7 Days of Ensure

Diet for the past week:
-Ensure: 2/day for the first 5 days, 3/day for the last 2 days.*
-1 can of soup per night.
-1 bottle of powerade a day.
- 2 bottles of V8 splash and 1 bottle of V8 low sodium.
- tons of water.

* For the first 2 days, drinking Ensure was amazing. The taste wasn't bad at all and it was thick enough that it made you feel pretty full. Too bad it only comes in two flavors and drinking it every day makes me feel like puking now.

New Phone Help

Looking to join the smart-phone club. iphone or other? Your suggestions greatly appreciated.

Things I would would want in it:
- calling (minimal dropped calls, clear calls)
- music
- internet/ gps
- life management tools (calendar, notes, etc)
- cheap (phone and plan)

Fun with pepper!

I mentioned last week that Jerry came to accept Christ. Well, this past Saturday some people were able to officially celebrate his spiritual birthday by going out to a buffet. Even though we couldn't eat meat, the place actually had an amazing selection of vegetarian options. Most of us ended up stocking up on tempuras and grilled veggies (amazing by the way) and all kinds of salads.

As we were closing out the meal, we were mentioning possible games, and Karen suggested we see who gets the worst fortune from their fortune cookie, loser has to snort pepper. After everyone picked their cookie, we all read the fortune silently and I collected them and mixed it up in my hand. We chose Yeoh to be the impartial judge because we felt he would be the most honest.

After reading through them all, Yeoh came up with his verdict. Check out the results below or click here.

Snacking

I remember last year I had a conversation with Ruth about how teaching was going for her. She mentioned that she always kept food at her desk which led to her unconsciously snacking on it during her downtime. After judging her silently, I just nodded along to keep the conversation going.

The shoe is now on the other foot, and I can now understand a little bit of what she might have been going through. There's something really hunger-inducing when you have to interact with students all day. Maybe it's all that walking around and talking that comes with teaching, or maybe it's the stress of trying to juggle a million things at once, but dang, you get so hungry throughout the day.

Before I started keeping cheerios and crackers at my desk, my stomach would rumble so loudly that I became self-conscious that my kids would hear. Once I started keeping a stash of snacks in my drawer, I found myself unknowingly grabbing saltines or handfuls of cheerios in between class periods or during prep hours. Last week, I found that I had eaten half a stack of saltines (plain!) in the span of 2 hours!

All I know is, there is something mind-numbingly therapeutic about snacking. Unfortunately, all that constant eating has come with the consequence of making me a bit chunkier around my midsection. Thankfully the One Desire liquid-only fast will teach me how to deal with my stresses in a better way.

What's with those ads?

You may have noticed the ad bar in my blog and wondered why the heck it was there. Well, it's been there since I started my job search in Austin and I was seriously considering being a "professional blogger".

Pretty much all the job search websites I browsed would list testimonials of how some schlub started making thousands of dollars each month just by blogging. At first I scoffed at the idea that someone could make a living from blogging, but as I got more desperate, I began researching into the feasibility of being a blogger. I saw how many mainstream bloggers all used Google's adsense (and made bank) so I decided to give it a try.

Thankfully, I ended up getting a job within a week of implementing adsense because with my earnings thus far, I wouldn't have enough to buy a value meal. Looking back, it's pretty funny what kind of schemes I came up with to get money. I figure I'll have this blog for a couple years, so I'm going to keep the program running. It's based on people checking out the ads so feel free if you're so inclined. If not, no biggy.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

Well, that law came to life today at work. I can't go into details but here's a quick rundown of how my day looked.

*Warning: This is meant to be just a venting process. It's a really tough job, but I'm definitely learning so much from this experience.*

1. Arrived at work 10 minutes late and was told that one of our students would be staying in our room for the next 3 days for punching someone in the face.
2. 15 minutes later (before school even started) we get radioed to come down and pick up the very same student for another confrontation. Security got radioed to come and help escort student to our class. (I'm in the classroom documenting and waiting to receive the student) 5 minutes later I heard someone say he ran out of the school and the campus officer is called.
3. 2nd period, we get a notice that one of our students was accused of bringing a gun to school. By law, we are required to treat every threat seriously so we search for his backpack and investigate his locker. He gets sent down to our room with a teacher and he is pissed. He normally has a huge anger issue, but thankfully we square everything away and assure him since nothing was found he is not in any trouble and he gets sent back to class.
4. 3rd period the student who ran off is brought back and disrupts our class. He ends up bringing another student into his mischief and they both get sent on an Intervention (discipline). It takes almost an entire hour to get them calmed down and able to do their punishments.
5. The student who ran away tries to get off of doing his punishment by asking for food, pretending to have a stomachache. (Funny how he didn't have one for the past hour he was tossing paper airplanes and talking with his buddy). We don't let him off the hook so he slumps to the ground and requests the nurse. By law we have to oblige and the nurse comes and inspects him. He really turns on the waterworks and after 20 minutes of superb acting, gets wheelchaired to the nurse's station. (We all know what he's doing but can't do anything about it)
   
6. During lunch, I go to the cafeteria to shadow the student who got drawn into trouble. We got halfway through before he decides to try sneaking up on our Assistant Principal and taking his walkie. I see this and am sprinting over to tell him to back off, but the AP notices it and tells the student to go to our room. The student gets pissed (who knows why) and refuses to, and refuses to listen to me as well. Our head teacher gets radioed and after 10 minutes, the student finally heads to the room, cursing.
7. On the way, another student in our program follows us saying he wants to join us. We tell him he's gotta stay in the cafeteria but he ignores us and just eats his chips and follows us. After escorting the student to the door, I escort the chip-eater back to the cafeteria and hear another of our students cursing and looking upset. End up calming him down (positive!) and am radioed to come back to help with the classroom.
8. Because both the students in Intervention are good friends, they are having a difficult time controlling, so one is sent over to my room and I work with him on calming down and doing his punishments. We actually end up having a good talk (positive!) and he promises to stay out of trouble the rest of the day.
9. As he leaves, another of our students comes and tells us that his friend showed him weed. I escort him to the AP's office and he asks me to stay with him (he's afraid of getting in trouble) and we take care of all the paperwork and I take him to his class. Later that period, the student who promised to be good stops by and requests to not go to the party because he's afraid of getting into trouble so he asks to go to study hall (positive!) and I take him there.
   
10. Last period, the student who ran away just does not listen to any directions and is such a handful it drives all of us crazy. I have to escort a different student to the bus because he tends to wander, and he keeps trying to run off, but I finally bring him to his mother who was to pick him up. 5 minutes later I get radioed asking if I dropped him off, because apparently his mother is looking for him. This is freakin confusing cuz I specifically remembered bring him to her, but apparently he went back to get his work and his mom was looking for him.
11. Got to go home with a throbbing headache.
    

+1

This Sunday after service we had a guy accept Christ! He'd been coming out for the past year or so and finally decided to take the leap of faith. It's such an awesome example of God moving even though it feels like we're not making much progress. Definitely a huge Yay God moment!

Comic

How awesome would it be if there was an actual dashboard to control stuff like this? I particularly like the "Raining Men" function.

What frustrates you as a teacher?

After half a year under my belt, I feel like I've become less idealistic about what I can hope to accomplish in the lives of the students. To be honest, much of it was probably an inflated sense of what I thought I could do based on my limited experience and personality, but a lot of what a teacher can do is also based on forces out of his control (administration, parents, student's experiences).

Bribes, emotional appeals, one-on-one talks, and threats are all things I've had to try in order to get my kids to do the simplest of jobs, like going to class. What works for one student bombs completely with others, and sometimes what works one day fails the next. Every day feels like you're walking a tightrope. You get ignored on a regular basis and cursed out just as often.

What does get me amped and encouraged is when students are able to pull things together and exhibit progress in practicing self-control. One kid in particular has really grown up. Last year he would regularly be called down to be disciplined, and while he was in the room he would throw the most violent tantrums I've ever seen. Just a month ago while I was guarding one of the doors he ran up in front of me and kicked a hole in the wall right next to me. We tried everything with him and nothing ever seemed to work.

This new year he has been a completely new person. He hasn't been sent down to us for behavior issues (although he does act up sometimes) and when we praise him for all the good work he's been doing, he mentioned that his mom told him that the new year she wouldn't put up with his old behavior. (YES! Positive parent involvement!) Today we ate lunch together and I could just see a difference in his demeanor that made me so happy.

Conversely, when a normally good student gets in trouble for something so stupid, you just feel like crap because you invested so much hope in that kid. One of my kids is incredibly smart, behaves well 95% of the time, and is a lot of fun to talk to. Unfortunately he hangs with a bad crowd and today it got him into trouble when we found out after school that he just got caught with drugs. Efffff, what were you thinking??? It was such a crushing disappointment because that one lapse in judgment has such serious consequences.

I think it's the ride teachers unconsciously get taken on when we start getting attached to our students that gets so draining. When students do well we're on cloud 9 but we're also kicked and dragged through the mud when they choose to give up. In the end, it feels like your efforts are so inconsequential that you start to question how much you are really impacting them.

All in all, I do believe that teachers do play a large role in shaping the lives of their students. However I am well aware of all the hurdles and difficulties that lie in really reaching that goal. I gotta keep learning and equipping myself for this marathon.

Elevator Filth: Part Deuce

Once again, Tou Fue and I were walking down the hall in the morning and were talking about how we hoped today there wouldn't be any surprises in the elevator. I pushed the button and saw what looked like carbohydrate-laden vomit in one corner and shattered lightbulbs all across the floor.

I just shook my head and walked away.

Who does that?!

There are some things that you would never expect to see. You would never expect to find your grandparents in a mosh pit nor would you think of opening up a men's restroom and see a woman peeing in a urinal. Some things are 99.99% not going to happen. Ever.

Today, my world was rocked when I was walking down the hall of the apartment thinking, "Wow, the hallway is relatively clean today." For the past week, every morning there have been puke piles, broken shards of glass, and cans of beer strewn around. Just as I finish the thought and the elevator door opens up, the most offensive sight possible affronts my eyes and nostrils.

someone took a fatty deuce in the elevator and topped it off with urinating at the entrance.

Since it was the morning, it took me a couple seconds to take in the sight. Tou Fue and I looked over at each other and as we realized what we were looking at, I felt my gag reflex kick in and nearly added last night's dinner to the mix.

As we ended up walking down the stairs, I couldn't help feeling incredibly pissed that someone had the gall to take a DUMP in an elevator. What the HECK, that's just freakin disgusting. I won't go into detail, but it was a hefty load. There's just a lack of common courtesy goin on. You can check "seeing human fecal matter on the elevator floor" off the list of things you never expect to see.

2009 Pop Music Mash-Up

Preparations

It's about that time to start preparing for job searching for next year. I'll be fillin out a lot of paperwork, droppin some dough, and getting my networking on. Thankfully God has already started opening some doors for me since I came back from break. Our principal retired and the day I came back to work, I met his replacement for the first time. We got to talkin and she asked what my future plans were.

When I let her know I was hoping to get a teaching position in elementary school, she let me know that there was a new school opening up next year and she would help put a good word in for me. I still have to do a lot before May (which is the in-district job fair), but it's encouraging to see God starting to move.

REFRESH

Christ's PASSION

Christ's PURPOSE

in Me

Get your read on

So for my long flights, I ended up reading and finishing Fran and Zooey by J.D Salinger (thanks for the rec Susan!) and most of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson (thanks Amy!). It's been such a long time since I read for pleasure that it took a while to get in the groove. The first time I tried reading I only made it 30 minutes before getting distracted and deciding to watch the in-flight movie, Terminator Salvation (pretty crappy movie).

Reading is kinda like working out, though. The first couple times after a long hiatus are painful and not very fun, but after awhile, you get back into the groove and things just feel right. By the time I started on Three Cups, it was amazing.

Anyways, both books have been incredible. Salinger has such an interesting way of setting up his "aha" moment that when it comes, it just blows you away. I know because when I stumbled upon it I literally muttered, "Dang!" in appreciation. I'm not going to ruin the moment for you if you decide to check it out, but it really challenged the way I think about how I see the things I do.

Greg Mortenson... seriously this guy reminds me of Pastor Seth. He started off as a mountain climber who fell in love with a remote village in Pakistan and promised to build them a school. It just goes through the ridiculous hurdles and challenges this man went through to see this dream through, and yet how single-minded his focus was. He literally gave everything he had for the village, selling all his possessions and living in poverty for years raising funds.

The thing that really inspires me though is the fact that he wasn't just a "project man", accomplishing his goal, patting himself on his back and peacing out, but he stayed on in the area with the people that he fell in love with. THAT is real passion.


Next up on the docket:

Empire of Illusion: The end of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle by Chris Hedges

Take Care of Your Body

When I was spending time with my relatives, I couldn't help but notice how many health issues were in my family. Many of them I can't really control, but at least I can do my part in trying to stay healthy. What's crazy is that despite glaucoma, high blood pressure, partial deafness and blindness, alzheimer's, and a gamut of other problems, many of them are hittin their upper 80s and early 90s. Time to take lessons from their book and develop a more regular exercise routine and start eating better.

Note: This is NOT a NY resolution, I don't believe in those, it's more of a life goal.

Quick hits

I'll probably do a huge mental regurgitation this weekend, but here's some thoughts and observations.

- The difference between Asian and American stewardesses is night and day. I was so shocked when I flew to and from Taiwan this time, they were gorgeous! Seriously, like they could be super models. Then you fly to Minneapolis or Detroit, and you get elderly women and men.

Anyways, on my flight from Taiwan to Narita, I came the closest to "Love at first sight". I'm not saying that I thought she was "the one", but she was so jaw-droppingly pretty it was insane. I believe most girls can be cute, hot, or pretty... but she made her own category: ethereal. Now normally I'm not too smooth around new attractive girls, but she made me feel like a pubescent boy. My tongue felt like lead and it didn't help that I was getting over a cold and was dripping like a faucet. In the end, I chickened out and didn't talk to her. One day afterwards, I am still haunted by my lack of fortitude.

- Jetlag seems to be a lot worse going East ---> West. My body is so jacked up right now it's not even funny.

- I was actually nervous on the ride to work today. Nervous about how the kids would be and nervous about whether I could stay awake. Success for both. Kids were great and despite a couple close calls, I stayed awake until the ride home, where I passed out. haha sorry Tou Fue!