Selamat Berlibur

Today Richie (11 years old) went to the school office and looked for Mr. Mintre, one of our school staff. Ms. Lyvia met this little chubby guy and told him that Mr. Mintre was still in the manager's office.

Ms. Lyvia: Kembali aja lima menit lagi. Pak Mintre pasti sudah ada.
Richie: Tapi ngga bisa, Papa saya sudah jemput dua menit lagi.

But Richie won't leave.

Ms. Lyvia: Ada perlu apa sama Pak Mintre? Ada pesan?
Richie: Iya, Richie titip pesan saja ya.
Ms. Lyvia: Apa pesannya?
Richie: Tolong sampaikan Pak Mintre, "Selamat Berlibur."


Today is the last day of school for elementary students. How sweet. =)

Richie. Wajah disamarkan.

The Small Teacher

Every couple of days and so, the teachers and the management staff in our school have the opportunity to greet students in the morning. So basically we stand in the front door, greeting "Good morning!" to every student.

And this morning was my turn. The air was fresh and lovely, and I was happy to see all the students--happy face, sleepy face--. Most of them were sleepy faces, actually.

I got everything under control, smiling all authoritatively, until this small, 1st grade student came to me. As he shook my hand, we had this conversation.

Small, 1st grade student: "Missnya kok kecil sih?"
Me: "Umm..."
Small, 1st grade student: (Looking up, waiting for an answer)
Me: (Trying to find something smart to say) "Umm... Soalnya... "
Small, 1st grade student: "Good morning."
Me: "Umm..."

So this small teacher was flabbergasted. I mean, how would you answer such question? Should I scream, "I'M NOT SMALL! Lots of your other teachers are smaller than me! I'm almost 160 cm, you know! Well, almost."

Yeah, like that would work.

Or maybe I should carry this picture around to show what "small teachers" look like.

Now, THIS is a small teacher.

How Long Does a Child Stay Absurd?

Children are born absurd. I'm sure of that. Absurd is beautiful, I tell you. But there'll come a time when children stop being absurd. I don't know how and why. It just happens. That sad time comes usually when children already hit 9 years old.

But some children are lucky. They maintain their absurdness until later years. And here is one of them. Meet Richie (10 years old) and his school librarian, Anas (@anastasiastrii at twitter. Go follow her).

Richie: Ms. Anas, tadi di laci meja saya ada kecoak. Saya kaget, syok.
Anas: Hmmm.. Terus? Kamu takut?
Richie: Sedikit. Terus guru bilang, "Kan bisa dibunuh aja toh, selesai."
Anas: Terus kamu bunuh gitu? *serius*
Richie: Ngga.. Kecoak itu tidak berdosa. Dia tidak salah apa-apa. Saya ambil aja dengan tissue.
Anas: Ohh... Terus kamu ambil kecoak pake tissue itu berarti dia masih hidup?
Richie: Ya enggak, saya pukul sampai diam, baru saya pake tissue buangnya.
Anas: ....

Anas and Richie

Dear Richie, Anas and I hope you stay absurd!

Permisi... Numpang lewat...

Berdasarkan permintaan publik, saya tampilkan gambar kecoak yang lebih representatif.

The Unexplicable Obsession with Dentists

In my previous post, I talked about my 2nd grade student who mentioned the have-to-look-at-people's-mouth-everyday noble profession of dentist as a means of transportation.

No, dear, dentist is not a common means of transportation.

Okay, they are only about seven or eight years old so I thought it was okay. Or so I thought.

Last week I taught my 5th grade classroom. In the middle of the creative writing lesson, the students were asked to close their eyes imagining they were exploring a nearby forest.

Me: What do you see?

Student: Lion! Tiger!

Student: Green trees, and snakes!

Student: My friend wearing a tutu skirt (Here, the teacher decided to ignore this student)

Student: The sun shining.

Student: Dentist!

So, I guess there is an unexplicable obsession of students with dentists. XD

Maybe that student saw this when he closed his eyes.

Or maybe this.

Pictures are from here: http://coolanimalspics.blogspot.com/2011/02/dentist-of-animals-look-funny-and-weird.html

LOL. Teaching is fun.

School Tank!

Yesterday I was asked to replace a teacher to teach English for Second Grade. For only 35 minutes. But I was scared. I am used to teaching privately. But the thought of 25 little children altogether felt like a horrible Kaiju that I had to defeat.

However, my Kaiju imagination proved to be wrong. They were little attentive angels that paid attention to what I have to tell them.

The theme of yesterday's lesson was transportation. And this conversation happened:

Me: So transportation is what we use to move from one place to another place. Can you mention some things that we use to move from one place to another?

Students: Car!

Students: Aeroplane!

Students: Train!

Students: Bus!

Students: Tank! 

Students: School bus!

Students: School tank! 

Students: Dentist!

They are such competitive angels, eh? XD

More stories from classrooms next time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Update: I Cannot Find Feby

After a year not seeing Little Feby, I drove by her neighborhood just to check if she's still around. And how sad I was to see that her house was on sale. Now I have no idea where she is. And I've lost her mom's number.

I am heartbroken. I miss her.

I'm praying for you wherever you are, Little Feby. This blog I will keep to cherish you :* Therefore it still bears your name.

Auntie Does Not Go Far Away

Tuako, the auntie, had gone to another island that morning, and Elisia (6 years old), the favorite niece, proudly mentioned her knowledge of that.

Elisia: Tuako cuman berangkat sebentar. Dia ambil jam tangan. Nanti jam 11 pulang. XD

Little Elisia, heartbreakingly cute, isn't she? My favorite cousin!

Elisia dear, how can we make you understand that going to another island is not ambil jam tangan. And she will not be at home by 11 o'clock. Oh well, maybe we'll just wait you grow up a little bit more to understand the perplexing concept of time and distance.

Note:
I am so sad I haven't updated this blog in almost two years! That's because I quit teaching piano for a while and went to live in another country. But now that I'm back in my hometown and teaching again now, I'll post more cutesy children stories!