One of the Best Days of My Life

Being a Chinese guy with Chinese parents means one thing. They over emphasize schooling to say the least. But most importantly, they judge you from what you have done academically. It doesn't matter if you're working and making money, respect comes from what you've done in the education system... according to most Asian parents. Anyhow, that good stuff has rubbed onto me now. I've taken schooling very serious and have prioritized it to be most important. While volunteering at my elementary school, I opened up my email from my phone. From that moment, my life changed. I read my acceptance letter from UBC and got into the Education program. I told the people in the staff room and they cheered and congratulated. Great. From being a part time worker and a student working towards a Psychology degree, I got myself an opportunity to become a teacher. All it takes is two years in school and I can get my certificate. So right now, I dropped all my courses and requested more work hours. I plan to make money for these next 4 months and then get down to business when my education program starts. I can say I am quite excited for this and in retrospective, I would have to say all this school was worth it. Even though I'm not done by a long shot, I feel that I now have a profession/career that I can work towards. With this degree, I can become a teacher and work. It's a great accomplishment knowing and planning your future the way your dreamt it. I now have an opportunity to get a job and start working. Get my own place, buy my own car. The good stuff that we all think about when being independent. It hasn't started yet, not by a long shot, but I feel that in 2 years this time. I will have my teacher's certificate and I will be teaching. May 18th, 2010 was probably the biggest day of my life.

Vancouver Sun Run 2010

Today was Mother's Day. It was a sunny day with a nice breeze, perfect conditions for a good 10 km run. This was my first time doing this event. I wasn't really enthusiastic about doing this, but rather I just wanted to say I did it before. So I signed up and here I am. In front of the start line with my buddies. My friends weren't exactly the greatest runners of all time. We chatted and jogged lightly for about 2 km and then they gave up and walked. As for me, I continued running, picking up my pace and making sure I kept my back straight, arms moving and breathing properly. I basically ran this one alone, I didn't see my friends again until after the race as I didn't stop to take a breather. Honestly, I think that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish it. I am in no way a endurance runner. I don't like cardio, I don't practice or train for it. I just think that if you can push yourself and tell yourself not to quit, you can finish the race with a good time. My time was alright, it was 58:59. In self defense, I had roller hockey and soccer two nights before, then work and hockey the night before the race. So my legs weren't exactly fresh to start out with. But, it was all good, I knew I could push myself no matter how much it hurt. In fact, I wore my tennis shoes with dry fit socks for this race. Big mistake. Since the socks are slippery, they rub against the sole of the shoe. So then I developed a nice blister on the arches of my feet. I really felt it during the last 5 km. But I just kept on trucking. The worst part of the race is that there are so many people obstructing you, that you have to use extra energy to avoid them and pass them. The best part would have to be passing people, it just keeps me motivated to pass as many people as I can while carrying out the same pace for the whole race. I loved passing people on the uphill, it felt so good. Maybe it's my competitiveness. After the race, I got some chocolate milk, bagels, oranges and some juice to refill my body with nutrients. That felt good for a while, then I went back to my friend's workplace where there was a breakfast to be had. We ate a little and then headed out. That was pretty much my day. After that, I showered, played some sc2, watched the Canucks stave off elimination and then sleep. If there's one thing I learned today about myself, it's that I have what it takes to ask more of myself. To push myself further than what I have in me. That's a good feeling.

Preferred Seating

I find that your seat at the dinner table has a big influence on what happens that night. If you're at a Chinese restaurant with a bunch of people, you're usually seated at those big round tables. At those big round tables, two people always have to suffer. Those sufferers are those that sit in between where the waiter/waitress fits in and serves the dishes and tea. Man... at those family dinners, there's at least 10 dishes. Those people get interrupted at least 20 times when they bring the dishes, remove the dishes, hand out the towels for crabs and refill the tea. It can be quite a nuisance. After so many family dinners at Chinese restaurants, I have come to realize this fact and now I try to sit away from the kitchen. This can be annoying at times, when you're eating and you hear your Uncle say "siu sum", when the waitress brings the fish over. But what I find to have an even bigger influence on how you interact with the people at the table is how well you know those who sit beside you. If you're invited to a dinner and you only know a few people, it's probably best you sit with those people. You're gonna be pretty quiet sitting alone with a bunch of strangers on one side and all your friends on the other. To be honest, I've been in this situation a few times and I've hated it. Sometimes it's fine, but with people that you don't really know or don't feel comfortable with, it can be a problem.

Back to the Basics

Volunteering at my elementary school is always a blast. The hardest part of the day is just waking up and getting there. But after that, I am quite motivated to work and have fun. So usually my day starts off at 10:45am where I walk into the class. The kids always say "Mike, Mike, Mike", interrupting the whole class' activity. It's pretty bad, but hey it's not my fault they like me. Usually the class is working on math, art, projects or current events. If they're doing that stuff, I usually pull the ESL students to the side and work with them. The way they're learning the language is wrong, I had to change something. They were copying down vocab and not really understanding what the definition meant. That was pretty bad. I got them to write down the vocab, recite it to me and then use the word in a sentence. Later, I would quiz them. It's pretty fun stuff. Later on, the class usually goes to P.E. class. Lately, it's been good weather, so they go outside and play "Capture the Flag". Some kids are really fast runners, so it's pretty exciting watching them sprint and juke. Then lunch time. I usually just hang out with the teachers in the staff room listening to their conversations. Sometimes jumping in on interesting topics. They're a good bunch of teachers, all nice to me. After lunch, I help with the younger grades. My gosh, those kids are cute. They listen to every word I say. Unlike the older grades, the younger ones are obedient to authority. They're also a fun bunch to work with. Usually they're doing fun stuff too, like paper mache caterpillars, playtime, or other stuff. Then my day is over, I sign out at the office and head home.

Reflecting on this, I would have to say that being a teacher would be an awesome profession. I like working with kids, they have good hours, decent salary and a good schedule. They get 2 months off in the summer, how good is that? I have to say that I like working with the younger grades more than the older grades. It's just more relaxing and fun. You get to do a lot more activities instead of individual assignments, etc. I just hope school goes well for me so I can get into the Education Program and start my career off soon. I am getting too old to be in school nowadays. It's time I start making money and become independent.

This week has been an amazing one. My bro came back from New Jersey to spend a week here with me at home. We watched movies, went out to eat with all our friends, played tennis and had family dinners. One of the best weeks I have had in a while. When we went out to eat, we had friends together who we didn't see for ages. We got talking and thought "We're at that age where your friends get married or die". How true is that? So many people in my bro's grad year are going through that phase. It's pretty interesting reflecting on our short lives. I was one of the few that did not yet have a full time job yet. I need to land a break and go with it. Soon my brother will be a doctor and hopefully I'll be a teacher when it's all said and done. I guess keep my head in the right mind and keep doing the good things, that's my plan from now on. I'll leave on a good note. I've been keeping busy with the things I love.