It’s May 13, 2008. Trying to write down the date whenever possible since I am having a hard time keeping up with the pace of time. This year has been a very different and somewhat difficult year to pass by. I am not sure how my life will continue to evolve but I hope that it is for the better.

Waiting for acceptance is such a torturous procedure. Whether is it the wait to enter university, or the wait for an unrequited love to be returned, or the wait to enter into the lives of young kids, the wait for acceptance is unbearable. Gosh, even the wait to enter your house, especially when you are most in need of the bathroom is intolerable.

Perhaps the reason why we all hate waiting is because waiting is the one thing that allows your fate to rest in the hands of others. Regardless of how many times others have told you that you are the master of your own fate, the point in time has come when others decide for you how long they want you to wait or suffer.

Sipping at my packet of cold green tea, I thought of the time I was introduced to this packet of drink. I think it was popular in my secondary school days where all you see teenagers drinking is green tea. I never like green tea then despite the hype about it. Yet know, it was an acceptable drink to me. I wonder how difficult the wait for green tea to be accepted by me was. Of course, not that it even cared, right green tea? *looks at the packet of green tea*

Anyway, I took up tuition-ing (like finally!) It’s a Australian International School year one kid and her sister in year three or six, I forgot. Whoever who told me or believes that young boys are a troublesome load to take care of, I will highly encourage you to throw away that notion because it ain’t true. The boy is adorable though it’s the sister that I am having a hard time. Shan’t dwell too much on that. Don’t really know how to express the agony either.

Just a thought that while you think year one students are easy to teach, its actually quite difficult because it boils down to explaining the basic fundamental concepts to them, which ain’t easy. Suppose you teach a Secondary school kid, and she doesn’t get why differentiation of an equation is to find the gradient of the curve, you can show her and tell her why. Now, that being said, try explaining why 9 – 2 = 7 and 10 + 12 = 22. And if you use the working to show them, and the kid tells you that 0 + 2 = 8, how do you explain why its not 8 and 2?

Think you can handle it, then take this challenge. How do you explain that in the number 735, the digit 7 is in the hundred digit and not the million digit? (bearing in mind that you have already taught them how to read the placing of the digits from the ‘ones’ unit to ‘million’ unit.)

Its really not that easy. I thought it was too, until you realize that for that age, they are just learning to conceptualize such stuff and cannot think in ways you expect them to think.

Oh and one more thing, don’t expect them to be hardworking. Bear in mind you weren’t too hardworking at that age either.