In this page, you will get to explore the mind, events and feelings of a Chun Jui... ok, fine, judging from the past 23 years, my life is far from what you call "eventful" (in fact, "dull" might the be more appropriate adjective) but I'll try to keep my entries interesting!
Sunday, September 14, 2003
What a week!! As you may remember, I've started my MA program at ICS on Monday, as well as my first teaching block. As much as I enjoyed all my classes and my teaching block, the week seemed to drag on, and I couldn't wait for the weekend to come, so I could kick back temporarily and take a breather. So how is my placement? Well, I'm happy to say that I'm at a very good school, in a really good gr. 2 classroom with a very nice host teacher. =) My host teacher is young but is a wonderful teacher. She's super friendly and the good thing is, she's had experience dealing with student teachers before, so that helped ease my nerves a bit. The kids themselves are really nice and sweet kids, so I'm lucky. My comfort level, not to mention my confidence, as also risen a bit because of the positive feedback I got from both the kids and my host teacher for my very first activity I did with them-- reading "Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day" to them, as well as teaching them the follow-up language arts activities. =) The host teacher said that I did the best first job for a student teacher that she's ever had. =P Oh, and also, the teacher who I did my co-op in high school for and then subsequent volunteer work for, emailed me that although she's retiring after Christmas this year (boohoo, I was hoping I could do a placement with her!), she's saving everything from all her units she's teaching for me!! =D She's already given me some stuff too--- I'm so lucky!
The one downer though is the fact that I have to wake up every morning at 6:30 to be at my placement at 8:30. =( That means, I have to sleep at 10:30 the night before or else I would be dead tired.... It's also really hard to stay awake during my own classes in the afternoon, after the morning placement. Though I don't want to be, I have a feeling I am going to develop a caffeine addiction since that's what I have to rely on to stay awake and somewhat alert in the afternoon! How on earth am I going to be a full-time teacher in two years?!?! =/
I'm already bombarded with tons of readings and various assignments!! I wonder if I will be able to handle working at the preschool twice a week, especially later on in the year when I have to start teaching entire units at my teaching blocks... Anyway, I miss everybody already since I haven't really met any new friends yet in my program...awwww. =( Please contact me and let me know how all of you are doing, e.g. how school is going for those of you who are back at it, how work is going if you are working, etc., etc. I hope we get to see each other very soon, although I know everyone is really busy. Let's try to at least get together for Thanksgiving, ok? =)
Sunday, September 7, 2003
WOW! I'm still feeling very worked up about last night's Chris Wong's "Long Time No See" mini concert @ Wonderland!! It was really, really good!! Although we had to sit through about two and half hours of other performances, including a really dumb "musical skit" put on by the CHIN radio DJs, before Chris Wong came on, it was totally worth it! Although our seats weren't the best (4th row in the second block of seats in Kingswood Theatre), but at least, Chris Wong wasn't a dot! =) We were also pretty much in the center too, so we really can't complain, also given that we didn't have to wait in line to get into the theatre for that long. The only thing that I have to complain about is this really big guy (who wore a really ugly, quite obvious a woman's earring!! =P) whose head and raised camera kinda blocked my view. There were also these really inconsiderate people who stood in the aisle between the first and second block of seats to take pictures. =(
Anyway, Chris Wong didn't sing his best last night, although still pretty good for someone with a cold and a hoarse voice. However, despite not being in the best shape, he was very happy and very energetic, running/walking around the stage, going down the steps by the stage to shake hands with the audience. Speaking of shaking hands, Chris was touched that his Toronto fans were so enthusiastic and hyper, so although the security didn't really like it, he insisted on going down the stage to shake hands with the fans!! He couldn't get far though, because as those of you who have been to Kingswood Theatre before, there aren't many railings/fences to protect Chris from the screaming fans. =P But, I was one of those fans who rushed to the area where Chris walked down to, to shake his hand!! hahaha... I was pressed right up against the railing/fence thingy because of the much more hyper fans pushing me!! As soon as Chris walked close to me, all of a sudden all these arms and hands darted out of nowhere in front of me, and some, against my face!!! They were so hyper that they nearly pushed me over and into Chris (hey, that wouldn't have been such a bad idea!! hehe.. j/k)! So, to balance myself, I could only extend my hand out a short distance and Chris didn't shake it. =( Oh well, at least I got to shake his hand when he signed my CDs!
Another highlight of the concert was when these two dancers from the previous performances, came onstage to present flowers to Chris. The dancers were still wearing their "Zombie" makeup and costumes from their "Zombie Dance" performance (don't ask), and so, Chris was a little taken aback when he saw them... hahaha. But anyway, Chris told the dancers and the audience that he could dance too but his pants were too baggy to do their "Zombie dance", so instead, he just twirled the girls around onstage to his own songs. One of the dancers was so shy that she just left the stage but the other one stayed-- smart move because Chris told her to sit on his leg (he was bent down one knee), he carried her and hugged her! You should have heard all the noise coming from the audience, mainly screams of envy from the female fans!! =P
Phew! Ok, sorry for putting all of you through my long concert report, I'll stop here but check above for the pics of the items Chris Wong autographed for me! Also, check below for one more added pic of Chris Wong and Tammy and Jane! =D
P.S. Although I'm still not over my bit of "Chris Wong fever", I'm not THAT starstruck to forget about my anxiety and nervousness about my first day of my teaching block tomorrow.. =/ The host teacher did call me back today and she sounded really nice (and young!), so that helped ease my nerves a bit but still...
Friday, September 5, 2003
I haven't been so overwhelmed in such a long time! From the anxiety of having not just going back to school but beginning a new program, to the excitement of seeing Chris Wong at Pacific Mall for an autograph session, to being bummed about having only really one and half day of summer vacation this entire summer, I feel like I'm gonna reel over with all this to handle and think about!! The biggest part of anxiety/nervousness is/was not knowing anything about the ICS (Institute for Child Study, of which I'm now a student) Orientation (i.e. not knowing when it started), not knowing when my practicum teaching block begins and where, and now, upon learning that I will be teaching at Hillcrest P.S. at the corner of St. Clair and Bathurst, whether I should drive or take the TTC, etc., etc. =/ I also don't know what to expect, what to wear (it's actually a very important matter), how early I should get there (I called my host teacher at lunch today but she never called me back)... arrghhh... I guess you can see that I'm actually one of the world's biggest worrywarts, only second to my mother. heehee
But of course, all of this commotion was furthered by seeing Chris Wong in person today at Pacific Mall!!! Yippee!!! Tammy, Jane and I went to see him, and we were pretty close to the front of the line for signing autographs!! Our feet killed because we had to wait in line for an hour for him to arrive but it was totally worth it!! Thanks to Jane, I managed to get 5 of my CDs/VCDs signed by him (Jane took a couple of CDs/VCDs from me to sign since each of us were only allowed 2-3 items to be signed)!! Of course, we took a gazillion pictures but the one and only pic I got of me and him was blocked by the stupid DJ/emcee's arm-- arrghh. I even shook his hand, though he looked a little awkward when I stuck my hand out to him. He also looked really tired, probably because of jet lag (he just came in to Toronto last night, apparently) and because of the cold he said he has. The whole signing autographs thing was really rushed though, once it started because the radio people (they're the ones who organized the event) were so anxious for it to be over and done with. I took pictures of the items I got autographed, maybe I'll post them in the next entry or something.
Anyway, I'm now so worked up, I have a headache. I'm still worried about my teaching block on Monday but I'm still really excited about seeing Chris Wong today and tomorrow at Wonderland (he's having a concert at Kingswood Theatre).. argghh. I know I won't be able to sleep well again tonight!! By the way, Chris Wong FINALLY shaved off his goatee-- looks much younger and better without it! Right, Tammy? =P
Monday, September 1, 2003
Goodbye to Summer '03!! *sniff sniff sob sob*. =( Even though this summer wasn't anything spectacular but it was still better than going back to school!! I can't believe how quickly this summer flew by (yes, I say the exact same thing each year but I still mean it.)! Actually, I was so busy with work this summer, the days just kinda blended with each other; the days seemed seamless. I just went through each day routinely, doing the exact same things in the same order each day... at one point, I actually kinda missed school, can you believe it?!?!? =P Anyhow, this summer was interesting and kinda enlightening, in the sense that I learned a lot about work politics, and the sincerity (the "realness") of people in the "real world".
By the way, you may have noticed that I have FINALLY changed the song on the main page--- sorry for taking so long to do so! The song may not be very catchy or anything but the lyrics mean a lot to me. By the way, the singer of the song, Chris Wong (also the composer and lyricist of the song) will be in Toronto this week!! I've managed to force Jane to come with me to Wonderland next Saturday to see him perform (thanks a million, Jane!! =D). He's also gonna be at Pacific Mall on Friday for an autograph session-- I am dying to go!! I would most definitely be there in line--- provided that I'm not still stuck at my Practicum Placement Workshop at OISE that day. I STILL don't know what time that workshop is, so the anxiety is really killing me! Please, please let me be able to go to Pacific that day!!! =P
<-- A "sweet" present from one of my preschoolers. =)
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