Posts filed under '西雅圖，Seattle'
When you are a teacher, people get bored with your constant talking about the kids. But, it is just enjoyable to be so close to these little minds with free imaginations.
“You know what I am drawing? This is a Wild Dog and that is a Not Wild Cat.” I nodded my head when this too-much-alike Jim Carrey boy was putting down three dollar signs above the Not Wild Cat and crossing out the dollar signs with the Wild Dog. It is interesting to see dollar signs on kid’s drawings. I doubted, “Why is there no dollar sign for the Wild Dog?” “The dog is too wild. So, he cannot get the money,” he answered with an exaggerated smile. It seemed like he enjoyed taking the dog’s money away. Even though I still don’t know how the wild kid got the connection between wildness and money making, I pretty like the story he told through the picture.
This kid is wild because of the constant medication influence. He was in and out the Children’s Hospital and of course the school. There are many wild things he does or can get into which are not allowed in school. Screaming is one and smashing himself on the floor is another. Whenever there is some trouble, he either has an exaggerated slow-motion crying or runs away backwards in slow motion. In some way he is a star but he has not too much of the audience since the movie is not a hit in school.
The little star is definitely lonely. He desires for more friends and more understanding of his difference. It is very difficult to portrait an ideal world for children with special needs. It is even harder to truly understand how their minds operate. As a teacher, should we keep telling these kids how they can just be like others? Or, should we or can we stop asking them to be just like others and instead preserve their uniqueness inside them?
Many of the children with special needs I know have the substantial capability to elaborate themselves through art. The creativity I have seen is very unique and incredible. If the education we provide is to help them to be in the main stream, how and when their true abilities can be taken care of? But if these kids cannot even be accepted in the main stream, how can they have a chance to further develop the abilities? The contradiction is discussed in the special education field for years without a real answer. But we all know the ground rule is that taking care of the minds comes before taking care of the abilities.
Maybe the wild kid I know will be a real star like Jim Carrey after certain years. But for now, he probably needs to learn why he can only have a show on a stage but not everywhere.
November 12th, 2005
Driving south on the I-405 in a sunny early morning was enjoyable. It seemed like the Mount Rainer was in my arm with its breathtaking quietness pounding on my heart.
I may be not an adventurer, but I love mountains and used to like climbing them. Being burried in homemaking and childcaring is surely not an excuse for not refreshing myself through the ourdoor challenges. Hence, I had a thought of climbing Mt. Rainer right at the moment when I eyed its beauty.
I talked to Mushroom Tau about the idea and suggested do the training and climb it together when parents can help us take care of Fannie. “Hmm… I don’t think it is a good idea. Even we really want to go, we cannot go together. We have Fannie now. There was a person falling from the moutain recently.” I could feel the hesitance in Tau’s tone. Tau used to love mountain climbing. What’s happened? Well, I almost forgot I am a mother when I was in the excitement. Right, who is gonna take care of Fannie if we both have accidents? Right, who can put Fannie to sleep if I have an accident? Fannie will be a poor girl if she does not have a mommy or daddy. Or, right, when you become a parent, you are not yourself alone anymore.
I remember the first time I went skiing when Fannie was five month old, I was frightened even on the easy blue line. I had that weird feeling about losing myself and Fannie. I fell down again and again like I had never skiied before. I kept thinking what made me so different? Was I weaker, less competitive, or was I just not fully recoverd from the tiredness of being on 24/7 childcare duty? More or less, I knew there was something new about the conern or say responsbility, which was not included in the preparation list for a ski trip before.
I am a mother but I am also a person who has interests and dreams. Most mothers compromise for a balance between keeping the family on track and having their dreams fullfilled. I do too and I can feel the fine line between compromising and excusing ourselves. We love Fannie and the conern will always be there. Yet, it seems to be more important to have a full preparation before doing things than not to do it at all.
It is not luxurious to think about going to a mountain. I just need to make sure I will have a well return for my family.
- photo source from http://www.peakware.com/peaks.html?pk=213-
October 26th, 2005
我有七個來自不同家庭背景的學生: 一個中南美混血兒，一個韓國人，二個潮州人，一個中俄混血兒，二個 American Chinese。七個小朋友跟我這個英文不完美，中文還算可以的[老師]湊在一塊兒，南腔北調地學中文。
” Let’s sing the Welcome Song.” ［真正高興地見到你，滿心歡喜地歡迎你。歡迎，歡迎，我們歡迎你。]
[… ㄎㄨㄢ 迎， ㄎㄨㄢ 迎，我們 ㄎㄨㄢ 迎你…。]
奇怪，怎麼矯正就是沒辦法，小朋友們就這麼一路的ㄎㄨㄢ 迎下去了。看到小朋友認真的發音，還是沒辦法精準，實在不忍心再繼續摧殘他們。一直想糾正英文發音的自己，當然可以瞭解不知如何將舌頭擺在適當位置的痛苦。為了讓小朋友在快樂中學習，除了兒歌，摺紙，玩遊戲，課程內容也圍繞小朋友喜歡的主題。說起來應該容易教的課，卻常常因為調皮搗蛋的六個小男生，搞得我這個老師臉上常常多了三條線。
” Today. We are going to learn how to say animals in Mandarin. Tell me your favorite animals and we can all say them in Mandarin.” 看到每個小朋友躍躍欲試的表情，正為選了個好主題高興的我，卻不知自己給自己出了個難題。小朋友們說了幾個動物像是馬、蛇、狗, 我都能快速的帶領他們學會中文發音, 一直到班上的小搗蛋開口。
” Teacher, teacher, I like sponge” 班上同學跟著大笑。
” Sponge? It is not an animal.”
” I just like sponge. ” 這個小朋友顯然是要跟我這個剛來的老師唱反調。
” Sponge is not an animal. It is a plant. ”
” Ha ha. Teacher, you are funny. It is not a plant.”
這下好了，這個同學想要以恥笑老師來獲得大家的注意。至少我也是個老師，怎麼能夠隨隨便便就被八歲的小孩考倒。我以嚴肅的口吻說: ” Sponge is actually a plant grown in the sea. People make it as a sponge that we use everyday. ” 一旁的同學點點頭說: ” Teacher is right. It is a plant.” 看見自討沒趣的小搗蛋安靜下來，頓時覺得自己真像個諄諄教誨的老師。還來不及高興這個教學危機的解除，總是有一堆怪點子的韓國小朋友說: ” Teacher. My favorite animal is Chee-a”
” Wow，how do you know penguin in Mandarin is 企鵝? ”
” penguin? Ha ha. Penguin? I am not saying penguin.”
” I say Chee-a.”
” Chee-a? Arn’t you saying 企鵝?” ” What’s that? How do you spell it?”
” C-h-e-e-t-a-h”
” Can you describe it? ”
” It runs very fast.”
這下糟了，我完全不知道小朋友口中的 Chee-(t)-a是什麼，還說是企鵝，真是糗大了。雖然一直想要猜出這不知道是什麼跑得很快的怪動物來扳回顏面，想起為人師表孔子曾經說[不知為不知]，只好搔搔頭的說 ” Sorry, I really don’t know what this is in Mandarin. I have to check and tell you next time. ”
人說[教學相長], 果真如是。連八歲的小孩都讓我學了一個英文單字 Cheetah, 美洲豹。怎麼猜也猜不到跟豹有關係。Cheetah: A wild cat-like animal with yellowish brown fur and black spots, which can run faster than any other animal. 這個單字是一輩子都不會忘了。對了，下次上課要記得帶English-Chinese字典, 我真是太小看這些八歲的小朋友了。
***Readers , I just realized that sponge is an animal after this article. Please read the comments.
October 8th, 2005
After being a stay-home mom for more than six months, I started to look for a job in the Washington State. It shouldn’t be too difficult I thought. At least there are more businesses in the great Seattle area and the city looks more diversified. However, the truth is as an alien, job searching becomes to be a weird situation especially when my background in education and marketing is not really counted as “a company’s irreplaceable asset”.
“Are you eligible to work in the United States?” I usually have to think about the answer. If I say “no”, there will be a conclusion like what we can see in the Law & Order, “No further questions, you honor.” The statement usually put me on the stand wondering what I have been doing wrong. If I yes to the question, I probably can hope for a better situation such as “Your resume has been reviewed by our internal professionals. We will inform you if you are selected. If not, your resume will be put into our database for future consideration.” However, saying yes does not guarantee they will consider you as an alien equally to a citizen. There is a ground that so many US citizens are against the government issuing H1Bs.
I went to a job fair yesterday. There were lines waiting for registration. One line specifically for Engineering and Technology positions only accepted people with citizenship. Ha, for the first time I was happy that I am not in that category. However, my happiness did not last too long. “Oh, I don’t know you are not a citizen. I am sorry but we need people with citizenship for the positions.” I thanked to the HR representatives with fake smiles and turned away without having a second thought.
People always suggest me “You just have to keep trying.” I am not against trying hard. But is trying hard paid off? If you go to online job boards, there are thousands of employers claiming they are EOE, Equal Opportunity Employer. How many of them are truly EOE? Maybe it is not a question I am interested in asking. What I really want to know is in what degree Americans would like to be fair to each individual living in the United States. Shouldn’t each living individual have the right to work and to pursuit a better living quality?
How weird is that an individual is allowed to live and spend in the United State but not allowed to earn their living in the States?
September 21st, 2005
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