-down places for that. So even though i was even prepared to eat stuff like rabbit, i didn't get the opportunity to do so (and just as well the other day i was watching this documentary which showed that some wild E'pean rabbits are infested with ticks).
I had randomly found out about couchsurfing through some newspaper article last year, and when it came down to planning for the trip i realized that it would be a real cool way to go about with things, for at least part of the way. So i managed to do that in both Maastricht (which i sorta randomly decided to go to, not knowing much more about it than that there was the treaty) and Luxembourg (see my obsession with going to as many countries as possible above). Turns out that it's a great idea, it really helps to know and understand a place better if you've people who stay there to bring you up to speed (and of course, the S'porean in me can't fault the fact that you technically don't have to pay for lodging). And it also so happened that these are places that are not quite as touristy as most of the other places i went to, so getting good reliable info from my hosts was quite neat. Basically (provided you get good hosts, which i did) it brings out the best in people :) Look forward to the next opp to do that (when?)...
The whole of the second half of the trip was spent in France. Initially i'd looked forward to the trip mainly as an opportunity to finally go there after having (allegedly) learnt French for five whole years (the only other time i went there being the same seventeen-and-a-half years ago trip). Then, once i got to French-speaking parts in Belgium and Luxembourg, after the luxury of being able to get by with English before that, i realized that i was somewhat out of my depth, and that my so-called French was really really that bad... You can therefore imagine my euphoria after i carried out my first successful French coversation , even if it only consisted of two guys asking me if the train at the platform was headed to Luxembourg and me replying "je ne sais pas" (i dunno). I also chickened out of reserving my train tickets in France at the local ticket counter, as i had spent at least two days trying to figure out all the vocabulary and grammar that i might have needed in my head, but still came up short (so instead i went up to a ticket counter while i was still in Luxembourg, straight up asked "Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?", and heaved a huge sigh of relief when she replied "yes").
Well, over the course of the week i was there, things did get better and by the end of the trip, i thought i could get by pretty well, such that on the Air France flight home, i made sure i still spoke to the cabin crew in French (even if all i had to say was oui, non, jus d'orange, and le poulet, s'il vous plaît). Along the way there were petty little triumphs, like when i went for lunch with a Brazilian friend i met at my hostel in Paris and i was able to get by ordering for the both of us and explaining to him what was on the menu. One thing i realized though, my ability to speak French drops drastically in cold weather. Since speaking French involves making a lot of mouth-contorting sounds that are not present in English, i realized that when i had to speak French outdoors (say when grabbing a meal at a Christmas market), i'd be hard-pressed to pronounce a lot of the words properly cos my face would be numb from the cold. Still managed to get by thankfully...
I was also amazed by how the Lord was working in my life while i was there. Since i was going by myself, i'd initially envisioned this trip as some kind of personal retreat, something that i knew i would need after last sem at nie (and will need for this one :p). However, when i got there i may have gotten carried away with (and again i blame the S'porean in me) the desire to see as much as possible within the limited time that i had. So basically that meant 1) i must have walked an average of 5km a day, if not more, which works out to more than a marathon's distance covered while i was there (not to mention aching feet and knees every night), and 2) i was perhaps a bit too distracted for my liking. It turned out though that through a guy i met at my first hostel in Amsterdam (the Christian one in the heart of the red-light district), i received a contact of someone in Strasbourg, who when i was there brought me to a charismatic evangelical home cell group. It was such a blessing to even just be there and be encouraged by the believers there, even if everything was conducted in French and hence i only understood about half of the conversations that were going on. Incidentally, one of the ladies there even remarked that the French that i could speak was spoken without an accent (something that i attribute to regularly watching TV5 Monde), which was somewhat affirming to hear heh... At the end of the day, i think i've been inspired by this trip to improve my French further, with the aim of having it eventually surpass Chinese as my second-best language (and that shouldn't be too hard eh?)
So all in all, i'm really glad for the opportunity to go for this trip, and i definitely learnt a lot. Look forward to the next trip, which hopefully will come within the year. I'll definitely need it, from the looks of things...
Amsterdam was where i landed, and was probably the place i went to this time that i was most familiar with, since i've been there two times before. The first time was seventeen-and-a-half years ago though, so that doesn't really count, while the second was for a choir trip in 2001 where we had a day tour of the city that can best be described as the exact opposite of free-and-easy (given the reputation that the city carries, and that the way the choir tours tends to lean towards the ultimate control freak variety, i guess it's no surprise that the red light areas were not part of the tour). I think we only did the token day tour cos we happened to land in Schiphol in the first place. And come to think of it, that my flight happened to be to Amsterdam was probably the only reason why i spent two days there as well. Well as it turned out it was quite an interesting and intriguing starter to the trip, and i'm glad i decided to go there again since i managed to see things that i had not seen before (including some stuff through some windows that i probably in retrospect should not have seen).
Amsterdam was the only place i actually experienced snow falling during the trip - it was at night in the hostel and i was prepared to go to sleep. It had been drizzling outside, but then i guess it got colder and soon some others remarked that the raindrops had turned to snow. Just for the sake of it i went outside to the fire escape and do all those things you'd expect a suaku S'porean to do like take pictures and stick out my tongue to catch snowflakes. Just as well in any case, since there was to be no more actual snowfall (apart from when i was in the train) during the trip.
I've always been rather obsessed with visiting as many countries as possible, and while i'd been to Belgium before, it was only a non-stop drive-through that just happened to pass through Belgian soil since that was what lay between the Netherlands and France. So saying i've been to Belgium before would have to come with an asterisk. This time i finally set foot on the soil for a change. Again, coming from S'pore, it was a refreshing change to go to Bruges and find that seemingly almost every building of note was older than S'pore itself. Talk about an embarassment of riches. If i'd any regret about Bruges, it would be that i knew of the existence of the movie "In Bruges" before the trip, but had conveniently forgotten about it while planning and during the trip itself, and then only remembered it again during my next stop.
I ended up traveling alone cos i figured i would not be able to find anyone who would want to do Europe, or at least at that time and in the way i would have wanted to do it. Over the whole course of the trip, the occasional thought like "oh you idiot why are you walking along this poorly-lit street at this time of night, you wanna get mugged?" came to mind but thankfully none of these came to fruition. It was actually pretty safe, come to think of it. Just had to make sure that i didn't do stupid things like count my $ in public and such and such. In fact, i thought that at the end of the day the only two drawbacks to being alone were 1) the usual how to take pix of oneself problem, and 2) feeling paiseh to step into a proper sit-down place for a meal on my own. So it was in Bruges that #2 came into effect, as even though there's all sorts of interesting Belgian food to try, i never got around to eating any of it, cos i'd have to go to one of the fancier sit-down places for that. So even though i was even prepared to eat stuff like rabbit, i didn't get the opportunity to do so (and just as well the other day i was watching this documentary which showed that some wild E'pean rabbits are infested with ticks).
I had randomly found out about couchsurfing through some newspaper article last year, and when it came down to planning for the trip i realized that it would be a real cool way to go about with things, for at least part of the way. So i managed to do that in both Maastricht (which i sorta randomly decided to go to, not knowing much more about it than that there was the treaty) and Luxembourg (see my obsession with going to as many countries as possible above). Turns out that it's a great idea, it really helps to know and understand a place better if you've people who stay there to bring you up to speed (and of course, the S'porean in me can't fault the fact that you technically don't have to pay for lodging). And it also so happened that these are places that are not quite as touristy as most of the other places i went to, so getting good reliable info from my hosts was quite neat. Basically (provided you get good hosts, which i did) it brings out the best in people :) Look forward to the next opp to do that (when?)...
The whole of the second half of the trip was spent in France. Initially i'd looked forward to the trip mainly as an opportunity to finally go there after having (allegedly) learnt French for five whole years (the only other time i went there being the same seventeen-and-a-half years ago trip). Then, once i got to French-speaking parts in Belgium and Luxembourg, after the luxury of being able to get by with English before that, i realized that i was somewhat out of my depth, and that my so-called French was really really that bad... You can therefore imagine my euphoria after i carried out my first successful French coversation , even if it only consisted of two guys asking me if the train at the platform was headed to Luxembourg and me replying "je ne sais pas" (i dunno). I also chickened out of reserving my train tickets in France at the local ticket counter, as i had spent at least two days trying to figure out all the vocabulary and grammar that i might have needed in my head, but still came up short (so instead i went up to a ticket counter while i was still in Luxembourg, straight up asked "Bonjour, parlez-vous anglais?", and heaved a huge sigh of relief when she replied "yes").
Well, over the course of the week i was there, things did get better and by the end of the trip, i thought i could get by pretty well, such that on the Air France flight home, i made sure i still spoke to the cabin crew in French (even if all i had to say was oui, non, jus d'orange, and le poulet, s'il vous plaît). Along the way there were petty little triumphs, like when i went for lunch with a Brazilian friend i met at my hostel in Paris and i was able to get by ordering for the both of us and explaining to him what was on the menu. One thing i realized though, my ability to speak French drops drastically in cold weather. Since speaking French involves making a lot of mouth-contorting sounds that are not present in English, i realized that when i had to speak French outdoors (say when grabbing a meal at a Christmas market), i'd be hard-pressed to pronounce a lot of the words properly cos my face would be numb from the cold. Still managed to get by thankfully...
I was also amazed by how the Lord was working in my life while i was there. Since i was going by myself, i'd initially envisioned this trip as some kind of personal retreat, something that i knew i would need after last sem at nie (and will need for this one :p). However, when i got there i may have gotten carried away with (and again i blame the S'porean in me) the desire to see as much as possible within the limited time that i had. So basically that meant 1) i must have walked an average of 5km a day, if not more, which works out to more than a marathon's distance covered while i was there (not to mention aching feet and knees every night), and 2) i was perhaps a bit too distracted for my liking. It turned out though that through a guy i met at my first hostel in Amsterdam (the Christian one in the heart of the red-light district), i received a contact of someone in Strasbourg, who when i was there brought me to a charismatic evangelical home cell group. It was such a blessing to even just be there and be encouraged by the believers there, even if everything was conducted in French and hence i only understood about half of the conversations that were going on. Incidentally, one of the ladies there even remarked that the French that i could speak was spoken without an accent (something that i attribute to regularly watching TV5 Monde), which was somewhat affirming to hear heh... At the end of the day, i think i've been inspired by this trip to improve my French further, with the aim of having it eventually surpass Chinese as my second-best language (and that shouldn't be too hard eh?)
So all in all, i'm really glad for the opportunity to go for this trip, and i definitely learnt a lot. Look forward to the next trip, which hopefully will come within the year. I'll definitely need it, from the looks of things...
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Grinning and Bearing it
After about half an hour or so of trying to reacquaint myself again with the nie virtual learning environment (which carries the very misleading moniker of "geNIEus"), i finally found what i had been quietly dreading all holiday - this upcoming semester's timetable. Actually, now that i take a second look at it, it's not too bad, but i guess after the strangely student-friendly (or more accurately, anyone who does not stay in boon lay-friendly) three/four day timetable last sem, anything else was bound to look bad. And so while i still may entertain lingering thoughts from time to time that nie must be in collusion with the folks at smrt and sbstransit, planning their timetables in such a way as to maximize bus and train revenue collected from those poor things like me who stay far away, again i guess i shouldn't complain so much ya, even if it were not anything to do with starting the new year on a fresh foot kinda thing.
Going back to nie after a good break was never bound to inspire much enthusiasm in me to begin with, though i must admit already in the run up to it starting again on mon, i've already been rolling my eyes aplenty and then some. I'd so love to elaborate, but i don't think that would serve any useful purpose (maybe to vent pent-up steam that i may otherwise save to vent in the face of a prof?). We'll just see how things go in the next couple of weeks ...
Going back to nie after a good break was never bound to inspire much enthusiasm in me to begin with, though i must admit already in the run up to it starting again on mon, i've already been rolling my eyes aplenty and then some. I'd so love to elaborate, but i don't think that would serve any useful purpose (maybe to vent pent-up steam that i may otherwise save to vent in the face of a prof?). We'll just see how things go in the next couple of weeks ...
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