Teacher's Day out & me time ..

Teachers’ day is always a special time, not only is it a day to celebrate teachers & all their dedication, hard work and commitment but it also marks the end of 3^rd term in school – yes we love our school vacation cant ya’ll tell ;)).

Personally for me teaching at whatever level is just an important and being a kindergarten teacher is no exception. That’s the level where the kids build their foundations in personal growth, academics, ethics and relating to the world around them in general.

So anyways my tendency to sidetrack from the topic at hand never seem to seizes, ;)). We had a fun celebration at school today. We had a small party and a movie day for the kids at school. We started movie day last year at school and its stayed on to be one of the kids favorite end of school term/semester activities. I think they enjoy the idea of having the lights down, eating popcorn and shhhh –ing their friends if anyone makes any noise in the ‘theatre’. It’s really cute when you watch them way, cleary they can’t do that at real cinemas. We watched ‘Happy Feet’. We did a poll two weeks ahead to see what the kids wanted to watch & Happy Feet came up tops. I voted for it too lol I loved that movie – it carries a real strong message but of course we don’t tell the kids that it’s all about fun for them.

Apart from movies, we had a little party with food singing and dancing – even watched kids dance? Trust me when I say you would have to suppress your giggles. Some of the parents brought party food for the school which was really nice of them and the principal brought in a teacher’s day cake for everyone – she does love us after all. We gave the little kids little goodie bags – a gift from the teachers to their students as a mark of appreciation. The kids in turn brought in flowers, little home made cards (which are always the most precious) and presents for us teachers. I think the highlight of the day would be the endless hugs and kisses we received and little I love you’s and being told we love you teacher over and over again. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy and then you know how much you’re appreciated by the kids. Even my most troubled of kids were sweethearts that day – that’s what makes this job worthwhile you know you’ve done something positive in these kids’ lives and they show it on a day like this. Patience does have its rewards……

After the celebrations with the kids we had a celebration among ourselves – actually a treat from the management to show their appreciation and love for us teachers (feel the sarcasm ;)) ) . We had a lunch at the Straits Care at the Hyatt Hotel. I like that place – the variety of food available at the buffet is enough to keep me stuffed for a very long time. What can I say we had a good time, great food good company a lot of laughs it was a nice time out. The management gave us all a brooch as a teachers’ day gift. It was sweet gesture on their part J .. We spent a few hours there eating and talking sometimes it felt like we hogged the place hahaha ..

And so after that off we went to window shop before everyone went their separate ways. I opted to stay in town so I headed down to Plaza Singapura to get some scrap booking things for my nieces’ scrapbook. I have been given the task of making a scrap book for the first 3 years of my niece Safa’s life – our real life princess and I am so excited. I found some of the cutest things for the scrapbook made go oooo ahh I want that I want this hahaah I love Spotlight. The crafts side the home side gets me excited. I just love the things there, their variety of candles, the materials for table cloths and curtains and cook wear. What can I say I am a woman lol these things appeal to me and as someone people would say ‘women’ .. :P

It seems that when you’re walking down the scrap book isle you get all sorts of ideas. At the end of it I ended up with a pack of scrap book paper, a rub on pack, some cute pink ribbons – one with little teddy bears on it and another with the words ‘Its a Girl’ and the cutest and my favorite of the lot was a pack of cute wooden plagues with a sign that says ‘princess’ and it had a tiara and little hearts. She is really going to love it – a scrapbook fit for a princess to remember her baby years ..

I made today ME DAY IFFA TIME. This is when I turn off my cell phone and do whatever I like this usually involves sitting at the beach, or at a coffee place & watch the world go by and get some entries done. Seeing how much stress I have been having in the past two months today seems to be the perfect day to be out. It was a nice day. So I called my mom and told her and she said ok – she usually finds my alone time weird and a waste of time – I guess when you’re off different generations that’s always the case. Mind you we have a 40 year age gap between us so that is a lot of time to catch up on. I think she saw the stress that I have been under lately and kind of figured I needed that time away from everything but me so all she said ok just don’t be too late. She still thinks of me as her baby even at 34 - she has been rather protective of me but I still manage to carry my own in spite of it. But I think she sees me as an adult though I will always be her little girl.

And so I sat at my favorite sofa spot at Starbucks with my favorite coffee in hand a double tall soy latte (im lactose intolerant!!! Grrr ). The spot was great – I got to see the world go by yet experience the coziness of the place. I initially shared my seat with a lady who was already there so I asked her if I could sit there. She was nice. After her it was two guys who busy meddling with their iPhone – it’s a nice slick phone not sure about functionality ( I don’t ease drop ;)) ) .. and finally to top off my four hour me time a lady who just recently gotten engaged.

I noticed the ring on her finger and the bridal magazine she was looking at. So I asked her when the big day is. She said she has just gotten engaged, a little over a month there were no fixed date just doing the whole brainstorming part of planning a wedding. She told me how he proposed to her – another unique way to propose to a loved one. They both are in the media industry ones a director another is a producer. He proposed to her on set in front of everyone else – she said it’s not like she could say NO hahah but she said yes and would have where ever the proposal took place. It was so sweet.

So we got to talking and made friends cool isn’t it. We talked about weddings and cakes, and cultures and being Singaporean. And the issue of being racists within your own race too heavy for this blog entry but maybe I will elaborate some other day and yes I do blog about things that make sense – I have a serious side but of late I just enjoy rambling – makes me happy ..

and so my day out made me a friend, four hours of journal entries and a very clear mind. I was happy really happy – nothing beats having time out. It clears your head and helps you make a better assement of things and just how I enjoy the start of my vacations to be. I journalled about many things that’s been happening in my life, what I have observed and of course the people I watch from where I was sitting.

I enjoy people watching – I sometimes create stories of whom they might be and I sometimes laugh at peoples silliness – its ok though cause I laugh at my own silliness. People fascinate me and I wonder about their lives. Like that lady sitting her alone lost in her thoughts, or that couple behind me – a basket of flowers sits on the table, a piece of cake for each of them, an anniversary maybe or maybe he just chose to surprise he just to let her know he cares & loves her or all these people with their laptops and wireless access – busy typing away.. I wonder if they were surfing or chatting or blogging and then there is this guy who is sitting outside – he was holding his laptop up to his face and talking into it – I think he is chatting ;)) .. I think if he were to speak directly into the laptop people might think he is weird so he put it really close to his face - then again I can relate to weird pretty well .. J

Maybe someday ill share some of my entries – sharing life experiences is often a good thing because you know you’re not alone in certain things. And so that was it my day, the simplicity of life at its best – my journal, my thoughts, coffee and watching the world go by - life is good …