Very short update today, just want to blog about one major thing. TKGS girl's parents kind of dropped a bomb on me by telling me that they found an ex-MOE teacher to tutor her instead. that was something i wasn't expecting, because they asked me to continue as recently as last week (which i pushed back due to progress report presentation). not only that, they're my friend's relatives, so i would have thought that that connection counted for something. apparently not.
but honestly, i don't think i'm too affected by it. my first reaction (other than the surprise) was actually a mixture of mild annoyance and relief. the former came from losing my income, while the latter comes from not having to burn saturday afternoons for tuition, worry about the kid's grades, or stuff like that. add on the fact that it's honours year, and i guess that it's for the better, after all.
having said that, i'm wondering if i should find new tuition kids. instinct tells me no, that i should capitalize on this break. unfortunately, my sense of practicality disagrees, because while i can live on my savings, my projection is that my bank balance will drop by one digit by the end of the year. even if i do look for other tuition kids, i think i'll only take 1, or 2 maximum...at least until after summer. i'll probably take more once i start phd studies...provided that i can find more kids, that is.
also had a brief look at the japanese class list. there are many familiar names who have been there since japanese 1, as well as a few other people who are (un)fortunately missing. the reason i say fortunately is because the people i'm referring to are the ones who are not-so inclined to japanese. with them out of the picture, tutorials should be more smooth-sailing...and the bell curve should also be more steep. that's where the "un" comes in. i'm actually quite surprised that some people didn't continue with japanese 4. after a quick look through the textbook, i can appreciate why some people say japanese 4 is easier than japanese 3. keigo (honourific/humble speech) aside, there's only one new verb form! reminds me more of japanese 1 than anything. but then again, let's not forget that for each new verb i learn, i have to convert them between the 10(!) forms that i already know. not impossible, but challenging.
seems like my dad is flying off to somewhere in china early tomorrow morning, and will be gone until at least the weekend. this probably leaves me with the car. actually, it DOES leave me with the car, considering nobody else in the house has a driving license. of course, he could have agreed to lend the car to one of his friends...but i doubt that. i'd thought that his flight was tomorrow night or friday, which is why i renewed my concession starting tomorrow. had i known i would have the car tomorrow, i'd have started my concession next monday. well, it's 4 days of concession that i won't use. guess i have to make up for it by taking the train more for the rest of the month after that.
just this evening, i was helping my mentor install some stuff on his new laptop. after that experience, i'm quite grateful that i didn't buy my laptop from NUS after all. details will (probably) come in the next post. i realize that my one major thing underwent binary fission and became 2 major things already. have to sleep early too, must go to school early tomorrow to prepare an NMR sample.
but honestly, i don't think i'm too affected by it. my first reaction (other than the surprise) was actually a mixture of mild annoyance and relief. the former came from losing my income, while the latter comes from not having to burn saturday afternoons for tuition, worry about the kid's grades, or stuff like that. add on the fact that it's honours year, and i guess that it's for the better, after all.
having said that, i'm wondering if i should find new tuition kids. instinct tells me no, that i should capitalize on this break. unfortunately, my sense of practicality disagrees, because while i can live on my savings, my projection is that my bank balance will drop by one digit by the end of the year. even if i do look for other tuition kids, i think i'll only take 1, or 2 maximum...at least until after summer. i'll probably take more once i start phd studies...provided that i can find more kids, that is.
also had a brief look at the japanese class list. there are many familiar names who have been there since japanese 1, as well as a few other people who are (un)fortunately missing. the reason i say fortunately is because the people i'm referring to are the ones who are not-so inclined to japanese. with them out of the picture, tutorials should be more smooth-sailing...and the bell curve should also be more steep. that's where the "un" comes in. i'm actually quite surprised that some people didn't continue with japanese 4. after a quick look through the textbook, i can appreciate why some people say japanese 4 is easier than japanese 3. keigo (honourific/humble speech) aside, there's only one new verb form! reminds me more of japanese 1 than anything. but then again, let's not forget that for each new verb i learn, i have to convert them between the 10(!) forms that i already know. not impossible, but challenging.
seems like my dad is flying off to somewhere in china early tomorrow morning, and will be gone until at least the weekend. this probably leaves me with the car. actually, it DOES leave me with the car, considering nobody else in the house has a driving license. of course, he could have agreed to lend the car to one of his friends...but i doubt that. i'd thought that his flight was tomorrow night or friday, which is why i renewed my concession starting tomorrow. had i known i would have the car tomorrow, i'd have started my concession next monday. well, it's 4 days of concession that i won't use. guess i have to make up for it by taking the train more for the rest of the month after that.
just this evening, i was helping my mentor install some stuff on his new laptop. after that experience, i'm quite grateful that i didn't buy my laptop from NUS after all. details will (probably) come in the next post. i realize that my one major thing underwent binary fission and became 2 major things already. have to sleep early too, must go to school early tomorrow to prepare an NMR sample.
-random thought of the day: Good thing I did TA!-
*brief update from my phone, 7:58am the next day.*
Renewing my concession yesterday was clearly bad timing. Turns out my dad is scheduled to return next Tuesday, which means I have the car for 5 days. That in turn means that 1/6 of my concession is wasted. Sian. Does anyone want to borrow my ez-link card? I'm willing to lend it out until next Monday. You can have 4 free train rides per day! Well, I guess I'll just have to tap my card even more often than planned to make up for this.
Renewing my concession yesterday was clearly bad timing. Turns out my dad is scheduled to return next Tuesday, which means I have the car for 5 days. That in turn means that 1/6 of my concession is wasted. Sian. Does anyone want to borrow my ez-link card? I'm willing to lend it out until next Monday. You can have 4 free train rides per day! Well, I guess I'll just have to tap my card even more often than planned to make up for this.
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