(11 Oct 08)

13-hour flight was definitely a pain. I had no one to chat with. I felt bored and lonely. I forced myself to sleep to kill time. The meals were bad. I don’t understand why Prof. Kirkpatrick and Dr. Hoare are willing to leave their home countries for so long to work in Hong Kong.

Russell (13 Feb 09)

I didn't sleep until 3 am. The path outside my window was quiet, but I heard some noise. I looked out and saw Russell. We chatted. He was apparently drunk. I invited him to the Chinese dinner. Then I slept.

First Aid (17 Jan 09)

The first aid course is so useful!

• I now know what the mask I saw in Grnbird Society Room is for. It is a face shield for CPR.
• I now know what a sport kits should contain.
  

1st YSIS (16 Jan 09)

I had my first YSIS placement. It was great. I assisted Ms Brown, a student teacher.

Rundown of the morning lessons:

• Roll call: Ms Brown called everyone "Good morning, xxx". I think it was very warm and respectful.
• Review with a ppt: The "Who wants to be a millionaire" ppt was effective.
• Big book - Too wordy and informative for the students. They soon lost interest.
• Literacy: Menu / Painting penguins
• Assembly
• Math: Pictogram / Painting Penguins

Ms Bailey thought I was good at art, so I helped the painting group. I outlined the penguin for the students and made sure that they followed the instruction when painting. I didn't realize my art talent before helping with art. My penguins were quite satisfactory indeed.

I was so impressed that the activities were simple, but very contextualized.

• Painting the penguin with instruction
  
• Why don't you have a go sorting these shapes (toffee, chew, lollies, starburst) into groups, then recording the information in a tally chart?

Ms Bailey was unhappy that the boys chased the girls again. She warned that the students would not be able to choose what to play if they were naughty again. Consequence is more effective than punishment indeed. But do we give much choice to students in HK?

I learned some English phrases in context :D
"get onto the computer"
"blunt sharpener"
"big fat sharpener"
"fat / thin brushes"
"fine detail"
"scaffolder"

I bought an expensive blouse :( --> :D
I bought some delicious choco. That was on sale! :D

Examination (13 Jan 09)

I had my first examination at York. The funniest thing was the little white plastic bag on the exam table. I thought I was a vomit bag, but actually it was for putting all the belongings in.

The exam announcement was funny too. The examiner said we couldn't leave the hall in the first 45 minutes and the last 15 minutes, but my exam was just 1 hour long. That meant I couldn't leave earlier.

Necklace (12 Jan 09)

After submitting the assignment, I had a walk around the campus with my tired body. I enjoyed it very much cos I saw many cute waterbirds. I loved them so much.

I got a handmade necklace from Delphine. It is very Western style. I liked it.

My 22nd B-day (29 Dec 08)

My true self visited me on my birthday, and I was told to do what I wanted to do on my own.

The first thing I wanted to do was to walk around York. I started at 10. It was cloudy and I worried if it would rain. Fortunately, it didn't. I walked along River Ouse, from Fishergate. It was so lovely to the waterbirds. They were so cute and lovely. On the way, I met Helen, walking her dog. She was appreciating the shapes, leaves and seeds of the trees. She told me that she would start an art project about trees and she wanted her students to identify different characteristics of each tree. She taught me about different trees, like ash, sycamore, maple, lime, hawthorn, weep willow, black poplar, lombardy poplar and alder. She broke a branch of an alder for me. I regarded it to be my first birthday present. I liked it. I gave a incence tree bookmark to her. I thought she liked it too. We separated at the last bridge. I kept going upstream.

I passed by a chapel and met some woodland birds. I couldn't reach Linton Lock, as it was too far. I stopped at Rawcliffe Bar bus terminal and returned. I found the way out by following bus no. 2. I was astonished by he houses I passed by. They were as gorgeous as those in Wollongong. They had big gardens. I loved them. I really wanted to be rich enough to buy one!

Then, I shopped at the town. I bought a tote bag. I felt so happy.

I made a big dinner and I was successful to make my first birthday cake.