力不从心

这几天身体不适，每天的精力只足够熬过教书的时间。为此，也替自己找了借口而贪睡，没去健身班或瑜伽课。由此我便不敢在镜子面前招得太久或是站在秤量机上看那可怕的数字上升，免得庸人自扰。

两天前看了‘过期’早报的一则报道，标题是《教我如何喜欢华文？》，感触良多。

作者是一名中学老师，教的是中四高级华文班而且是爱华文的学生。只是他感叹中四会考的形式只能培养出考得好成绩的学生但不能’考‘出爱华文的学生。感同身受呀！远在美国教书的我更觉得教导这群因耳濡目染而极受美国文化影响的新加坡学生更是累！除了’美化‘的影响之外，基本上现在的孩子娇生惯养，碰上稍微不如意或困难的时候就只知道打退堂鼓，举白旗投降。当然我也知道就算人在新加坡，他们也同样排斥华文，江山易改，本性难移嘛！

不管我多么擅长讲故事也好，费尽心思想出各种有趣的游戏，学生听完后，游戏结束后，还是会当着你的面泼冷水。华文课好闷啊，作文好难写啊，我不知道老师你在说什么.....这些话怎能叫我教得不沮丧，不刺痛我的心啊！咳，真的，教了这么多年，越来越力不从心。

Walking is never easy

Have always thought that the simplest exercise to do is walking. Eversince i started to trek and hike, the definition of 'walking' is no longer a simple term of lifting your feet and taking a step forward. The strenous hike i ever did was in Nepal back in 2006, then comes the 12mile hike to Colorado river in Grand Canyon. Some friends told me that they are satisfied with just 'seeing' the scenery at the lookout points. For me, the more hikes i did, the more i want to get to see the 'best' scenes or artifacts or monument there is at the end of the 'road'.

If i had not pressed on to the Delicate arch in the Arches National park, i would have just be satisfied with a lookout point of the 'teeny-weeny' sight of the arch way off on the mountain. Then again, the trail is really not suited for the weak hearted or the 'non-walker'. Now that i have reached and even walked underneath this arch, all the panting and huffing of the 4.8km trail is really worth it, plus not forgetting the slip on the frozen snow path at the switchbacks and fear of falling off the cliff. Mother nature is created in such a way that it seems we need to work for it in order to get the ultimate glimpse, as in the case of me doing the crazy hike in Grand Canyon just to touch the Colorado river and to stand under the Delicate arch.

To quench my thirst for seeing more in a different view from the usual travellers seems to be never ending now. At times, a part of me wished that i have consented to extend teaching in US for 2 years instead of one but i know i need to move on. This world is never enough...