It's almost August

I've been back for some two months. Actually, two months and a week. And I haven't been very productive. Summer projects that I planned for myself? Fell through sadly. I have only my lack of discipline to blame.

However, I expect I'll get my teaching syllabus completed on time and ready for my advisor in Ann Arbor to review. In fact, I'm hoping to send it a few days ahead of the deadline since I'm away in Hong Kong come this Thursday.

It's been harder than I expected, choosing readings and deciding when to schedule assignments. I decided to drop the number of required papers from four to three, although I am making it compulsory for my students to select one of those three papers and revise it a second time by the end of the semester. I've also decided to teach Thomas Jefferson's The Declaration of Independence in the unit for Argumentative Writing. While I'll be learning it for the sake of interest, the students will be learning how Jefferson defines independence and how he makes his claim for it.

I'm tempted to screen one of the following documentaries - Bowling For Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11 or Supersize Me - just to break the monotony of readings and in-class writing exercises. We'll see how it goes.

I've been imagining how my very first class will be - I'll walk in at 10.10 on Tuesday, September 7th, give the class a once-over, maybe grin a bit, put my bags on the desk, look for some chalk or have some chalk in a tin in my bag, write the course name, section number, and my name on the board, and then turn around and face the students who'll either secretly rejoice that they have a pint-size female Asian (read: most likely easy to bully) instructor or groan inwardly because they have an inexperienced baby-faced teacher.

That's when I'll start to speak. What will I say? Haven't settled on anything yet, but I'm wondering how my accent will turn out. I've been trying my best to avoid an American drawl since last September, but being around my American peers has made it difficult. I can't help but speak in their manner. In the past, I tried to counter the accent by pronouncing my words like a British. It worked for a while, and then I decided my speech sounded too contrived (I've had English teachers and English bosses and colleagues, I'm a big fan of the Pride and Prejudice mini series - yes, the Colin Firth one - but I've never even been to the UK!). I'm pretty decent at speaking "American" like Americans, but I don't wish to sound that way - I do it too well and people mistake me for an American, which I don't want. I've tried going accent-less, just good grammatical Singaporean-speak, and maybe I should keep doing that. This guy knows what it's about.

In the end though, it doesn't matter how I sound as long as I speak well and convince my students that I know what I'm talking about. Content will matter far more than the manner of the transmitter.

So, I'm back to working on the heart of the lesson. The accent-talk was just a minor distraction; anything to take my mind of the fact that I have dozens of in-class assignments and quizzes to write!

I can't wait for December when I get to tell you readers whether I made it as an instructor or failed utterly in instructing my students in the art of college writing. More to come once school starts!

More preciousss!

The collectible that accompanies the limited edition ROTK Extended DVD giftset - very delectable! It's a model of Minas Tirith, and it opens up to store whatever cool objects you want to place in it. A companion piece, Minas Morgul, is available only to purchasers of the giftset. Sideshow Weta has outdone itself! I bought FOTR's giftset which contained the pillars of Argonath but skipped last year's Gollum/Smeagol statues.

This year, I'm definitely getting my hands on Minas Tirith...and who knows, maybe Minas Morgul if I can earn some extra cash this coming semester.

Go here to see pictures! Theonering.net has a very useful live webcam at Comic Con 2004 in San Diego.

Un Anno

The word "anniversary" is based on the Latin "anniversarius," meaning "to return yearly." It's based on the root words "annus" (year) and "versus" (to turn).

Lin Kiat and I marked our first year of marriage with brunch, presents, a boat ride down Singapore River (I confess I've wanted to do this for a while), and a delicious dinner at Pontini.

In the morning, we opened a gift from my mother and a card in which my brother, Randy, added a note too. We later went to the bookstore and picked out books for each other. The traditional present for the first year of marriage is paper, so we decided to get a paper product for each other, and a book fit the bill perfectly.

The boat ride down Singapore River was fun. I love being on water!

We then decided to try out this great Italian restaurant I'd heard about from some friends. Pontini can be found at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel. Superb Italian cuisine. I recommend the ostrich carparccio with avocado and asparagus, and paparadelle with duck ragout and foie gras. The tiramisu there is also excellent, I hear.

Yesterday, Lin Kiat sent me an sms telling me he'd pick up the car from the florist and asking me if I was having pre-wedding jitters - heh, talk about re-living the events of last year. To my amazement, my mother had kept the text messages I'd sent her on the wedding day.

Lin Kiat and I have only spent some four months together in our first year of marriage, and knowing we'll have to go through more months of separation is hard. It's not the most conventional of marriages, I suppose! But as far as happiness goes, we've got plenty.

After a great day, I'm now down with a bad throat infection from which I have to recover because LK and I decided rather quickly that we want to go to Hong Kong next Thursday! My brother generously offered to sponsor us since it had been his plan since last year to send us away somewhere for a proper honeymoon.

On another note, LK and I are happy to report that my tennis is improving! I can actually send the ball over the net with a nice "thwack"!

Mini update

1. I've finally taken steps (or just one, in this case) to prevent spam comments here. Yesterday, I received some 30 comments from a user called Viagra who left messages about cables and satellite televisions. This morning, it was 20. So I've gotten rid of the pop-up comment boxes.

2. Have been playing tennis (or learning it, rather) quite a bit. It's been fun.

3. Almost done with my little research project on Maria Hertogh, the Dutch girl who was raised as Muslim, and whose parents claimed her from her foster mother 8 years after she was given away. The British judge's decision in 1950 angered many Muslims, who eventually rioted. The Dutch felt their pride was at stake if Maria wasn't brought home; and the Malays felt that Islam and the sanctity of a Muslim wedding was being attacked - Maria was placed in a convent in Singapore after her separation from her foster mother, and her marriage to a young Malay man was annulled by Dutch authorities.

4. My brother has given me a cool Crumpler messenger bag called the Wonder Weenie. Peculiar name, but it's spacious enough to fit books, documents, scarf, gloves, lunch, and water bottle come fall.

5. Lin Kiat has got us a larger fish tank - upgrade for our fish and shrimp. I should do a profile on each of the brood soon. One of my favorites, a blue tang called Chunk, eats a lot, has a healthy bowel system, and dreams for long hours (he's always the first to sleep and the last to rise - I usually spot him lying on his side, his tail beating a rock occasionally).

A place to play

A letter in today's newspaper forum is further evidence of how residents in Singapore are so coddled and cosseted that healthy physical - which also affects mental - growth is stunted.

I was dismayed that children are actually barred from running and playing on school fields, not just before and after school but also during recess. Some schools even fence and lock up fields to discourage students from approaching them. These fields are meant only for physical education (P.E.) lessons.

The folks in charge say that it's for the children's safety and that it's expensive to maintain fields when kids play on them. Frankly, I'd rather expense went to the fields so that kids have their land to play. Schools are better off with tattered fields and happy, active children than unspoiled stretches of grass.

Sure, adults will always worry for their children, but keeping them from every imaginable disaster isn't going to do them a lot of good. They need to face a little roughing up so that they know what's out there and how to prevent dangers on their own. Cuts and bruises, bumps and lumps - they toughen up the little tikes, who develop tolerance and resistance to minor injuries. Children can heal faster in many cases, and not daring to expose children to the outdoors will just diminish their resistance levels.

Here's an apt article in today's paper - recent findings show that high levels of myopia in Asia are due to lifestyle habits and are not genetic. Children spend too much time indoors studying, using the computer or watching TV, so their eyes become less able to focus on objects far away. To put it simply, children need to get outdoors and have some good, clean (or rather, dirty - children shouldn't be afraid of getting their shoes and socks muddy in a brisk game of catch) fun that doesn't involve printed words or pictures on screens.

Nobody wants pale and pasty kids who are terrified of getting mobile and a little muddied up. But these are the kids we're going to have if we don't give them the space to let loose their energy and imagination. We'll never get our Ronaldos or Federers at this rate.

If schools are really trying to save money by reducing the usage of fields, it's a terrific example of being penny-wise and very foolish. Oh well, that's their warped idea of priorities - keep their fields pretty and empty then. But I pity the children who don't know what they've lost.

Overacuppa in town

Good friend, May, came to town a couple of weeks back and we've been having a good reunion. Two sundays ago, Desiree, May and I paid a visit to the Asian Civilisations Museum. Desiree, who gives the occasional tour at any of Singapore's museums, told us that her friend was giving a tour of the Fantastic Mountains exhibit, which features Chinese landscape painting from the Shanghai Museum, so the three of us (Joan was in Sydney, and Van Tan had something on) agreed to attend. May's parents came to enjoy the paintings too. Unfortunately, Desiree's friend couldn't make it, but May's wonderful mom came to the rescue. I've never met anyone who knows so much about Chinese history and art!

Many of the paintings were set on scrolls and displayed great detail of trees, temples and clouds. I particulaly liked how the artists rendered billowing clouds. The rock formations were impressive and they lent a deep sense of peace to the painting (and the viewer). I was intrigued by the travel paintings - long horizontal works of art. The artist had travelled a great distance and painted the landscape before him during his journey. Looking at it, I was in awe of China's rural beauty, and very appreciative of how the mountains in China differ from those in Europe and in North America. The mountains in China just seem more...poetic.

We went round the Peranakan exhibition too, where I got to see a number of antiques that belonged to my uncle Tony and his friend Colin.

Just a few days ago, the five of us finally had a full reunion. We had an excellent dinner at an Indonesian restaurant in Ngee Ann City. We couldn't finish everything though, and Desiree had to divvy up the remaining portions and force everyone to finish. Dessert was yummy at Coffee Club in Paragon - fondue (dipped fruits in chocolate), hazelnut lattes, a slice of Royaltine cake...

The following day, May, Joan, and Desiree came to my place to watch the wedding video. Before the show started, I made them have some food and drink. The food was fine, but the drinks didn't quite work out. I somehow managed to serve them milk instead of soya bean milk. Ever the brilliant hostess, I am. And then the video wouldn't play on the projector, so we had to watch it on a laptop. Almost a year already, we had such fun last July - the girls rescuing me when I had no makeup to wear just before going to the tea ceremony at LK's home, Van Tan wearing her sarong kebaya and posing with me, May getting accosted (as usual!), Desiree making fun of me and telling me not to freak out, Joan telling Desiree off.

I can imagine that when the time comes for me to be a mom, my kids will be very lucky to have these four special godmothers or aunties or whatever they wish to be called!

Trailer for Howl's Moving Castle

The trailer looks lovely! Go here to see it. The first download option requires Quicktime, the second, DivX.

For those who can't read Japanese, here is the text in English (translated by Deborah Goldsmith):

A film by Miyazaki Hayao

This Fall
Coming to Toho theaters throughout Japan

My thoughts:
- Calcifer, the fire demon, looks adorable. I love his look of pure mortification at the start of the trailer.
- Howl is probably the first grown-up male protagonist that Miyazaki has illustrated. He looks cool - I'm glad they got the jewelry bit in, and the hair color changes too.
- Old Sophie looks a little like Yubaba from Spirited Away.
- They got the four-colored knob right!
- As in his other films, Miyazaki has included some lovely flight shots. There's always someone or something flying in each of his films.
- The location or architectural work as an important character in the film is key here - the castle itself. Other great locations Miyazaki has developed - Laputa, the bathhouse in Spirited Away, the forest in Mononoke Hime, the seaside town in Kiki's Delivery Service.

Looks like the rest of the world will see this some time next year. If it arrives in Japan this fall, it may reach Asia later in the year, but I'll be away and have to wait till 2005!