4th Month Anniversary
17 Jan -17 May. 4 months of teaching. (and 2 weeks more...) yeah! ;)
Sounds short right? but it feels like ages..... Subtracting away all the sch holidays, the actual number of days we taught is...err.. few. yet, we are all burning out already.... can't believe a month ago, i was thinking of doing this long-term! sooooo tired... and starting to feel helpless as the syllabus is getting harder and all my weaknesses are starting to show... haha... must siam before i get "exposed"! haha...
in any case... though i have never really left the school at all, this
part of my life feels sooooo "isolated" from the previous
part of life. It's like... my memories of rj as a jc student is stored in one compartment of my brain, and my memories of rj as a relief teacher is stored in another compartment, and both sets of memories don't seem to link from one to the other though chronologically, they ought to... (ok i cant seem to put it down in words...) Well, different physical environments is a major reason, but essentially, the whole system, the teachers are still there, yet somehow it still feels so different...
- trudging down dull corridors past LT1, 2 and 3 towards the TSes vs trekking down loooooooong corridors past numerous i-dunno-what rooms
- walking past ghim moh estate with 6a ppl to buona vista mrt vs walking down an infinitely long pathway with RI's wall as the only scenery towards bishan mrt
- sitting in LT1 anxiously copying down notes (before lecturer removed the slide!) and fighting the urge to doze off vs sitting in LT 1 wide awake and marvelling "hey! i didn't understand this last time! oops!" and scorning at sound-asleep students
- Running errands as a Phy rep for Ms chan vs running errands as a Phy relief teacher for Ms chan
- Discussing abt teachers in their full names (so rude!! but it's not just me lor! :P) vs discussing abt teachers in their last name "Mr _____"
I seem to assume a "dual-identity"... When i am with my students, i naturally feel a sense of authority, i just feel like their "elderly" (zhang3 bei4). When i am with the teachers or fellow j3 relief teachers, i feel like a 19-year-old student again, free from that heavy reponsibility. And interestingly, my voice interchanges between the low and high pitches involuntarily! sheesh... i can't really explain this, u gotta listen urself haha..
but anw, no matter how tired i am now, i do like this identity. :) really, how many chances in my life will i get to assume such an interesting identity?
Had a satisfying buffet feast at Sakae Sushi with the fellow j3 relief teachers yesterday! All (but one) were with me since jan 17! we survived these 4 months, together. :) we "teachers" unbashedly flashing student passes to get student price! lolz! who cares la.. we r not tt rich oso wad! The lunch/dinner was really fun! heh!
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12:50 PM
