masterwordsmith-unplugged

One of the best thing about teaching in an international school is the opportunity to interact with staff and students of over 40 nationalities. I taught IGCSE Sociology and Economics and was also the Upper School Head of Pastoral Care during my nine-year stint there before I moved on to lecture in the American University Transfer Program, Pre-University Program, Business Department and finally in the Mass Communication Department in a local college. Having 'retired' and now living a free and easy life as a homemaker and blogger :-), I look back on those years with fondest memories.

It has been 14 years since I left that school and I cherish the times I spent with the students and staff. Initially, it was tough because I had never worked with expatriate students before. By the second year of my stint, I was expecting my first child and it was pretty challenging. Unbelievably, I am still in touch with most of these students, even those I taught way back in 1988!! I can actually write about every single year group that I taught but for tonight, I am going down memory lane with my 1993 Year 11 bunch. Yup, the short-haired lady is yours truly and I am seriously contemplating reverting to a short and sassy hairstyle after looking at this pic.

As form tutor and the Upper School Pastoral Head then, I took pride in my classroom which had lovely posters, borders, a carpeted reading area (thanks to Patricia) and a mini-library plus magazine collection including (FORTUNE, Times, New Economist, Newsweek, National Geographic etc all donated by the students complete with coffee corner for snacks and drinks :-) only during break-time. As the Economics teacher, my kids carried out all kinds of bizarre projects to raise funds for the old folks' home and orphanages in Penang including setting up a pseudo photo studio made of bedsheets that were painted with different scenery to serve as backdrops for the photo shoots during Valentine's Day disco, selling roses for Valentine's Day, selling chips, burgers and buns and lots of other stuff. That was so much fun and the kids had hands on experience in doing a small business :-) apart from enjoying the lively interaction.

Each week, the kids would contribute to a class fund and by the end of the year, we had a substantial amount and opted to go for a bungalow stay. Roopi had managed to get permission for us to stay one night at her mom's friend's bungalow. In the mean time, the other Year 11 group were more tame and opted for an overnight stay at Shirley's apartment at Mount Pleasure. All year long, both classes were vying as to who could be better :-). We put in loads of planning for the menu, duty roster, marketing, program and security measures. The other teachers were invited but none came. They all thought I was mad to be responsible for the whole bunch but I had taught many of them for five years and being pretty close to them having seen them grow into older teens, I had full confidence that they would not let me down.

On that fateful day, we all gathered at the Penang Hill Railway Station. All but Samir and Tejas who were delayed as they had to come from Sungei Patani. So, when we were about to buy tickets, I asked Roopi where we should get off and she said Middle Station. Great. Happily or should I say noisily, we made our way into the train and got off at Middle Station.

Then I asked Roopi which way we should go and she said she had no idea!!!!

*Faint*

What's the name of the bungalow? She was not sure as she had forgotten to bring the letter. *Faint again* Perhaps Fernhill?

Dead silence.

Bear in mind in those days, mobile phones were the big bulky types used by only ah pek businessmen.

May Day. We had a serious situation. Of course I panicked but kept my composure. We left Tina at the Middle Station and walked along the jungle path not knowing where to go, each of us with tons of food to carry (What do you expect? Teens eat a lot!!! And they wanted loads of junk food as well!!!).

So we walked and walked along that creepy, lonely path to goodness knows where. And then we reached a fork that diverged into three paths. I sent three pairs of boys to check it out and looking back, it was quite hilarious.

Wai Loong, who is now a gynaecologist in Singapore and just got married to his gynaecologist wife, was the first to return panting all the way in a state of fright and shouted that he had seen a voodoo house that had strange looking jars at the entrance. Toyol! Toyol! He insisted the house was spooked. Fine. Our hearts sank. What if that was the bungalow that we were meant to be in? Silence. We waited for the other two pairs.

I can't remember who was the other one who came back but he claimed it was a dead end. Great. Then it had to be the other path.

We waited and it seemed so long before Bob returned. By then Tina and Jeff found Samir and Tejas and we were reunited so to speak. Teens are teens and I don't have to tell you the bizarre possibilities that they came up with to explain the delay in Bob's return.

Finally, Bob returned and he brought tidings of joy so to speak. We all made our way along that fated and rocky path. As usual, the kids were very noisy and with lots of pranks here and there and I wondered why on earth I took on this responsibility. What if one of them rolled down the hill?

At that moment, I heard an ear-piercing scream from behind me. My heart stopped. Had my fears been real? I turned around and saw Patricia pointing at the slope. My legs felt like jelly and I shouted. "Who rolled down the hill?"

Jeff replied, "You mean WHAT rolled down the hill, Miss..." and the whole gang guffawed while I was just so stunned. Patricia had dropped the watermelons which rolled down the hill and another girl who was carrying the bag of hot dog buns tried to catch the water melon and in her haste, also dropped the plastic bag which rolled down the slope!

Great! No fruits. No buns. But the kids were great and did not admonish Patricia. We went on our merry way and finally reached the bungalow.

The bungalow. Deserted, broken down bungalow. Mind you, most of these kids were expats and came from well-heeled families. Our jaws dropped. The caretaker was not there so we looked around and the whole place was in shambles. We dropped our stuff at the porch and had a meeting.

Of course I suggested that we left immediately. :-) Wai Loong offered to let us crash at his granny's huge bungalow but the group said NO with a few exceptions. We took a vote and majority decided to stay. By then, the caretaker had come back and confirmed that we were at the correct place. When he opened the door for us, we all had the shock of our lives.

*Someone just borrowed my scanner/printer - otherwise I could have scanned the pics for this post.

The whole bungalow was covered with dust, cobwebs, dog poo, pigeon poo etc. Yuks!!!! A number of the girls screamed while the guys kept quiet. Again, I suggested that we took up Wai Loong's offer and Jeff said "NO!!!" and the group agreed that we had to stay lest we lose face to the other class!!!!

What followed is something most unexpected. Jeff - the one who used to scream and to complain the most, spearheaded the clean-up operation. Mind you - these kids were used to a comfortable lifestyle with maids that cleaned up after them. I was totally spellbound and in a state of shock when I saw how they cooperated albeit not too quietly (you can imagine the racket they created) and they cleaned up the whole bungalow, including wiping everything. Amazing! My heart swelled with pride and I told myself that those kids will make it someday and I am not wrong!

To cut the long story short, we had many hilarious moments namely:

* the boys took 2 hours to start a fire to fry the chicken that I had seasoned and by the time it was ready, they were covered with soot as they were not used to working with firewood!!!

* by night time, it was time for spooky tales and yours truly is very good at that...the boarders too had a field day sharing tales from the haunted chapel etc and by midnight, everyone was huddled in groups of twos or threes.

* the only one who dared to keep watch at the door with me was Nicole as the others were too freaked out. I had to cope with many complains of toilets flushing on their own, sounds of footsteps etc...most of them were really freaked out (so was I!!!!) but I had to put on a brave front and did not sleep a wink that night just to make sure nothing happened to the kids. The boys were in one room and the girls in another...

* one of the girls who was assigned to make scrambled eggs for breakfast, broke twenty eggs into the kuali and did not tell us she was having problems

We had so many memorable moments and still keep in touch even after all these years. At the end of this year, both classes will be having a grand reunion and most will be coming back with their spouses and kids!!! The ties and friendship developed within the classroom remained as strong or for some, even stronger through the years and I will never forget these kids oops adults, some of whom have one or two kids of their own.

I guess perhaps that is why I used to be quite an open and friendly person until the November to January happenings transformed me into what I am today. For the greater part of my life, my interaction had been with these former students who mostly related to me with much love, respect and sincerity. Believe me, it has been very difficult for me to adjust to 'real society' but I cherish the lessons learnt from my pitfalls and am truly glad for all I have gone through.

Blessed be the tie that binds. Thanks for the memories! See you all in December!!