a day in stranger land

Friday, 26 June 2009

Lament of an English teacher

On my way to work in the morning I used to share a bus with a woman from the Middle East. What made me noticed her in the first place was not where she originated from, but what she had in her hands! Every morning on the bus she would take out an IELTS book and do a bit of reading and grammar exercise.

Yes, she is here to study English!

It dawned on me that she had flown a few thousand miles, left her home, family and friends to come to an English speaking country to learn English! (Well, probably she is studying English because she has to pass the IELTS exams in order to secure her working visa, but that's not what I am getting at here) So then, what's so special about that you ask? My mind wandered back to the time I was teaching English back home, and how I and countless other English teachers like me tried our very best to teach the future generations to learn the language, to speak the language, to read the language.. to embrace the language. We did songs, role play, debates, story telling, games etc..My students had the opportunity to study English Free of Charge, but sadly some of them (not all.. just some) just let the opportunity passed them by. It's too hard and they lost interest. It's sad but understandable.

And some people have to leave their homes and pay thousands of dollars to do this!!

So if you are a Malaysian student who just happened to stop by my blog and read this, my advice is 'seize the opportunity to learn everything your English teacher has to offer...'

Monday, 25 May 2009

New office area!!!

On 24 April we moved into our new office area. Clean and bright :-)

Entry door to the new office - Marriage Reception

Marriage room

Marriage waiting room

Meeting room

Me at my new work station

New office area

This is only the first stage-3 more to go.

Wednesday, 15 April 2009

Margaret River - the journey continues...

From Margaret River to Augusta...

Located on the most Southern Westerly tip of Australia, where the Indian and Southern Oceans meet, Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse stands as a solitary sentinel. On the cape where it stands are cottages and building used by the lighthouse keepers. Today it is still a working lighthouse.

From Augusta -pass Margaret River we drove north towards Busselton - 220 km south west of Perth.

One of the main attractions in this small attractive town is its landmark jetty, Busselton Jetty, the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere. The Busselton Jetty is 142 years old. I heard a few weeks after we visited and walked the longest wooden jetty in the southern hemisphere, it was closed for public as they found that the structures are not safe anymore.

Busselton is also famous for its seafood. Fish and Chips are the favourite 'healthy' fast food :-) After dinner, we drove back to Bunbury. What a day!!