My first class. Oh, what joy!

I went for my first Women's Bible Studies & Fellowship at Park Street Church and I sooooo LOVE it! The reason? The women were so warm towards one another (and this, not pretentious) and there were 2 more other Singaporeans in the group!

Since this was the intro lesson, we basically...introduced ourselves (duh!). I learnt so much about Boston or US for the matter through the short session of introduction.

Of the 20-women group, a few of them were from California and mostly relocated because of their husbands. They shared that when they first came, it was hell for them. Some phrases popped out - mean Bostonians, reckless drivers, etc. Oh my! I wouldn't expect fellow Americans to give comments such as those. One of them shared that she basically had to suck it up for the first 2 years in Boston but of course, after that, she found Boston lovely! =)

Mean Bostonians? Ken and I have not encountered such people except for the fact that we got shouted at by the driver of the T (train). Oh, actually they were not shouting at us; they were informing all passengers about the T. But everytime they shouted, we couldn't catch a thing. Sometimes, I wonder why they have to waste their breath when none could really understand what they were yelling about. Just say slowly and properly!

Reckless drivers? Drivers who do not follow the rules? Oh baby! You have not been to the other side of the world. Come to Asia - Vietnam, India, Cambodia and China for example and you will get a RUDE shock! Many years ago, China was worse. I was totally annoyed at the endless horning of the vehicles when I was there in 1997. But look how much that has changed since then. Oh anyway, a Californian was just telling me that there is basically no point in having a car in Boston since the public transport is so good. Of course, unless you want to go out to the outskirts, you definitely wouldn't need a car. AGREE.

And on the cold harsh weather? Wear a good, waterproof boots. The ones that we are wearing now are not going to help. And for the clothing? Just keep on buying until you find one that fits (meaning - able to shield you from the cold).

And then, of course, I had the pure joy of chatting with our 2 tropical girls. Woot! Oh my! I tell you, I was DYING to talk and we just went on and on until they realised they had to 'collect' their kiddos from the childcare. But it seems that there is quite a big community of Singaporeans here and many from Harvard and MIT, so they said. Well, I'm waiting to get connected with them!

So, there goes my first session. I can't wait for next week!

Harvard Square

Yesterday, both Ken and I attended the first Public Lecture Series and it was given by Governor Deval Patrick who shared on education. It was an inspiring speech no doubt as he shared his life story and how 2 teachers in particular impacted his life. A little about him: He was born and raised on the South Side of Chicago and educated at Milton Academy and Harvard University. Governor Deval Patrick served as assistant attorney general for civil rights under President Bill Clinton and general counsel for the Coca Cola Company before he was elected governor of Massachusetts in November 2006. He has made public education a priority during his administration. As he has said, “I understand how education can transform a life because it is what transformed my own.”

After that episode, while walking home, Ken and I had a short discussion on the personal belief of teachers. This is important as it shapes how you look at education as a whole and the children who are placed under your charge. I feel it also helps shape your attitude when the going gets tough. Well, we shall not go into details as the topic alone can constitute a paper and Hargreaves would definitely do well in it. However, one thing Governor Deval Patrick shared caught my attention. In his words, he said. "Education is about creating responsible citizens, not preparing people for workforce." Hmmm.....(a lot to say but shall reserve it =p).

Anyway, back to a lighter topic. Today, we decided to go Harvard Square (yes, on a weekday), as opposed to visiting during the weekends because both of us really dislike crowds. It was about a half an hour bus ride and the area seemed to be rather English. It has a laid-back kind of attitude, I thought. We checked out L.A. Burdick cafe as recommended by a friend and it was also a good opportunity to try out the cakes there so that they could serve as benchmark for my baking attempts in future. My review of the place is in my foodblog.

Anyway, we were walking aound the area and Harvard Graduate School of Education was just round the corner and we were hoping that we would bump into the two-metre-tall man but nope, tough luck. The Harvard Uni campus is nice and provides a relaxed atmosphere. I quite like it!

And as usual, we went home after two hours around Harvard Square, including the time spent in the cafe. Either we didn't explore the place well enough or the place was really just a nice little area for chilling out. Or maybe we are just two boring people. I tend to agree with the last statement. =p

New Blog

http://sglsoe.blogspot.com/

This is where you go to read my personal notes on stuff I read for my coursework...

Or, you could go there to find the next cure for insomnia. Be my guest.

We are one year old!

We have spent one year together as a married couple! Woot!

This one year has been amazing and each day spent fruitfully with each other. We realised during our courtship that the Lord giveth and taketh, and our time on earth is short. So, instead of getting upset over small and big stuff (or petty stuff) alike, why not trash things out quickly and make peace so that we could live each day lovingly?

And we did just that. God has been truly gracious and wonderful in providing us with each other and we couldn't be more thankful.

And today, since it was our anniversary, we decided to go out! (huh...?) Err...we are truly home people and even though we intended to go Quincy Market near the harbour for a good meal but in the end, just settled for a normal one. Lobsters seemed expensive and we thought we could go for it again next time. Erm, yes, we are just really practical people and of course, even though we grew up in the city, we got bored with walking around the shops and spent more time in Borders instead =p Next time, we should really go hiking!

And today, it was pretty exciting in Church. There is something unique about Park Street Church. The church is very welcoming and wanted every one to be part of the family and one way of doing that is to connect and SERVE. So, today, there were booths set up and we went shopping for the ministries that we wanted to grow and serve in. There were just so many avenues! Both of us (more of I) were interested in the honeymooners classes for couples in their first few years of marriage where we could learn principles for developing a marriage that will last a lifetime. It would be fun learning from other newlyweds too!

Oh! There were also others that we were interested in but we would update again. And, we bumped into my ex-churchmate who is studying in MIT now for her PhD. I know she's in Boston and I'm supposed to catch up with her but little did we know that she is also worshipping at the same church. Whoah!!!

God is good, all the time!

random conversation

After cooking chicken porridge...

Ken: How come you didn't take pic of the porridge?

Me: Because they are cha-pa-lan food mah. I used yesterday's chicken and then just threw in other stuff. Nothing to blog about.

Ken: But there is a person in the kitchen in charge of making the leftovers taste and look good right?

(Ken has read some of my Rulman's books on chefs)

Me: Yah...think it's some manger person. Wait. I check.
(moments later...) It's called the Garde Manger. But he's in charge of cold food!

Ken: Yah...you wait till your porridge is cold.

Me: ???

This is a random post on a very lazy Saturday when every young college kids out there are making lotsa noise and these relatively older folks here are just chilling in front of the screen, in the presence of each other. Blah.

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Oh more lame comments by the hubs and I am always the victim..=(

Me: You know, last year this time, what were we doing?

Ken: I know...we were saying the marriage vows.

Me: Nope...wrong...I was in the make-up room and my sisters were helping me with the decor.

Ken: (pause for a while & then burst out laughing) Wah...you need so many sisters to help you with the teh kor (panties in hokkien).

Me: Noooooooo...it's decor (pronounce properly) DECOR!!!!

Ken: (laugh and laugh and laugh)

Me: ???

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There was some sound coming from outside.

Ken: What's that?

Me: Who? Who?

Ken: It's an owl.... (and laughs)

Me: ?????

Who's the boss?

I finally ran my first half-marathon for the year and I'm embarrassed to say this. I mean, after all, I have an upcoming marathon and am way behind my own training schedule. Of course, I could give excuses such as the move to Boston, the settling and blah blah. But, well, I'm not so kind to myself; I'm just plain lazy.

So, knowing that AHM is round the corner back home, I thought it would serve as a motivation for me to run a half-marathon as well. Anyway, I really OUGHT TO. So, the hubs accompanied me to run the first 6km and then I was on my own.

I chose a new route which provided me lots of shops to look at as I ran past them. This made running the long distance A LOT better since you could admire the displays and along the way, stopped for a while to look for some particular stuff. Oh, the joy of window shopping!

It was a smooth run until the 13km which I turned into the oh-so-familiar slopes. I have a love-hate relationship with slopes/hills. While I know it is extremely tiring to run or even cycle on slopes, they do our legs good. It was during the run on the slopes that I finally panted. Otherwise, it was all right.

Of course, into the 17km, the legs were tired and your mind as well. But it is during this time that you need to press on and tell your legs who's the boss here. They will listen IF you do not listen to their complaints. And listen they did and I managed to sustain the last few kilometres.

I run without ipod. I used to. But as I run more, I realised I need to listen to the rhythm of my own breathing and the kind of sounds my strides make. They give you indication of how you are performing there and then and you have to inform your mind of the necessary actions to take.

It is ALWAYS interesting to listen to what fellow runners are talking when they are in a race. Some of them are inspirational while others just darn funny. Instead of listening to some dance music that could motivate you to run (no doubt), try listening to your body, your fellow runners and get the motivation to run faster when others encourage you to go on or even better, if you surpass some of them.

I'm anticipating this moment again in November when thousands run through the 5 boroughs of New York and I'm waiting to hear the cheers the supporters give and of course, the ever-encouraging remark from fellow sufferers in their breathless, weary tone: Press on! Don't give up! You are almost there.

New York Marathon. I'll see you on 7 November. =)

Early Summary

So here's an early summary of the week.
Monday was a public holiday, Tuesday was LSoE's orientation which, to be honest, was quite a let down.

The upside is that classes on Wednesday and Thursday were very nice. =)

Wednesday was "Leadership at School Level" with Irwin Blumer. Thursday was "Educational Change" with Andy Hargreaves.

It took about 10 mins to warm up to Blumer. I reached class early, looked at the people hanging around outside, saw the classroom was empty and decided to just go in. Classic introvert.
Noone followed until Blumer came in. I stood up, greeted him, and was met with a rather blank, distracted stare. He seemed quietly hostile right up to the point when class started 10 mins later and he formally introduced himself to everyone.

"My name is Irwin Blumer and there are three things you probably ought to know about me. The first thing is that I wear a hearing aid, so to me, I always sound like I'm shouting. It may not sound that way to you (his voice is really very soft...), but that's how it sounds to me. So if you can't hear me, you have to tell me."

"The second thing you need to know is that I hate wasting people's time. This course is about the practical aspects of being a school leader. If what I'm saying is not practical, you have to tell me. Otherwise, I'd be wasting your time and I hate that."

He delivered both these lines with the exact same face he wore when I greeted him. Quietly hostile I'd call it, but what do I know...

"The third thing you need to know is that I have an amazing sense of humour. <pause for laughter> You probably don't see it, <breaks into a small grin while he pauses for more laughter> but I do. I've been in education for many years now and you need a sense of humour if you're gonna last that long."

I like this guy already. =D

Blumer is very focused on the practical. Even in his assignments, he emphasises time and again that we need to be concrete and concise on what we're talking about. Provide practical examples and don't just spout theories.

Hargreaves is probably the exact opposite.

It doesn't take long to realise that Hargreaves has an amazing mind. He has a PhD in sociology, reads widely, remembers what he reads, and is extremely adapt at connecting the theories that he has read about to real life.

Andy's course feels a lot more theoretical to me. A lot of focus is given to exploring classical and modern theories of education as well as change.

The professors are friendly (even Blumer) and intelligent, and the classmates are nice as well.

I look forward to both these courses already. =)