I get into a relationship easily, usually too trusting, but those who know me would know that i take every relationship really seriously… Perhaps a lil too serious for my own good.

And i was battling this lil curse called the ‘three months mark’… No matter how much effort i put into that relationship, i did not get pass 3 months..  as somehow a 3rd person appears, he has commitment issues, i unravelled lies, or there was an unforgetable disappearing act…

… To an extent, i started developing an unexplainable fear as the 3rd month approaches… Until i met V, and i got really emotional when we celebrated the 3 monthsary… It was a breakthrough for me and i thought he is the One!

Then again, we did not survive 1 year. And i was the one who broke it off. He respected me and did not pick up a fight.. So we just ended things with mutual understanding…

And then, i met alex, at the other end of the world.

We actually celebrated or made it a point to keep count of the months we were together, because we never know how long we will last then, and every month was a mark of success for us, and a time to congratulate each other for making it..

Imagine my disbelief and immense gratefulness, when Alex and i celebrated our first year of togetherness… And came the second… And later the third

Although the time we spent apart was way more than the time we were together physically, just somehow someway, we are still going strong..

I have people throwing doubts, telling me its easier to give up;

I have a close friend telling me that she doesn’t think alex and i will have a future together;

I have to constantly stand up for what we have and convince others to have faith in us;

I have to pray everyday for the Lord to watch over us…

Well, 2 days ago, marked us being together in a committed relationship for 3 years 5 months

We missed a lot of significant events to spend together… But we both believe that if we persevere on, that day will come

Here, i would like to shamelessly declare that…
‘ i love you Alex Liao..  and i want to continue loving you’

*shy*

Anyway, this post is just to recount my luluness from the past few days. I think i totally outperform myself lmao…

So people of this world, please read and feel comforted that there’s someone dumber than you out there. ..

Case #1
I had a rather packed day of classes so i was exhausteddddd.. Then during my only free time, students from 4A4 wanted to borrow spbt books… @##%/&

As the penyelaras for f4 spbt, i had to be in charge. So the students followed me to the far end of the school where the books storeroom is, i went to get the keys from the LK staffroom, and got them their books.

When they all happily received their 14 heavy textbooks, i sent them off eagerly, hanged the keys back at the LK staffroom, and walked all the way to my own staffroom to enjoy my remaining 15 mins of break…

Once i reached my desk…

Jeng jeng jeng…

I REALISED I LEFT MY OWN HOUSE KEYS INSTEAD OF THE SPBT STOREKEY AT THE LK STAFFROOM!!!!!!!!

My world completely crashed as i dragged my tired self all the way to the LK staffroom…

ONLY TO FIND THAT ROOM LOCKED!!!

I can see my poor keys dangling at the far corner…huhu..

I called up the teachers from the LK staffroom but no one picked up T_________T
Thank the almighty God a student came with KEYS!!!

Only those who been to my school would understand the dire pain and distress of walking to and fro to get my keys… It is quite a walkkkkkk…

Case #2
Two days ago, dad asked me to make sugar syrup for the tea…

And he asked me, ‘can you do it?’

I answered back, ‘you see me no up?!’ and went to the kitchen…
After boiling water and putting in the crystal cubes… Then pouring the syrup into the tea…
To my utmost horror..

The drink is now SALTY!!!!!!!!

Yup … I accidentally used salt instead of sugar…… *luluness scored!!!*

Ok.. I think i already humiliated myself enough…

Happy CNY everyone!!!!!

I adore animals, when they look cute, and when they don’t bite.

AND I lack the energy and passion to clean after their poo or the willingness to sacrifice my possessions as their chew toys.

But on quiet days like these,

It made me chuckled, thinking of how Cindy’s hyperactive puppy – Muffy, tried to hump my leg all the day, even though Muffy is a she.

Or how Muffy loves my hair, often trying to chew it.

Or how Muffy pounds on me, when I lie down, and licks me literally EVERYWHERE.

*say HI to Muffy*

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or how RiRi settles down quietly, looking like a gem with her big watery eyes~

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I guess, having some company always feels nice.

But for those of us, who are hopelessly in love with someone, staying far apart is something painful, a reality you’d wish for a difference.

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Today is one of the days, that I looked at myself, and wondered what have I gotten myself into.

Here I am, alone in Gua Musang, shivering in the cold with fever and flu, pressing my bloated tummy firmly, cringing from my period pain; while he is thousands of miles away.

Was I sad?

Yes.

Was I suffering?

Yes.

Was I yearning for his company?

Yes. Yes. and YES.

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But then again, I realised that I do know what I have gotten myself into.

Though we were so far way from each other,

though I fall sick quite easily and is kind of an inconvenience, (he asked before ‘don’t you feel tired feeling ill half the time in the month? 1 week of being super weak during PMS, and 1 week of being super weak and in pain during period?’ LMAO WHAT KIND OF A QUESTION IS THAT?)

though I am least attractive when I am sick,

He tries his best to be there for me. Not physically, but he is there.

He cheers me up with funny links, engages me with intellectual and silly conversations, entertains me on the phone, and is super patient and sweet to me.

Today, we had quite a record breaking chat time together – imagine 8 hours of purely conversations. Not even skype as he ran out of his bandwidth, and it was also kinda stormy today (bad for skype video-calling).

After 8 hours, we practically ran out of things to talk about. But when he called to say goodnight, we somehow managed to talk more about this chicken wings recipe he might try out the week after next LOL.

They say a little bit of distance, helps in the long run.

To stay strong amidst life’s busyness, worldly temptations, and cruel trials and tribulations,

It has to be way more than just lust and longing.

I love to think, that it is called love.

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Even though I am accepting this distance, I am not denying that this is a difficult journey.

But I am persevering, because I found a person worth fighting for.

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There’s no real purpose to this entry really.

Just that,

I MISS HIM,

very very much.

I was

#likeaboss

Once again, I am super thankful for the over-whelming response, especially from my fellow teaching mates <3

I value the constructive feedback, encouragement, and great sharing of ideas!

I too managed to ‘convince’ Dzeti, and welcome her with open arms to join in this lil project too, so there will be more classes from Gua Musang

Maybe I should give this thing a name. Anyone with a brilliant suggestion?

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As of now, we have 2 schools, 7 classes from Sabah, 2 schools, 5 classes from Kedah,  3 schools, 6 classes from Johor, and 1 school, 4 classes from Kelantan in this project!!! More is welcome of course!
Don’t worry, I won’t be hoarding all the different schools for my own kids, will also serve as a mediator to link one school to the other.

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Let’s really try to make this work!

And please share, if you have the perfect name for this Letter-Exchanging project

So, I kinda swept this whole idea away and focused on my teaching for the whole of last year.

Then, I attended a MATES session in Manurewa Intermediate during my short visit to Auckland last holiday… and the fire was reignited.

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Though I was kinda invited there to reunite with some old ‘colleagues’ of mine and also to observe the growth of MATES, I found myself being inspired once again as these uni students’ passion and enthusiasm were pretty contagious

It got me back to thinking, why should I give up completely on any form of mentoring for my kids?

I had seen how mentoring works in lives of at-risk young kids, and I had experienced the importance of becoming an adult figure to the young one who had been craving parental attention.

While my kids on the other hand, come from really low socio-economic status (parents mainly labourers or rubber tappers) and they lack well-needed exposure to the world beyond their current lives. They too can benefit from any form of mentoring.

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I do have my ideas and hopes. In fact, if I ever move over to New Zealand (God willing), this ‘idea’ of mine would be something that I want to carry on.

But as for now, I am taking things slow, one step at a time. I do have quite a lot on my hands at the moment and I don’t want to jump into any ‘grand’, ‘fancy-pancy’ initiatives and end up not finishing the race. I do though, want to start somewhere.

And this somewhere, refers to offering my students authentic letter-writing experiences through letters-exchanging with students from other states.

This would be a trial-run – getting students to apply English while making friends with someone out of their circles, getting exposure and knowledge from their new pen-pal, building a connection.

I really do want to see how this go, and hopefully we could expand to other bigger areas, such as involving teacher trainees or tertiary students.

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So here comes the plea for help

Thanks to Piqah, I may already have a potential partner to try out this letter-exchanging thing; but I still hope that more teachers out there would be interested to try this initiative with me. My students are mostly in Form 4 and 5 but they are really weak in English, as in really weak. However, they are really good kids with good learning attitude and I think they deserve such an experience.

So if you are interested to know more, or to be involved, please drop me a comment or email me at felicia_p7@yahoo.com

And to all teachers out there,

Let’s kick some ass in our schools

and for once, I was glad for the rooster I had always wanted to slaughter, as it crowed loudly and proudly at the ungodly hour of 7am on my precious weekend – I woke up, with a huge relief that it was all but a dream.

Then it made me realise, that we may whine and complain about our shitty situations or days, when someone out there is just fighting to live another day. (in fact, I too read something along that line on twitter the other day). Dreams like this, though violent, bloody and ruin my beauty sleep, serves as a teaching to me – to always be grateful, for the things He has blessed me with.

and with that, I want to learn to count my blessings everyday.

The counting starts now.

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1. I am grateful that my dad calls me everyday, few times a day.

Though I am going to be twenty- f. i. v. e *sad sad*, he stills checks on my daily updates, offers me motivation and teaching advice, and sometimes life wisdom. Because of him, I definitely learned to be more grounded and humble. Thank you daddy.

And though mummy and daddy have their differences at times, I look up to them and want to have a marriage life like them. They are my best teachers that impacted me the most

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2. I am grateful that my parents are proud of me just as I am proud of them.

When I decided to take up teaching instead of following the expectations of the others, they were the ones who backed me up, and reassured me that I was on the right track.

When I did the class magazine for my previous 5S1, my dad bought a book and showed off to all his teaching colleagues.

When I met my parents’ friends, I found out everyone knew that I am teaching in Gua Musang and told me they kept hearing great things about me from my parents.

Thank you, daddy and mummy

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3. I am grateful that despite the distance and time difference, my partner remains faithful, understanding and loving.

Both sides agreed to make the effort, and he exceeded my expectations in every way, often surprising me with his commitment in this relationship of ours.

He made me believe that LDR is possible,

He is my best friend, and lover.

(pic taken when he proposed to me on that beautiful morning, on top of One Tree Hill)

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4. I am grateful that I have plenty of holidays as a teacher XD

The CNY break is coming soon, and I can’t wait to receive red packets while I can, and to also give red packets for the first time in my life (as a full time working adult) to my grandma and my parents

But I need to remind myself to have self control and not over-indulge in the food galore during the festive season! *mental note to self*

EAT GRANDMA’S SPECIAL NASI LEMAK IN MODERATION!!!!

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5. I am grateful that my students have the desire to learn.

Maybe its the starting of the new year and they are more ‘semangat’, but I do hope that I will be able to help them sustain the interest to learn and make English fun and accessible to them.

One of my main goals this year, is to achieve a good balance between grammar, writing, and conversational English in my teaching.

Will continue to share more lesson plans that worked well for my classes in the future.

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That’s all from me peeps

(Ms. lil me)

I was so happy that I rewarded myself with a small packet of chipsmore, and slightly regretting after lol.

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You know what they say, practice makes perfect, and experience builds up a character.

2011, I was this young, enthusiastic beginning teacher who thought I knew it all. Come on, I was an English optionist, I graduated from an overseas university,I had the excellence award for my practicum and I could speak better English than most of my colleagues.

Yes, I wasn’t exactly a very humble teacher.

I admit I had attitude problem and felt myself many a times not well-appreciated enough….

……….Until I faced my first class.

The know-it-all teacher was traumatised by a group of students who could hardly understand her, and she could not even understand what they were trying to say!

Talking of eating the humble pie.

It took me one year, lots of consultation with my ever-wonderful parents, earnest discussions with ZT, trials and errors, for me to reach the stage when I think I finally know what I am doing.

And I sincerely thank some of you out there for your heart-warming emails and messages. It is comforting to know that I am not alone, or that I must be doing something right. Once again, thanks

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This first week has been kind to me; but I have yet to meet my 4A1 and 4A3. I hope they won’t bite. lol

and I completely SAYANG my 5A2, the class I’m in charged of. They are complete darlings, which more than make up for their very weak proficiency in English.

PLUS, I probably be teaching quite a few tuition classes, so there should be a lot more income rolling in

So yea.. For now, I have a good feeling of this year.

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On a side note, I do miss Alex a huge lot.

a HUGE lot.

Lord, do bless our relationship and guide us in Your ways and in Your will.

5.50am: Wake up, get ready for school

7.15am: Reach school and fight with the teachers to punch my card @_@

7.30am: Conduct discipleship with my Christian students

then school hours plus meetings

3.30pm: Reached home, showered, and started chatting with Alex and friends, stalking people on facebook, blogs and twitter, doing intelligent browsing like ‘how to get rid of love handles’ etc

5.30pm: EXERCISE. ZUMBA flat abs workout.

6.30pm: Goodnight call with Alex (he is 5 hours ahead of the Malaysian time T___T)

Then dinner. As in green apple and orange. No more food after 6.45pm.

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So, basically the point of this entry is to share one of my new year resolution: which is to shed 4 nasty kg of fats, accumulated by my excessive indulgence during the break T___T

I’m surprised that I’m getting used to 20 mins Zumba everyday and my stricter diet. HOPEFULLY, this is not another hot hot chicken shit thing from me again and I could slowly upped my exercise regime.

At the very least, I want to try to keep this up for 3 months. AT LEAST.

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So why the sudden need of such determination?

I guess I had enough of me whining about getting on a diet or wanting to slim down miraculously, and not doing about it. Most importantly, I want to stop feeling fat.

Ok, I may not be fat to many, but I have many parts that I am super not proud of. I am definitely not aiming for a supermodel figure or whatnot, I just want to feel fit and healthy.

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OK ENOUGH OF THE FAT TALK.

How’s teaching so far?

To be honest, I am very grateful at how things turn out. My lessons went better than I expected, I love my homeclass kids, and I think I managed to tame 5A5 (maybe that’s still too early to say lol)

And also, I FINALLY CAN HAZ MY OWN DESK!!!!!!!!! No more sharing with the teacher from the afternoon session. SO my newer project would be to accessorise my OWN DESK! Yeshhh bebehhhh!!!

I have yet settled down on any eye candies for that ‘special motivation’ in teaching *gatalness* but I was really touched when students came to hug me saying they missed me during the break

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Before I pen off, allow me to share on my ’1st lesson’ with the classes I entered. The procedures may differ slightly as I adapt the lesson to the different levels of the students.

General stimulus: I taught the word ‘TALENT’ (my 17 year olds never heard of the word before), and got a few of them to tell me what are they good at. Then I probed them to tell me what can they do to let their ‘talents’ shine. From there, I moved on to another word, ‘RESOLUTION’. I spent some time explaining this, giving examples, and making students write 3 simple resolutions in these forms: (1) I want, (2) I will, (3) I can.

1st stage: I distributed handouts of the lyrics of I Believe I Can Fly, by R. Kelly. This song maybe the classic cheesy song of all time, but it is slow enough, with much simpler words, and simple present form of action verbs, which I conveniently ommited. I played the song, students paid full attention trying to write down the missing verbs.

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I used to _______ that I could not go on
And life was nothing but an awful song
But now I _______ the meaning of true love
I’m __________ on the everlasting arms

If I can _______ it, then I can ________ it
If I just ________ it, there’s nothing to it

[Chorus:]
I believe I can _________
I believe I can _________ the sky
I _________ about it every night and day
Spread my wings and fly away
I believe I can __________
I see me running through that open door
I _________ I can fly
I _________ I can fly
I _________ I can fly

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2nd stage: Discussion. Discussion of the lyrics took much longer time than expected because of student’s lack of proficiency. But I made sure that I drilled them on a few words to add onto their vocabulary… Now, the student that did not even know what’s the meaning of ‘fly’ can tell me ‘awful’ means ‘teruk’. Objective achieved!

After the discussion, and recitation of the lyrics, I allowed the students to sing the song with the music

3rd stage: For the super weak students, I got them to write 5 sentences using the 5 ‘new words’ I taught them. I even had to give them model sentences for them to replace words. For instance, Awful: The __________ is awful. You be surprised not everyone could even do that as many of them are even illiterate. BUT, by the end of the lesson, EVERYONE submitted their 5 sentences! *tears of joy*

For the better students, I got them to switch the original verbs with their own verbs. They had more fun with that and I could see some creativity

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Closure: To wrap things up, I got the students to chant out their ‘I want, I will, I can.’ Of course, there were some cheeky ones who started belting out ‘I believe I can fly’ which I didn’t really mind.

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SO yup, that’s my Introduction Lesson for the classes I’m teaching. Feel free to share with me how yours went or what could be improved in my lesson

Constructive feedback is very much appreciated!

xoxo

from a beginning teacher who is still learning every freaking day.