ateneo adventures

whew! what a day!

i practically spent my entire day at the ateneo grounds. like i said yesterday in my post, ms joanne assigned me to lecture at ISO for the entire day.

i don't mind, really. i like being in the ateneo campus. i'm impressed by how well-maintained the grounds are. i feel safe and secure.. especially with the numerous guards posted at the gates. there's much greenery.. and you won't find any trash littered about.

like i said, i enjoy the venue. what i did not like about this day were my lecture classes :(

it all started this morning, when i went to my first lecture. i had around 50+ students (room 3) coming from different schools. in stark contrast to my class yesterday, these kids were all so.. umm.. blank. i'd ask them questions and they'd all just stare at me as if they were statues. geez! what a way to start my day. it took a lot of effort to keep my smile plastered on my face. i felt like i was talking to aliens who couldn't understand a single word i said. ugh.

i thought to myself, "things couldn't possibly get any worse than this.." so i looked forward to my afternoon session. i was supposed to administer the math compre quiz then discuss the answers afterwards. so by 12nn, i went to the ISO cafeteria to have my lunch (while reading gaiman's "violent cases"). friend joyce bumped into me then.. and we chatted a while (which cheered me up a lot) before i proceeded to my 1pm class.

so there i was.. excited to get the test over with so i can start the discussion again. i gave the students the compre test (good for 90 minutes).. and noted that quite a number of them were done way ahead of the prescribed time. hmm. i didn't mind that.. except that a bunch of girls looked really bored and kept going out of the room. those who stayed inside kept talking amongst themselves in very loud whispers. i don't really know what the helll they were fussing about.. but i found them to be very rude.

so there i was. stuck in that room with a bunch of bratty kids from *bleep* school (i won't name the school here - their behavior would just besmirch the campus' reputation). i wasn't quite sure what to do - i didn't want to tell them off in front of the other students.. but they were so dense (or they were just so "makapal") that they did not sense the meaning of my stares (nor of their classmates' "shushes"). grrrrr.

after the 90 minutes were up, i started discussing the exam. most of the girls were still outside (along with some guys). i had to call them back in.. even though they were fully aware that we were already discussing the answers. fine. i breathed in deeply.. willing myself to be a bit more patient.

but after a few minutes, as i was discussing the answers, some kids would stand up.. go out.. chat a bit.. come back as if nothing happened.. would talk to their seatmate.. etc. gggrrrrrr!! that was it!! that was the last straw. i couldn't take it anymore. i decided *not* to discuss anything with them anymore. hell. if they don't want to learn, then i certainly don't want to teach them. sheesh. no one's forcing them to study. who cares if they leave?! it's *their* loss, not mine.

i was sooooo tempted to show them just how bitchy i could be. but i decided against it.. thinking about the review center's image. aaauuugggh!! so i tried to cheer myself up by chatting with the other kids (who, quite unfairly, did not get the chance to see the solutions to the test) - answering their questions and giving them some tips. unfortunately, the remaining students in the room were all quite "hyper" - and were so noisy that ma'am rj from the adjoining room had to shut them up (twice!!) because her class couldn't concentrate on their lesson. ugh. that was soooo embarrassing :(

oh well. i had dad pick me up early.. and i suggested we go around campus to look for friend armi's food kiosk (it's located at SoM mall). we spent some time looking for the place (we weren't really familiar with the buildings - SoM mall is new).. but after taking a couple of wrong turns, we were able to find it :)

"kaon ta" is a tiny stall, but armi says the sales are good :) we tried out their barbecue and grilled pork (tsk tsk.. they ran out of chicken already). it's good :p dad and i also bought some drinks from "matcha".. just to see if it's any good :p the food trip lifted my mood a bit. so did the gloomy skies and the tiny raindrops that soon fell, haha.

anyway. so much for my day. *sigh* i'm beginning to dread the remaining lectures i have for this summer. sheesh. i miss my students this summer. waaaah!! :'(