Thursday, March 11, 2010
Duties....
Sometimes I really do wonder…. Why do people have to work? There is just too much stress during work… Can’t people just resort to the good old days where everyone just barter trade? Well, what to do, the world is such that each and every day is an improvement of the day before… fret not on the present and the past and look to the future. It has been almost 2 month since I came to this small little town to start my career as an English teacher in a small missionary school. Initially for the first few weeks things were just smooth sailing until one of the teachers was offered a post in the district education office. Then, things started to unfold. Apparently, I was to take over all the duties held by that teacher in school. Gosh, I thought to myself. There was just too much responsibility that the teacher was holding in school. Ketua panitia, ketua dokumentasi, guru penasihat bola keranjang, form teacher and so much more! And guess what, all these duties, well almost all these duties were single-handedly handed to me in one day! Well, to say one day would be over-estimating…. To be exact, 2 hours on a Friday! My oh my…. Not that I am incapable of doing it, but to digest all that information as the ketua panitia in 2 hours was just plain complex. As he explained all the duties to me, I was like… ‘oh ok… erm….’ Honestly speaking, I was totally lost. It felt like the story ‘Journey to The Centre of The Earth’. Every step and every move, every information was a brand new experience and journey to me. The best part about this subject is that it is not a tested component in the SPM and PMR examinations but was a compulsory subject to be taught! Well, that was just one of the advantages… but in term of duties… there was just so much work to do. First and foremost, the panel has not had any meeting at all and of which I have to conduct some time, somehow, some day. Second was that the March test was just around the corner and I had to assign teachers to come up with test papers. The funny things was that due to the fact that the teaching panel was constantly evolving and changing, I was not even sure of who are the teachers involved. Oh well, that where the skill of ‘tembak-ing’ comes in. I randomly assigned a teacher who was teaching a particular form to come up with the test paper for that form. So I thought it would be all good! On the day of test, one of the teachers came up to me and said, ‘hey, why is it that there are 2 sets of papers for form 1 and none for form 4?’ I was like, IMPOSSIBLE!!!!! I had already assigned a teacher for each form and it was perfectly understood! With just 30 minutes to go, I frantically went around checking and looking for the teacher! My oh my, I found out that the teacher who was supposed to come up with the test papers for form 4 did papers for form 1! Goodness gracious me! I was practically scratching my head thinking of what could be done! Brilliantly, well not so brilliant, one of the teachers said, ‘why not take one of the form 1 papers and turn it into form 4 papers?’ At that moment, I immediately agreed as there was nothing that I can do to come up with papers for form 4! Well, we did that and we shall see what happens next!!! Let’s hope that I would not be boiling in hot soup!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Teaching In BM
It was a truly awkward situation to actually teach in Bahasa Melayu when you are an English teacher. Every single word that comes out of your mouth would just seem weird and unnatural for you. That was how I felt when I was given the task to take over a teacher’s class, Form 4, Pendidikan Sivik dsan Kewarganegaraan. Trust me, it was really weird! I was practically struggling to speak in BM! As my Sri Aman students’ always say “ Teacher your BM is weird”. Now I know it is really weird! That was not the worst! I am currently teaching in Sabah and their BM is totally different too! Gosh , it was an effort! I tried my best to converse in BM throughout the lesson and thank God it turned out alright! The students were quite a handful but I managed to control them after a few rounds of prep talk. Well, you know, just the usual teacher-student talk, laying down the ground rules…. Thankfully the students were obedient enough to follow and my instructions. Truly it was a horrifying experience and also at the same time a wonderful one as I venture myself into school life as a teacher. Above all else, I do give thanks to God for blessing me with so many things and experiences in life!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Sabah, oh Sabah….
26th January marked my journey to the land where God has placed me for my first ever career posting. Honestly, I was really excited about this posting as I was eager to know what God had planned for me. As I said goodbye to my parents, I knew that I will be alone probably for the next few weeks of school till I am able to see them again. This was the first time that I truly felt the loneliness in me. Strangely, my trip to New Zealand wasn’t that lonely compared to this.
At 12pm, my plane to Kota Kinabalu took off! As it reached for the sky, I began to miss home. I felt as if my home was so so so far away, beyond anything that I can reach. The flight took me almost 3 hours to arrive in KK. After clearing everything, we were picked up by a few district education officers and were told that we would be heading off straight to our placement district. Not really knowing what was going on, I just followed orders. In the beginning, we expected that there would be a briefing in KK but due to the current economic recession, the education department had to cut short some of the state activities and therefore, we were sent straight to our district. The district officers who picked us up were very nice people and they were very accommodating. They even went to the extent of helping us find accommodation! I’ve heard of stories where there were some teachers who were left to fend for themselves when they arrive in town! Thank God!
The journey to Tenom was picturesque! The view was really awesome as we drove up the Crocker Ranges, with green hills on both sides of the road throughout the journey. In contrary to what was expected, the road leading to Tenom was quite good. I was like any other roads in Semenanjung Malaysia, apart from a few steep stretches of road. Imagine driving up a road, uphill at an angle of 25 degrees! My oh my, it was scary at first but the feeling just subsided as we reached the peak of the road where the view was just plain AWESOME!
Upon reaching my district, I was picked up by school principal. He seemed a nice man to me. He found a place for me to stay, saving me from all the headaches of finding accommodation across town. He even offered to show me around town! As I settled in my new room, I found that there were no windows in it! OMG! I was really disappointed! The room was warm and stuffy! So I decided to call my landlord and asked if I could possible look at other rooms with proper ventilation. He gladly showed my around the house and eventually, I moved to another room. Well, this new room is smaller than before but the consolation is that there are windows, not that it helped much!
When I began unpacking, the feeling of loneliness began to set in. Somehow tears just began to flow down my cheeks. I really miss my family a lot! Thank God for my mother who helped iron my shirts before I left. There was nothing in the house, not in even in the room! All I had in my room were 2 mattresses, a chair and a fan and of course lights. Boy! Was I surprised! It felt like some cheap budget hotels around town, like the ones you see in Hong Kon movie where people pick hookers up and do the job for the night, EXCEPT that this was a house close to my school, less than 3 minutes away! During this time, I was desperately looking for some comfort and companionship in the midst of my loneliness in Tenom. I texted my family, loved ones and even friends, just to get away from the feeling of being lonely…. No doubt my loved one and family were very encouraging. They kept feeding me with encouragements which I really needed at that time! THANK GOD FOR THEM! The night wasn’t that great, I unpacked a little bit, had my shower, ate and tried sleeping…. WHAT A SLEEPLESS night it would be!
At 12pm, my plane to Kota Kinabalu took off! As it reached for the sky, I began to miss home. I felt as if my home was so so so far away, beyond anything that I can reach. The flight took me almost 3 hours to arrive in KK. After clearing everything, we were picked up by a few district education officers and were told that we would be heading off straight to our placement district. Not really knowing what was going on, I just followed orders. In the beginning, we expected that there would be a briefing in KK but due to the current economic recession, the education department had to cut short some of the state activities and therefore, we were sent straight to our district. The district officers who picked us up were very nice people and they were very accommodating. They even went to the extent of helping us find accommodation! I’ve heard of stories where there were some teachers who were left to fend for themselves when they arrive in town! Thank God!
The journey to Tenom was picturesque! The view was really awesome as we drove up the Crocker Ranges, with green hills on both sides of the road throughout the journey. In contrary to what was expected, the road leading to Tenom was quite good. I was like any other roads in Semenanjung Malaysia, apart from a few steep stretches of road. Imagine driving up a road, uphill at an angle of 25 degrees! My oh my, it was scary at first but the feeling just subsided as we reached the peak of the road where the view was just plain AWESOME!
Upon reaching my district, I was picked up by school principal. He seemed a nice man to me. He found a place for me to stay, saving me from all the headaches of finding accommodation across town. He even offered to show me around town! As I settled in my new room, I found that there were no windows in it! OMG! I was really disappointed! The room was warm and stuffy! So I decided to call my landlord and asked if I could possible look at other rooms with proper ventilation. He gladly showed my around the house and eventually, I moved to another room. Well, this new room is smaller than before but the consolation is that there are windows, not that it helped much!
When I began unpacking, the feeling of loneliness began to set in. Somehow tears just began to flow down my cheeks. I really miss my family a lot! Thank God for my mother who helped iron my shirts before I left. There was nothing in the house, not in even in the room! All I had in my room were 2 mattresses, a chair and a fan and of course lights. Boy! Was I surprised! It felt like some cheap budget hotels around town, like the ones you see in Hong Kon movie where people pick hookers up and do the job for the night, EXCEPT that this was a house close to my school, less than 3 minutes away! During this time, I was desperately looking for some comfort and companionship in the midst of my loneliness in Tenom. I texted my family, loved ones and even friends, just to get away from the feeling of being lonely…. No doubt my loved one and family were very encouraging. They kept feeding me with encouragements which I really needed at that time! THANK GOD FOR THEM! The night wasn’t that great, I unpacked a little bit, had my shower, ate and tried sleeping…. WHAT A SLEEPLESS night it would be!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Posting
Well, well, well,
I am back with news regarding my posting. Recently everyone has been busy calling here and there to enquire about their posting... Well, I have got mine.... According to the letter, my very first posting of my career will be in the state of Sabah! Yes, that's right SABAH, a state in Borneo Island! Somehow or rather, I have been thinking to myself of whether I should be happy or be saddened by this news! Some people say, sorry to hear about that, and some says, you will have a good experience there and many things await you in Sabah. To me, I am kinda confused.... But one things for sure is that I am actually quite excited about my first posting.... It's like going into an unknown land and trying to my a difference in the lives of the people there. Well, I will try my best to do what I can! Though it may be tough, but I trust that through this experience I will grow up to be a better teacher and person. Besides, there are so many things that I can do there! Woohoo!!! At the same time, I feel sad too as my whole family is here. It's kinda painful to leave them after coming back to Malaysia a year ago from my 2 years of studies in Aotearoa. I love my family a lot and I will definitely miss them heaps! Not only my family that I will miss, my loved one too! As I will definitely be in Sabah, she is still uncertain as to where her posting would be. So that remains a mystery but one thing for sure, distance will not be a hindrance for us! We shall go through the tough time together until we emerge victorious..... Haih.. I know I sound crap, language is bad, but well who cares! This is a midnight post and as expected, CRAPS and BAD LANGUAGE! haha! Chaoz!
I am back with news regarding my posting. Recently everyone has been busy calling here and there to enquire about their posting... Well, I have got mine.... According to the letter, my very first posting of my career will be in the state of Sabah! Yes, that's right SABAH, a state in Borneo Island! Somehow or rather, I have been thinking to myself of whether I should be happy or be saddened by this news! Some people say, sorry to hear about that, and some says, you will have a good experience there and many things await you in Sabah. To me, I am kinda confused.... But one things for sure is that I am actually quite excited about my first posting.... It's like going into an unknown land and trying to my a difference in the lives of the people there. Well, I will try my best to do what I can! Though it may be tough, but I trust that through this experience I will grow up to be a better teacher and person. Besides, there are so many things that I can do there! Woohoo!!! At the same time, I feel sad too as my whole family is here. It's kinda painful to leave them after coming back to Malaysia a year ago from my 2 years of studies in Aotearoa. I love my family a lot and I will definitely miss them heaps! Not only my family that I will miss, my loved one too! As I will definitely be in Sabah, she is still uncertain as to where her posting would be. So that remains a mystery but one thing for sure, distance will not be a hindrance for us! We shall go through the tough time together until we emerge victorious..... Haih.. I know I sound crap, language is bad, but well who cares! This is a midnight post and as expected, CRAPS and BAD LANGUAGE! haha! Chaoz!
Saturday, January 2, 2010
2010
A brand new year with brand new challenges! First up is my career! What am I going to face in my first few years of my work...? I have no idea.... Let's just wait patiently or even eagerly for what is about to happen when my placement unfolds in January 2010.... Will post soon... Chaoz.....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
