nothing gold can stay. can it?

Most of my students would have come across this poem one time or another. It's in the literature text The Outsiders. This poem more or less carries the idea behind the story.

Nothing Gold Can Stay - Robert Frost

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I'm still reading into the meaning of this poem. I get the gist of the underlying idea and it's amazing how something can make such sense and be so beautifully crafted.

now this sure took a while.

"Most of our life is a series of images. They pass us by like towns on the highway. But sometimes, a moment stuns us as it happens. And we know that this instant is more than a fleeting image. We know that this moment... every part of it... will live on forever."

Many a time I'll look back at my life and wonder how things would be different if I made certain choices. And then I'll realise that half of the time I was paper chasing, going through the motions, just simply...living life as I should.

The other time in literature lesson, I was asking my students to share with me significant and memorable moments in their lives. Things that have changed their lives. I had actually wanted to hear their answers for myself. At the back of my head, I had went blank as I could not come up with any examples for myself.

Perhaps it's a good thing to realise this and probably things can be different. Perhaps moments like these really can be created and waited for. Will I be able to create these moments in the days to come? Can I make an impression?

Then just maybe the next time I stumble upon a One Tree Hill quote and decide to blog about it, I'll have at least something I can boast about or look back fondly on. And yes, it's about time I started on Season 4.

look, it's 3am.

Sometimes, I hope I can freeze a certain memory of an individual. The certain piece of someone that I would always want to remember him or her by. It could be the dazzling smile or the conversation shared.

It would be good if we could also retrieve these bits and pieces whenever we wished. And nothing else could tarnish those bits of perfection. Everyone will be rosy.

Beautiful moments we wish to keep are the ones that are fleeting and far in between. Do we create them or wait for them to happen?

the story so far

Guess I haven't blogged in about slightly over a month. That's a long time in blog years. Have been teaching in Chung Cheng for the past month and for the 1st week of February. It's an amazing experience so far and I'm enjoying every moment of it.

I have two Secondary 3 classes and three secondary 2 classes. Some classes I always look forward to going, some classes require a bit of prior mental preparation. But in the end, all things end really well. No matter how the lesson goes, at the end of the day, there's still this tinge of satisfaction.

Sometimes, I don't really feel like a teacher. I'm only about 5 or 6 years older than them. Maybe 6 years is a long time, I don't know. But at least I don't feel very old in the classroom.

I never really expected to enjoy a teaching job so much. I've told myself once or twice in the past month or so that I'll continue with this job until my term ends no matter what kind of difficulty I face. The workload I face might be crazy sometimes but guess this is all part of the job.

There are moments in my life I hope can last as long as I want them to. This is one experience I wish I could extend.

first day of work tomorrow

Busy studying for my exams lately. So didn't have time to blog. I had my Business Management exam today..and it had indeed been a long time since I felt that 'familiar' wave of panic I felt whenever I did a Physics exam.

Things that I studied didn't turn up much, while those I mere browsed through came out in different variations. But I guess I still managed to smoke through..one thing for certain, I can't get an A for this module like the rest, but I'll be glad if I just pass. The next exam to look out for is accounting and after that, I'm done with this diploma.

I was supposed to report to work today but because of the exam, I only had to report tomorrow. I'm a tad nervous about having to teach in front of a class of 14 and 15 year olds. The responsibility is rather heavy as I'm guiding them for almost half a year, not one or two days.

Well..have some time before my first lesson starts tomorrow. Didn't have much time to look through the necessary preparation recently, all my time went to studying.

Someone guide me on factual reports!

8 long years

Haven't blogged in ages.

Just came back from my primary school gathering. The experience was great. It has been 8 long years since we left primary school and seeing each other again was like going back to the good old days.

Everyone was doing well. We were the cream of the batch back then, and I wasn't half surprised of how well everyone had done and how much potential each and everyone of us has at this point of time. It was a casual gathering and we were also reunited with our then form teacher. Honestly, I was pretty disappointed she forgot my name, given I used to be the head prefect. Well, afterall it has been 8 long years.

I kept feeling how surreal it was to be there with people you haven't seen in ages, and I can't help but wonder when would be the next time we would see such a gathering again. It was a good piece of memory to treasure though. =)

the outsiders

Really don't have much to blog about recently. I think I forgot to state that I'll be teaching in Chung Cheng High School Main. Secondary 3 english and Secondary 2 English Literature.

The book I've been given is 'The Outsiders', some book about a bunch of youths living in 60s or 70s America trying to cope with social discrimination, family violence, fights, deaths and how they bond together in times of adversity.

The story is being told through the eyes of a 14 year old boy and how his views of life change as things around him affect him one way or another. I've read about 5 chapters of the book and it's really getting interesting although I've read the overview of the story online before I started. Probably read more before I go to sleep later.

I'm also looking for its movie version as it's a print to screen. But it's kinda an old movie so I haven't really being able to find it.

Oh ok, logging off. Hopefully when I start work I'll have more interesting things to blog about.