My exploration in life… (diary for baby!)

Rite, I’m off to New York tomorrow.  After three weeks, I’m finally getting to see YEN!  I miss her so much; worrying for her and wishing to see her sooner when we’re not together is really taxing.  I’m sure she feels the same way too!

YEN has been such a darling to try give me some directions when I touch down.  The thing about The States that tips are mandatory.  Must remember that; or i’ll look silly if they ask for tips from me…  haha!  The time difference there is quite a bit too - they are thirteen hours (was twelve, just adjusted last week) behind our time.  So it’s night for them when it’s day here in Singapore…

Oh, I was pulling on the bathroom door to close it yesterday.  I don’t think I was using a lot of strength, but I had one of the two door "handles" pulled out inadvertently.  Gosh!  Now, anyone who does "big business" in there will find himself / herself looking straight into this hole in the door!  And the worst thing is, the "handle" was originally one piece of plastic, now broken into two.  Not sure if you can see what I mean, but you definitely cannot stick it back on…  Ha, there is absolutely no physical privacy / barrier / secrets between YEN and me now!

I received a SMS from my secondary school mate SHUNTIAN on Saturday afternoon, asking me to join him and the guys in playing street soccer at the NAN-DA street soccer court where we frequented years again every Sunday.  Wah, it was so many years ago then that we went to play every week - it was during 2000 and before my big accident!  So I met them (JUNYI, SHUNTIAN & YIXING) and enjoyed a couple hours of kick-around with them…  One point that I want to highlight - we are all so unfit now!  We played against a bunch of 21 year-old Malay / Chinese boys (who are serving their NS now, I gathered) in one-goal-round-robin games.  We beat them in skill (I think, as we were in the court for three successive games) at the start, and soon fatigue set in…  haha… we went out almost everything we went in later…  =P  Got to admit that we are old lah!

I came back not having studied much for my Grammar test on Saturday and Sunday.  And I was tired after that.  Luckily, the test is an open book one; I think I scored fairly alright at the test today…  I’m looking at an over all average grade of B or C for this module, hopefully??  Haha, i daren’t hope for more…

Ok, my classmate, Shawn, has asked for WWE figurines.  I told him I’ll try to get him one of SHAWN MICHAELS.  He performed his gymnastics routine using the theme of the wrestler, anyway.  He was the last performer, and it was a fun and hilarious way to end the individual routines, I thought…

My darling called me on Monday morning and told me that she was experiencing some bad time in New York.  I shan’t elaborate on that - probably write more on that later when we’ve found out what’s wrong.  I’m VERY VERY worried about her being alone there.  Not forgetting that she has to carry two large suitcases back all by herself when she leaves New York next Saturday.  My worry for her well being has led me to decide to buy an air ticket over to see her.  I’ll be leaving on next Tuesday, a day after my Grammar test, and handing up my individual 70% essay for Education Psychology four days early.  Gosh, I had to spend the whole of the past few nights to rush it out.

I am allowed to fly off to New York as tomorrow marks the beginning of a two week break before our final examinations - I won’t have to take leave; come to think of it, I don’t think I’ll be allowed leave, even if I applied…

I finally plucked up my courage to tell the Diploma Coordinator and my lecturer, Assoc. Prof. Michael Koh (newly promoted!), that I’m thinking of the possibility of making a switch to the General Diploma side.  I think I haven’t told too many people that I had this thought.  That’s probably because I have doubts over being able to be a good PE teacher, that Prof Koh has in mind…  He told me to find an opportune time the week after next to talk to him about why I’m thinking this way.  I’ll do that then, after seeing that YEN comes home safely with me.

So far, I’ve been scoring pretty average grades for so tests conducted already.  I had a B for an earlier Grammar test (that one was 45% weightage), scored 39 / 60 for a Growth and Motor Development test (that’s 20% weightage).  Think that’s all the grades that I know so far.  That has been average.  I’m neither pleased with or sad over them (the grades).  I know my abilities, and that’s about where I stand…

Today, SHAWN, ADRIAN and I performed our group sequence in Curriculum Gymnastics.  Think we emphasised showsmanship too much in our sequence / theme.  NICOLE, our instructor, spent a few "quiet" moments with us in the amid all the noise in the gymnasium.  She let us know how poorly we fared.  Seriously, looking at all the other group performances of my coursemates put me to shame too.  She wanted to give us another chance to redo our sequence.  But alas, the gymnasium will be carpeted from tomorrow and there seems to be no chance already for that.  So, she said she’ll just give us a borderline pass for the group sequence…  Sigh…

Think I’m too worried about YEN than for the words to hit me harder now.

It’s gonna be another busy week ahead.  Let’s see, to recap - a group project due on Monday (done! - thanks to Shawn), basketball individual assessment on Monday with the written test on Tuesday, essay assessment due for Classroom Management - Education Psychology on Monday (completed!), a Principle of Games written test on Wednesday (? or is it Thursday!?), the group assessment for Curriculum Gymnastics on Friday (haven’t done much about this!!)…  And Grammar test (that takes 55% of the total assessment) is on Monday the following week; have i left out anything??  Sigh…

It irks me a little when one of our lecturers say that he is disappointed in us PE-teachers-to-be, packing our back to go off at the very first chance we have after lessons; you just have to look at the amount of work we have to understand why!

Almost all of the gymnastics (individual) assessment has been completed.  Like I said earlier, there was so much to look forward to keep us in awe.  Kudos to Rachel, Emily, Jianwen, Yongsheng, Edmund, Haresh, Faizal and all the others that I haven’t been able to mention here who performed on Friday.  Seriously, I left gym class wondering if most of us should tender our resignations with MOE and take up gymnastics full-time, ha!  But they were just that creative…

Yes, the weeks are counting down to exams; but more importantly, Yen is coming home in two weeks’ time!!  Yes, yes!  My lovely wife!  =)  Some friends say it’s because we’re quite newly married - honeymoon period now, therefore the "can’t bear to have her leave me any longer" syndrome.  Personally, I don’t think it makes a difference if we were married yesterday or ten years ago; I’ll still want her to be home safe and sound, to be by my side every night.  But of course, people will say "Ha!  You’re just saying this now; just wait a few years and you’ll eat your words!"  Well, we’ll see, won’t we?

I received a wedding invitation from a ex-colleague, BENNIE, when I was working with SAF.  He’s holding his dinner at SWISS HOTEL MERCHANT COURT in end November.  =)  Yen will be back to attend with me by then.  Hopefully I can break some good news there, or even earlier. It’s a secret!   =)

Haha!  The assessment for me on individual floor sequence was completed today!  I heard ANDRE say, "Don’t worry about the what you are going to do out there; just go out there, make a fool out of yourself and get on with things!"  Wise words from an old former-commando (but it wouldn’t believe that he is one when you see him, I swear!), so I did, well, just that!

I had actually not had the chance to put my routine / sequence to practice as a flow before this, as there is only one gymnasium in NIE and it’s kinda always packed with people, especially nearing assignments and assessment time like this.  So I could only think of some things I wanted to do out there.  But I tell you, you’ll soon forget them all when you step onto the mat, with 40-plus pairs of eyes on you…  My classmates were a great confidence boost - they would cheer you on for the smallest of things down right, and egg you on when moves that turn out unsuccessful.  For these, I salute them.  =)

Back to the assessment, I did what Yen thought I could do for my theme - be in a role of a cat, which was playing with things and stuff like that.  Heck - to look the part, I even put on ANDRE’s bow-tie (which he used for his theme as a waiter)!  Ha, and the piece of music I used was the one for "PINK PANTHER".  So I scraped through.  But I’ve got to give special mention to these guys (at least) - JON, CLEMENT, JABBAR, EDGAR (special special mention cos he did the most daring move today on the vault, and of course, his striptease sequence), etc.  The list goes on!  And we’re only like three-quarters through our class!  If I were to name everyone, there wouldn’t be enough space here; and I’m looking forward to seeing FAIZAL’s, HARESH’s, and all the remaining guys’ and gals’ sequences!

There was a quick barrage of presentations, assignments and tests the past few days.  And they just can’t seem to stop, at least not now.  Matter of fact, I had three two-hour lessons today, and I had a presentation done (ok ok, I did not do much for the one today), a test for the GROWTH and MOTOR DEVELOPMENT module, and not forgetting the gymnastics assessment.  Think I was so worried last night that although I stopped studying for the test at one-plus a.m. the past night, I could only fall asleep at three-plus a.m.  Replaying in my mind again and again were the possible test questions,  the gym sequence I was to perform today, and of course YEN…  There’s still two more weeks before she returns!  She’s not here - I’m worried sick about her but glad to hear from our frequent overseas calls (gosh!  Don’t show me our phone bills for the next month!) that she has fit in there with minimal problems.  She’s not here to take care of me (now that I’ve fallen ill).  Gosh, I miss being pampered by her (of course I do likewise!)…

There is no time to relax as we have another group assignment due this Friday.  And an essay next Monday.  Oh yes, our group sequences for gymnastics is on Friday next week!  Last but not least, how can we forget about the Grammar test (55% weightage) on 31st October?!  These work are gettig to me.  Really!  Yen, come back soon!!!

As i read the headlines everyday, something unpleasant almost always greets me.  If it isn’t a hurricane, then it’s an earthquake, a flood, some unfortunate accident, dengue kills yet another victim, etc.  Sigh.  It’s depressing enough for all this happening around the world, and it’s especially alarming / worrying now that Yen is not by my side, alone in some other foreign country.  It makes it worse that she is in a reportedly dangerous place!  =(

I had spoke to Yen over the phone on Monday, and she is finally able to get Internet access.  And now that my dear wife is able to get access, she will be able to read my blog!  =)  Shall try to write whenever I can to update her of things back home!

I had my haircut done on Sunday nightat PIONEER MALL (not too far from my place).  It’s cut too short!  My mates at NIE who do not know about the accident i met in ‘00 thought that my scar was a deliberate move to seek attention!  Haha.  Why would i want to do that?!

Spent some free time in between lessons this morning and noon to do some reading of notes that i hadn’t been able to do so earlier.  Heard from my classmate, YONGSHENG - a really hardworking and nice guy, that rugby lesson this morning was their hardest and most physically demanding ever.  He was so tired that he almost fell asleep in the Lecture Theatre.  And he could not help it but fell asleep when we were in the Library!

I had stayed up till 3 a.m. this morning to get some assignment done.  I’m really surprised that i haven’t fallen asleep during classes today.  And i’m not exactly sleepy currently; why?  Think i miss Yen too much!…

My dearest wife has left me.  No!  She’d only left on Friday to the States for an overseas attachment to SLOAN KETTERING CANCER CENTRE in NEW YORK.  She’ll be away for a month.  I am going to miss her real bad…

Oh, we got our customary wedding dinner video back in September.  It took some time as my good friend, MING SONG, was busy doing up other videos he took too during the mad rush of wedding dinners held before the Chinese "Hungry Ghost Festival in August.  But I say it was worth waiting for - the video is very well done up!  Watching it together with Yen earlier, it did very well to rekindle our memories of the dinner then, bringing us bags of laughter.  Ha, we remembered enjoying almost every moment of the process then and will treasure each other much more.

Oh yes, there was a scene where MING SONG followed us to our wedding suite in the hotel then, as we were changing for our second suit of clothes.  And i saw this "fat guy" whom i couldn’t recognise on the TV screen.  It is yours truly, me!  Gosh!  I’ve griwn so many layers of "spare tyres"!!  Arrrgghh!

We had to make two presentations the past week for two separate tutorials.  And for both groups that I am a part of, we put up two different skits.  The first one was one that I was told to act as a primary schoolboy who "bullied" a classmate.  The other one was as a mentally retarded boy who almost drowned at the beach.  Think I put up quite a show for both that I am now kinda "well-recognised" in my classes…

The next week will see the start of our individual assessment for the module on Cirriculum Gymnastics.  Whoa; I would never have imagined myself doing what I’d been doing for its lessons before this July when I started life in NIE!  Back to the assessment - I have thought of a theme for my assessment, but am not sure how to put all the moves together.  And congratulate me - the group assessment (my group includes ADRIAN, SHAWN and me) will follow that, and we hardly have had any time to discuss on it, too!

Many assignments and tests will line up in these two weeks.  Following which, we will have to sit for our examinations.  Sigh - the pace is scary for us PE trainee teachers!  Is anyone from MOE / NIE / PESS HQ reading these??

We’re going to of lots of assignments due next week.  I’m taking a break from trying to accomplish them now.  Sigh!  Why does PE trainee teachers have so many more modules to take?  My project group mate from the general education diploma, Tyler, says he has 7 subjects, as compared to my 10 subjects.  Someone in-charge should look into our situation.  Our modules are not just studies and studies; the demands are physically tall orders as well.

The irony is that when we graduate to schools later, all the school’s staff will look at PE teachers and say we are the people with the most time.  Ha, that’s perhaps that we do not need to make assignments for PE, unlike English, Maths and Science, the languages, etc.  But we take up most jobs that require teachers to be in the sun!  And we take most CCAs too!  So much for whining…  Guess everyone’s view cannot be changed overnight.

And our lecturer, Dr Michael Koh, says that we should guard our PE lessons jealously.  He says we should never allow other teachers, especially HODs, to coerce us into giving up PE lessons to extra academic subject lessons, saying, "our lessons are more important; PE are not examinable at PSLE anyway!"  I agree with his point somewhat, but I think it applies to all lessons that I’m teaching, as long as I’m a teacher.  It doens’t just apply to PE…

We are still trying to wreck our brains over the individual and group floor exercises that we have to be assessed on just a couple of weeks down the road.  Gosh, I would never have imagined myself doing the gymnastics moves I have been trying out before July!  Now, I’m not a lot better than what I was before starting this course too, but at least I’ve learnt some things I can teach kids later in the school.  =)

Oh yeah, I was injured again last week.  It was last Friday, due to another freak accident involving Chris again.  It was Principle of Games, and we were supposed to be introduced to the game of basketball.  I don’t know what came into me, but towards the very end, i rushed forward to try intercept a ball.  Chris got it before me and he knocked his shoulder (or did I knock into him??) against my head.  And it was the very part I was operated on five years ago.  I was kind of dazed for a few seconds, and could not regain my composure for the rest of the day.  Luckily for me, the knock on my head seemed to have gone away the next day.  I’d better be more careful…