Plato
You know, sometimes i feel it's good not updating for a really long time so that people forget that you have a blog, and when you actually start blogging again, people won't know and everything becomes kinda private again. [
Nick
@
8:43 PM ]
I guess one word that sums up the first 5 weeks of school is simply the word "shit". Allow me to count the ways.
It has been so hectic that we barely have time to breathe. Let alone eat a proper meal in school. Thank goodness Lou rescues me by packing breakfast for me. (thanks beeee) so i'm not actually starving in school. However, there is just so much to do that it now seems normal to leave at 6pm daily. It doesn't help that as BTs trying to build up resources and teaching material, we are given so much "extra" above our teaching load. Not that i really mind, just to clarify, but sometimes i feel that we are beginning to lose focus of what we need to do in school. We are supposed to teach and educate the future generation, NOT event organisers, babysitters or anything else.
It has been so hectic that on some days, i wonder why i bother switching on the laptop. it's also on those days that i wonder if i am actually a teacher.
Teaching is actually fun. I'm trying to get students to see the value of studying and the look on their faces when they manage to get more than 80% in their English test is priceless. This is what makes teaching rewarding and worthwhile. That was what i signed up for.
As much as i complain and gripe about stuff, there are two things that keep me going. and i'm surviving because these are the two things makes things better.
The first reason is the students in the school. As naughty as they might be, they can be absolute angels at times. i swear my form class is schizophrenic. at times they can be so adorable, but at time certain individuals make me want to wring their neck. the floorball boys are a bunch who keep me going as well. having worked closely with the sec 1s this year, i think they have the potential to go far. also, i have more or less made it a personal mission to see that these 9 boys walk on the correct path. i really do want them to grow up and be contributors to society. that's my wish for them.
The second but most important reason is none other than for my dearest girl. as i've told her... i really wouldn't mind if she doesn't work because i see it as my duty to provide for her. she's the reminder to me everyday to continue to work hard, to get noticed so that people know of my contribution. in previous posts i have said that family is the most important, and because i'm going to begin one pretty soon, i'd have to suck it up and just work my ass off to provide for those i love.
i guess i'm somewhat surviving... despite all the work and stress... i'm just glad that there are still reasons for me to do what i do now.
the weekend is here!
there is truly a God =]
[
Nick
@
6:33 AM ]
Things didn’t particularly start well for the girls today but luckily they managed to recover well… I guess all it takes is for someone to calm down and play well and it will rub off on others. It ended well =] 11-5 to the girls!
Went on to watch the Sweden-Norway game… goodness… it was so amazing to see how Sweden plays. Everyone was working like a well-oiled machine and it was no surprise they ran riot… 17-3 to the Swedes! There were some moments that we could not help but gasp at their skills… looking at them really gives you a reality check on where you stand. Ugh.
Alright… end of today… time to make my rounds soon =]
[
Nick
@
6:16 AM ]
It has been great here so far and somehow I feel the weather has been kind to us. It was frosted when we first arrived but it hasn’t been all too cold recently. Everything is in a slight shade of grey and it doesn’t really help that the sun sets at like 3pm. The sun rises at like 8am and by 5 it would be as if it’s midnight. Cool!
Been sharing a place with the team officials and goalies. The 3 guys have got a “mansion” (according to Najib) to ourselves =P it isn’t that bad, just that there is a fear at night to not drink so much because we would have to trudge in the cold and unlock the main villa door just to use the toilet. Also, the goalies are sleeping pretty near the door so it wouldn’t be nice to disturb their rest too.
Of course, I haven’t been just staying at my own place. Every morning I would make my rounds to feed people vitamin C tablets and another round of housecalls at night. Also, there are also regular trips to Lou’s cabin (she’s so far away!) just to visit. I think she would spend the amount of time I take to reach her cabin just to suit up and come over =P
So far so good! The girls came out of the friendly unscathed (save for some people with cuts and bruises) but so far the only worry is Jaime. Hopefully she’ll be fine enough to play after passing a medical. Training yesterday was a nice, shirt but intensive session and if the girls continue to play at this tempo, I think they would do fine in the tournament.
So far the highlight of the trip was driving from Stockholm to Vasteras. The story is that there were no drivers to drive us back to our place so I drove one minibus back. The exciting part was that it was a left-hand drive and the roads are in different directions. Swedish roads have a lot of roundabouts and it was quite a challenge driving 2 hours after a long flight with non-quality sleep and with almost the passengers asleep. Really want to thank Beee for trying to stay awake to accompany me despite being so sleepy =]
I guess these are the updates so far, the first game for the ladies is coming up in less than 3 hours and let’s pray for a good start!
All the best beeee!
Was just writing essays for the kids and I thought this was probably the best one I wrote... not a true story but it kinda reflects how i'm feeling right now... [
Nick
@
12:42 PM ]
Promises are fragile. Sometimes, without thinking, we might fall into the trap of breaking our promises even though we do not mean to. Even though it could have been accidental, repeated occurrences may cause a dent in our credibility and others’ impression of us may be tainted.
Many people may think that breaking a small promise is not as bad as breaking a big one. However, this becomes a matter of perspective as what is small to you may not be small to them. A broken promise, no matter big or small, is still a broken promise.
I remember when I was in primary school, my parents were so busy working that they barely had time for me. The only time I had contact with them was during the weekends and throughout the week, I would await eagerly for the weekend to arrive so that I could finally spend some time with my parents. However, my parents had different ideas on spending their weekends. They usually spent the time glued to the television screen, catching up on what they had missed during the week.
That did not really matter to me as I was able to climb in between them and just spend time with them, even though it was in silence. The mere fact that I was able to be beside them physically was comforting enough after five days of absence each week.
One weekend, while we were at our usual routine lazing in bed watching television, my mother suggested spending the next weekend at the beach. At a tender age of 10 and after having spent uncountable weekends in bed, I was ecstatic. I could not believe my ears and I gave my parents the biggest hug I could muster at that time.
The weekdays following that promise seemed to be crawling at snail’s pace. The wait was painful as I counted down every minute to the promised day. I survived the week and on Saturday morning, I burst into my parents’ room in the morning expecting them to be as eager as I was.
However, all I saw was that they were still lying in bed with the television on. They looked at me quizzically and asked me why was I in my swimming trunks. The disappointment then was indescribable. My lips trembled as I reminded them of their promise the week before.
“Oh. We are feeling very tired, son. How about next week?” was all they could reply before their heads turned back to the screen in front of them.
My heart sank. I trudged out of their room with my small and innocent heart shattered. I just could not believe how I was brought to high up only to be sent crashing back to reality by my own parents.
From that weekend on, the incident was never spoken of and I never went to the beach with my parents. I also stopped my weekly visits to their room to watch television programmes with them and they never did once come into my room to check on me. I became distant and I had lost all respect for the two people who brought me into the world.
To them, not bringing me to the beach was a small matter. However, it had meant the world to me then. Till today, they do not realise that the cause of this distance between them and myself was caused by that one small promise they broke years ago. I doubt that they would ever find out too.
a week passed but it felt like 10 weeks... ugh. [
Nick
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11:34 PM ]
12 hour workdays are no joke... 16 hour ones are worse...
maybe it's time to cut back on other stuff...