Monday, December 01, 2008
keeping it together
if keeping your zen intact is a daily challenge, you just might agree with me on the following:
kay sarap tumanda.
- driving can make you ugly. before driving in europe, i was a certified manila street monster. it was with a twisted sense of pride that i cut corners, swerved into people's paths, and bullied other drivers carelessly on manila's wild and wooly streets. coming back after nearly 5 years away, i have realised that if i leave way before my appointments, i can still drive with the fragile street zen i developed in belgium. if i am running late, my horns and tail come out without hesitation and i am a stressful wreck by the time i get to my destination. verdict? so totally not worth the hassle and anxiety.
- of noisy dragging feet. when i was in high school, my IB psychology teacher, the venerable mrs sandy pauly called my attention to my way of walking down the hall one late afternoon. "you're a lazy walker. lift your shoes!" i had been unmindfully dragging my shoes on the floors and the sound of it echoed in the empty halls of the H building where her office was. i hear the 2008 version today on ateneo's numerous foot paths when students drag their flip flops and mary jane's languidly over the brushed concrete. today, hearing the constant brushing sound behind me, i turned to a male student and recounted to him, with a smile, mrs pauly's words. he had on two-year old chuckies which, to my skewed view, was uber cool with its used look. the student smiled at me ever so slightly, saying, "i want to change these shoes... i'm sorry for the noise, ma'am." manangish ways notwithstanding, i found yet another way to communicate with today's college students without doing my taray-hirits of old. it was liberating.
- online all the way. requiring my students to submit their papers online is not only one of the best things i could have done to jumpstart my teaching career but a source of joy to my students. one of my beadles ( i have 16 of them would ya believe??? i'm old! hahaha) wrote me an email wherein she said that she and her classmates appreciated what i do as their literature teacher. flattered? no doubt. but i was more warmed than anything else. i'm still searching for the perfect balance between being taken seriously (strikta ms tapia mode of old) and being relaxed (attendance checking is not my province any longer, for one). it's not an easy path for now as i still feel like i'm exploring fresh frontiers but the discoveries are always more than i ever imagined.
kay sarap tumanda.
