Reminiscences and regrets from when I was young

Let's go chronologically...

1. Fairfield Methodist Primary School

Pri 1:

• My form teacher ordered me to retrieve all the spelling books from a low cabinet,
• which took some time as I had to squat down fully and lift the heavy stack,
• but she thought that my slowness was due to me searching for my own book to place on top,
• so she pulled my hair (her usual punishment) because there it really was.

Indifference:

• I'd never have dared to argue back as a kid of that age anyway,
• especially in the face of such a freak coincidence.

Pri 2(?):

• My 3-years-older brother in the same school had shared with me about how,

• when he was buying a piece of cake from the drinks-stall,

• they simply grabbed the nearest one of a different type/ flavour and handed it to him,

• insisting “一样的” ("it's the same") and made him pay up.

• I was determined to learn a lesson from his encounter and not be bullied.
• There was once I sighed to my friend beside me when they ran out of orange juice,
• the drinks-stall auntie chided “哎呀什么，卖完了嘛！” ("aiya what, sold out already mah!"),

• so I snapped back “什么哎呀什么？！都不是跟你讲话！！” ("what aiya what?! I wasn't even talking to you!!")

Satisfaction:

• Felt good to see her shocked face as I then beckoned my friend to walk away together.

Pri 3(?):

• My "enemy" classmate forgot to bring an item (eraser?) for art class,
• I had an extra which the art teacher asked if I could sell to this classmate,
• I agreed for 60 cents which was the cost price,
• but it later crossed my mind that he was my "enemy" so I raised to $1,

• but the teacher forbade it and forced me to sell to him at 60 cents.

Regret:

• I should've refused and told the teacher that it's my decision as the item belongs to me.

Pri 4:

• My form teacher confiscated my diary for writing it in class,

• threatening to take me to the principal if I didn't hand it over.
• She later called out to me while reading it and I rushed over,

• but by the time I reached her she closed it and asked if I wrote anything bad about anyone.

• I was seething and seriously considering whether to explode with rage,

• but ended up just answering by lying "no".

Regret:

• (Un)fortunately she didn't expose or challenge my lie,

• because I was a heartbeat away from (and really regret not) snatching my diary back,

• yelling at her in front of the whole class something along the lines of ,

• "what I write is none of your business!" and "how dare you read my diary!" (whichever first),

• and that it was "despicable" (yes I knew this word and remember being ready to use it),

• then finishing off with the exact line "you want to see the principal?! let's go!!"

Pri 5:

• My Chinese teacher wanted me to move my desk to make way for my "enemy" classmate,

• which I felt was more than or not necessary,

• I thought that she was unfair and biased towards him,

• so I complied reluctantly with a lot of loud banging,
• but she noticed that I was on the verge of tears,

• and gently told me to “去厕所洗脸” ("go to the restroom and wash your face").

Gratitude:

• Her letting me cool off and come back after calming down helped a lot.

• To this day I still remember what she wrote in my autograph book,

• which turned out to be a proverb “买马要看口齿，交友要摸心底” ("before buying a horse look at its mouth and teeth; before befriending someone understand their heart")

2. Fairfield Methodist Secondary School

Sec 3/4:

• My English/ form teacher forgot how to spell "hieroglyphics",

• and taught the class that "annihilate" was pronounced as "an-NEE-HEE-late",

• "but Americans would pronounce it as an-NAI-HEE-late",

• even though both are wrong which she should've known,

• because during my part of the group presentation I enunciated it as "a-NAIA-late",

• which is the only correct pronunciation and has a silent "h".

• She also displayed blatant favouritism while handing out report books to the class,
• by announcing "those of you who came over to my house that day, I forgot to give you your 'angpows', please come and collect them from me later".

Dismay:

• Unfit to be a teacher.

Sec 4:

• My geography teacher blindly took the side of her pets,

• when they tried to push the responsibility (and cost) of printing out the group project to me.
• I'll never forget her verbatim remark "these are the people I trust",
• as she declared how the project "means nothing to me" and that she could just dump it into the bin.

Regret:

• Another deep regret not retorting "well it doesn't matter to me either, I am only here for the O-Levels" before swaggering off.

• To give the devil its due I concede that her pedagogic skills were excellent,

• because all her students must've gotten A1 in their O-Levels,

• since even I shot all the way up from F9,

• but I'd still maintain that she failed terribly as an educator.

3. Anglo-Chinese Junior College

Incompetencies:

• General Paper teacher from the US who boasted "my English is unquestionable",

• taught the class that the noun for "infamous" was "infamousness" (it's "infamy"),
• and blemished my otherwise flawless essay by circling in red a word she didn't understand.
• me: "may I know what's wrong with this?"

• her: "what does this word mean?" (inculpate)

• me: "to incriminate"

• her: "oh, to make culpable"

• me: "yup"

• her: "ok"

Bemusement:

• Why she would prefer embarrassing herself over using a dictionary is beyond me.

4. Perth Institute of Business and Technology (Australia; now Edith Cowan College)

This and my exchange program to Kobe University in Japan are my best school experiences.

5. Curtin University (Australia)

Blunders:

• I decided to change course from Accounting to Business Administration,

• which was offered only at another campus/ city,

• but whose individual lectures/ tutorials were actually available at my current campus/ city,
• which I therefore obtained both verbal and written approvals from the coordinator to attend,
• and also informed him that changing my course was irreversible,

• because it involved withdrawing from Accounting subjects,

• which were prerequisites of other prerequisites.

• Towards end semester the office suddenly informed me that the coordinator was wrong,

• and he came up with lame excuses trying to wiggle out of what he previously confirmed.

• The office only relented after I threatened to drop out and return to my home country,

• where I would share my predicament as widely as possible.

• I said "maybe I shouldn't learn business administration from an institution which can't even manage its own administration properly."

Consolation:

• Imagine the ordeal of having to move to a different city if I hadn't stood my ground.

 

Discrimination:

• Japan House residence hall was stated as prioritising students of Japanese language,

• but the housing manager did the opposite for local Aussies who weren't studying Japanese,
• claiming that as freshmen they had a greater need to live on campus,

• which is lame considering that international students are the ones in a foreign country.
• So he offered me a place in another residence hall,

• which means that there were rooms for those Aussies to live on campus in the first place,

• and despite me being the one studying Japanese.

• In the previous semester when I was living in Japan House,

• one of these Aussies who wasn't studying Japanese even had the nerve to complain,

• that nobody should use Japanese to speak or write on the message board,

• because she couldn't understand what they were communicating between themselves.

Indignation:

• Racism is very much alive at Curtin.