1/29/11
When I woke up I didn't think that I would be exhausted at the end of the day. Saying our work was cut out for us was a major understatement. The three in this apt. started the morning off with a breakfast and decided to continue cleaning and organizing. Before we knew it, the sun was setting and we needed to eat and prepare for tomorrow. A couple of us went to the library and other's stayed in the apts. By the time we looked up it was 10 pm and we decided that we all needed to take it down because the next day was our first day! I don't think any of the guys were worried about it, just ready to get it started. The last month's preparation has been geared to the first day. IT was finally here. Goodnight!!
1/30/11
One thing that I see I will have to get used to is the Azan. The morning prayer goes off on the KT loud speakers every morning at approx. 5:45-6 and 6:15-6:30. Now this wouldn't be so bad but I set my alarm clock for 6 am so I'm not able to get my extra 15 mins of IMPERATIVE sleep. So it's something I'm going to have to get used to. Now since I don't have transportation yet, Madam Zalina, a teacher/co-curricular leader at SMAASZA, volunteered to pick me up until I got the wheels. I was told that I was to address the entire student and teacher/admin. body that morning so I needed to be ready.
"Selamat Pagiiiiiiiiiiii" I chanted as the kids looked at me in awe. The students answered faintly. "Selamat PAGIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" I repeated. " PAGI!!!" they responded. I continued to greet them in a upbeat manner and what I was sure to be met with laughs and cheers!
" Talk slower" I heard from Madam Zalina. " The children cannot understand you". It all made sense, surely my sense of humor and jokes wern't dull. I just needed to slow down. I slowed down to a pace of which I equated to a backwards walk pace of . When I slowed down I then started to see their reactions and they were all positive. One of my tasks at hand was to work with the kids on their conversational skills so throughout my first day I made it a point to greet everyone possible for two reasons: to get the students and teachers responding to me and to see what level of conversational skills they possesed. In all my classes I heard "Sir, talk more slowly please." I honestly believe that this will be good not only for the kids but for myself also. The kids are so friendly. Everyone smiles and even greets you as a class when you enter and exit. I asked one of the students why do you do that? Her response, "sir, we do it out of respect for the teacher." So polite and respectful. No matter what the class, I was never responded to with a "yes, yea, or no." Before I left, I decided to explore the school and its many different levels. One side of the third floor overlooked the beach and the other overlooked the front of the school. As I was walking around that side of the building, I looked down and saw a huge purple sign. It had my name on it and was a greeting from the school to me. THANK YOU SMAASZA!! I was brought home and prepared for the next day.
1/31/11
Waking up before 7 so far has not proven beneficial in my sleep time; however, it does require you to change your mindset. Upon arrival to school today I was still greeted by the students with the "hello sir, how are you?". This makes my job easy. Them demonstrating this type of initiation of contact and communication with a foreigner is a good sign. My classes today had all seen me at the assembly the morning before so they all knew what type of energy that I present. While in class, I first introduce myself then ask them to introduce themselves by stating there name, age/birthday, what they want to be in life, and what are some of their favorite things to do? This is also a measure of what level kids I will be working with. Most of the students while introducing themselves looked down or away while talking and barely above a whisper. I also noticed differences in the way they pronunce letters and words. Also, spelling in some words was a little different becuase they are under the British system. Words like favorite were turned into favourite. Not wrong, just different. The evening once the ETAs all arrived back at home was spent sharing our first day stories and experiences. What a blessing to be welcomed by such a wonderful group of people.
2/1/11
Once again, the Azan was right on time at 5:45 am. Today at school, I was assigned 4 classes. The classes were great. As with yesterday, I started off the class by introducing myself and then having the students introduce theirselves to me. I can see now that it is going to be hard learning all the students name because they all have similar names. Each student different in personality, I am learning so much about each and every one of them. The teachers at the school are always smiling and very friendly! That makes any job easier. I feel as if I have been put in the right place, SMAASZA, to influence and be influenced. I tell my students at the end of their introductions that I'm not the only teacher in the room. We all are teachers and the interactions that we conduct for the next 9 months will prove to be beneficial in our growth as people and as students/educators.
2/2/11
The last day of the week this week is Kejohanan Sukan Antara Rumah SMAASZA or Championship of the House SMAASZA day. The school's activities run in blocks throughout the year. So right now, this week is interhouse competition. The only thing I can equate it to would be Harry Potter. SMAASZA is composed of 4 different houses each represented by a color. Red(Merah), Blue(Biru), Yellow(Kuning), and Green(Hijau) represent the different houses and they compete against each other. The championship day contested Ping Pong, Soccer, Takraw, Jaring, Volleyball, Petang, and Badminton. I was chosen to referee the soccer matches. It was an honor because usually they get a outside referee or top school official to do the job. The game brought me back to my "glory days" of playing soccer when I was younger. As I blew the whistle to start the game, it didn't take me long to realize two things: how good these young players were( some represent the state of Terengganu on a national level) AND how much fun I was having with the kids. I also realized that even though the sport and competition level is competitive it still revolved around a team. There was no showboating, arguing calls, confrontations amongst athletes just FUN. I have been any many situations where I have witnessed a call become confrontational or two players start arguing or fighting at ALL levels of a sport. But not here; times when I was sure that after two players inadvertently ran into each other that there was definetely going to be some type of face-to-face meeting, the other rushed over along with the rest of the team to check on the other person regardless of team. Two great games were played and I was honored to be apart of them both. Congrats lower Green and upper Red. Now the sport that Malaysia is internationally known for is Badminton. I was not surprised to see the athleticism displayed by these student athletes of ALL-ages. A couple of them also represented the state of Terengganu on a national level. They were on hand to display their talent and won their respective games. They contested single and doubles matches. Both matches were a spectacle of what SMAASZA has represented to me: a complete event in which there is respect for all on a competitive level but also being competitive and great while doing it. Congrats to Ya Walad(Blue) and the Yellow team. At the end of the competition they held an awards ceremony in which they crowned a runner up and champion as well as individual sport champions for both boys and girls. Congrats to all participants!! In the midst of all the excitement, there was a special award for the Best Referee of the Day. I was asked to join the principal and the rest of the championships' organizers on stage and then was presented with a official SMAASZA shirt!! I was soooooo happy because I was going to ask for anyway so this def helped me out. I really feel apart of this network of family and friends here at SMAASZA. THANK YOU SMAASZA
2/3/11
Myself and 5 other ETAs decided that we didn't want to go to Penang so we stayed here in KT. We were going to go to the Chemerung Waterfalls in Dungun, Terengganu in the southern region of Terengganu. We were invited by Megan and some of her school officials. We met the official and about 30 kids from the school at the school early that morning. The trip was about an hour and a half on the bus but along the way I talked with ShaSha and Mariam, two Form 3 students from the school. We bounced ideas back and forth and asked each other questions concerning grammatical and sentence structure questions! This way of learning I found to be much more beneficial for myself because I can apply what Im learning right then and there. When we got there, I was expecting a walkway laid path up this mountain to the waterfall. NO SIR, for most of the walk I felt like this was Man vs Wild. There was no clear and distinct path except for the roots that had been uprooted to show some faint sense of direction to the waterfall. It was FUN! All I could think about was the "jungle" that Kuba refered to when Kadari and I were kids. He used to take us in the backyard behind the fence and have us all throughout the woods calling it the "jungle". The walk was over a mile and tiresome. The only thing that kept us going(well two things) were the fact that we were in a unfamiliar place so the quicker we arrived there the quicker we would get back and the fact that we were having fun regardless of how tired we were. Once we got there it was all worth it. It was breathtaking; the water was white and flowing down the jagged rock and forest walls. This waterfall is the tallest in Southeast Asia so it was a sense of accomplishment to have climbed that far safely to see this. One thing that baffled me was the fact that some of the students all under 17 went hiking in sandals. I mean this was no easy terrain and these kids were carrying backpacks and jumping, hopping, and climbing in SANDALS. On the way back to the apt. we stopped at Ani's mentor house because it was Chinese New Year and it is tradititon to have "open house" and welcome walk-ins. Her and her family were very nice people and we ate great. We learned some Chinese traditions and customs while there and had a great time. THANK YOU That night at about 12am as I was watching TV, I heard a knock on the door and answered it. Here stood the foreman and a couple of his workers to continue working on the apt. I was like......its midnight and their response was "but you don't want to get bit by mosquitoes in the night." Couldn't argue with them on that one. THANK YOU God for all that you have bestowed upon me, I pray that I will embrace it all in and learn as much as possible, goodnight
When I woke up I didn't think that I would be exhausted at the end of the day. Saying our work was cut out for us was a major understatement. The three in this apt. started the morning off with a breakfast and decided to continue cleaning and organizing. Before we knew it, the sun was setting and we needed to eat and prepare for tomorrow. A couple of us went to the library and other's stayed in the apts. By the time we looked up it was 10 pm and we decided that we all needed to take it down because the next day was our first day! I don't think any of the guys were worried about it, just ready to get it started. The last month's preparation has been geared to the first day. IT was finally here. Goodnight!!
1/30/11
One thing that I see I will have to get used to is the Azan. The morning prayer goes off on the KT loud speakers every morning at approx. 5:45-6 and 6:15-6:30. Now this wouldn't be so bad but I set my alarm clock for 6 am so I'm not able to get my extra 15 mins of IMPERATIVE sleep. So it's something I'm going to have to get used to. Now since I don't have transportation yet, Madam Zalina, a teacher/co-curricular leader at SMAASZA, volunteered to pick me up until I got the wheels. I was told that I was to address the entire student and teacher/admin. body that morning so I needed to be ready.
"Selamat Pagiiiiiiiiiiii" I chanted as the kids looked at me in awe. The students answered faintly. "Selamat PAGIIIIIIIIIIIIIII" I repeated. " PAGI!!!" they responded. I continued to greet them in a upbeat manner and what I was sure to be met with laughs and cheers!
" Talk slower" I heard from Madam Zalina. " The children cannot understand you". It all made sense, surely my sense of humor and jokes wern't dull. I just needed to slow down. I slowed down to a pace of which I equated to a backwards walk pace of . When I slowed down I then started to see their reactions and they were all positive. One of my tasks at hand was to work with the kids on their conversational skills so throughout my first day I made it a point to greet everyone possible for two reasons: to get the students and teachers responding to me and to see what level of conversational skills they possesed. In all my classes I heard "Sir, talk more slowly please." I honestly believe that this will be good not only for the kids but for myself also. The kids are so friendly. Everyone smiles and even greets you as a class when you enter and exit. I asked one of the students why do you do that? Her response, "sir, we do it out of respect for the teacher." So polite and respectful. No matter what the class, I was never responded to with a "yes, yea, or no." Before I left, I decided to explore the school and its many different levels. One side of the third floor overlooked the beach and the other overlooked the front of the school. As I was walking around that side of the building, I looked down and saw a huge purple sign. It had my name on it and was a greeting from the school to me. THANK YOU SMAASZA!! I was brought home and prepared for the next day.
1/31/11
Waking up before 7 so far has not proven beneficial in my sleep time; however, it does require you to change your mindset. Upon arrival to school today I was still greeted by the students with the "hello sir, how are you?". This makes my job easy. Them demonstrating this type of initiation of contact and communication with a foreigner is a good sign. My classes today had all seen me at the assembly the morning before so they all knew what type of energy that I present. While in class, I first introduce myself then ask them to introduce themselves by stating there name, age/birthday, what they want to be in life, and what are some of their favorite things to do? This is also a measure of what level kids I will be working with. Most of the students while introducing themselves looked down or away while talking and barely above a whisper. I also noticed differences in the way they pronunce letters and words. Also, spelling in some words was a little different becuase they are under the British system. Words like favorite were turned into favourite. Not wrong, just different. The evening once the ETAs all arrived back at home was spent sharing our first day stories and experiences. What a blessing to be welcomed by such a wonderful group of people.
2/1/11
Once again, the Azan was right on time at 5:45 am. Today at school, I was assigned 4 classes. The classes were great. As with yesterday, I started off the class by introducing myself and then having the students introduce theirselves to me. I can see now that it is going to be hard learning all the students name because they all have similar names. Each student different in personality, I am learning so much about each and every one of them. The teachers at the school are always smiling and very friendly! That makes any job easier. I feel as if I have been put in the right place, SMAASZA, to influence and be influenced. I tell my students at the end of their introductions that I'm not the only teacher in the room. We all are teachers and the interactions that we conduct for the next 9 months will prove to be beneficial in our growth as people and as students/educators.
2/2/11
The last day of the week this week is Kejohanan Sukan Antara Rumah SMAASZA or Championship of the House SMAASZA day. The school's activities run in blocks throughout the year. So right now, this week is interhouse competition. The only thing I can equate it to would be Harry Potter. SMAASZA is composed of 4 different houses each represented by a color. Red(Merah), Blue(Biru), Yellow(Kuning), and Green(Hijau) represent the different houses and they compete against each other. The championship day contested Ping Pong, Soccer, Takraw, Jaring, Volleyball, Petang, and Badminton. I was chosen to referee the soccer matches. It was an honor because usually they get a outside referee or top school official to do the job. The game brought me back to my "glory days" of playing soccer when I was younger. As I blew the whistle to start the game, it didn't take me long to realize two things: how good these young players were( some represent the state of Terengganu on a national level) AND how much fun I was having with the kids. I also realized that even though the sport and competition level is competitive it still revolved around a team. There was no showboating, arguing calls, confrontations amongst athletes just FUN. I have been any many situations where I have witnessed a call become confrontational or two players start arguing or fighting at ALL levels of a sport. But not here; times when I was sure that after two players inadvertently ran into each other that there was definetely going to be some type of face-to-face meeting, the other rushed over along with the rest of the team to check on the other person regardless of team. Two great games were played and I was honored to be apart of them both. Congrats lower Green and upper Red. Now the sport that Malaysia is internationally known for is Badminton. I was not surprised to see the athleticism displayed by these student athletes of ALL-ages. A couple of them also represented the state of Terengganu on a national level. They were on hand to display their talent and won their respective games. They contested single and doubles matches. Both matches were a spectacle of what SMAASZA has represented to me: a complete event in which there is respect for all on a competitive level but also being competitive and great while doing it. Congrats to Ya Walad(Blue) and the Yellow team. At the end of the competition they held an awards ceremony in which they crowned a runner up and champion as well as individual sport champions for both boys and girls. Congrats to all participants!! In the midst of all the excitement, there was a special award for the Best Referee of the Day. I was asked to join the principal and the rest of the championships' organizers on stage and then was presented with a official SMAASZA shirt!! I was soooooo happy because I was going to ask for anyway so this def helped me out. I really feel apart of this network of family and friends here at SMAASZA. THANK YOU SMAASZA
2/3/11
Myself and 5 other ETAs decided that we didn't want to go to Penang so we stayed here in KT. We were going to go to the Chemerung Waterfalls in Dungun, Terengganu in the southern region of Terengganu. We were invited by Megan and some of her school officials. We met the official and about 30 kids from the school at the school early that morning. The trip was about an hour and a half on the bus but along the way I talked with ShaSha and Mariam, two Form 3 students from the school. We bounced ideas back and forth and asked each other questions concerning grammatical and sentence structure questions! This way of learning I found to be much more beneficial for myself because I can apply what Im learning right then and there. When we got there, I was expecting a walkway laid path up this mountain to the waterfall. NO SIR, for most of the walk I felt like this was Man vs Wild. There was no clear and distinct path except for the roots that had been uprooted to show some faint sense of direction to the waterfall. It was FUN! All I could think about was the "jungle" that Kuba refered to when Kadari and I were kids. He used to take us in the backyard behind the fence and have us all throughout the woods calling it the "jungle". The walk was over a mile and tiresome. The only thing that kept us going(well two things) were the fact that we were in a unfamiliar place so the quicker we arrived there the quicker we would get back and the fact that we were having fun regardless of how tired we were. Once we got there it was all worth it. It was breathtaking; the water was white and flowing down the jagged rock and forest walls. This waterfall is the tallest in Southeast Asia so it was a sense of accomplishment to have climbed that far safely to see this. One thing that baffled me was the fact that some of the students all under 17 went hiking in sandals. I mean this was no easy terrain and these kids were carrying backpacks and jumping, hopping, and climbing in SANDALS. On the way back to the apt. we stopped at Ani's mentor house because it was Chinese New Year and it is tradititon to have "open house" and welcome walk-ins. Her and her family were very nice people and we ate great. We learned some Chinese traditions and customs while there and had a great time. THANK YOU That night at about 12am as I was watching TV, I heard a knock on the door and answered it. Here stood the foreman and a couple of his workers to continue working on the apt. I was like......its midnight and their response was "but you don't want to get bit by mosquitoes in the night." Couldn't argue with them on that one. THANK YOU God for all that you have bestowed upon me, I pray that I will embrace it all in and learn as much as possible, goodnight
No comments:
Post a Comment