Lessons in the Workplace

Every year, we will have families leaving the country as they will be stationed in another place or will be sent home to continue in their home bases. Every year, I hear comments from people who stayed put about how the families who are to leave had made their stay a wondrous one or how a family had helped them through their transition or how a family had supported them in one way or the other. And it is always every year that I hear great stories dedicated to those who are to move.


This year however, it is intriguing to hear so many negative comments about one person who is about to leave. The complaints are mounting everyday as I speak with one person to the next. Issues of unfairness, bad behaviour, discrepancies in treatment, indifference to other nationalities, and issues pertaining to work ethics are piling up. I have never heard so many for just one individual.


It is sad that when one leaves a workplace or a country that they planted negative vibes among the community members rather than good. I always tell the parents of my students that I do my job well because the children (my students) are my ambassadors of goodwill. They are my walking testimonies. They are my living advertisements. So I give my whole self to my job and even as a person. At the end of the day, people will always say the nicest things and both parties are happy.


I also learned many things within the past years which will be valuable as we start with new changes. Problems are solved not by patching up loopholes but by working on the core of it. Equal opportunities and equal pay for a job well done. Colours make us different from others but our contribution exceeds our origin. Kind words cannot make positive changes for they are masked with dishonesty. Children cannot be labelled by Google searches or by movie titles. The project may just be a cliche but the voices of the children give value to it. Instilling good behaviour catches up among the rest when modelled properly. When one has a strong opinion, stand for it. Mistakes are made by everyone, admit yours. Share feedbacks. Lastly, play fair.


I will try to practise what I learned and through the process of learning, I will also be accumulating life experiences that will be shared among those who will listen to my stories for the years to come. My work with children is my only living legacy, and my work space is my playground where I get to grow, make positive contributions and weave good impressions.

Houses on Acrylic

As the month of May nears, our school will be holding another art auction where all the proceeds will benefit two hill tribe schools in the northern part of Thailand. This time, I asked the children to draw different types of houses and had them paint them with acrylic using a different medium for a canvas. The results are astounding. 

 Mud House

 Thai House

 Tree House

 Stone House

 House on Stilts

Boat House

I saw how the boys and the girls of the class had learned three important aspects of classroom life: determination, patience and creativity. Mighty proud teacher is what I am!

Earth Day 2012

Blessed are thy Mother Earth for your wondrous blessings

 For the everlasting beauty that you never fail to share

 For the bounty of colours and scents galore

 Your gift to mankind will never cease to amaze

 Whether little or pompous, the value it lays

 My fitting tribute to this year's Earth Day.

Talking to Someone

In my current situation where all things seem to be failing: family, relationship, and career, my blog becomes my punching bag of sort. It is where I lay my frustrations about the money problems we have at home, my on and off friendships with people, and my ever challenging teaching workplace. The blog becomes my companion.


Of course it never talks back. The computer and it's keyboard become our bridge. It types in the letters I punch on the keyboard. It deletes what I don't want to share or words I shouldn't be saying. It facilitates my thoughts from my brain to the screen. And then it vividly stays in the blog for me to revisit.


It is a constant monologue as I have no audience. It is like sharing a secret while knowing that someone might discover it later. My blog becomes an avid listener or maybe to use a better term, a purveyor of words, stories perhaps, of old and new, of my inner thoughts and stealthy desires. And unlike a friend or a colleague, it will never answer me back. 


Though I cannot get an answer from it as I search for answers, nor a pat on the back for a deserving accomplishment, I will not cease. I will eventually put my blog to rest when I have nothing to share. This is my outlet, my refuge, and my friend. 

The Gardener

I work non-stop. I am never still. After school, I am doing tutorials until early evening and once I arrive home, I am either cleaning the house, pressing some clothes or doing computer work. I am also a garden fanatic and I am in the garden when tutorials are cancelled. Just this week, it is our spring break and after visiting a faraway island for some days, I am back home and have been in the garden for two days now.

Yes, it is hot as the temperature is up to 35 degrees Celsius but since there are four parts of the garden, I do it in segments. In the morning, I stay at the sides of the house where it is still shaded so I can sweep the ground and trim the plants. Later, I will be in front since the sun isn't as bright and shining at that side. Before sunset, the sun is at its peak but I am at the other side again since it is shaded. It's done step by step, very organized so I make use of my time wisely. After a day, the feeling is different as I am happy with the end result. Plants are then repotted, leaves are then swept, dried twigs and branches are then broken in small pieces, and grass is then trimmed.

I want my life to be like how I organize my time in the garden. The four parts will be my personal life, my professional career, my relationship with my family and friends, and my time to myself. It will take more than a day to manage effectively what I mentioned since each is a big job in itself.

I want order in my personal dealings with my ordeals and challenges. I always pray for subsistence and countenance. I want stages in my professional career as a teacher. I always pray for patience and wisdom. I want solidarity and warmth in my relationships with my family and friends. I always pray for guidance and continuous blessings. I wanted more time for myself, being alone and acquiring strength in silence and meditation. I always pray for peace in my heart. 

The Garden is my solace. The Gardener is my Protector and Life.

ing...another journey

 Boarding...from mainland through the open sea

 Forming...dark clouds ahead my destiny

 Sighting...the island of sojourn foresee

 Welcoming...my body to rest from weary

Sailing...idyllic islands quiet grandee

 Gazing...sailboats float and people in glee

 Admiring...green, blue of natural beauty

 Docking...colourful boats decked with burgee

 Admiring...the vastness of world to see

Leaving...thy worries abandoned freely

Koh Chang, Thailand

The Next Months of the Year

I had been exchanging e-mails with a close friend and had been sharing thoughts and plans for the rest of the year. I shared in one of my e-mails of my constant search for my being (philosophically speaking) and the reason for my being alone as a growing child, a teacher in constant battle with racism, and in my dealings with people to connect, re-connect and be valued.


Here's an excerpt of what I wrote:


It is a choice to be happier or be in a really bad position. My choice was the first. I chose to be alone and that I don't complain about it because I am used to my situation. I chose to work in a place where I get to be happy and that is being with young children. I look at the bright side of things because I wanted to be happy even for a short time. I am getting older and being in a grumpy mood the whole time will just make me miserable.


My search for answers can never be fulfilled by sitting down and feeling pity for myself. I realized that life is very short and that all the hardships made me a better person. Choice is always a good thing in life for we are always presented with one. To accept or to reject the choices are in our own hands. To see the meaning and beauty of accepting reasonable limits to our own choice guard us from harming ourselves. The impact of choosing what seems best becomes learning experiences. We make mistakes along but we still move on. We make successes then we become thankful.


The year is now my life's journey. I embarked on a simple sail when I visited Pattaya during the New Year. I feasted on ruins and renewed friendships in Siem Reap in February. I will be embarking on two local travels this April to Trat and Chonburi. In summer, I will be visiting Manila and then Tagbilaran before flying to Taipei. In October, I plan to visit Bali or Borneo.


I work hard because I wanted to see new things and meet new people. Complaining is now irrelevant as actions are more valid. We need to reward ourselves even with small things and when we do, we value our existence, our contributions, and our life's meaning.

As Tall As Can Be

Pressure looms the weary spirit

of doubts and disappointments.

Like gossamer of sticky webs

far from freeing detachment. 

Perhaps the living and giving

that permeates my existence

Was not with fruitful costs

but futile and weary subsistence.

For not only in growing with

unfairness and rejection.

Through love and friendship too

failing, failed, dissolution.

What with my jaded quest 

to seek answers to my questions.

The why's and what's of

fervour, waiting for extinction.

So goes life's ups and downs

a roller coaster ride perilous

Watchful eyes and worrisome

each and every day's emulous.

As tall and proud I wish to continue

to see sunshine amidst the dark.

The sadly grave of which I make

is the only way my path shall embark.

A Shadow

My present batch of children in class are very competitive. They will be always fighting over who gets to finish their work first or who gets to be called twice or thrice during participation. I am always being challenged by their mindsets of being first, being the winner, or being the all-knowing individual. I am saddened by the fact that they grow in strength knowing that someone is excluded in a game of tag or that someone is last in eating his or her snack.


I wasn't competitive when I was growing up and I was never needing attention. It came to my senses at an early age that I am an excluded member of the family. It must be my personality or my actuation that prompted  my dad to give me a cold treatment. I wasn't a bully nor a needy person, I was just being independent. I never asked for help. I never competed with anyone. I was quiet, reserve, and plain old simple in many ways.


I am happy to see the children in my class knowing how to assert themselves in many situations. I am also happy to see them understand how competition can be positive when channeled toward good things. I do teach them to be competent instead rather than competitive: competent in their skills to succeed in Kindergarten next school year. I want to see these competent students of mine bring forth glory so that I can bask myself in praise since my profession is always underrated.


I wish I was competitive enough to be challenged by work or competitive enough to rise myself from such a modest stature. However, I know that I am competent enough to survive difficulties, even if I am the last, knowing that I am doing things on my own, without stepping on others, without bullying people, and without hurting anyone in return. I became a person and a teacher because of my own skills. You became someone because you know someone, and now you become just a shadow.