Squirrel In My Pants!

DRIVING TEST IN TWO HOURS AND I AM SUPER NERVOUS!!!! I really really hope I pass...I'm not asking to get 0 points, just let me pass!!!!! I'm scared that I would end up changing lanes horribly or forgetting to adjust my mirrors sjdfnhwiofhslkfal. May it all go well and I not get my directions wrong....!!!!

A hunting we will go

Another week at Swiss has passed! Nooooo I don't want my internship to end :( I really like it here! If there is a space for another relief teacher in the school, I will gladly choose to continue my term here! I just wish I have a little more actual work to do... Not that I completely slack at work, but maybe it's because I'm too efficient (HAHAHA) that I finish preparing for my lessons pretty quickly. So I end up doing CCA stuff and misc stuff like calling for sponsors for the carnival, which I don't mind but you know, those are kind of stuff I can do anytime but it isn't 'real' work? Okay I don't really know what I'm saying now but yes! Basically I prefer preping for lessons and stuff haha. 

Oh yes, teaching my class of seven is heaven, compared to the noisy class of 44..! I haven't actually seen such big classes since my primary school days! My class wasn't even this huge last time! I am really glad NUSHS has small classes all the way because it really is much easier and probably better for teachers to teach and students to learn. Sometimes I don't even know whether the class is listening to me rambling :( I feel really bad when they don't do well for their quizzes because I'm scared it's me :( But I'm really trying very hard to get stuff across to them! Before every lesson I have to crack my brains to think of a new way to get their attention and for them to focus instead of talking among themselves. Oh boy, but it really is difficult because some of them do stray. Maybe I should try with sweets next time :O Hm, on a side note, I hope I get to try teaching in a primary school and JC someday!

We interns and relief teachers have been coming up with dress codes everyday! Which is really fun! :D Now some other teachers are joining in too! So amazing! We started a trend! Haha.

And Ivan is back from Korea!!! :D He bought so many things for me :O Thank you!!!! Teeheehee I really like the nail polish and sweater :D

Met up with the guys again last night at Timbre. Weiren doesn't look that different without his hair but it's still cool haha. It's nice being able to meet up with friends every week, whether it's the same group or not :) At least it means that I still have a social life with people my age and not just with kids younger than me..

I can't wait to pass my driving test this Thursday!! Praying really really hard that I pass!!! Doesn't matter how many points, as long as I pass!!!!! Please don't let me get nervous and mount the kerb or do anything stupid!!!! I just hope I don't get too sleepy after the warm-up session and end up messing my test up :( Touchwood!!! Touch all the wood!!!

Okay bye bye!!

Acids taste sour

That is exactly what I'm teaching in school now haha. Ms Sie has kindly requested for me to update my blog, so here I am :P 

The TIP has been a pretty good experience! Well, except for the fact that I can't sleep in like everyone else anymore :( But I feel so good everytime I walk into school (Why yes, I walk to school and back home everyday now! Healthy right?) I really enjoy teaching! It's challenging sometimes (teaching kids who have no knowledge of real chemistry how to write equations is difficult...) but it's really fun. I have to learn to be fiercer and stricter though >:( My bio class has only seven students...which is a bit weird because it feels like a tuition class and doesn't exactly give me the full experience. But I still have my science class which has 44 students...which is kind of big too actually haha. I've found out that meetings can get rather dreary and that teachers do talk about students in funny ways behind their backs :P Oh well, four more weeks to go! Feels so short :( Maybe I should extend my term to do relief teaching!

Chinese New Year came and went in a flash this year! But I had lots of fun! Our Xiamen relatives visited and we brought them to Universal Studios, Chinatown, the zoo, and the finale dinner at the Tamano's! Really great experience. Even better than our school's exchange program, because this is with the entire family! Imagine over forty people going out for dinners together, or squeezing (not really) in a house! All of us had to bring our tables and stools from home to the Tamano's because they did not have enough, and the amazingly managed to transform their home in a mini restaurant! Brilliant! I'm really lazy to write everything out, so pictures it is!

At Universal Studios!

So happy to meet Niu Niu again! :)

Isn't Zhi Yan super cute????? :D:D

Twin brothers! We call them the Tin Tin brothers because they look like Tin Tin, don't they??

Dinner at seafood restaurant!

Chinatown!

At the zoo :D

Dinner at the Tamano's!

We had a lion dance troupe come to the house! :D

Everyone contributed to the dinner by either preparing something from home or buying food from outside! :D

Five tables in the living room and the balcony!

We are the 温 clan! :)

Bye bye Niu Niu :(

Celebrated Ivan's birthday too! :) Brought him to Tomi Sushi at Parco! It was surprisingly really good! Went to watch Wicked after that. Great great musical! So glad we watched it :) So watch it if you have time and $$ to spare! Went over to Kaiqi's place to celebrate her birthday after that haha. But it was so quiet without the Oons and Lows around! The atmosphere is totally different with just a single member missing!

Amazing food :)

My favourite boy ;)

So many missing cousins!

Okay I should probably go to bed right now! Early day tomorrow! Goodnight! Hopefully I would update this poor blog soon.. :P

Day two and I can't wait for training to end

I really want to get down to teaching proper instead of being cooped up in an air-conditioned room the entire day listening to lectures :( I know the theory is important and stuff but I just dislike draining lectures..especially when I'm still not used to sleeping early AND waking up early!! Haha. Well but today's session was much more interesting than yesterday's. Made lots of new friends and found out who are the other two girls teaching in Swiss Cottage too! They seem pretty nice :) Our instructor/lecturer/teacher is a really experienced lady who obviously had many interesting stories to tell us, which was very lovely of her. I still feel very awkward being the one kid from NUSH there. I don't regret signing up alone and attending this whole thing alone - I am going to start all over again in university alone too anyway right? Guess this is just an early start. But sometimes it just...feels weird being the only person who did not go through a normal secondary and JC life so everything regarding those six years of education that everyone seems to be talking about sound alien to me. I can't even add anything on or give my own opinion because well, I just don't understand what they are talking about! And though it is some what 'good training' to venture out on my own like this, to start in an entirely new place alone, it really is very lonely to not have any friends around, and everyone else seems to have someone to hold on to, even if they were to be simply schoolmates who have never talked to each other before. I guess that is sort of the 'disadvantage' of being in a school like this because we really are cooped up in our own world all the time, interacting with the same people for six years and having practically nothing in common with everyone out there.  However, I would gladly say that I am very happy to have come to this school because we managed to save ourselves from graying hair, mugging for the 'O' and 'A' levels! It seems normal for everyone else to not know half the people in their level but to us, we are, not necessarily close, but at least we do recognize and are most probably be able to name everyone in our level, perhaps even be close people from other levels! Which is very heart-warming actually :)

Sometimes I don't get the concept behind learning. I totally understood the lessons taught today but was there a need to make us memorize words like those? How many people actually are able to make sense of big words put together to make visions, missions and all simply sound fancy? If I were to get the idea of what those sentences mean and process them in my head, is there a need to still memorize those words for show? Memorizing does help us learn but what is the point if all your bring back at the end of the day are words that mean nothing to you? Well,  just some food for thought. 

Went back to NUSH today! :) Felt so happy crossing the bridge that I have always found very annoying to reach the school back gate! Amazing! Our school card still works! Wonder when will it expire. Feels really great meeting all our teachers again, a pity Ms Sie isn't in school anymore :( Dr Dewey got a tan! Which speaks a lot because, well, you know, he was always the Snow White in our school :P Poor Mrs Soong is running out of supplies of students she can joke with! Those brief few moments interacting with our teachers made me feel like coming back to school :(.....but na, HEEHEE I like slacking at home, for now! This year's orientation finale was...an anticlimax compared to the previous few with campfires :( A campfire completely changes the entire atmosphere! Good effort for the planning and carrying out of the performances but meh our school never fails to bring lots of goosebumps to my skin! And how ironic that some people who never fail to miss events like orientation turned up for the one that happened right after graduation!

I think I feel the most comfortable being with my group of friends from high school, and I really wonder if I would be able to find friends or people whom I would able to feel this 'me' around next time.. I really hold myself back around people I am not familiar with. I mean, well yeah I still smile and chat with them but...that's just not me you know?

Okay! That is all for now. Really. Need. To . Get. SLEEP. And I've to start working on my essay for PSC this weekend :( May it all turn out well!!!!! Excited!!!!!

Leap of faith

Training for teaching internship started today! It wasn't very exciting...as expected, since it was only the first day packed with sharings from a principal who was a scholar and two soon-to-be teachers's past experiences in the internship. Well, and some interview prep course. The sharings made me feel really excited for work to start next week! But I guess I have to sit in lots of classes first before I can start taking charge of the classroom like a real teacher. Really hope that the classes I teach won't be too hard on me! But then again, challenges are the fun part of a job, aren't they? Felt totally awkward today because everyone seemed to have at least a friend to hang out with..leaving me the only one from our school there :( Thankfully I ran into Peishan and so I pretty much stayed with her and her friends (yay new friends!) the entire day. Interesting people. Everyone seemed very surprised when I told them that I am from NUS High School. Guess they expected me to go into research or something instead of choosing teaching! And it felt weird that I was the only one who knew how to get around NUS properly on my own considering how I was usually the lost one following my friends around the campus (seriously guys, there are faster ways to get around!), heehee felt like a pro (for once!!!!). Had a really tough time waking up this morning so I shall retreat into bed earlier tonight! May the next two days be more interesting than today's training session!

Counting down

So once again we come to the end of a year and the beginning of another. Hm, what have I actually dome this year? I've picked up driving, started giving tuition, finally did choir proud at SYF, went on a graduation trip to Hong Kong with my friends, got my family to approve of my social and dating life, graduated and had my first ever prom, and started thinking really hard about my future. guess it was a pretty fulfillingyear, though I would have liked to have done much more in school and out. School life felt a little empty, though much more relaxed, without council and the never-ending deadlines. I am going to miss school so much but we would all have to move on to meet new people nd experience new things in some point in our lives, don't we? I am actually pretty scared about what would have inthe next one year, because a lot of things are going to change once we start going into university. The boys are already beginning to make their way into NS and we girls are going to have to say goodbye to some of our friends as they leave for the US or UK, or well, anywhere else in the world. I am super scared that I wouldn't be able to do a good job at internship, or get a scholarship, or get a course I want. I would be disappointing not only myself but also so many other people who care about me :( so my New Year's resolution is to work really hard to get that scholarship and to do my best in everything that I do! Which includes teaching, studying and cooking....which I have to do right now for my sister and Seina when they return for dinner ._. Have a great New Year!!!! Bye!

Your love's put me at the top of the world

Party party party. Guess that's what the Christmas/New Year week is for right? The wedding I attended on Sunday was..rather monotonous. Maybe it was because we were exactly very close to the couple so we didn't feel excited at all except well for the dressing up part. But the wedding was so prim and proper that it felt very..staged. I don't want my wedding to be like that next time! Well yes it would obviously be 'staged' in the sense that it would be planned, not that my wedding would be an impromptu one! But I definitely wouldn't want to invite people whom I barely even know just to fill the tables up, or make speeches that were memorized and stuff. I'd want it to feel homely and fun and lively! With party games and a dance floor and a live band. Oh good food is a must! Okay nevermind I shall leave all that up to my future wedding planner Dylan :P

Anyway went to Dylan's place on Monday for a Christmas party! Who knew Street Fighter could be so addictive! Haha. Gift exchange was fun too! I got a new sling bag! Thanks Jieun! :D Oh yes and potato salad was awesomeeeee. Best ever! Saw Ray in his uniform, and bald head too. He looked....pretty much the same. Just without hair :P Can't belive the guys are finally moving off to NS! Really enjoy 403 parties because somehow the combination of us weird (but very nice, very friendly, very lovely :P) people works out perfectly!

Met Jiamin from Xi'an yesterday! Haven't seen her in a really long time but she still pretty much the same I guess. Had lunch at Skinny Pizza. Guess it isn't too bad, but it is definitely not very filling. I got full from drinking water ._. Should go there for tea breaks instead of lunch! Just roamed around Orchard, and stopped by Macs for a snack (told you lunch wasn't filling!) and saw Jiamin off before heading over to Cineleisure to meet what was supposed to be a 403 movie outing. Only Bernard, Stuart and I were available because everyone else was busy or sick haha. And the movie timing which we wanted initially was full! So we had to watch Sherlock Holmes an hour later than intended :( But we did spemd our time, and money, very wisely..in the arcade! I suck at arcade driving :( Hopefully it is not a reflection of my actual driving skills!! Sherlock Holmes was a really good movie! You need not watch the first one to get the second one. It's really witty and action-packed and there were lots of funny scenes too!! I think I liked it better than MI4! For those who get British English, enjoy intellectual movies with some fighting and humour, go watch! I'd say it's worth the $$!

Finally meeting up with 603 gang tomorrow! Excited to catch up with everyone! And to see Heidi's new house..thoyh I've never seen her old one before :P I should probably go and have dinner and pack for tomorrow's sleepover! Bye!

Dressed in holiday style

Had our annual family Vhristmas party last night! Haha yiu must be wondering why we have Christmas parties on the Eve but it is our tradition to spend the night together and countdown to Christmas! Think we might be the only family that makes a great deal out of random holidays.. Just found out that not a lot of families stay up together to countdown to New Year's either but simply spend the day like a normal day.. How is New Year's Eve a normal day!! It is the last day of the year that is a very nice day to spend with family! Haha I don't know but family time is nice. Feels sad that the number of people around during such gatherings get fewer and fewer becauae everyone is going out and slowly going overseas to study :( But skyping Joshua and Roxanne last night was really fun! Haha sorry they had to stay up till 2+am on the other side just to talk to everyone and watch us do our silly dances. But we did have an additional guest this year (and hopefully every year right? ;P) to add to the numbers. Sadly he came during the decline and so was not able to see how grand our concerts actually get. This year's was really simple, with just two dances and two songs, charades and a montage. But I guess the company is what that's important! Maybe next year we can play Secret Santa! Which would make things a little more exciting! Time to retire from the action though, getting a little old to choreograph, or should I say put random actions together in a sequence, for the little kids. Got two books and a new bag and a pair of bluetooth headphones to be shared with bro and sis this year! Yay Santa!

Going to get ready for the wedding tonight! Need to shower, do my hair, makeup (argh) and get dressed. Phbt. Can't wait to see everyone tonight! I hope I don't look out of place in my prom dress....

Merry Christmas everyone!! Have a great day!

Home alone

Well when I say alone, I actually mean stuck in a house with crazy little cousins running around, leaving me the only sane one in the house. It's one day to Christmas Eve! Tomorrow is our big day! A family concert with gamee for the family and lots of nice food! Life's great! Or at least it is going to be. The next twenty-four hours are going to be madness. We have dances to teach, routines to learn, games to prepare for. May all go well. Then all of us would be attending a Christmas wedding on Sunday! Which is going to be really exciting because it would be like prom all over again for me! Fsmily prom! So fun! All our moms were fussing over what to wear, what their children are going to wear, what they are going to do to their hair...and the dads are like "What?! It's not even their wedding!". Haha. I think I am pretty lucky, in fact really lucky, to have such a huge family that actually pretty much sticks together all the time. Well there is family drama at times (how not to avoid conflicts with over twenty people to satisfy??) but there would always be something awesome happening at any point of time! Because we are so used to one another, it gets kind of weird when we go on our own family trips without the rest of the cousins, feels like something is missing! It is always amazing that we get to hire our own tour buses and a personal tour guide or drive five cars around Malaysia during our holidays! Well I had better go keep an eye on the kids and get ready for Christmas!
Merry Christmas everyone!!! :)

Moving on

Finally completed stage three of driving! Guess just a couple more lessons and I should be able to book my test! Now I'm kind of worried because I am going to be really busy from January to March, not sure if I wold be able to find time for stuff like driving and other things like my social life. Haha I guess I'm worrying too much but I am scared I would turn out like my parents and aunts and all who can't manage a social life with friends who are not collegues and a family and working life at the same time. They said it would be hard to catch up with classmates and all becuase everyone is all over the place and there is barely even time for themselves. I hope I don't turn out like that and would be able to keep in touch with my friends from high school. It would be very sad to lose them just because of work and stuff.

It suddenly dawned upon me last night that if I were to really get a scholarship that would fund me for my studies overseas, it would be really great, especially if it were to be The MOE scholarship I have been dreaming about for ages! Everything would fall perfectly in place! Except for my social life, again. I would have to leave behind my family and friends just to study abroad for four years. I don't know if it is worth it, considering that I might end up drifting apart from my friends here in Singapore.. People say it is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I should just go, but would it be this easy to put all that aside just for my studies? Oh well, haha I shall worry about that when I actually get my scholarship.

Talking about scholarships, I've decided not to just stick to one scholarship (though that would still be my ultimate first choice!) and habe chosen about seven to apply to! I'm hoping really hard to be selected for at least one! Phbt, but this means more essays to write zzz.

Okay I should probably start sleeping earlier... Been sleeping way past midnight these days! Bye!

Oh yeah! And I got into NTU Biological Sciences! They reply really quick because I only sent my stuff in yesterday morning! Replied within a day! Amazing! Why NUS so slow???