Random Thoughts Part 24

It's the start of the five-day hectic lifestyle again, and here I am battling to live one day at a time. 

I am not teaching toddlers. After this summer on-the-job training with toddlers at a private school in the city, I will never teach toddlers again (unless I will receive a salary of 100, 000 a month). [hahaha] I finally had the chance to teach toddlers this morning after two weeks of observing my partner teacher. It wasn't fun more so that someone came in to evaluate me. Another evaluation will be coming anytime this week, and hopefully when that time comes, I will be more prepared and the children will be more behaved and attentive (but I still am not expecting too much from them especially on behaving).

There has been a slight change of schedule. Or let's just say an addition to my load. Last week, in my online tutorial job, I had two Korean students only. Now, on the second week of my work, I was given four more students to tutor. I am thankful though that I will not be meeting them all five times a week. I just finished organizing my schedule and it seems okay. I think this will also mean a raise in my salary. (hahaha) Thank you Lord. 

They are friendly here. And the people are friendly here. The workplace is okay. I surely am going to love this place and quitting this part time job soon would certainly be hard for me. Anyhow, I will not think about it just yet. I shall enjoy this time with my new workmates and my adorable Korean students. 

Free spaghetti, anyone? After copying my new schedule from the cork board, our Korean boss came to me and told me to eat spaghetti. My workmate in the name of Mae or Marie (I forgot, really. haha.) is celebrating her birthday today. So cheers for the yummy spag. For long life. ^_^

Lebron James is MVP (again). For the fourth time now, Lebron "King James" with a jersey number of 6 from Miami Heat is declared the Most Valuable Player. Hooray for this guy from my fave team. hihihi. This is  after his winning streak from the year 2009 to 2010 and then interrupted by Derrik Rose on 2011. He then had his third last year 2012 and now, this. Congrats! I really love him play especially when he does his three-point shots. Way to go! ^_^

American Idol has its top 3 now. Angie, Candice and Kree are the final three contingents for the coveted title "American Idol 2013." After the elimination of Amber last week who brought some of the judges to tears, these three gals will certainly give their very best for that one spot they have been dreaming of. Watch them perform live every Thursday on Star World. :)

Monday is to end, and I praise God for this beautiful life. And yeah, happy birthday to Ante Mia. :)) 

(I shall tell of her story and how God worked in her life the next time around)

Random Thoughts Part 23

Hi there. I have missed this blog lately. Maybe not very lately because I have been away for so long. (hihihi) And since I am back, I will just talk about randomness. That's what I am good at anyway. ^_^

Tiresome, enjoying. I have a new job. Hooray for me. I am now teaching toddlers in the city (two-year-old kids) at a prestigious private school. This is the end of my second week now and on Monday, the applicants who are having their on-the-job training will be evaluated by the principal. Hopefully, I will have good remarks during the evaluation so that I will be able to get a teaching position on June. I am getting more excited as that day approaches. hihi.

Dealing with little children, you ask me. Hoooo. Superbly tiresome. There are 14 of them and three of us (teachers). But within that two-week bond with the kids, the teachers have successfully established trust inside the classroom and the babies are getting more used to our presence than ever before. I am very happy for that.

In fact, one of the kids keep on tugging my blouse every time I stand up. He always wanted to sit on my lap and do the "horsey-horsey" moves. He loved that a lot. Sometimes, when I talk to the other kids, he would approach me and smile, and then finally tug me, which means he is trying to get my attention. This cute little guy is named Nate. Oh that wonderful baby scent. He is just so adorable. Hmmm, that sounds like I am having favorites. All of them are so adorable. That cannot be denied.

Even if it is tiring to work with these kids, I know that I am on the right track, that teaching really is my thing, for I am enjoying every minute with them. And I thank God for this wonderful opportunity.

Saying goodbye is not easy (especially to kids). I am also working part time in one of the online tutorial centers here in the city (aside from my tutorials at home). Our customers here are Korean kids. Aside from noticing that they are all wearing eye glasses, these kids are apparently enrolled in this online tutorial for them to become English, if not proficient, speakers.

This is just like working part time in a call center. But I believe this is better than the latter because this has something to do with dealing with kids. And I need that training for my profession.

And yes, for the good bye part. Well, today will be the last day for one of the teachers here. She will be resting for a month and then will pursue her teaching profession in the real world. Since I had the chance to have a side-by-side lesson with her, I was able to talk to her student online. And while she was talking, bidding goodbye to her student, I can see how the Korean boy's eyes welled with tears. While watching, I realized how they have been attached to each other in a teacher-student manner.

It's heartbreaking but it's part of life. So we might as well get used it.

Minutes from now, my class will already start tonight. God bless you. Have a great weekend. ^_^

UNO Addicts

Ever heard of UNO card game? The first time I heard of this game was on Cartoon Network, during its segment "Toy News". That was a long time ago. Just recently, a friend of mine from the publication introduced the UNO card game. I was intrigued on how it's played, and though I am not really into card games (because of that initial feeling that I would lose anyway), I tried learning it. And guess what? I had a great time learning it. And now, it is the number one addiction inside the office. When we are somehow tired of reading or editing, when we are a bit bored of the humdrum of college student life, when we are depressed, when we are waiting for our next class, we grab the UNO cards from the locker of one of our great cartoonist and start the game. 

Here's how it is played. 

(I actually Googled the mechanics because I find it hard to relate it in my own words.)
[source here]

1. Use a deck of UNO cards. The standard UNO deck has 108 cards consisting of: four colored "suits" (Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow), Action cards (Draw 2, Reverse, and Skip), Wild cards, and Wild Draw Four cards.

2. Choose a dealer by having each player pick one card. The person with the highest number is the dealer. In this instance, Action cards (including Wild and Wild Draw Fourcards) have a value of zero.

3. Deal each player seven cards and place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table. This pile of cards in the middle is known as the draw pile.

4. Turn over the top card of the draw pile and place this card next to the draw pile to form the discard pile.

5. Take turns beginning with the player to the dealer's left and go clockwise around the table.

6. Place one of your cards on the discard pile when it's your turn. Your card must have the same number, color or wording as the top card of the discard pile... unless you have a Wild card, in which case you can choose which color cards will be played.

7. Draw a card if you cannot discard. Play the drawn card if you can. If you can't, it's the next person's turn.

8. Announce a suit when you place a wild card on the discard pile. You can play a Wild card any time it's your turn and can name any suit you wish.

9. Announce a suit when you place a Wild Draw Four card on the discard pile.

10. Follow the directions of an Action card that is played on the discard pile by the player preceding you. This may mean that you have to draw two cards, skip a turn or even draw four cards. 

11. Remember to Say "UNO" when you have one card left in your hand. If you forget to say UNO and another player catches you, you must draw two cards.

12. Tally each player's scores at the end of each game. The game is over when one player is completely out of cards. That person gets all the points.

13. Here's how to score in UNO:

• Add the total of all the cards left in each player's hand.
• Count number cards (0-9) as their numeric value.
• Count Draw Two, Skip, and Reverse cards as 20 points.
• Count Wild and Wild Draw Four cards as 50 points.
• Award all points to the winner of each round.

14. Repeat the game until one player scores 500 points.

So there goes the UNO card game. If you still have a hard time understanding it, we can play it some time. That way, I can personally teach you how it's done. ^_^