Just noticed that only 13 posts(on this blog) so far... so to be superstitious, I gonna quickly put in this one.

Sometime ago my QSE tutor (SWMNBN) suggested that all the students spend some time to log down their learning journey for the course, the idea being, that as you progress through each lesson, you record down all the new things learnt and reflect. So from today onwards, I'm gonna do that right at the end for Wednesdays and Thursdays...


Weather today was the continuation of the entire week's weather trend which was rainy and downcast. Since I was in berms and polo-t today, I was basically doing a good impression of an icicle throughout all my classes today. Brrrrr....


Morning was QSE so will talk about it at the end. This was followed by "Introduction to German" which was conducted by this nice lady called Ms. Suraiya who did like 2-3 yrs worth studying German at NYP and at the Goethe Institut in SG. She's not a super pro but when you compare to the class (our idea of speaking German is "Porsche...BMW....Volkwagon") she is like miles ahead. Here are some of the phrases I learnt today:


1) "Ich bin Dieter" which means I am Dieter. (We had to choose a German name to use during the class. )

2) "Mein name is Anthony." which means my name is Anthony (Duh!)

3) "Wie geht es ihnen?" which means How are you?

4) "Gut" which means Good or you can also use "prima" (great) or "Wunderbar" (wonderful) or "fantastiche" (fantastic)!

5) The usual line after that is "Und Sie?" which means "And you?"

6) "Guten Morgen" means Gd Morning, "Guten Tag" means Gd afternoon, "Gute Nacht" means Gd nite.

7) Also learnt the German alphabet and how to say the numbers "Zahlen" and the colours...


Had to rush for lessons after (without lunch!!!) but thought it was a really good experience overall. I think learning a new language can be fun and it is also a good way to overcome any prejudices which you may have because you don't understand the language. Although I'm still far from being fluent in German, I'm still happy to be able to make a small start today. Wunderbar!


Continued to freeze in the later lessons, still lots of work to do next week as the assignments are going to be due soon... fortunately next week is e-learning week, so officially there are no lessons although I will still be in sch on Mon and Thu.


Currently waiting for DW to pick me up from sch, so I'm hiding in the library after having some fried rice in the canteen, washed down with a latte frappe (mMmm). DW is a bit stressed today as she needs to find something to wear for her Teachers' Day dinner. I got a call from Habiba yesterday as LPS invited all the NIE teachers back for the high tea but as luck would have it, I'm having lessons in the same timeslot T_T


I would have loved to just spend time chatting with the teachers... so much to ask and talk about. Oh well, just have to make do in the timespan tomorrow morning =)


_________________________________________________________________

QSE Reflections

Fairy Tales (15 Aug 07) (Book brought: Rapunzel by Zelinsky)
No presenter today, so SWMNBN made the presentation... still very shaky on the text analysis as it is the first time we r doing it, need to get proper highlighters. Quite a wide genre as fairy tales have been around for a long long time, however surprising thing was that no one wanted to give it a try... of course it could be due to the short prep time (something like 1 week plus to prep only)



Fractured Fairy Tale (17 Aug 07) (Book brought: The Three Pigs by Wiesner)
This would have been my choice as I am a big fan of stories with unexpected endings/twists... By taking different perspectives and changing familiar storylines, it usually results in a refreshing story like telling the Red Riding Hood Story from the Wolf's perspective or making the Big Bad Wolf a good character etc. However, another gp beat me to it. They did a gd job (they were even dressed like school kids , complete with pig tails). However, SWMNBN mentioned that they could have improved on the presentation by utilising the books that were brought by the students.


Myths and Legends (22 Aug 07) (Book brought: John Henry: An American Legend)
The group went through the whole presentation with a good pace, the use of Powerpoint helped to grab a lot of attention through the interesting use of animation. They made the point to involve the students and we had a lively discussion afterwards... Must admit that the show was good as the presenters were well-versed with the subject matter. We need to be equally comfortable (if not more!) in order to raise the bar again.


Fantasy (24 Aug 07) (Book brought: Tuesday by Wiesner)
I missed this session as I was sick but I managed to sit in on the Friday session. I think the fantasy genre is really about expanding the limits of imagination if there is even such a thing. In a setting where anything can happen, there is a lot of scope for amazing stories which are both entertaining and captivating. Would have loved to hear the 2 ladies present but too bad...

Pouquoi Tales and Fables (29 Aug 07) (Book brought: Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears by Verna Aardema)
This was another interesting session as the presenters went all out with a nicely published handout and a slick presentation using a Macbook. High wow factor,but they missed out on using the books brought by the students. I'm getting more confident in text type analysis in terms of using episodes as a way to segment the stories.

Contemporary Realistic Fiction and Historical Fiction (30 Aug 07) (Book brought: Zoo by Anthony Browne)
Initially my concept of CRF was limited to just books set in modern day, however after the presentation, I realised that the characters can also be animals. For example, Anthony Browne likes to use chimps as characters. I also realised that when I was in primary school, I had spent a lot of time reading CRF authors like Bevely Cleary and Judy Blume. In HFs the setting seems to dominate the story permeating through the language, the description of the surroundings, etc. The presentation was not bad with a lot of props and even a minor dramatisation to boot! I think the only issue was the time management... We will need to work on rehearsing the sequence properly and include in time for reflection on the entire process.

As anyone who has been faithfully reading my blog knows... I'm sick! You know what I mean...

Last Friday, when I returned to school, it was pretty bad... Had a presentation to do, followed by a really bad tutorial class where I was basically in a daze for most of it...During the lesson that I missed, the tutor had divided the class up into groups to do research on some psychology topics and since I didn't know, I was struggling to understand what was presented and didn't even have a group.

Managed to sort it out in the end, but still quite painful at 6.30pm in the evening.... left with a big headache (not metaphorically, but physically) =(

Celebrated my mom's b-day over the weekend at Royal Plaza on Scotts (we had high tea). Food was disappointing which made paying for the bill quite xian. I remember telling my sis that the prawn in the mee goreng was bigger than the prawn in the ha kao, wth?

Now that I am a recovering 'sickoholic'.... I need to re-double my efforts to master the lessons and to catch up on what I'm weak in! Looking forward to Thursday where I'll be learning basic German... Achtung Baby!

Cheem bit:
I think it's ok to fall off the horse provided you remember how to get on again... Too busy to dwell in self pity and crap like that! So let's charge forward and make the most of this week!!!

Labels: Being Sick, Mom's B-Day

Still nursing the cold which means I am alternating between having a sore throat and a runny nose. Friday's lessons was ok but felt very drained in terms of energy levels as my body is trying to fight off the infection.

Felt a bit demoralised when my tutor explained to us the size of the assignment that we are supposed to do... Quite a big chunk of work (both group and individual) and that is only one of many that we need to do this term!!! As you can guess, stress levels are up again! T_T

Still, I was reading an email that I received from a student from LPS and immediately I was reminded about why I wanted to become a teacher. When I see how my students are influenced by me to become better or smarter or more responsible, I feel so happy that they have achieved some form of growth...sort of like when the farmer sees all his crops at harvest time.

So I feel much better and this really keeps me focussed on doing my best in school, so that I can return back to LPS that much faster! So to everyone that reads this... gambatte!!!

Labels: Being Sick, LPS

Didn't go to school today as I caught a cold and have a throat infection (Talk too much and never preserve my voice...plus some retribution from when I was 'gloating' over Kirk's inability to eat spicy food, bleah!)

Took the opportunity to re-charge plus realised Dear Wife would expect me to cook tonight, so stopped by the market after visiting the doc's. No porridge today to DW's disappointment as they are closed on Thursday. Plan B was to buy some cheong fun and siew mai for her together with some seafood porridge for myself. Also went to buy some pork ribs, minced pork, watercress and chicken wings for dinner tonight.

The menu is (like in a posh restaurant):

• Watercress soup with pork ribs
• Garlic chicken wings in soysauce with ginger and honey
• Omelette with minced pork
• White rice
• Yong Tau Foo soup (leftover from yesterday's dinner)

Well, except for the last item which is a bit LC, the rest of the dishes are still quite presentable. Scrapped the omelette as I thought it was a bit too much food for 2 people to consume. Turns out that the chicken wings are still not that good as I need to keep refining the recipe which I had gotten from MIL.

Watched Hotel Rwanda on Star Movies in the afternoon during lunch and was shocked. Basically the movie is about the racial violence in Rwanda between the Hutus and the Tutsis and how a hotel manager Paul managed to help many refugees survive during the period. Although the UN forces were present, but it was sad that many of the so-called superpowers were not willing to help because Rwanda (as a country) did not have any thing of value. It was a situation where the refugees who were caught between the opposing forces were being slaughtered in the millions... I couldn't help but imagine the helplessness of being in a country that was being torn up internally by racial prejudice and being unable to defend your basic right to live in peace.

Living in Singapore is a blessing that many of us take for granted. We do not need to worry about finding food or clean water or shelter. So although we do love to complain about anything under the sky (the hot topic now is the NDR speech by PM Lee), it is still important that we take the time to be thankful for being in a country which is stable. It sounds very NE but seeing how the Rwandans were living, not knowing when a soldier or rioter would be brandishing a rifle or machete in front of their faces, makes me proud that we have an SAF to defend us. In order to get help from the police, Paul had to bribe the general several times. Can you imagine calling the police and having them ask you what you will be able to pay them if they help you?

So the next time when the govt passes another piece of legislation to fight terrorism or Changi Airport creates another rule to make searching for contraband easier, I'm going to try and remember that the cost of complaceny is destruction, that sometimes we have to give up a bit of convenience to preserve liberty and our way of life.

It's not ideal, but it's just the way it is.

Labels: Hotel Rwanda, Taking things for Granted

I won't really go through too much of what happened over the weekend as to recap can be quite xiong...(serves me right for taking such a long break!)

Key thing is the weekend went by in a flash:

• Dryswim with MIL on Sat, learnt how to cook fried beehoon in the process
• Spent most of Sunday cataloguing the books I had finished reading from my book list
• Latter bit of Sunday spent at Woodlands Regional Library hunting for new books
• Lectures on Monday followed by GESL session(we r moving according to plan)

I still feel that time is moving pretty fast (whether I like it or not) and deadlines are correspondingly closer as a result. T_T

Had a good discussion session with Kirk in the morning, we ended up talking about some common books we have read and our take on some science fiction stuff. We will be presenting something for one of the classes in Sep (we'll be dressing up, so I will most definitely post some pics after!)

Doing this at the canteen now as I have a class in 20 min time. Can't wait to finish school today as we are going to eat out + shopping...

Laterz...

Labels: speeding up of time

Yesterday was a pretty long day for me... started out crappily with me being late for class (still blur lor) despite spending $18 on cab(heart pain, hole in wallet).

And the tutor (She Who Must Not Be Named or SWMNBN for short) mentioned during class," I love how the group(who was making a presentation on fairy tales) brought along props like the glass slipper. Those of you who were late would not have seen this." *Gulp*

Then rushed for Bio lesson afterwards, panicked again cos I had to print out the wksheets for the lesson...(i hate last minute scrambles!=() Lunch was a pretty rushed affair as I had to go do some work at the lab immediately after.

Com Lab was 'flooded' with lots of people and it was impossible to get a PC until the dozen or so people in front of the queue disappear. Initially thought it was fortunate that I had brought along SnApPy but started to gnash my teeth when 30 min later, I had not even managed to connect wirelessly to the NIE Net. Doh!

Ed Psych lesson was hilarious as usual as we were discussing interesting issues like morals and motivation... It went something like this:

TUTOR: Alright, imagine the following case: you have just left the supermarket with your child and as you are getting into the car, he or she shows you a chocolate bar that they took without paying. What would you do?
STUDENT1 :Go back and pay for the bar...
STUDENT2 : What is the distance back?
STUDENT1: Doesn't matter, I will still go back.
ME: How about if it's a case where the item is taken from another country like the UK?

CLASS laughs.

STUDENT1:Hmmm....
ME: You mentioned that the distance didn't matter, right?
STUDENT3: Let's talk about extremes, how about a chocolate bar from the North Pole?

CLASS laughs again.

I find the lessons really thought-provoking, much more interesting than I expected. Hope that I can use it in the future.

Last lesson was EL Content Upgrading(sort of like remedial for people with insufficient EL knowledge). It was the last lesson of the course and included a post test (which is identical to the pre-test Xo) The tutor (Dr. Tan) was really a nice guy and he presented each student with a personalised bookmark handwritten with his solid calligraphy script. So touched... seriously.

I was supposed to meet some of my old pals in the evening to catch the Simpsons Movie at Great World City. Remembered that GWC has a shuttle service from City Hall MRT, so I caught a train from Boon Lay. Reached City Hall at 7.25pm and went to the pick up pt. However, started to worry after 25 min as the bus is nowhere in sight (lots of other services to Millenia Walk, Suntec,Central) so decided to walk to the bus stop to catch 195. And of course, once I reached the bus stop, I turn around to see the GWC shuttle leaving the pick up pt with passengers...so frustrated! Gah!!!

The movie was really gd... loved the opening sequence esp when Homer stands up and scolds the audience! LOL all the way! It was really amazing when the entire cinema audience is laughing, sometimes non-stop. All of us who were there had a long history with the Simpsons family.

I remember watching the Tracy Ullman show and laughing whenever they played a Simpsons' clip. When they brought the Simpsons to Singapore TV, I think I was in Sec 4 and we formed a group of 5 members with each member linked to a Simpsons character... I was Maggie =)

So I'm gonna end with some excerpts from the show...

The Pacifier is Mightier than the Sword


Spider Pig


seeya when i seeya!

Labels: breaks

Yep it's the time in the sch season where everyone is stressed about something. P6 students are stressed about PSLE oral, NIE student teachers are stressed about looming assignment deadlines and parents are stressed about where to take their (non-P6) kids for the holidays (thanks to the PSLE orals...)

If u sit down and think about it, the stress we feel is quite irrational. I mean, if, like all kuai students, you have prepared well for the exams and have faithfully done your homework throughout the sch year, u should be passing your exams without much difficulty. Seriously.
Of course, if you have just been slacking, then it's time to start praying for a miracle. (Whether the MAN upstairs wants to answer is variable, usually you will get slammed hard and become wiser in the process.)

During my PSLEs, we didn't mug as hard as we did during the 'O's and 'A's. Instead, without fail, we would troop over to Fort Canning Park to pay soccer after every exam...Yes we were very relaxed as to us it was just another exam.

Somewhere along the way, we have become so caught up with exam results and going to the top schs that we have forotten that the learning and growing doesn't stop when we step out the primary sch gate for the final time. So even if in the worse case scenario, the results suck and you can't get into the best sch. So what?

Yeah, maybe your parents will be disappointed, but life goes on right? Human beings are amazing for the simple reason that we can adapt to the harsh conditions that occur every once in a while in Life. So going to a "non-branded" sch will actually teach you how to make do with whatever you have and prevent you from developing a large head that might make entering the door to your home impossible.

It's also widely agreed that PSLE scores will have only a neglible impact on your life... No employer is going to say, " So you only managed an A for your PSLE Maths? I only hire straight A* staff! Get lost!" In fact they probably couldn't be bothered as they probably know (like me) that there are some people out there with golden PSLE results but who don't know the first thing about being a responsible and caring member of society. Duh!

All that being said, when we learn to understand our fear (irrational or not) , we take the first step to overcoming it. Think about the possible consequences and how you can deal with it. I heard from a tutor yesterday that approximately 5 sec sch students decide to "kick the bucket" every day. That works out to about 1825 lives a year! OMG! So don't add to the statistics, conquer your fears and try(just try la) to live with minimal regrets.

All the best to my students for the coming exams, I know you will be smiling when it's over!

This song is for P6D-The Sotongs:

Time of Your Life-Greenday

Labels: exams, stress

Just about 45min to go before my 1st lesson of the day. Had an interesting fruit lunch with one of my tutors... it was one of those "Jackpot" lunches, where u step into the canteen and hope to see someone familiar so that u won't have to eat alone. Kakis are all having lessons or something. So today it was Dr. Xiao Lan (luckily no g at the end)...

We chatted about the food and coincidentally she gave a lecture yesterday which I wanted to clarify as well. So I "bulldozed" my way to the table and sat down when she had no objections.

This is, like, my second long conversation with an NIE teaching staff. Yesterday evening, I spoke to Mr Chua (who is facilitator for my service learning gp, so zhun rite?) while waiting for Dear Wife to pick me up from school. Apparently he was also waiting for his Dear Wife... hahah!

I think about 11 yrs ago, I wouldn't even think about sitting down with a tutor for lunch or even starting up a conversation with a teacher...after all, talking with a teacher can be quite traumatic!

You start to feel self-conscious and your next word could reveal the secret that u r actually a moron in disguise... Or the teacher could end up talking to you about how you need to be more punctual or stop giving sub-standard work, etc. Too stressful la.

Now it seems that most of the original barriers are gone, I feel more confident (perhaps cos I'm not slacking as much as I used to) and it is possible to have an intelligent conversation. Although given their line of work, I'm sure they are not starved of intelligent conversations... Bleah!

So to cut a long story short, if you can, feel free to talk to your teachers when you can, they are quite lonely, u know? Perhaps u can engage in some mutual destressing as the PSLEs (or whatever exam season it is) are here?

Here's a song for the stressed out everywhere:

Lonely by Akon




seeya when i seeya!

Labels: guts, lunch

Went to school early to chope a carpark lot for Beng. Then had some time so went for breakfast at the NIE canteen. They have a nice breakfast set at the Western food stall. Washed it down with some tea and pulled out SnApPy to do some surfing. Next thing I knew, I had heard someone shouting,"Hey" in my direction and I look up to see Chee Weng in full running attire. Turns out he went running laps around the campus. Wished I was so athletically inclined... hahah. Oh well, step by step, I guess.

We spent some time chatting about the difference btw the Dip Eds and the PGDEs (I had the same conversation with WeiDa last week, hmmm?) Oh well, we work in an industry where paper certs are the currency. Sad but true. XP

By coincidence, met some pals at Cafe Hotshot(@NIE Library) recovering after an 830 lesson(it can be very demoralising). Had a quick nana muffin with some ice blended vanilla frappe cos I didn't have time for a full lunch. Rushed off to find my gp mates as we had a presentation at 230pm. We went through the stuff fairly quickly and distributed the work.

The lesson itself was quite fun as we spent the lesson taking turns pretending we were teachers and students in a EL class. The presentations involved the 'teachers' reading stories to the 'kids' and I think everyone had a good time role-playing. I was almost sent to the corner for being a naughty kid(smart aleck type slash low ability kid depending on my mood) Loved this exchange btw me and the 'cher:

'Cher: What's the name of the illustrator of the book?
Me: (raises hand) Hef...hef...heff...
'Cher: Just try, Anthony.
Me: Her-ran.
'Cher: Repeat after me. It's pronounced as 'Hefferan'
Me: It's pronounced as 'Hefferan'
'Cher: No, just 'Hefferan'
Me: No, just 'Hefferan' (breaks down into uncontrollable giggles with class)

Now you know why the teacher cannot tahan me... =))

During our presentation, we talked about the idea of celebrations, where we moved from just generic celebrations like b-days and Nat Day to anniversaries and funerals. Someone in class shared that in certain cultures, they celebrate for 3 straight days after someone passes away. What an idea! Then I shared this concept that I celebrate with my wife... called

***Can Nite***
Basically, it's a dinner in my family where everything for dinner is from cans (i.e. can food like luncheon meat, spicy pork cubes, etc.) You can imagine the looks on the faces of the class when I mentioned it. Yeah, I know, kind of unhealthy, right? Why would anyone do this if they had the choice and the money?

It's simple. My family wasn't always able to make ends meet in the past. So sometimes a can of luncheon meat and a loaf of bread would be 2 meals for us. And now when the quality of life is better, we do this to remind ourselves not to take things for granted. Seriously.

Ok now for something lighter. I heard this on the radio while driving and went to check out the video. Love the video and the editing!

'Hey There Delilah' by Plain White Tees



TGIF! Yeaaaaahhhhhh!

AC

Labels: can nite, hey there delilah, students, teaching

Woot! Watta week!

Labels: home visit, start work

Ho ho ho! Had a good time over the weekend at Candy Mountain! =)


Actually, spent the weekend doing lots of menial tasks like shopping for groceries, buying more interesting stuff for SnApPy... like lappy lock(to defend against Someone, heh heh) and some velcro ties for my bunch of wires (like a 'sotong').

Okie, recap time:


Friday (dress down, i.e. shirt and berms day!)

Always in gd spirits with the coming of the weekend. Came in to sch early to prep for lessons and received an unexpected bonus (lesson cancelled! except I was a bit blur so didn't realise the tutor mentioned it during the last lesson. Went to the comp lab and called for artistic back-up; I needed to sketch out what the costume design for Project Runway NIE (for which I am the clothes hanger).




Still, had a chance to chill out at the library cafe (Cafe Hotshot) and met some new friends, Isabel (the head librarian) and Max (the Hotshot boss). Realised that I needed to do the write-up for the Runway form, so decided to 'differentiate' our application form by writing a poem... ya, it's not Shakespeare or Frost but pretty ok under time constraint... (squeezed out in 1hr 45min flat!)


Singapore – ‘Rojak’ Couture


Simply amazing to say the least
Is the island country also a feast.
Not merely of cultures, cuisines and arts;
Garments, modelled with pineapple tarts.
A little bit of Chinese, Indian, Eurasian and Malay
Prepare for fun, dressed to play!
Origins unknown, does it matter?
Relish the feast, just slightly fatter
Enter the Singapore Model, Rojak Couture!

-by AC (edited by JH)




I was very grateful to Jaime for helping to edit in the end (cos started to panic when it got very close to lesson time and needed to send the soft-copy over to Christine @the Foundation Prog Office (FPO)) Luckily, she kept a calm head and lent a well-timed hand to the process.(No, she did not slap me!)

Had a gd session in class, some of us were a bit zapped cos of end of day syndrome...so tried to cheer them up with some sweets and positive energy! =P


Spent the evening at mother-in-law's(MIL) place, doing the 'dry swim'.




btw Friday was Beng's b-day!!!

(pls join in if u know the words...)




happy b-day to u,

happy b-day to u,

happy b-day to Bengs,

happy b-day to u!



Thanks for making it easy to travel in comfort and still feel like a pai kia... =)



Saturday
Woke up around 10plus to start the DIY car spa for Beng, standard car wash followed by detailing spray polish, for the SHINE... also gonna bring Beng for some professional pampering at the Glare 'spa'.

By the time I was done, it was about 2plus and Dear Wife had asked me to pack lunch from the market. Spazzed at home for a while and then went out to Sim Lim to pick up some stuff for SnApPy...managed to find some gd deals as there was a shop doing clearance sale. (lappy lock @$9 going for $16 elsewhere...)




Also bought a copy of Norton IS 2007 as the Norman Antivirus was giving lots of problems. Everytime I tried to plug in a thumb drive, it would beep that I had a virus??!! Duh?




Picked up a new All-In-One Epson printer (CX5500) with a small discount (3%)... ok la, save $6 dollars.


Dinner was carrot cake and satay from Alexandra Village-shiok! Except that the wait for the satay is quite 'xian'... they have a very inefficient order taking system! Plus the pork satay tasted like newspaper rolled into satay form. Very sad as the satay is usually quite ok.

MIL came over after dinner for endurance all night 'swim'... ended up at Redhill Mkt the next morning for porridge breakfast. Gd stuff , it usually is sold out by 10am. Luckily, we were there at 6am (Ha!)




Sunday

Needed to recover after the 'swim' so slept in late. Woke up about 12noon. Lunch was laksa from the kopitiam near our place. Even popped in to 7-Eleven for some juice and ended up buying a pair of 'Eeyore's (one for DW, one for me). It's now a part of my SnApPy's sleeve.

Spent the afternoon lazing around cos haven't fully recovered. Set up the new printer so both the desktop and the lappy can print using it. Now I can finally work on scanning some of my pics for SnApPy's wallpaper.

Popped by Vivo to get some stuff from Mini Toons cos some of my friends from ToRnAdO_19 are celebrating b-days on Sat. Bought cards as well on behalf of the gp... no time to scan in though...


Went over to my mom's to see my cats... only Trouble came to see me at the door (cos he was hungry) Kiki just opened one eye to check from his hiding place under the sofa and Heng was nowhere in sight. (the one in the pic is Kiki)


Then went over to MIL's to pick up dinner (now more like supper) for DW. Went home (finally!) to bathe and collate all the T19 timetables for use later this term.



Now u understand why i took a break from blogging??? Still no real regrets about how I spent my weekend...looking forward to the next one!



AC

Labels: beng's b-day, cats, poetry

To continue where I left off today, went to sch around 11 plus to do some work and hopefully grab lunch. Was huffing and puffing by the time I finished climbing up the 100 plus steps from Carpark 4 (must remember to take a pic for posting...) Reminded me about when I used to climb up to L6 of LPS (though didn't feel as bad cos I was travelling light then.)

Did some compulsory reading, then went off for classes (no time to grab any food T_T) We played icebreaker bingo as it was the first tutorial.

Basically, we are given a piece of paper with a 4 x 3 grid. In each of the 12 segments, there are descriptions like " Likes Peranakan food" or "Knows someone who has participated in Singapore Idol" etc. So all we need to do is to get someone in the class who fits the description to sign on the paper. Once the game started, it was pure chaos. I remember moving around the class to ask frantically for help from anyone who had this or that. And amazingly, it reached a point where I helped one of the other classmates to complete her paper to claim her prize. As there were only 2 prizes, most of us stopped once the 1st 2 entries were in, but I was vainly clinging on to the hope that the 1st 2 entries might have mistakes, and it really happened! Another mad scramble and this time I managed to complete the whole set and so along the way, I got to know another 12 new friends, namely : Indy,Zong Yu,Abigail, Meng How,Kenny, Jerene, Boon How,Jana, Corina,Esther, Jayarani and Patricia. Plus there was the prize, rite?

<------------My 'New' Book! Courtesy of Dr Jessie Ee


















My Winning Paper----------->











As you can guess by now, that was the start of a gd tutorial for me...(and my bedsheet is multi-coloured!)


This was followed by a lesson on InfoComm Tech (or ICT) by an ang moh tutor Dr. Williams which was also quite fun because he's quite funny but relaxed. After an interesting lesson, he introduced us to the discussion board and then became the first person to leave the class. The rest of the students quickly took his cue and left the room after a while. As for me, one more lesson to go...

Final one was tough as I felt tired and worn out(no lunch la!) Luckily managed to pop into the bookshop to get a Hershey's cookies and cream bar for a quick power up. Didn't really do the trick as I still felt sleepy (even now). Was thankful that we finished pretty fast and soon Iwas waiting for dear wife to pick up while unwillingly feeding mosquitoes at the bus-stop. Realised that it wasn't very healthy to 'skip' lunch and how it affected me in the rest of the day. If I had bad classes, I would have been out like a light. Thank God!


Had a scare just now while prepping this entry. The system prompted me to activate my Windows and then promptly told me that the registration product key was invalid. As it was a newly bought software, I did not expect any problems. No choice but to call them up and sorted it out by phone.

I'm just happy that today is FRIDAY!

No more 'power' failures please!

AC

Labels: power failure, winning

Okie, I've noticed that recently my 'blogging battery' is a little bit drained, not because nothing interesting is happening (on the contrary, it can be quite 'xiong' to keep track), but I seem to be doing my entries in the day instead of at night like the initial phase.

To recap:

had some interesting lessons yesterday on teaching text types. Turns out we need to do group presentations during the course and so there was a mad scramble for gp mates and the equally impt presentation topics.

it was made worse when the tutor arbitrarily decided to change it from 3 members to a gp to 2 members only! So now my newly formed gp is in a dilemma as to who to 'chop'. Thinking of sacrificing myself (so noble, rite?), but still need another teammate to form a new gp... still hunting!

Need to remind myself to be more adaptable as all things in life (and the classroom) are in a constant state of flux, so instead of complaining about things beyond my control, I should think about having a gd time anyway. Sort of challenge myself to be flexible and fluid like water... quite Zen rite?

We had a break for the director's welcome ceremony (which is like the boss of NIE giving a speech). The usual performances : dance, speeches/sharings, video presentations. Fortunately, there was a special performance by this gp called GoReca(?) which was basically kids who have learnt circus skills like acrobatics, juggling, etc. It wasn't Cirque du Soleil but the enthusiasm of the kids was amazing.

Watching them juggle reminded me of the time when I went to Club Med Bintan and tried to pick up juggling. It's actually quite fun and is apparently an exercise in 'diverse concentration'. Didn't manage to master, maybe will try again over the weekend(where can I find 3 balls?)

Dear Wife was unhappy due to a misunderstanding over dinner. We were supposed to have chicken curry, but she thought it was supposed to be 'yong tau foo'. I think she was looking forward to it, so it kinda pissed her off. So she gave me the 'black' face the entire night and retired early while I was still doing work. Haiz...

Woke up this morning and decided to mend the bridge by buying breakfast from the market and cooking 'yong tau foo' for dinner tonight. No opportunity to cook tonight as my last class today ends at 730pm. So quickly settled it when I came back.

AC




Although it's almost 4am, I'm still tapping on my new lappy... the Chinese call it ai4 bu4 shi4 shou3 T_T (tears of joy)


Spent a lot of effort bringing back the lappy (named "Snappy") from Funan and I think it's worth it as I'm now able to post stuff even if I'm stuck in school. Haha, I can hear all the jealous people (w/o lappies) who are itching to slap me! btw who slapped me huh? I will hunt u down... Bwahahahaha!

If you're reading this it's obvious that u have found out that I have moved my blog over but like the actual process of moving house, it's gonna take several trips... so hopefully by the time I'm done, this place will feel as good (if not better) than 360 Yahoo! Yay!

Still having a lot of fun in school although the work is slowly piling up. My friends and I will be doing a service learning project codenamed "GESL" which stands for Group Endeavours in Service Learning which is basically a community service project. We get to choose who we want to work with and what we will be doing to offer our help. I was elected (read 'saboed') to be the Gp Chairperson, but thankfully this gp is so energized that I will not need to do any pushing and we should be able to move along just fine. What a blessing!


Just wanna share something else that I'm trying to do in sch: I call it Active Optimism. Basically it means that irregardless of what happens to me during the day, I try to see a positive light (or silver lining) to the situation. Amazingly, it has made me a much more cheerful (and crazy) person. It's also quite infectious (not SARS la) in that I end up cracking more jokes (sometimes corny ones) which keeps everyone in gd spirits. This is quite impt when school days can stretch all the way to 7.30pm sometimes... Oh boy, at least I can enjoy the starry sky! (that's the AO kicking in...)


Had a good dinner with dear wife at Fish & Co at Jurong Point earlier this evening partly due to the friendly staff. Also bought a lappy sleeve for Snappy, must pamper a bit right?


Next target in sight is a good all-in-one printer/copier/scanner which is necessary for my assignments. Have my eye on a couple of models, will probably pop to Sim Lim to pick up this weekend...

Don't Worry, Be Wacky!

AC ;P

Labels: active optimism, GESL, Snappy

Recipe for Anthony:
a)Get 5 cups of humour, stir thoroughly till bubbles appear
b)Add in 1 teaspoon of common sense
c)Stir in 1 small bowl of respect marinated with honesty
d)Soak in humility for 15 minutes
e)Fry with some determination until satisfied
f)Garnish with as much enthusiasm as required
Bon Appetit! .


Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
-Robert Frost


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