Clouds covered the sky this morning, heavy and menacing. We worried that it would rain, but the weather man on the news last night had foretold the initial overcast and assured us that it would clear as the sun rose. Sure enough, by noon, the clouds dispersed and through the gaps in the sky, we spied patches of blue- it was like staring at the skin of a giant Celt through the gaps in his cotton. You know what they say; if there’s enough blue sky to make a sailor a suit, you can be sure there’ll be good weather ahead.
It was a big day for us, you see, because today was the official weekend for our Bunkasaii (School Festival). The students had been working hard for over a month now, preparing various art projects to be displayed, practicing how to cook takoyaki and their dance moves and guitar tabs, and printing out self-designed postcards to be sold. In the entrance where we take off our shoes before entering the campus, I noticed the giant wooden sign with the school’s mission statement carved carefully into it- this was the third years’ project and because most of the carving had been conducted in doors after school, for a very long time, the classroom had smelt of wood and wood carvings had littered the floor. As I walked into the staff room, I noticed that the handles to the staircase had been pasted with colourful flyers and pictures of students taken throughout the entire preparation period covered the walls. “Ms. Pakker’s laboratory” read the advertisement for the first years’ haunted house and “Rockin’ on Clark” was the official title of the rock band’s performance in the afternoon. Outside, the desks and chairs from classrooms were being arranged into little stalls and shops and gas canisters for cooking were being set up. It was going to be a good day.
The first throng of visitors started arriving at around 10 am. They came in twos and threes, and the occasional fours, all excited about the day. I was in the spaghetti stall, taking orders and boiling pasta with my kids. At one stage, we got so busy, it brought me back to the times when I used to work at the bar on Friday nights- having to move fast and concentrate on exactly what I was doing so that I didn’t mess things up. I always enjoy spending time outside of the classroom with my students. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t really feel like an adult myself, but we always have so much fun and end up doing crazy things when we hang out. I had promised some of my students that we would go into haunted house together and ended up going in 4 times with them!
I also went to see the students’ art exhibition on the second floor. There was the Moai the students carved out of polystyrene and covered in clay, the painting of the pyramids done by handprints and thumbprints, a picture of the Acropolis made up entirely of toothpicks and a miniature model of the school campus- all of which had been worked on carefully, with lots of love and care.
It’s at times like these, when I get satisfaction out of what I do and realise again why I’m here now. The day ended too soon and it was dark when we walked out of the campus, but I left feeling proud of my kids and my job.
It was a big day for us, you see, because today was the official weekend for our Bunkasaii (School Festival). The students had been working hard for over a month now, preparing various art projects to be displayed, practicing how to cook takoyaki and their dance moves and guitar tabs, and printing out self-designed postcards to be sold. In the entrance where we take off our shoes before entering the campus, I noticed the giant wooden sign with the school’s mission statement carved carefully into it- this was the third years’ project and because most of the carving had been conducted in doors after school, for a very long time, the classroom had smelt of wood and wood carvings had littered the floor. As I walked into the staff room, I noticed that the handles to the staircase had been pasted with colourful flyers and pictures of students taken throughout the entire preparation period covered the walls. “Ms. Pakker’s laboratory” read the advertisement for the first years’ haunted house and “Rockin’ on Clark” was the official title of the rock band’s performance in the afternoon. Outside, the desks and chairs from classrooms were being arranged into little stalls and shops and gas canisters for cooking were being set up. It was going to be a good day.
The first throng of visitors started arriving at around 10 am. They came in twos and threes, and the occasional fours, all excited about the day. I was in the spaghetti stall, taking orders and boiling pasta with my kids. At one stage, we got so busy, it brought me back to the times when I used to work at the bar on Friday nights- having to move fast and concentrate on exactly what I was doing so that I didn’t mess things up. I always enjoy spending time outside of the classroom with my students. Maybe it’s the fact that I don’t really feel like an adult myself, but we always have so much fun and end up doing crazy things when we hang out. I had promised some of my students that we would go into haunted house together and ended up going in 4 times with them!
I also went to see the students’ art exhibition on the second floor. There was the Moai the students carved out of polystyrene and covered in clay, the painting of the pyramids done by handprints and thumbprints, a picture of the Acropolis made up entirely of toothpicks and a miniature model of the school campus- all of which had been worked on carefully, with lots of love and care.
It’s at times like these, when I get satisfaction out of what I do and realise again why I’m here now. The day ended too soon and it was dark when we walked out of the campus, but I left feeling proud of my kids and my job.
3 comments:
reading ur entry made me i was there too...
i m glad to hear that, cause i was worried that the language/ style i chose to write about the school festival was a bit too flowery/pretty and maybe not what u'd expect to see on a blog. there'll be more entries coming shortly
really depending on u whether u want it to be descriptive or narrative.
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