This & That

First Harry Potter (aka Pothead) and now Twilight. Since J.K. Rowling’s celebrated novel series about British wizardry is completely published (but still being filmed), young adults in secondary schools have flocked to a new genre – vampire romance – and have turned it into the latest fad. The women of Villa Maria can’t get enough of Stephanie Meyer’s story about Isabella Swan falling in love with Edward Cullen (vampire guy), and their notebooks are covered with pictures of Robert Pattinson, the actor who plays Edward Cullen in the 2008 film adaptation.

Mind you, I haven’t read the Twilight series (spread over 4 books) but I did see the movie. It wasn’t bad but could have been better. Watching a vampire romance movie is much better than watching/reading Harry Pothead. I’m too much of a realist to believe in wizard fantasy. That & I find it pathetic that Harry goes back to his abusive step-family after every book and doesn’t use his acquired magic to put them in their place.

The second week of teaching practice has come to an end, with me teaching a total of 4 classes: two history & two social studies. Both history lessons (origins of WWII) received favourable reviews from my associates whereas the social studies were more mixed because they dealt with basic economics. Economics is grouped with the social studies curriculum for Year 9 & 10 before branching off on its own in senior years. Econ was never my favourite subject but since its basic stuff, extra research & practice before the lesson will get me by.

Naturally, I’ll be teaching more & more classes as every week passes. Unfortunately, that means more planning & preparation. I had originally planned to attend a Basic Cadet Barrack Camp this weekend outside of Christchurch but had to cancel because of teaching priorities at Villa Maria. What’s great about this teaching practice is that I get 2 weeks of vacation in between Weeks 4 & 5 – Easter Holidays.

My parents sent me several copies of my Piano Performer's ARCT so that the College of Ed could add it to their records but what surprised me was that the diplomas are printed on really big pieces of paper! I'm talking larger than the standard letter size! It felt like opening a chapter of the Dead Sea Scrolls! What's disappointing is that the diploma itself appears on plain white paper with no elaborate background. I'm guessing Toronto spent all of its money on the graduation ceremony.

Finally, I would like thank my earplugs for coming handy last night, either wise, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep properly. Since it was a Friday night, the flat three floors below mine (ground floor) decided to throw a big party, I’m guessing to celebrate the halfway mark of the term. To have a party at Ilam Village, you need to register with the office in order for them to warn other residents and to prepare the riot gear & tear gas if need be. The earplugs dampened the loud music, & crazy antics of students by 30 decibels; the deep bass sounded like a soft thumping heart. It was all quiet on the Ilam Front by 2 am.