My Kids - take #2

My Kids - take #2

As dictated by Faranza Syns

I'm thoroughly fascinated by the amount of foreign children who go to KUMON. Okay, it actually takes less than the fingers of 4 hands to count down their numbers, but it's still a lot.

Foreign Kid #1 (OMG, I totally forgot to ask for his name)

I was teaching Aiman (the brother of the kid) when I first saw him. He looked nothing like Aiman (and I'd never seen him in the English section) so I sorta ignored him.

Until he opened his mouth.

You know, how I wish I had a voice recorder then.

I was going through the flashcards with Aiman (who scored 35/35 for both sections. *hidung kembang with pride*). Since he did so well, recording his achievement was easy-peasy (I didn't have to count the number of mistakes and blah blah blah). As per usual, kids were hanging around my table. I eagerly ticked off all of the words Aiman had said.

And then I heard a voice with the same colonial accent as Aiman (whom I adore).

"It makes it so much easy, eh?"

Very, very cute accent. I can't talk to Aiman much, since he's still so young and rather shy of strangers. But his brother was eager enough to talk.

Me: Where're you from, actually?

Him: (somewhere I don't quite remember)

Me: Oooh.

Him: But I was born in Scotland though.

Me: *uber excited* Ah! Speak Scottish!

Him: *shakes head, grinning* Can't. I only lived there for three years. Can't even remember it even.

Me: Oooooh.

Him: My dad's an Iraqi, my mum's the one who's Malaysian.

Me: That's so uber cool.

It really is, considering their whole family looks so pretty. BIG eyes.



Foreign kid #2

Her name's Umulkhayr. Actually, almost all her siblings are studying at KUMON, except a sister who is currently sitting for her A-levels.

She was reading her assigned passage, and I corrected a few of her pronunciation mistakes. At THAT moment, I was actually REALLY glad I took linguistics and we've covered Phonetics.

Umul: "And they withdraw--" (what was written was "withdrew", but she said it wrong.

Me: Withdrew.

Umul: What?

Me: It's pronounced "with-drew"

Umul: But it's an "e". I thought words with "e" sound like "a"

And I started explaining to her all about sound and spelling. And how conked English is in relating writing with pronunciation.

Me: So where're you from? *marks her work*

Umul: Somalia.

Me: Wow.

Umul: Yeah. We're not Malaysian. *smiles* Obviously. You? Oh wait, you're - of course you're Malaysian.

Me: Haha. Yeah. Don't I totally look Malaysian?

Umul: Do you travel?

Me: *blinks* Not really. The furthest I've ever been is - pfft, Thailand.

And then Umul starts talking about the places she's been to. Tibet (she lurrrves Tibet), and some other places I don't remember. Only Tibet got stuck in my mind. She doesn't like Thailand though. Haha. Says it's too disorganized. But she loves Singapore and Johore. Quiet and tranquil.

We then talked about schools.

Umul: Do you go to an international school?

Me: ME? No. Just government schools.

It doesn't shock me as much anymore when people ask me that. Apparently my English sounds too English for a Malay.

It was nice talking to her. She grumbled a little about how hard it is for her to look for clothes that fit her. The thing about Umul is that she may be only 13, but she's almost as tall as a full-grown average western man.

Umul: I hate it when the clothes fit me, but they're too short.

Me: *snort* You're in shorty country. We're dwarves compared to you.

Umul: And I'm only thirteen!

She's adorable.

Her elder brother is too. LOL.

...Oh my God. I am totally a paedophile.

Spouting.

Spouting.

As dictated by Faranza Syns

• I can't seem to find my Ballroom Dances DVD. Gah.

• Just walked over a warm spot on the floor. I suspect that's where my cat has been sleeping for 7 hours. Great. Free heater. Not that we need it considering this hot weather.

• Does anyone feel a sense of foreboding/fear/"Oh no, what did I do wrong now?" whenever their parents say "*insert your name*, come down for a moment, will you?" Gah. I totally do. Every time. Even when I am completely innocent, period.

• I trawled my friends' profile. Some of them have totally lost weight. Total jealousy. Will work doubly hard to lose weight now.

• While I was exercising this morning, one thought went through my head: "...I wonder when I can get my MUET results." I can't believe how eager I was. I mean, I thought that while my body was suffering. MUET's something, alright.

____________________________________

I love love love his genetics.


He is the result of...

This...






...plus this lecherous Sim who impregnated her.

Yayyyy!

A Wretched Undoing

A Wretched Undoing

As dictated by Faranza Syns

I totally relate to the song "I Hate This Part" lately, by the PCD. Along with "Sick and Tired" by Anastacia, and "I Don't Need a Man" (if you don't know the singer, well...).

And since I felt the sudden need to grasp on something old and comfy, I went back to the videos that I've watched ages ago.

Nicole looks prettiest at this moment

"Everyday, seven takes of the same old scene,
Seems we're bound by the laws of the same routine."

Sometimes you just can't help the bitterness.

Ashley was carrying this. A portrayal of lost innocence?

"All we do is linger,
Slipping through our fingers,
I don't want to try now,
All that's left's goodbye
to find a way that I can tell you."

Sometimes, I'm just too tired of it all.

The lines here were "I know you'll ask me to hold on,
Carry on like nothing's wrong." Small-ish flower, hold on!

Telling someone to hold on only works for so long.

I wish I could carry on and you'd just fade away.

Because pretty much, I'm sick and tired of always being sick and tired.

Melody's image seems so ethereal (sans the cleavage)

But overall, I dread the words. I wish you'd say them instead, so I wouldn't have to be the next "bad girl" in your memories.

God, give me strength.

My Kids (OMG I totally am NOT a mother but my workplace makes me feel like it so I am talking about it, etc. etc.)

My Kids (OMG I totally am NOT a mother but my workplace makes me feel like it so I am talking about it, etc. etc.)

As dictated by Faranza Syns

The kids at my workplace lurrrrrve to hang around my table. My job constitutes assisting the kids (awwh) to read in English. They have to come to me or another English teacher and read for the day.

Apparently, I seem to amuse quite a few of them (and I suspect they enjoy playing around me because I am the only teacher who hasn't grown enough fragments of a backbone to really banish them from my realm - my table, in simple English). And so, my table would be the noisiest. The male teacher would occasionally shoo them, but then, like any hardy child worth their salt, they came back again and again.

Once, since it wasn't so hectic, a group of them sat around me.

Shahrul: Teacher, *yak yak yak about something I don't quite remember*

Me: Hmmm *nods distractedly while marking through some work*

Another kid: Eh, mana adalah! *and yak yak yakk*

Some smart kid: *grabs my extra red pen, and starts to play by clicking it, and unclicking it*

Me: Eh, jangan... *distractedly*

Another smart kid: *grabs another red pen, and creates a cannonball by strategically clicking and unclicking*

Me: Eh!

Another kid: Wahhh... nak buat nak buat!

Me: Eh, dah dah!

Another kid who wasn't even a part of the English class: *walks in* NAK BUAT GAK!


And so, I have a legion of admirers, even including kids who don't study under me.

Hm. Not sure how well I like that.

A Choice of Mentality

A Choice of Mentality

As dictated by Faranza Syns

Since my new glasses have thick sides, I occasionally see "things" from the corner of my eye - HAH! Actually, they're caused by the fact that the sides of my glasses are shiny and reflects light, and hence, I see "visions".

Well, that's not really the off-putting point about thick sides - it's the fact that it's hard for me to glance at different sides of the road without turning my head fully (which I, as an inexperienced driver hate to do because I HAVE to look at everything in a glance and I HAVE to speed off at the junction - "What if I GO TOO SLOW AND A CAR BANGS INTO ME FROM MY LEFT?!" etc., etc.) which annoys me.

My dad used to say "...Won't the thick sides obstruct your vision?"

I was - at that time - cleverly successful at avoiding having to drive, hence I answered sweetly, "Nope."

"Oh, okay," said he, giving in.

Meh, I should have listened. When will we children get it inside our thick heads that our parents really HAVE lived longer than us (and naturally know certain things better)?

It takes a while, I suppose. This time, I won't blame it on hormones, and the oft-used reason which is the "We are Teenagers, of course we're like this." Blaming things like that, to me, is like you're saying you accept how horrid you are, simply because you were made to be that way. People sometimes say it like it's a reason that justifies horrible manners and temperamental bickering - like it gives you the okay to act however you feel like. "I'm a teenager. That's what teenagers do."

No, I don't think so. That's what you did. Not "a teenager", but you.

Aaaand, of course, it goes with (OMG, I didn't really want to say this but) PMS. We bite people's head off when we get PMS, and then justify it by thinking "He really had it coming. Doesn't he know he shouldn't mess with people who are PMS-ing?"

We let slip an angry outburst, and once the fire has faded, we pause and think "Well, I was PMS-ing. She should understand."

The truth is, deep inside, people don't. They most probably say "Ah, I see. So, it's that reason." But then, don't you think deep inside their heads, they'd think, "But still...she could've held it in a bit better."...?

"She could've tried."

Trying. Working. That's what we need to do. Blaming your circumstance pretty much leaves you in sinking quicksand - you have nothing solid to grasp on. Just an imagined problem that really can't be fixed.

I believe you're not stuck in this role God put you in. You can work your way out of it. Try your best.

Humans are malleable. We CAN be better. We just choose not to be.

It's our choice of mentality.



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Off to bed, and off to my MUET test. Salam and God Bless.