I've gone and done it. I've moved on and officially become a public servant in the employ of our glorious government. Yes, I am a TEACHER. Been posted to a certain Secondary School in the North East side of Singapore (public servant = official secrets acts = careful to watch what I say) and started since Wed last week. I must say it has been quite a bit of a ride. What can go wrong on the first day rite? Murphy's Law of course. =0)

First off, being the second time I took the bus to school and being unfamiliar with the route, I woke up far too early for my liking and arrived 1 hour ahead of time (0620hrs instead of 0720hrs). Had to sit and wait for my mentor teacher to arrive only to find that there were 10 Teachers on MC that day and one of them was, surprise, surprise, my mentor teacher. Now, it is a rule that no class must be without a teacher and my mentor teacher took 3 classes on that day. Talk about immediate promotion to co-form teacher. Ha! There was seriously no one else to assist then as the English dept people are really stretched (i.e. I am going to be SUPER busy when I get into full swing of things) so had to go into all her classes to take over.

Now, I did not teach the Almighty English Syllabus to the boys then as I wasn't prepared at all for it so what I did was to go into all classes and hopefully instilled the 'fear of God and Mr Ang' into their lives. Trust me, if you don't show them you mean business, these boys are likely to walk all over you. So as I would put it, I gave them hell. I sound like such a meanie teacher but hey, trust me, if you were me in that class, you would have done EXACTLY the same thing. Figured I was pretty nice to because I gave them all FREE TIME after our little intro to each other so they all got to play chess and cards and other silly things like flooding their desk with water (think Suez Canal, remember how your desk had this 'long kang' thingy at the top edge of the table?) and whatever secondary 2 boys do.

I did get my feet wet only today though as trial by fire to teach 2 classes on a new topic that we're covering currently call Factual Recount. Now, for the uninitiated, factual recount can be found in newspapers, police reports, biographies, history and annual reports etc. Mentor teacher told me after my class that I might be a little draggy that makes the students go into 'lala land' a little so still learning to balance what is fast and what is slow currently. There were some 'smart aleck's' in class that asked me certain questions that I really got stuck at today but thank God for my mentor teacher who stepped in to save the day. Besides that, the other technique is to pretend and act like you know and ask them BACK to answer the question, ha! 40 brains versus 1 bigger brain, certainly there's only so much I can do and the boys, I've discovered, are really quite intelligent if they want to be. But of course I will teach the right things and will get back to them on stuff that I really have no clue about. (eg. "What is an Adverbial 'cher?" Eugene's Brain: OMG! OMG! What the heck is that?!?!?? I've NEVER seen that word in my life and even if I did, what does it mean???? Adverb + Verb with a tail or something on the behind??? HELP!!!") =0p

The one pretty cool thing about the school is that they are all using MAC's and I really love using the Apple platform. Did you know that iChat is always switched on on all Mac's in all classes so that you can actually communicate with anyone on the network asking for help if you're really desperate so that it is really AWESOME. Talking about being connected when teaching. Am trying to log on messenger or to download it currently but IT admin has locked down the site and limited installation premissions so might not be able to communicate with the outside world as much as I want to though so that's perhaps the only drawback.

I've got till December to make up my mind about this career choice of mine. I was quite dismayed that some of the older generation teachers had quite a pessimistic mindset about the teaching profession (one teacher said to me: "Brave thing you're doing. Good luck to you!") but then again I don't really blame them. Times have really changed and getting attention from the boys to learn about stuff is really of challenging to the max I tell you. Not easy getting abused from them boys day in and out I will say. I trust that I won't turn into a heck of a sourpuss after 4 years of this, ha! One must keep his focus regardless of it all I say.

I still can't believe that I've gone and done it and am giving my childhood dream a shot but hey, you don't really want to be old and haggard and telling yourself why you didn't give yourself a chance, no matter how long or short, in living your dream rites? ;0)

This goes out to all the peeps in Meta whom I had the greatest privilege and honor to work with. I will miss you lots! You guys are flipping awesome!!!

Sang to the tune of CAKE – I WILL SURVIVE

At first I was afraid, I was petrified
kept thinking I could not design what you had specified
But then I spent too many days redrawing what you just said wrong
and I grew strong
and I learned how to get along
 
And now you're back
with more amends
I just walked in to find you here
with that dumb*** look on your face
I should have changed that stupid plan
I should have made you pay that fee
If I had known for just one second
you'd be back to bother me

Oh go now go,
delete that box
move the pic around now
you don't wanna pay for it anymore
Were you the one who tries to bug me with amends
you think I'd crumble
you think I lie down and die?

Oh no not I
I will survive...

I got Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease!!! Stuck at home for ONE whole week to be away from peeps! Man....this sucks.... This is SUPPOSED to be a kiddy disease, not meant for adults, guess I still qualify as a kid I suppose, hahahaha! Will post gross pictures if i can! heh!

Things You'd Love to Say at Work, but Can't

1. I can see your point, but I still think you're full of shit.
2. I don't know what your problem is, but I'll bet it's hard to pronounce.
3. How about never? Is never good for you?
4. I see you've set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
5. I'm really easy to get along with once you people learn to see it my way.
6. I'll try being nicer if you'll try being smarter.
7. I'm out of my mind, but feel free to leave a message...
8. I don't work here. I'm a consultant.
9. It sounds like English, but I can't understand a word you're saying.
10. Ahhh... I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again...
11. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
12. You are validating my inherent mistrust of strangers.
13. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don't give a damn.
14. I'm already visualizing the duct tape over your mouth.
15. I will always cherish the initial misconceptions I had about you.
16. Thank you. We're all refreshed and challenged by your unique point of view.
17. The fact that no one understands you doesn't mean you're an artist.
18. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
19. What am I? Flypaper for freaks!?
20. I'm not being rude. You're just insignificant.
21. It's a thankless job, but I've got a lot of Karma to burn off.
22. Yes, I am an agent of Satan, but my duties are largely ceremonial.
23. And your crybaby whiny-butt opinion would be...?
24. Do I look like a people person?
25. This isn't an office. It's Hell with fluorescent lighting.
26. I started out with nothing & still have most of it left.
27. Sarcasm is just one more service we offer.
28. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
29. Errors have been made. Others will be blamed.
30. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
31. I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.
32. A cubicle is just a padded cell without a door.
33. Can I trade this job for what's behind door #1?
34. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
35. Nice perfume. Must you marinate in it?
36. Chaos, panic and disorder - my work here is done.
37. How do I set a laser printer to stun?
38. I thought I wanted a career, turns out I just wanted paychecks.