Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Identity Crisis

Conversation with student.

Student: You don't look like a teacher.
Me (thinking to myself): Cool
Student: You look like a tai-tai
Me (thinking to myself): Right, uh huh...
Me (outloud): I can't even stay at home one whole day with my dog.
Student: But you don't look like the enlightened tai-tai type that does charity. You look like the self-involved, shop a lot type.
Me (thinking to myself): Want to fail exams, is it?

So, thank goodness I don't look like a teacher. At Bintan, there was this sour faced woman yelling at her kids in the swimming pool and Dan, my bro and I turned to look at one another and uttered in unison "Teacher". So, to say someone looks like a teacher, not a compliment.

Not an enlightened tai-tai, I can still deal with that. After all, I did walk away from people soliciting for Camp Rainbow the other day although I don't mind giving my money to animal shelter groups, I'm a little suspect of the larger charity groups like the National Kidney Foundation. I would volunteer my services with the animal shelter groups were it not for the fact that it makes me cry and be very miserable. Anyway.

I just got an email from a friend doing his PhD at Cornell and is still desperately trying to get me to go to the US to do my postgrad. It sounds so exciting compared to Oz but since I just blew my entire savings on Oz, I'll just settle for what I get. In the mean time, I will live vicariously through my students who are US bound or who are thinking of heading to the US, with the option of staying on to work. I guess that's one good thing about being a teacher. You get to live your dreams vicariously through your students. Not for too long though. I think, when one stays in the teaching profession for too long, one will end up looking sour and shrew like and yelling at everyone in sight. That's when the bitterness has set in, that life has passed you by and your students have gone on to greater things and you're still stuck at the same cubicle.

So, being a tai tai isn't so bad. Even if it means being self-involved and having one's days revolve around spas and tea. For me, throw in ballet, pilates and wedding planning or something of that sort and take away the mahjong and the inch thick make-up with such a hair do that birds could nest in it.

Ondine tossed this thought in at 16:17

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