Had an extra long day at school yesterday... ended at 5.30 p.m. Got home, almost 6 p.m. Would have been later if not for the intervention by the weather. LOL! A storm descended on us; strong winds which sent pots of plants over and chairs reeling!!! Good thing we do not have a closed hall. Else it would have gone on and on. The turnout was okay in the beginning but after the tea break, the crowd was reduced somewhat. Maybe because there weren't much freebies this year... in the previous years in order to entice parents to come, there'd be lucky draws... bicycles, rice, etc, etc... Very much like the freebies that they throw out during election season. This year, we only gave them a RM5 coupon to be used at the stalls (Co-Curriculum Day) which were running concurrently with PIBG meeting.
Been a stressful term for many at school; the paper chase that has been on since the beginning of the year and the kind of innuendos, clear and subtle, that have been hurled like spears at our directions; they've been piling up...
So it's good to be able to just sleep in for a change... we had Canteen Day (Hari Ko-Kurikulum) too yesterday. I feel sorry for my colleagues who had to be down in the bicycle sheds to sell food with their students. Surroundings were less than comfortable... with the heat of the day blasting them from every direction. When I went down again in the early afternoon hot sun, some of them were already turning red. And the food!!! I think quite a bit would have turned bad in the sun...
There were no other co-curricular activities like other years... we used to have football, netball... this year, if not for the karaoke, things would be much subdued. But I'm sure some of the kids enjoyed selling their stuff. And most teachers opted for 'catered' food stuff this year... most are too worn out (fed up???) with the 'duri' that have been coming our way.
So, it's bliss to be able to sleep, be away from the (wo)man-made madness at work. But this madness still continues though, in many schools... EXTRA CLASSES are running - during TERM BREAK! What is the point of a term break? Don't kids deserve a break? Or are extra classes meant to BREAK the kids. All these drilling and rote (from Year 4)..... for the 3 days of UPSR. So for 3 years, classes after school, classes during weekends and classes during holidays. Our education (and it's happening not just in our country) has indeed replaced the sweatshops of the olden times.
On a more subdued note... an old friend whom I recently met up again after many years passed away. It was all very sudden. Life is brief and we wouldn't know when our time is up. I asked my friend as we were sitting at the dinner table how had things been ever since she took her optional retirement almost 15 years ago. She said it had been good... they enjoyed working on their dusun, just living... I was happy to see her and it was vice versa. But one minute you are here, next minute you are no more... and what with the Japan Earthquake and the thousands misplaced and lives lost... the brevity of life. While we should make sure that we're ready to meet our Maker, we should also live our lives to the fullest.
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