Putting others before ours really makes a difference!

I woke up early to go for a walk with Mom and Graham this morning. However, the weather did not cooperate well. Later on, though, the Mother Nature decided to change its mind and turned out to be great, so we decided to go out for a quick walk and looked at all the new homes. There are many modern houses now in the area. I remembered seeing a few houses along the beach. My family, friends and I used to go for a hike to the peninsula and claimed up the hill to get the other side of the mountain where the town is located. It was even more fun, I still remember vividly, when I went out fishing with Graham and the neighbour. They warned me not to go as I might get emotion sickness. Stubbornly enough, I did not listen, so they had to bring me back after 2 minutes of fishing (well more like feeding fish with the "leftover" from dinner) Graham caught a lot of fish then!

When we came back to the house after our walk in about 10+ degrees (it was a cold morning alright), we spotted two whale watching boats, so Mom told me to look at them with the telescope to see there might be some whales. Sure enough, I saw some spurts of water from a whale and finally this spectacular moment appeared before my eyes. I saw a whale’s tale flipping above the surface! It was a great experience seeing it without having to spend $100+ at all.

Then, I baked Chocolate Chip and Walnuts Muffins to bring to a meeting of Kaikoura Garden Club. There were about twenty ladies at the ages from 60 to 80. They were there to make flowers arrangements to bring to the local hospital for patients. I helped them make one arrangement as well,and I thought I did a great job doing it for the first time. I made more “friends” there. I thought how great it was to be able to bring a smile on the faces of the patients. Giving tender care, love and happiness to other people is blessing...merely little things we give out to others without thinking of getting anything in return can make a big difference on both the sender and the receiver.

On the way back, Shane and Dawn’s children, Hamish (15 yrs of age), Tessa (13 yrs of age), and Jake (11 yrs of age), came along with us home. They could not recognize who I was at first, which was sad, but we clicked so well not long after the muffins I made. I guessed the muffins did the trick! When I was here 11 years ago, Hamish was about 4 years ago, Tessa was about 2 years old and Jake was about 1 month old. I kind of understood and was then thinking of Kelli in America. I was with Kelli when she was 6 months old and 2 years old, so I was afraid that Kelli would not be able to recognize me when I go back to see her in the States again. The kids and I made some flower arrangements together and the kids brought them to their mom. They are great kids I have to say. Tonight, we had lamb chops with mashed potatoes and some steamed peas and corn with red and white wines. Another day has gone by again and I just could not believe it that I am actually here in New Zealand again!

Traffic Jam on a Farm in New Zealand

This morning we walked down to the Rangiara town, and we kind of reminiscing about our past. We met up with Aunt Eileen and Joanna and the baby for Aunt Eileen’s birthday. Mom treated us a coffee and some muffins. The coffee was good and the walk was great with all the places I used to stop after school. We went into Farmers where I used to get my winter pants; then, a Rangiora Bakery store where I loved stopping after school on my way home and buy these donuts with whipped cream in the middle. Donuts here come in rolls and my favorite one was Cinnamon Donut. They are heaven when the cream and cinnamon sauce filling inside. Gee, no wonder why I gained 20 pounds in 6 months while I was there! I bought about 4 of them to bring with me to Judy and John’s house in Kaiapoi on the way to Kaikaora, our home by the beach.

We arrived Judy’s house around lunch time. Everything looked the same as 11 years ago. Judy looked as great as before. As soon as we stepped into the house, I smelt the home-made bread and scorns and the pumpkin soup. Everything was just what the doctor ordered! I enjoyed talking and of course eating so much that I forgot that I still have my donuts. Never mind, my dessert belli was still empty then. Everyone was very careful about what they eat, especially dessert, but they would not hurt much I thought. I was willing to gain a couple of pounds anyway!

Anyway, after all the talk and catch up, John, Graham and I went to the farm to herd the sheep. I jumped right on the truck with a sheep dog. I just could not believe how cool that was to stand on there up on the hills and see the scenery from up top. John kind of got me scared when he drove up the hills and down hills; however, it was so much fun. We had to put a sick sheep up on the truck and we also had a lamb, which was missing a mom, with me. I had to hold the sheep. He must have been eating lots of sweets since he was very antsy in my arms. The sheepdogs did the entire job really and all the sheep got back in their barn. In the barn, there were many bags of wool to be picked up to make clothes. Later on we decided to head to Kaikoura. The weather was spectacular this evening, so it did not take long to get there. It took about an hour to get there. I just could not believe of how wonderful the house is. It has changed a lot since I left 11 years ago. It looks so great and it makes me thought of Eileen’s holiday home in Maryland. The day went by so quickly, but I tried to make every minute count while I am here.

Reunion in New Zealand!

Sunday 20 July 2008

I could not sleep well on Saturday night since I had to wake up early to get ready for my trip to New Zealand. The plan left around 9 am., but I had to be there 2 hours prior to leaving. We woke up before the alarm clock went off really. We stopped at Rick’s on the way to the airport to drop off the house keys. Rick’s mom was so kind enough to get me some presents. I thought that was very nice of her to do so. She said that I was a great tenant. I guess I did not have that much of a party then during my stay!

We got to the airport in time and could not believe it of how crowded it was on the Sunday morning. Judy and I were in line the check in for about half and hour. Then, I had to get into the terminal without having a coffee with the family since the place was so packed that they had to announce for boarding early. We said our goodbye and hugs. I was so very touched by how wonderful Judy and her family to me. The plane took off on time and arrived at Christchurch International Airport within about two hours. Everything was smooth sailing. I was very excited to see Rita and Graham again. I could not help but tear down when I saw them waiting for me patiently at the waiting area. They were tears of joy and happiness really. It felt as if I was seeing my parents after such a long time since we last met, which was 11 years ago. Since we stayed over night at Melanie and Peter’s house tonight, so they took me to the places I had been when I was here. We drove by at my best friend’s house, Heather (the Warren’s family). She and her mom looked the same. It was very nice to see them again and will see them again next Saturday for a get-together at Rosemary’s house. I thought it was very nice of her to offer to throw a party for me. I was with Rosemary and her family for about a month during my transfer to Rita’s family. I remembered having a great time with her and her family. Then, we went to my high school, Rangiora High School. I still remembered my way around vividly.

After finished wandering in the small town, we went to Auntie Eileen to visit her real quick. She did not change a bit except that now she is a widow; however, she manages her life meaningfully. We came back to Peter’s house to stay over night. Peter now has two kids, Michael and Cassie. Joanna and her little ones, Isaac and Katie, came along and had dinner with us. Mom, Rita, brought a jar of veggie soup I like, French bread and Lasagna. We had this great white wine with our dinner. Then, what a combination, we had Hokey Poky for dessert. We did some catchup in the past 11 years. I showed them some pix from my laptop. I did not go to bed until almost 11 pm. It was a great day really and I was so thrilled to be back home again.

PD session on Thai Phonology given by Piboon Sukvijit at GELI

Friday 18-Saturday 19, 2008

Today I woke up quite early to make sure that the house was spic and spin before I returned the key to Rick, the landlord. It’s my last day here in the house and at GELI. Time has flown by very quickly and I just could not believe that I will be leaving Australia for New Zealand very soon. Anyway, as soon as I arrived the office, I went right to my desk and reviewed my PowerPoint presentation for a PD session on Thai Phonology. Then, they had a little farewell for morning tea for me. Annette brought a lemon pie with lots of strawberries on it…It was very touching for me to see them telling how they felt about me fitting in the place real quickly and that I became part of them. I was very proud of myself to represent the University and country to be there and did my very best on getting to know people, the program system, the teaching, and other things that they offered over there. I thought that I did a tremendous job there.

Then, I went to Nathan to meet up with Hilda for a coffee and the graduation for DEPs. The celebration reminded me of my graduation in America and I was very happy for them to see them became successful in the program. Then, I took off to another event, which was the Aboriginal performance. I even danced with them and I got some white dots on my face as part of their culture and the show. I thought it was very cool. There I met with some Thai students who were in the ETP (English for EIALS Test Preparation). The performance was very interesting and we all enjoyed it so much. Other students there had a chance to pain a boomerang in accordance with their year of birth. I was not there, unfortunately, since I had to prepare for the presentation and help with the lunch.

The presentation went great and everyone really admired my delivery so much that some of them came up to me and said very nice thing about my speech and the topic. I started off the project with some background of the Thai Language and I had a VDO clip on from YouTube to show them. After that, I started talking about the difficulties Thai learners, as well as others second learners from Asian countries have. The presentation was very relaxing since I intended to make it that way yet they learned some new thing. By adding a bit of the problems that Vietnamese students have in terms of pronunciation came handy since there are more Vietnamese students than Thai students and many teachers have problems understanding them. Many teachers brought some food to share with others. Joy brought very nice sandwiches with some Kangaroo meat, others brought fruits and rice, and I brought American Pie that I baked the night before. We enjoyed both the PD and the food.

Since I was the one who did all the talking, so I did not have a chance to eat lunch. However, it was a good idea that I did not eat a lot since Judy and her family invited me to a show in Gold Coast called “Outback Spectacular.” Judy and I left early this afternoon, so we could go pick up my belongings from the house. We got to the place half an hour earlier, so we decided to just have something to drink. We ended up at McCafe and had a Latte. We got to the Outback and I did some gift shopping for my brother. The place was packed that night and the atmosphere was just blew me away. We got a cowboy hat each, which was part of the price including a meal. Inside, people sat down in a horseshoe layout. The show was great and really was spectacular just like its name. I enjoyed it big time. During the show, dinner was served to the audience. We had a salad, a Stake with some steam veggies and some bread; we finished off with Pavlova! The food was great and we just loved it. The show was about an hour and a half and by the end of the show, I had to say that I got some goose bumps since there were cowboys and cowgirls riding the horses and were holding Australian flags. It was right there that I felt like I was in Australia. I thought they must be very proud to be Australian which is true that they are very lucky ones!

Tonight I stayed over at Judy’s house since we decided to do things together on Saturday together. We went shopping for things and ingredients for a Thai dinner. I made Massaman Kai (Sweet red curry with drumsticks). It came out quite well. We ended having fried rice and the curry for my course and had ice-cream for dessert. Judy and her family enjoyed the food a lot.

End of term "get-away" excursion to Stradbroke Island with DEPs...Yeah!

Today around 9 am. we had to gather promptly at Nathan to wait for the bus to go the Stradbroke Island. We hit the road and arrived at the seaside suburbs of Cleveland and Redland Bay. We, on the bus, got on a barge to go to Dunwich. The ferries, barges and water taxis from the mainland arrive at Dunwich on the western side of North Stradbroke Island. This old settlement was first established in 1827 as a convict outstation. Today North Stradbroke Island is an island paradise only a few hours from central Brisbane. It is noted for the long, clean white beaches of its eastern coastline, the rich diversity of its flora which includes wild orchids, and its isolation and peacefulness.

The history of these islands are also interesting. Although the islands (at the time it was just one island) were sighted by both Captain James Cook and Matthew Flinders it wasn't until 1827 that the name Stradbroke, after the then Earl of Stradbroke, was given to the island by his son, Captain H. J. Rous, the commander of the HMS Rainbow.

On the island, there are many attractions such as Blue Lake National Park, Brown Lake, Twenty-Two Mile Beach and Point Lookout. Today, we went to Point Lookout and visited two lookouts. After about a 20 minute walk, I had to say that it was worth it since we saw the most beautiful marine creatures-whales, dolphins and a turtle. I guess they knew we were coming, so they came out to give us a performance (swimming and splashing water in the ocean so fascinatingly and magically.

After all the walking and excitement, we all started to become ravenous. Thus, we hooped on the charter bus to go have lunch on a beach. We had a whole range of international foods from around the world I would say. We all shared and had a great time tasting them all--from Arabic to Australian and American (of course represented by my Apple Pie).

After we decided that we had just enough, we went on the beach. A couple of students and a teacher and I played Frisbee. It was fun...after almost 5 years since I last played it in Philly! Then, I joined the guys in a volleyball game. Later on, a couple and I walked on the beach and talked about their Uni, life since many of them are moving on to doing their Bachelor, Master and Doctorate degrees. I gave them some good advice on how to prepare themselves in a classroom environment as well as overcome obstacles that they might encounter during their studies. I was blessed to be able to share my experiences with them!

We arrived the Uni around 5 pm. and luckily I was dropped off at home to pack my stuff and prepare for a PD session that I am giving on the next day about Thai Phonology. Will be very exciting!

Giving a lesson using "Signs of the Zodiac"

Today I had a new task in the classroom-another challenging one. I was given a topic to generate an activity; the topic was on the zodiac signs in which I had to also introduce the adjective and noun forms. After finished the class yesterday, I spent time on preparing for materials to run an activities. The goal is to have them learn those two forms with the talking and moving in groups. I first had them work individually on finding their own sign. Prior to going right straight to the activity, I talked to them about the birthday party that we had before the lunch break. We celebrated "Turkey's" (one of the students in the classroom) and my birthday in the classroom. The teacher kindly brought in a cake and some ships to share with the students. Thus, I started talking about my sign in a chinese year and in the Zodiac one. The students were curious and enthusiastic to chip in their talks. Then, I gave out sheet of paper with the describtions of people's personalities in accordance to their birth signs. I took out the names of the signs and left only with the describtions of the zodiac signs, had them skim through and choose the one that suited with their personalities. Later on,I brought in another activity. This one was about the collocations they learned from yesterday. In order to divide them into pairs and play another grammar activity, I had prepared strips of papers with a missing half of each collocated phrase, so students had to find their other missing half by saying the word out loud. The objective behind the activity was that (1) they had a chance to review grammar points, and 2) they moved more and stayed alert. Then, I explained the next grammar activity. This time I gave out a sheet with adjectives and nouns and their meanings. What students had to do was to find the missing adjective or noun forms and make a sentence with their partner.

In conclusion, I thought I did all right. I had them talk, walk to find partners, come up to the board (use the room as much as possible).

What I would have done differently was that I should, with the adjective and noun forms, try to ask them questions that were related to situations; for example, What does a nurse have to be?" or What do you think the three things on the list are you?" or "what do the nurse need to have or be?" Then, put the adj and nouns in the sentenece. I could even ask them to write down a sentence using the adj adn the noun. Considering an hour class after lunch and after their listening test, I thought that I did ok.!

After the class ended, I discussed with my co-teacher about the teaching. She really liked the activities that I used with the collocation review in order to pair them up.

Oh dear (s)....!

I think this the right title for today's blog. First thing first, Oh dear...(or should I rephrase, "Oh Koala or Oh Kangaroo!") I turned 28th today. Well, I am obviously one year older and, of course, one year "wiser"! They really made me feel special today. One good thing about it here is that people here make you feel like home and included. They try to support each other--as part of their culture of being very expressive. As soon as I walked in the office, I saw my my name was written on the board saying "Tuesday 15--Tuk's Birthday." They do it with everyone in any occasions. I appreciated everything they did for me. A very nice card signed by teachers was given to me on our lunch for "the birthday girl." We had a great time just talking and expressing about our students, classes and other things. Having the sense of support and inclusion, I gained more strength, energy and the love of my career even more. The first present was given to me from Judy and her family. That was very nice. My impression was that the gifts were nice (actually I really loved it, especially the card!), but the thought that meant a great deal to me!

Back to the class, today we started off with homework checking. Then, I took over the class and ran an activity writing a business letter. Since the students were given a homework in writing the letter of application yesterday, I volunteered to check the answers with them in the classroom. However, after all of the observations and teaching assistance I have done in the last 6 weeks, I have adopted the routine of ESA (engage-study-activate). I prepared some activities to help explained the subject matter rather than jumping right to giving out the answers.

I first divided them into a group of 2 and 3 to put the parts of a letter of application that I had cut into little pieces in order. I explained what they had to do very clearly and slowly, so that they would understand and the activity would run smoothly (since I was not satisfied with my last lesson given out to the EAP class). It did not take long for them to finish the task. Then, I asked each group to tell me the order and I wrote them down on the board. Next, I explained each part a bit more, but focused more in the body part with different paragraphs in it. I explained to them of what information each paragraph normally consists. I wrote them down on the board and asked the students to copy down. Later on, with the same group, I asked them to work on the next task which was to identify the given sentences in the correct paragraph in a letter. Finally, I asked them each group to contribute the answers and finished off with the conclusion of the key elements of writing the business letter. I thought I did a.o.k. with the tasks.

Then, the teacher gave the results of their reading test and went over the answers with them. It seemed to me that the test was perhaps too challenging for them, considering the time constraints they had. Oh dear! There, I could see the disappointment on some of the students' faces. They mentioned about not having enough time, so they could not complete the test and was not happy about the results.

After lunch, the teacher ran the classroom differently (having them move around more and working in groups). I could see more interaction among students with the activities they ran--less teacher teaching time, but more on students talking time and students' involvement in the classroom activities. Here, there were two games that I thought was good.
(1) This game was to help fulfil the exercise in the textbook. This activity was the combination of teaching the steps in a career path and the words combination--"you finish studies", "you apply for a job", "you go for an interview", "you get the job", "you go for a training course", and "you get promoted." Here, the students learned all these phrases practically by playing the game.
This is how they did: The teacher gave out each a card in two colors and those cards included different phrases mentioned early on. The students had to find their own group by color and then discussed the phrases on their cards and put them in a correct order in terms of a career path. Finally, we had two groups standing in lines facing each other and each group read their phrases out loud.

(2)The second activity is a writing activity. The teacher had the students worked in pairs and described the photos given to them. How she did it was preparing some blank papers with a photo on each one of them. Then she asked them to write a sentence using Present Perfect with "just." After that, she rotated the photos and had the students created the second sentence using Present Perfect without "just" in the new photo The same was done with the third sentence, except that the sentence had to be in the form of "has not___yet" and the last sentence was using Past Simple. I thought the activity was good and in fact we can even use the same photos with different tenses. The important point with this activity is to make sure that teachers explain the process clearly and effectively or else students would get confused.

In class with GE2

Monday 14 July 2008

Another classroom assistance with GE2 on my last week here. Time always flies when you are having fun, doesn't? Anyway, this week I am back to rather "passive" classroom dynamics. The reason I refer the class as a "passive" one is that students are not quite fluent in speaking English; therefore, there is less interaction between the teacher and the students. In contrary, the GE 4 students and above (including EAP and DEP)are more fluent in English, and they pretty know what they would like to get out of the classroom. Of course those classes involve more in the academic side.

The teacher started the class with the same routine of asking questions about their weekend activities and relaxation and explaining the itinerary for the day. The week theme for this week is Jobs and Work and so I was there at the right timing--as the teacher put it "an expert in English Business." I'm not quite sure on that note, but I would not mind taking it as a compliment anyway! Since students are not self sufficient in speaking English; therefore, there is more teacher centered. However, many creative activities are utilized. The teacher wrote down the letters of alphabet on the board and divided students into three groups. Then , she asked all students to come in front of the class, and each group wrote down names for jobs, work or careers starting with the alphabet they were assigned.

Then, students were assigned to ask each other, "What's my job?" and then worked on an exercise about collocated expressions such as in charge of, be responsible for. Then, they asked each other questions about their career dream. Here, I helped in asking questions to students and taught them how to speak English correctly. Before lunch time, students had a listening test and they were not very satisfied with the time limitation. Thus, I could see their disappointment and the tension of the class environment.

In the afternoon, the teacher had them write down some sentences using Past Simple and Present Perfect.

What I learned from this class by observing and helping was that teachers, in general, should speak slowly and less words in a sentence, so that students could grab the information given to them better. Furthermore, as part of learning, providing enough instructions and time limitation to work on any given tasks, as well as getting them to involve in contributing answers to an exercise, are vital. Otherwise, the teacher will be the only one who does all the jobs, but students don't learn anything.

Such a great quality family time in the market at Tamborine!

Sunday 13 July, 2008

Today, before I tell you, who read my blog, about my undescribable wonderful excursion in Tamborine, I would like to share with you one of the passages I receive every day from Eknath Easwaran's foundation, who established Blue Mountain Center of Meditation.

"The more we have the less we own."
– Meister Eckhart
We have been ruthlessly conditioned to think we can find fulfillment in possessions, to love things rather than people – so much so, that when we feel an emptiness in our hearts, we go to shopping centers to fill it up.
I am all for living in reasonable comfort, but when I go to shopping centers, I cannot help getting alarmed. Not at the money that is being wasted – there is enough money in this country to waste. But there isn’t enough will to waste. There isn’t enough energy to waste. When we hear of the energy crisis, this is it. All our vitality, energy, and drive is sapped and undermined by the constant propaganda: go after this, go after that, and you’ll be happy. Things are not meant to be loved. They are meant only to be used. People are lovable and loving.

I wholeheartedly agree with the passage and the thought from Eknath. The more we have the less we own. However, if we all manage to live our life just the way it is and make everyday as it was our last, we will appreciate what is there before us even more. Many people do think that they still have many more years to live, in fact though, they have less time to spend with their loved ones because they think that their family will always be there for them. As it seems, family is like Seven Eleven. People would rather go to Woolworth's or Cole's than Seven Eleven since they know that it is always open 24/7! Convenient right? They will surely find no true love, but the love of himself and herself. If we can manage to live our life wisely, I am sure, the LESS TIME we have, the MORE LOVE we do gain.

Going back to the trip, off we went to Tamborine to a flea market up in the mountains. This market consists of a countless number of little shops of flowers, handcrafts, clothes,food vendors, and a miniature farm for kids. We had a coffee from McDonald's and homemade carrot, orange and puppy seeds muffins from "Tukie's." On the way to the market, we drove through the rain forest and you could literally smell the freshness of the air, dirt and trees there. All the going up and down the hills with some bikers on the other side of the traffic reminded me of the old days I used to take my bike in the countryside of Maryland. We rode for at least 20 miles on that trip..such a accomplishment then. Anyway, the captivating scenery must have taken away my car sickness from those ups and downs; I felt great and loved the life and the surroundings that I had with me at the moment. Life has so much to offer!

Once we reached the market, I was totally speechless of how different it was from our markets in Thailand. It must be the organization, the cleanliness, and another life style, I suppose, that makes it different. The market reminded me of Rice's Market in Pennsylvania. I loved it there as well. Tamborine Country Market is the same; however, I noticed that it's more family oriented kind of atmosphere. There were lots of families with Dad, Mom and kids spending their precious time together. Seeing some dads riding on go-carts with their little ones or taking photos of their little girls patting the rabbits and cuddling baby animals, moms feeding food to their boys, or grandparents pushing their grandchildren's strollers made me feel that this was something that money can't buy...happiness and a sense of real family! "More is less" is surely true and perhaps is something that many of us can't avoid. However, if we can utilize the less time we have with our family wisely, the LESS time we have will become the MORE love we gain within the family and with the loved ones. At that moment, I thought of my own family back home! We usually take things for granted especially those that are near us. We don't value them as much, not until we start to realize that we don't have them anymore. Being away from my home makes me appreciate my family even more and think of the great times we had. From now on or when I return home to Thailand. I would try to live my life in balance more and try to manage my career life and family life wisely. It's only that I never know if I would ever see them (or my loved ones)again when I wake up in the morning.

After walking for some time, we had our brunch in the market. There were so many interesting thing to choose from-they even had Alabama pancakes! I had mini pancakes and of course another cup of coffee! Then, I got a gift for my sister-in-law. Then, we hit the road back to the little town in Tamborine. On the way, we stopped at the lookout where adventurers like to jump off for hang gliding. It also reminded me of the place where I spent the time during my visit at the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
People like to go hang gliding there as well. The outlook offers such a captivating view of the landscaping down below. I felt as if I had been on top of the world!

I loved the town so much I forgot to think of lunch until we approached the Fudge store. I guess this is one of the best part when you go traveling-tasting different kinds of food. An indulgence to a scoop of Macadamia ice-cream cone would not harm my arteries much, I thought. There were many cute antiques and souvenir shops. There were also many beautiful houses. Anyway, after wandering in town for a while, I found some gifts for my friends in the States. Then, we decided to go for late lunch on the way home. We stopped for lunch at Yatala Pies, which is claimed to serve the most famous pies in Queensland. I had Spinach with Feta Cheese Pie; it was great!

My day would not have been great like the way it was without the Collyers. They have been spoiling me rotten! I really appreciated their generosity, kindness, thoughtfulness, genuine, and friendship so much that I am not certain if I do deserve all these. They have made me feel like at HOME! There is another thing that money can't buy...Friendship! Good friends are hard to find and even harder to forget!