Paper Airplane

Before I started studying early childhood education, I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to see the world through the innocent eyes of children. However, I now believe that I am far more innocent than most children. They have successfully tricked me many times.

Once a little girl asked me to draw her another ice cream because she had lost the first one I gave her. I said no because I had decided to quit my ice cream business after drawing and cutting out more than a dozen ice creams for the kids. It was interesting to see the kids choosing the flavors and licking their paper ice cream. But enough was enough. So I refused to make another one and the little girl begged and begged. Of course I finally relented and made another one for her - a bigger one as well, just as she requested. Later she asked me to put the new ice cream in her locker and guess what, I found the other ice cream there! I took both and went to ask her and she explained, 'The small one is for me and the bigger one is for my mummy.'  I had to smile at that. The next day her mum thanked me and said that she really enjoyed the big ice cream.

Another time, a girl came and showed me her bleeding toe and asked for a plaster. So I took her to the medical room and put a plaster on her toe carefully while another girl watched us with a great interest and asked me to put one on her knee as well but I refused. As I watched the injured girl walking out gingerly, I was worried and told her to go slowly. But she then told me that she had tricked me. She admitted that she just painted her toe red so that it looked like it was bleeding! Plasters are considered a proper fashion statement in the kindergarten these days in case you don’t know.

Kids' imagination always fascinates me and I find it very easy to be part of their play. One morning I saw some kids playing birthday party so I went to them and was about to sit down and join them when one boy said, 'No no, you can’t come, only kids are allowed!' I answered, 'I am a kid too, I am just bigger.' He looked at me bewilderedly and didn’t know what to say. So I smiled at him and he smiled back, then I sat down for a piece of imaginary birthday cake.

Once I saw a boy playing with water outside. He was determined to fill up the big water tank on his own even though he didn't have any buckets or containers. How is he going to solve the problem, I wondered. You will never guess what he used in the end. I watched him tilting his head, opening up his mouth as wide as he could under the faucet, filled it up with water and 'carried' the water carefully to the water tank and repeated the process until he got bored of his mission. My mouth was probably open too, full of surprise and admiration.

Being with kids has already taught me many things although I am afraid that I still have a lot more to learn. One day the whole school took the bus to visit a girl at her new school who just turned five and left us to start primary school. When we arrived, she was waiting for us outside. The kids spotted her and shouted out her name and waved excitedly. She waved back with a huge grin on her happy face and came and took us to her new classmates and teachers. We all sat down and introduced ourselves one by one. One of our teachers was crying when she described how she watched the girl growing up and how much she would be missing her. I saw the girl’s mum and some of the teachers also had tears in their eyes. Later we sang songs and had our morning tea together. One of the songs is still stuck in my head now, 'Hallelujah' - a beautiful song.

One of the lessons I have learned is from a little boy. Early one morning a boy asked me to make a paper airplane for him but I told him I didn’t know how to because I had never made one before. He just stared straight in my eyes and said, “So you just do your best!” I burst out laughing. But of course I know he was right. I followed his advice and tried my best and finally made my first ever paper airplane!

You just do your best indeed.

Free Hugs, Free Cuddles, Free Germs

Last month I finished my three-week kindergarten teacher training and I am still recovering from it now. It's the steepest learning curve I have ever experienced. During my training I was with about 25 children for 7 hours everyday although I had never spent more than two hours at a time with any child before. It was physically draining but emotionally exhilarating.

Having said that, I must admit that I am a real sucker for hugs and cuddles even though they usually come with germs when kids are involved. Once at the mat time, I had three kids sitting on me and fighting for my attention. I was struggling to balance all four of us, a task reminding me why I’m not in the circus, when one kid told the other two that only she was allowed to sit on my lap which unfortunately created a heated debate and I had to hush them up.

Some of the kids are dangerously passionate. Once a 4-year-old girl came running to me while I was sitting on the mat with other kids and knocked me over when she threw herself at me. We both went down and I landed on my elbow and it started bleeding. There were a few other similar occasions although I didn't need plasters in those cases.

They are usually so sweet that they can just melt you. One of the little girls has declared her undying love for me while sitting on my lap, giggling with her chubby arms around my neck and kissing my cheeks - oh yeah kids kiss too, but usually my hands and arms though. Of course I understand I was just a new toy for the kids, but I was alarmed when some kids asked if they could call me mummy. In fact one of them started calling me mummy even after I said no. I only hope that their real mummies will never find out about their betrayal.

I think that children are affectionate because they are not afraid of rejections. As we grow up, we lose some natural abilities kids take for granted, for example:

-- Ability to trust instinct: we let greed, vanity and other ugly emotions to take charge.

-- Ability to be happy:  kids don't need to smoke/drink/get stoned to be happy.

-- Ability to allow ourselves to make mistakes: pride is never a serious concern for kids.

And worst of all, we learn to use language to mask our feelings and manipulate others'. The more socialized and sophisticated we get, the more pretentious and skillful we are. City kids are 'smarter' than country kids, and older kids are better trained at getting what they want than younger kids.

Oh well, I think there is nothing we can do about that. Just give me a hug and a cuddle, will you? No germs please.

Studying to Teach

I've been a teacher for 11 years. There are basically two theories here. One is that those who don't know anything end up teaching. The other theory is that a great teacher never stops learning. Well in my case, I find the more I teach, the more I don't know. Finally when it came to the point that I saw a potential lesson to teach in everything we did, I realized that I needed a break.

Since I always love children but sadly don't have any of my own, I decided to collect another graduate degree and study early childhood education. I know I know, you would remind me that teaching university is very different from teaching kindergarten. But how many people have the opportunity to see the world again through the innocent eyes of children?

Of course it’s probably just an excuse for me not only to play with kids but also play like a kid. I honestly don’t remember much of playing when I was a child. All I remember is reciting ancient Chinese poems and practicing the piano. So yes, you can say that in a way I’m simply trying to reclaim my lost childhood. 

However, going back to school at my age requires courage, not to mention money. Fortunately I have somehow sourced both and now I am officially a student again!

Last week was the orientation. At first I thought I would be the oldest student in the class, but was pleasantly surprised to find it to be quite the opposite. Most of my classmates are working mothers with extensive knowledge on early childhood education and many years of teaching experience in pre-schools, primary schools, or universities. At least one already has a PhD and many have more than one master's degree. We were told that thousands of people applied for this program and after all the paperwork and interviews, there we were, 97 women and 3 men smiling at each other uncertainly in a big classroom.

No wonder all our course instructors started their first lectures by congratulating us on getting accepted to this program, which is dominated by super mums – a phenomenon applies to both lecturers and students. Unfortunately that makes me feel like a total fake since I've never changed a nappy in my life.

About the gender difference though, I suppose in general men don’t feel manly enough to be seen playing with kids. But I will have to leave that to ponder another time. Now I have too many textbooks and hundreds of boring research papers to read before I can start writing another one myself.

The reading lists of the six courses I'm taking this semester are longer than the weekly shopping list for a family of twelve, including required readings, recommended readings, you-might-as-well-read-since-you-are-teachers'-pet readings, and only-when-you-have-absoultly-nohting-else-to-do readings.

Although the sunshine and warm sea breezes are beckoning, I am determined to stay home and study – after some ice cream at the beach perhaps…

Power Drill Envy

On my birthday, I decided to buy a power drill and some wooden shelves to build a cabinet for my 200 plus pairs of shoes (not including boots). I went to a big DIY shop and a very nice guy called Mack in the timber section helped me to choose what I needed for my little project. He was very friendly so I asked if they gave any discount for birthday girls. And he did! I suspect it had something to do with that demure yet tight-fitted sleeveless summer dress I was wearing although I am not entirely sure.

After Mack cut out all the shelves for me, he took me to find a power drill. We found a good one on sale so he asked his colleague there how much. The guy looked at me and my cheeky smile then said it was free with a smile like that. But of course I paid for it later. It’s my first power drill and I bet it’s hard for my friends back in Tokyo to imagine me using one in my high-heels.

When I was leaving, Mack helped and carried all my purchase to the car. At the exit we saw some other staff loading a truck outside. He announced to them that it was my birthday. So I walked away accompanied by the chorus of “Happy Birthday” sung in top volume by about 15 big burly men. It was the most bizarrely funny birthday experience I’ve ever had.

DIY is huge here. Many Kiwis are quite handy at home. They build the deck in the backyard, mend the fence, retile the bathroom, paint the kitchen and re-carpet the living room. And it’s not only men doing DIY here, Kiwi women are very much into it too.

In fact, I was thoroughly tempted to buy this beautiful pink tool kit there once. It’s specifically designed for women. But in the end I didn’t get it because it only had a power screwdriver instead of the traditional ones. I suppose they think women are too weak to use men’s tools properly without any help of batteries.

Many DIY shops also offer lessons for women. So I’m planning to go back to that shop and find my buddy Mack and let him impress me with his (DIY) skills. Perhaps one day I will learn to build a 4-bedroom house complete with a garage full of different power tools. Now that would be really cool!

Christmas Fever

Most people like Christmas and we all love summer. So it makes sense to have Christmas in the summer, don’t you think?

Back in Tokyo, Christmas is for couples. But here in Kiwiland, it’s usually for families although a civilized dinner with your family doesn't really sound much like a celebration. Perhaps we should treat each day like it's Christmas when it comes to family, just as we are always told to treat each day like it's our birthday.

This year is my first summer Christmas and it is deliciously hot. I celebrated with a quarter of million people at an outdoor concert in Auckland. The fireworks at the end were very impressive because they exploded right above everyone’s head. And the concert was truly a feast of music. Although I didn’t know most of the singers that night, I still enjoyed the songs – so much so that I joined the other people and danced.

While I was busy dancing, a group of teenage girls suddenly appeared out of nowhere and cheered me on. One of them came dancing next to me and invited me to dance together. So I did. We danced away happily and I didn’t feel I was among strangers anymore. Music connected us instantly.

There is certainly something powerful and mysterious about music. For example, an extremely talented band I discovered yesterday made me feel so alive again today. Of course an engaging book, an inspiring speech, a thought-provoking film, or an intellectual conversation, all has similar effect on me. The easiest way to seduce a woman like me is through words, music, and art. I find intelligence and creativity simply irresistible.

But I must admit that it is music that can touch me the deepest and on the most primal level. And I always feel that music can bring people together much faster than words or images.

So I am 100% for celebrating Christmas with music. But please kill me first if you really have to play “Jingle Bells” again. Arghhhhh!

So Tomorrow Is the End of the World - Woohooooo!

I’m really looking forward to it. No, I’m not kidding. I’ve always liked to try everything at least once! 

According to BBC yesterday, Chinese police have arrested more than 500 members of a doomsday cult for spreading rumors about the imminent end of the world. I don’t blame them for trying. Fear is the best way to sell not only stuff like anti-aging moisturizer or insurance but also religions and wars.

In the Kiwiland, people seem to be quite calm though. In fact, I heard some of them are going to have parties tomorrow to celebrate the end of the world. Now there is no better way to go than being with your friends and loved ones, is there?

But seriously, if the world were to end one day, I mean before you die of a natural cause obviously, what would you do except partying day and night, night and day - until the big finale?

Of course you might also feel compelled to say sorry to your high-school sweetheart for the way you dumped her, to tell your father how much you appreciate him, to add something to your boss’s coffee and make it more interesting, to try skydiving AND bungee-jumping at the same time or better yet, the all-time favorite fantasy for many guys, threesome.

I don’t know what the others expect tomorrow, but personally I am going to a nice restaurant for dinner and then watch the movie “Hobbit” in 3D because the doomsday happens to be a very special day for me.

Well, at least there is one thing I’m certain of - my birthday is not doomed!

Racism For Sale

I thought I would never experience cultural shock here but I was speechless yesterday when someone told me that only the rich can afford to be racists. When you don’t have money, you don’t have any choice. But if you have money, you can go to the shops or restaurants owned by your preferred races.

I suppose it also applies to whom you marry to. If you have money, you can easily buy a bride/groom of your preferred races. But if you don’t, well tough luck, you have to settle for something within your budget.

When I lived in Asia and the States, I never felt being discriminated. But here most people seem to think very differently. It’s 100% safe to voice racist opinions out loud because it’s considered socially acceptable.

And the core value here is money. People are judged mainly by what they own. The rich are not only to be respected but also envied because they can afford to be racists.

I might not live till the day when most of the doctors, lawyers and politicians here are the children of the second-class citizens now. But I know it will happen one day. In fact, it’s happening right now. But it still saddens me to witness such ignorance around.

And it sickens me to be with those who believe racism is a commodity.