Back from the Ashes

“Material things have always meant happiness,” my curry-stuffed friend said as he chewed on the last bit of beef brisket.  I looked at him, then to his iPhone 4, then to my relatively cheap(er) HTC Salsa and then I wondered why I’m still smiling after all these years.

Sawdust stove. Photo by ketoo

A day ago I was in front of my class telling them a piece of my childhood, particularly the summer days I have spent with my grandmothers.  We lived at my grandmother’s house for the most part of my childhood.  Nanay and Lola Pacing were both notoriously stingy despite having a steady flow of cheques from a wealthy sister.  They chose to grow their own vegetables, raise their own pigs and ducks, sourced their own water, made their own cooking stove, and if they could, they’d probably generate their own electricity.  Nursery rhyme potential, I know, e,i,e,i,o.  As a result, I learned how to grow plants, clean a sty and turn sawdust into a stove.  Somehow, they managed to do those things on a daily basis and never complained.  On times when I helped out, I actually had fun with the chores.  My class was mesmerized at my grandmas’ resourcefulness.  As a price for hearing my story, I let them answer Post-Reading questions on “Caring for Others”.

Back on our dinner table, my friend asked if he’s too ambitious.  I said that it’s not a bad thing.  I told him that maybe I’m not ambitious enough.  I told him that I’m contented.  I’m a person who’s easily contented.  And I asked him if it’s a bad thing.  No answer.

I suppose people have different views on happiness.  Whatever makes one person happy may not be true for another.  When I look at myself, like really look inside of me, I can honestly say that I am happy.  I have sad times, that's a given, but I've always felt that I am still better off than most people.  I can have more, I guess, and maybe I deserve more.  But then I would remember the sawdust stove.  I remember packing handfuls of sawdust into a paint bucket.  I remember the amazement of having to cook a meal without spending for gas.  I remember using the ash from the stove for washing up dishes.  Maybe we deserve more but maybe we already have what we need and we just need to start being creative.

You Look Like You Need a Free HK Holiday!

I was busy snubbing my blog because I've neglected myself when I stumbled upon Rye's blog.  Summer break is over but I didn't have a proper R and R so Rye's contest might be the only chance I have to a first class pampering this year.

But I know you're as knackered as I am so why don't we roll our dice at it and see who's luckier?

Point and click your mouse here: Rye's Hong Kong Holiday Contest, read his entry and follow the rules.  You owe me dinner and drinks if you win.


Quick Question of the day: (In honor of the contest,) Who let the dogs out? 

Leave your comments to this post or your creative responses to the QQ by clicking on the orange number beside the post title. Click on Like if you enjoyed reading, Share on Facebook if you think it's a good read.

342: Board to Death

Cut, paste, trace, snip, punch, pin, lace, dot.  A week before classes start, teachers are expected to be at their craftiest.  Where's my fairy godmother when I need her?

Decorating a classroom has never been my strongest point but this year, I'm determined to give it my best.  The newly painted 5th grade room is giving me positive energy.

It's no secret that P5 classroom has a ghost or two.  I haven't seen one but I can vouche for eight-legged freaks on a daily basis.  But all these bad press need to go away and the only way to do that is reclaim the cool.  My new tenants will be proud of their classroom come September.

I snapped a couple of photos from my progress so far.  I'll post more pictures of the rest of my boards soon.  I'm all tapped out, to be honest so I'll end this post before I use up the last drops of my creative juices.

Quick Question of the day: Any suggestion for a classroom bulletin board? 

Leave your comments to this post or your creative responses to the QQ by clicking on the orange number beside the post title. Click on Like if you enjoyed reading, Share on Facebook if you think it's a good read.

343: The Animal Kingdom According to Matthew

Matthew's back!  My trusty companion when I'm alone in the classroom after classes is back from his Indonesian holiday.  With a hermit crab in a glass box, he gave me a hug and a kiss and said, "Sir Jay, I have a new pet!"

Matthew is our cleaner's son so he's basically part of the school family.  Matthew's obsession is the animal kingdom.  From dinosaurs to reptiles to mammals and, apparently, crustaceans, he observes, studies, and draws anything that moves.

I asked him what he did in Indonesia.  His eyes lit up and he started to stutter.  He stutters when he's excited.  "Yee, yee, yee, yeeow know, we went to the zoo!" he said.  I asked him if he went to the beach.  "Yes, but wait, aaa, aaa, aaayyy, I want to tell you about the zoo," he began his long story.

When Matthew left three weeks ago, he was mesmerized with Komodo Dragons.  But now, he's into bats.  He drew bats.  Bats with Mickey Mouse ears.  Bats with pointy ears.  Fossils of bats.  He drew a vampire, too!  I made him promise not to draw scary pictures with blood on them.

He talked about the animals he saw in Indonesia for the most part of the day.  The hermit crab kept peeking out from its shell to see if Matthew has set it free or at least stopped yakking about "optopuses" or "porchupies" or "chicken with big feathers".

Finally, Matthew drew the naughty monkey who stole his sister's food during their trip.  He also drew an elephant.  I asked him to name the monkey and the elephant.  Like a true English lad (and I'm not making this up) he named his animals after the two better known (for me at least) English Youtubers: Charlie and Alex.  Of course baby Matthew never watches Youtube so I assume it's just pure Brit genes in action.

Incidentally, Charlieissocoollike recently uploaded a music video about monkeys!  

I'm just glad my little monkey is back to keep me company.

Quick Question of the day: What name would you give YOUR monkey? 

Leave your comments to this post or your creative responses to the QQ by clicking on the orange number beside the post title. Click on Like if you enjoyed reading, Share on Facebook if you think it's a good read.

344: The Dearly Departed

The unmistakable incense, which I've been used to smelling, was stronger than ever as I passed by Long Ping Estate this afternoon.  August 23rd this year is Hungry Ghosts Month.  Billows of smoke from cardboard shoes, cars and clothes, joss sticks, and an array of food both fresh and rotting lined the walkway.  Black ash breezed past my face in fluid slow motion.  Welcoming the dead back to the world of the living has its repercussions--they're bound to bring something back with them to the underworld.

The gates of Heaven and Hell are open.

I woke up to the sound of a bell and a woman's voice.  "Next stop, Sham Shui Po," the recording said.  I looked out the bus window and saw the first drops of rain trickling down the pane.  Perfect, now all I need is some music to dampen my spirit even more.  Before I could even reach for my Sammy (yes, I'm not an Apple fanboi), the bus rolled to the stop so I reached for my umbrella instead.

I have finally decided to get rid of my phone, hopefully for a better one in the very near future (is an HTC Windows Phone too soon?).  But for better or for worse, I was there, haggling with suspicious looking merchants who knew the sellers from the buyers by the way they clutch their phone boxes.

After checking almost every stall, I settled to do my business with a slightly naive girl (bless you if you thought that was kinky).  The haggling was a bit tedious but not surprising.  Most of the stalls were expectedly controlled by a higher rank.  Each time I approached a vendor, they'd make a call.  I can only imagine the person at the end of the line having to hear a dozen versions of an HTC Touch Diamond 2 in very good condition with a very cheap asking price.

The exchange itself was quick.  Money, box, split.  And that's the underworld of Sham Shui Po.  I thought departing from my precious would be dramatic especially with the sudden rain.  But in reality, the first thing that comes to your mind is find shelter.

I got back to Yuen Long just in time to catch the news at the mall.  Most of the shoppers were glued on the TV.  I got curious.  It seemed action-packed.  A bus with Chinese words was parked horizontally in the middle of a highway.  I thought it was happening live somewhere in Hong Kong.  A few more minutes into the report, I realized that the whole thing was a hostage situation involving Chinese tourists back in my country!  The perpetrator, a former police officer.  Damn.

Then the SWAT team performed a full-on assault.  'Full-on' meant the use of mallets and hammers (or are they the same?).  Apparently, the "tactics" part of SWAT does not exist in the case of the Philippines.  Caught on camera, the whole operation was a potential Youtube viral video.  Double Damn.

The hostage drama ended with a few casualties.  I tried to exit nonchalantly amidst the worried Chinese viewers.  It's one of those days when you're not too proud to be from your country.  I hope though that people will see this as an isolated case.  One that involves a lunatic.  I mean, I never assume that retired Chinese men go on a killing rampage on primary school grounds during their free time.  It just so happens that in each country or society, locos abound.

Yue Laan Festival or Hungry Ghost surely took a feast this evening.  To those who are grieving their loss, like me, may we see them in the next life...or unit.

Quick Question of the day: What's a good phone to buy (no iPhones please)? 

Leave your comments to this post or your creative responses to the QQ by clicking on the orange number beside the post title. Click on Like if you enjoyed reading, Share on Facebook if you think it's a good read.