My Corner for Education

The other day when I was at a party, I met an old acquaintance, named R. I have known R for about 11 years. I remember we played basketball together once in a co-ed type of team. The guys were surprised to find out that I played like a Desperado. (hehehe) After that game, they never forget about my basketball skills and “my feisty spirit”. (They still often talk about that game.) Well, I always have to clarify that it is not easy to play with guys, especially, with guys who are much taller than me. (Note 1) The world is not designed for shorter people! Nature has not been kind to us, OK! (Sigh….)

Anyway, good old R still looked the same that day, not much has changed, and he is still SINGLE! Over the years, my friends (the host and the hostess) have been trying their best to introduce single ladies to their best friend R, but all in vain. R is not a picky kind of guy, either. In fact, he should be surrounded by lovely young ladies in my view! He is very handy with a decent look and a superb engineer job working for an energy company. So, what’s wrong with him?

We got to talk about this “dating” issue at the party. He mentioned that where he works is a predominantly male plant, full of engineers and production workers. The work place is not an ideal environment for him to meet the opposite sex. He seems to have other responsibilities at home because he is caring for his aging parents with his sister who is also single. It is simply not easy to find someone who would have the patience to complement him. The oversea Chinese circle is very small and simply does not have “resources” for him to find that special someone. I guess, over the years, my friends have been trying to find ladies from all different ethnic backgrounds for him. Maybe, those ladies are not what he has been hoping for.

It seems to be a modern societal problem for young people who are no longer into the partying or bar-hopping crowds. I heard this rumour, “One in eight couples met through Internet dating service in North America.” I call it a rumour because I have no source to verify it. However, I see it as a by-product of a progressing modern society where people are so caught up in their busy everyday life trying to secure a path to a successful career. By the time they are ready to settle down, they simply have missed many opportunities. If they were lucky (or unlucky) to be able to find someone early on, by this stage, they sometimes have to face another problem, so called “growing apart”. If they were civil, they would depart in a peaceful manner. If not, nasty things could evolve from the sour ending.

For whatever reasons, I feel for this type of lonely people around the world. No wonder, Internet becomes such a convenient tool for many to seek a companion through that route. R told me that one of his co-workers found someone through an online dating service after his divorce. The girl he met happens to live on the same street not too far from him. After they have dated for a while, now they are planning to get married. Without the Internet, they would not have ever met despite that they have lived on the same street for years and even jogged by each other’s houses every day.

I am heading to Amsterdam and Brussels for 10 days in August. We have never been to those cities before. I am big on research so I'd like to get some information on "must see" attractions for Netherland and Belgium. Trust me, I have been reading nonstop about the places I want to visit. I will not miss places like the Rembrandt and van Gogh Museums. In fact, we will be staying by the Rembrandt Square, but is there something else that is absolutely a "must-see"? (other than those regular "tourists' traps") It is always a good idea to listen to another traveler's valuable experiences. Please help me make a list of attractions to visit. 謝謝! Thank you!


All comments are welcome.

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I always like this song. The song is about Vincent van Gogh, the artist. I guess I can understand how a brilliant but troubled artist was not fully understood and accepted by others.

Dear Family and Friends:

It is unfortunate that my passport is not up to date. My new passport will not be ready until July 24. By then, it would be too late for us to leave for Taiwan. I have a conference in mid August and I have to go back to set up my brand new classroom in the last two weeks of August. (Hopefully, the new furniture will be arrived by then.) So, I am very sorry that I have to scrap the plan of going home this year. Instead, we are heading for Europe to visit friends there for a week and a half. I have not seen Taiwan for 7 years now. I know the island I left has changed quite a bit. I really miss all of you though. I would like to wish all of you a happy summer. (I heard that it is awfully hot over there.)

Julia

I visit other blogs often. Some of the blog friends are quite friendly and easy to communicate with. Lawrence’s blog is one of them. He openly welcomes my visit to his blog. The following is his latest article on the political scene. I totally understand the frustration and sentiments many people share in Taiwan. My reply to his latest article is too long to put in his comment box, so I posted it here just for a short while to share with him and all my readers.

The following is his article, http://blog.sina.com.tw/lawrencelin/article.php?pbgid=40275&entryid=572604,
and my passionate comments follow.

Dear Lawrence,

I totally agree with you. When we lay the bed, we will have to sleep in it, well at least,  for four years in this case. That is the consequence we have to pay in a democratic society. Taiwanese people voted the existing government in again four years ago, so we had to put up with this crap for another four years. Now it is finally time for Taiwanese as a collective to ask themselves, have the politicians done a good job governing Taiwan for the last four years? If not, let democracy be at work and vote them out!

Chinese like to talk about "relation and connection"! Just because so-and-so's brother's cousin's wife's uncle is a DPP and a good friend, it does not mean that so-and-so has to vote for DPP. We should vote for a capable and competent candidate who can truly work for the people in Taiwan. We ask for democracy in Taiwan, but have we been behaving like what democratic citizens should behave in a democratic society? Not really! How could we ask the United Nations or the world to take us seriously if the only news that comes out of Taiwan is politicians' fist fighting in the legislature and the President's scandal? Did people who voted them in give them the mandate to represent them and behave this way in the legislature? It is a farce in my view!

Surprise One!

My husband and I got married in the fall of 1990. By the time we settled into our new routine, Christmas had arrived and the New Year soon followed. My Da-Pong husband’s family had the tradition of having Christmas brunch and Christmas dinner on the 25th of December. On the New Year’s Day, the family would have a dinner together again. So, those two weeks of December were busy time for us.

The New Year's Day in 1991, we got down to the parking garage, ready to leave for the family dinner, only to discover that my husband's pride and joy Camero Z28 IROC had disappeared from the parking lot. Two months after we got married and on the first day of 1991, we suddenly fell into a black hole and became the victim of a car theft on New Year’s Day.

We did find the car. Police did anyway, three months later, in the middle of nowhere. The thieves took the whole car apart! The wheels were gone, the engine was pulled, the chairs were taken, and the whole car was ransacked. Nothing was left behind, including the cigarette lighter on the dashboard. The only thing left was the shell of the car body with the glass T roofs. Those stupid thieves did not realize that Glass T roofs were expensive items too, or maybe they wanted the car to look OK from a distance!

Apparently, the 1985 Camero Z28 IROC was the number one stolen car in North America. Thieves would take the car apart and sell those parts to auto shops all over North America. When I saw the empty car body, I cried in the deserted field where the car was dumped. I was sad to see the car but it was a closure for us! It also marked the end of my husband’s sports car era.

This is a very powerful slide show, so I think I should just post it here again to share with the readers. Many schools use it as a conversation starter. The creator for the slides has a web site that you should also check it out. Watch the slides and visit their web site afterwards. Here it is. http://shifthappens.wikispaces.com/
http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/did-you-know.html





The following is the older version of Did You Know?

The last week of school was very hectic. We had to move classroom from the portable into the new building in the hottest two days of the year. Why? That’s another story! Meanwhile, I was also busy shopping for prizes promised to my students. One group of students that I had to shop for was the Cool-lit Club members.

I wrote a blog article about the reading club that I took charge of twice a week after school on May 13. The club finally came to the end on June 14. We had all the students filled out the final survey and organized a big party for the participants. I knew they liked to come to Cool-Lit Club because of the treats and special attention given to them during the small group reading time. As their lead teacher, I was very proud of their consistent effort over those 12 weeks span. So, I promised that any student with full attendance record would be rewarded with a little prize. I tried to avoid the Hawthorne Effect (Note 1), so I did not tell them about the prize in advance. I waited till the end because I don’t want those students attending Cool Lit Club only for the prize.

At the party, I promised all students to return their journal back to them at the year end, and a little prize will be included for the students with perfect attendance record. To my surprise, the attendance rate for the club was extremely high. Honestly, I had to shop for almost 40 students. I got each junior student a cook book, Cooking for Children, and an I Spy book for each primary student. Now you probably would think that what an expensive present for a 10 year old who may not use it at all! Well, I thought so at first; however, the price was right for me, only a dollar each, and it is very well packaged. I did spend a lot of time, maybe too much time, shopping around for my students. It is still a very brave move in my part at the end to get them the cookbook. I did it because I thought they really enjoyed reading the recipes, the cooking and the baking experiences.

A few days later at the staff party, my co-worker told me that the cookbook that I gave them was a good idea. Some kids already commented on what they would like to cook. A few girls were talking about cooking food to sell as a business. (hahahahahaaa). Then they said they can make a flyer to advertise and design their own business cards to promote their food. Oh, my Goodness! What more can I ask for! Those are exactly what I would like to see in the future for our students, to be able to apply their reading to real life practice. During those long twelve weeks, these students, who normally disliked reading, learned to read instructions to cook at one centre and use computer software to design their flyers and business cards at another centre. Now, they could talk about using all those activities to help them pursue a dream, or even just to talk and plan about their dream. That’s amazing for a group of Grade 4 students!

After the survey, my teaching assistant did the tally for me for their pre- and post-survey. The result was amazing! All of them showed positive change on their overall attitude towards Reading. Ten percent of the students showed extremely significant improvement (100% turn around) on their attitude change. What can I say? As a teacher, if I could make a difference on one, one child alone, I would be so happy. Here we have a group of students who seem to enjoy reading so much now because they know there are more to it in reading. They truly understand what reading is all about- it is a life skill! It is impossible for teachers to teach students everything in life. We can only instill the passion for learning and show them the paths and the tools to continue their life long learning of their own in the future. (Note 2)

September 1993 came and went. I lost my father, and there was still no teaching job available. My self-esteem went down to the lowest point in my life. I started teaching on the weekends at the local Chinese School. During the daytime, I worked full time at the furniture store. I was frustrated because I could not do what I truly wanted to do. The business at the store was not the greatest either because consumers were really careful about their spending during the economic down time. Meanwhile, I kept on sending my resumes to school after school, any school within about an hour of driving distance because I had to think of winter commute here in Canada. I did not have a car then.

After I started working at the Chinese School, I decided to volunteer at an elementary school in my neighborhood. I needed some Canadian teaching experiences but no one could offer me one. So, I introduced myself to the vice principal and offered my help to teachers at the school. I met one of my classmates there at the school. She just started supplying for the school board. I was happy for her because she at least got a real job as a substitute teacher.

I volunteered for three and a half hours every morning from 8:30 to 12:00 at the school. After half a day of volunteer work, I would then take the bus to the store to work from 1:00 to 9:00 four days a week. I literally worked from 8:30 in the morning to 9:00 at night every day. On Saturday, I would teach from 9:00 to 12:00 at the Chinese School and then worked at the store from 1:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon.

I hate tears! I sometimes cried secretly during those dark days because I really had no idea how long I had to keep going on like that. It seemed to be no hope in sight for me to get hired as a professional teacher. My husband knew how eager I wanted to get a teaching job. He encouraged and supported me during those dark days because I spent a lot of time out of the house in order to gain what I had to put on my resume. He would change his work time to accommodate my schedule. He was concerned about my physical health and emotional stability. I had never cried that much in my entire life, but I could not tell my frustration to my family who were dear to me back home. My husband thought that I was literally stressing myself out. Sometimes, he would get really frustrated and tell me that I was my own worst enemy.

The job prospect was not good, and it went on for a while. I was not alone though. It was simply very difficult to get into teaching then. I met an East Indian teacher, Sheila, at the International Language School. She was a full time immigrant case worker for the Multicultural Council, and she also taught at the Hindi School on Saturday. I got to know her because I was a volunteer interpreter for new Chinese immigrants at the Council. Sheila was a teacher in India before she came to Canada. When I first met her, she was also looking for a teaching position. One fall day in 1994, she came to tell me that she just went to a hiring orientation at the neighbouring board. There were at least 3000 applicants there at the convention hall where they held the orientation. My spirit went down another level. It was almost impossible to get into teaching!