Initially was hesitant in stepping into the school, and just wanted to loiter at the atrium, but Yi Jing pulled me into the VP's office. I was trembling nervously because I was afraid that they would persecute me for trespassing, but I was surprised when the VP broke into a genuinely delighted smile when she saw me. Yi Jing told her how I refused to step in just because I perceived myself to be an outsider, to which she assured me that the school doors are always welcoming and open for me to return (Hint: come back and teach (hopefully)). We spent a good 40 minutes chatting over the impressive O Level results of last year's Sec 5 students, and recalling the fond memories we had of the English night classes, tutoring them in writing essays and chasing them (literally) to hand them in. I must say, she is my most favourite person in that school. She is frank, but never criticizing nor intimidating; she is helpful, encouraging and supportive, but still remains firm as a figure of authority. She deserves my respect.
I then ventured to the staff room and I met Hillary, my ex-1F student who made an impressive leap from N(A) to Express this year, and she actually gave me a present! She could not have known I was coming, and she said that she wanted to give it to me earlier this year but I was not around anymore, so she kept it in her bag till now. Inside the crumpled gift box was a silver butterfly brooch, but her sweet thoughtfulness really melted my heart.
Then I met some of the ex-1C boys along the way. I could see the utter shock on their faces: eyes wide opened, jaws dropping and sharp shrieks of "Miss Ng! Why are you here!". Soon a good 10+ of them crowded around me, bombarding me with questions like "Why you don't teach us anymore?", "What are you doing now?" and "When are you coming back?" I was truly overwhelmed with nostalgia, seeing how warm these kids were and realising how much I missed teaching. On the other hand, I was truly overwhelmed because with every one question I answered, another 10 questions were waiting for me and they were piling up! Soon, they were making so much noise, and Mr Bernard came along, casting them a stern glare, and I had to herd them back to their classes. They were protesting, "Miss Ng, don't worry, now we are tidying our tables (because the next day is the start of the March holidays), no lessons today!", but that was not the point.
I just had to visit my ex-form class (1F) students, who have been separated into 2F and 2G this year. After finding out that 2G is on the second floor and 2F is on the fourth floor (arranged strategically so that these two N(A) classes will not be near each other and make so much noise), I went to 2G first. There was no teacher in the classroom, and upon seeing me standing outside the class, the ex-1F kids exclaimed in excitement and came out to surround me. We chatted and they made so much noise that the 2F students came out to see what was going on (they instinctively know whenever there is a din, it will always be coming from 2G and not anywhere else). My favourite boys, Russell, Marshall and Irfaan, yelled my name when they saw me, and quickly ran down to the second floor. At that point, the form teacher of 2G came and the 2G kids had to meekly return to their classroom, while Russell, Marshall and Irfaan pulled me up to 2F. Again, no teacher in the class, and the class was in chaos. Caught up with those naughty kids, especially Imran, chatting and laughing. They were supposed to dismiss at 12.30pm, but at 12.20pm, they were already started to carry their bags and stream out of the class. Decided to help babysit these kids and shouted (pretending to be angry) that they could only leave when the school bell had rung. Could not believe they actually obeyed and waited for 12.30pm before leaving, even though I was no longer a teacher there!
After school had dismissed, I went to the staff room to catch up with some of the teachers like Miss Luar, Melvin and Ivan, and then had lunch with Melissa, gossipping about the latest happenings in the 'political' scene in the school. I even visited the P, but soon realised the conversation was so patronizing that it made me cringe. Came out within 5 minutes.
Then met Caijie, Sandra, Evelyn, Eve, Calista, Bingqian and Amanda (from ex-1F) for a gossip session at a nearby void deck, where they updated me on many interesting happenings in school, about teachers, about their classmates and ex-classmates etc. They were complaining about how difficult the English common test was, and when they let me see the paper, I was flabbergasted. The comprehension passage was 4 pages long, the topic was dry (American history), and the words were too difficult for a Sec 2 (I don't even know the meaning of 'abysmal'). What was more fascinating, this paper was meant for both the Express and N(A) students. In my opinion, this was tough enough for a Sec 2 Ex kid, let alone these poor N(A) kids! They were even whining about how they were not shown condoms during Science lessons (because they were at the topic on sex) whereas the students from the other classes were. Caijie was relishing this joke where when asked to list ways to have safe sex, his classmate answered suggested the use of safe sex equipment while another said "Do not change partners while having intercourse". What have these kids been learning?! They still remembered making fun of Mr Choo and me last time, and it was no exception now, and their teasings really brought back sweet memories ...
As much as I wanted to continue chatting with them, I had to go reluctantly. Caijie was drawling, "Don't go lah ..." while silly Sandra and Eve said they would scream if I tried to leave (and they did). They even urged me to organise another chalet for them later this year, to which I shuddered recalling the chaotic barbeque during last year's chalet ... ...
No comments:
Post a Comment