Saturday!

After 5 loooooong days, my little red car is finally back! THANK GOD. They sure took their time to fix it! I called them every day because I was so desperate for my car back. It was really quite a bother having to get rides from friends, borrow my roomie's car, walk a half hour home because the bus doesn't stop by my place after 7pm!

I spent my morning typing up a new CV. Its only been a year and a half since my last one, but everything has changed COMPLETELY. I've come a long long way. :) When I look back at the admissions essay I wrote when I applied to Purdue, its like a joke.

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. - Proverbs 16:9

Last day of preschool

Today is the last day of preschool and I am devastated. I don't think I've ever felt sooooo sad that school has ended. I miss the kids already, so incredibly much. I'll miss holding their cute little hands, having them cuddle up with me, playing endless games of firemen/policemen/builders/hide-and-seek/dinosaurs, teaching them new things and watching them improve...

I'm already thinking of planning a picnic some time in May so we can all get together to play. Won't that be fun. ;) Anyway, here's a video of one of my kids and his dad singing the song "Five little monkeys jumping on the bed". The video is AWESOME. I love this book/song. :)



Also, more good news. Johanna, who's in the same program as me, is going to move in with me for the summer. My current roommate is graduating this May and she's going back to Singapore for a couple of months so Johanna's going to sublease. I'm really glad that worked out because she is one of the most amazing people I know. :) Another of our classmates, Adrienne, lives in the same apartment complex too, so I guess we'll have a fun time hanging out!

Monday

After a lovely weekend of perfect weather, a long overdue facial/massage, retail therapy, X-files marathon and potluck lunch at church (I made California Roll sushi and people finished it. Some were shocked that there's actually sushi without raw fish) ................... its Monday again!

I watched the X-files season 6 episode "Monday" this morning while waiting for my clothes in the dryer. ;) Its one of the episodes that I haven't seen before. The premise is pretty similar to the movies Run Lola Run and The Butterfly Effect, and its something I often ponder about. If I had done or had not done this and this, my life would have been so different. Not that I really have any regrets but its fun to think about when I have nothing else better to do.

I was pretty productive today. I finally did laundry, called to renew my lease, apply for a garage parking permit for next year (so I can finally stop getting parking tickets) and brought my car to the mechanic (its amazing how incapacitated I feel without my car!).

This week is the last week of preschool! I am very very sad. :( But anyway, I don't wonder that American kids fall behind Asian kids in academics since they get THREE MONTHS off for summer. Most parents think that kids should just play: take swimming lessons, play with friends, run around the park, go to summer camp. A stark contrast to kiasu Singaporean parents!

Earthquake!

Woke up at 5:30am last night when my room started vibrating. First thought was: Tornado! But then I didn't hear any winds or tornado siren, so I thought: Earthquake? Then it stopped. I went outside to the living room and my roommate was fast asleep on the couch. So then I thought: Maybe its my imagination!

But then I found out this morning that my 2nd thought was right. It was a 5.4 earthquake in Salem, Illinois. We felt it over here in West Lafayette, Indiana, some 250 miles away! We felt some aftershocks too, at 10:30 or so. Apparently earthquakes almost never occur here in the Midwest, so everyone was pretty surprised!

Lovely Indiana: Home of Snowstorms, Floods, Tornadoes and now.. Earthquakes. ;P

Summer plans

So, things are falling pretty nicely in place. Boss said she may have funding for summer (I'm surprised! This has never happened before I think) so I may get paid and have free tuition over the summer too. Which will be very nice. :)

I will also be tutoring my little four-year-old twice a week, which means some extra cash that I'm sure I will need, looking at gas prices right now. My supervisor told the mom she has to pay me "much more than a babysitter but much less than a real SLP". LOL. I'm also looking forward to playing with him all summer because he is the cutest little kid imaginable.

I will be at the San Diego/Arcadia area for a couple of days in May to interview at 2 hospitals. They both sound eager to have me, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Children's Hospital San Diego since I really only want to work with kids.

I've also found a new roommate for next year even though I haven't seen her yet. But I'd trust that she's ok since she's a labmate of one of my friends from church.

So yeah, if all of the things above work out, it should be a very nice summer. :) Honestly I think I am EXTREMELY blessed. I'm just so thankful to be having jobs and clinic and school. Last summer when I was in Singapore and had nothing to do, I felt like I wanted to die. I really don't cope well with being idle.

Although.. I may have 2-3 weeks off in August so I may go back to Singapore for a visit then. I still don't really know.

First IEP meeting

Today I had my first IEP meeting ever. Probably the first of many many many in my career, but the first times are always the most memorable. ;) It was me, my two supervisors, A's mom and the GLASS person (who has the thankless job of being the devil's advocate). Since the state of Indiana pays for these kids' services, they send a person to meet with us once a year to check on the kids' progress and determine if they are still eligible for special services.

Thankfully it went fairly well, I think. Sometimes parents break down and cry or get really agitated, but I guess I lucked out. Everything went smoothly, and the mom was very obliging and understanding. But I was pretty nervous because for the first time in my life I found myself in the position of being the "expert". The kid's mother who is some 10 years older actually looks to me, the lowly graduate student, for professional advice.

Preschool was really fun today too. I worked with the 5-year-olds and its like worlds apart from my usual little 4-year-olds. They understand so much more and I can use much more sophisticated language with them. We did an activity based on the book "There's a Wocket in my Pocket!" which is one of my favorite kiddy books. My other favorite is "We're going on a Bear Hunt". :)) You can teach kids so much from books.

Next week is the last week of school and I'm very sad about it. :( I will miss preschool so much.

Mad rush

The semester is ending! And I'm having what feels like the busiest week ever. Honey lattes from Starbucks are my new best friends. I started drinking them about 2 weeks ago to soothe my throat and now I'm hooked.

Tomorrow I'm switching clients at preschool with another clinician. We thought it might be fun to switch kids for a day just for the experience. She'll take over my little ones and I'd have her kids (who are a year older) for a change. I'm looking forward to it, I really like trying new things. I'm also really thankful for really flexible supervisors who let us have a lot of freedom to do what we want, within reason.

I also have to give a presentation (which I have yet to start preparing!) and attend a parent conference for my kid A tomorrow. So it'd be a busy fun day. I hope.

Inspired

Yesterday my boss made us all attend the Inauguration of the 11th Purdue president France A. Cordova (3rd from the left, wearing the medallion). I think she is the first woman president at Purdue, and her CV is pretty darn impressive. The best part I like about it is that she was an English/Anthropology major in college, and then made a complete switch to Astrophysics in grad school, eventually being a chief scientist at NASA and an award-winning astrophysicist. Her story reminds me of what I once read on a greeting card: Its never too late to be what you could have been.

In her speech, she quoted Gandhi: You must be the change you wish to see in the world. Its not the first time I've heard this quote, but it is the first time its significance really struck me. In the past I never felt I was capable to executing any change, but now.. I feel more and more empowered and confident of myself with every day that I stay in the USA.

Lets put it this way. I'm not a conformist and thats probably why I didn't fit in in Singapore. Maybe other people like the comfort of predictability, routine and uniformity, but it just didn't work for me. I didn't like being told by my bosses or teachers, look here's a paint-by-numbers picture of a horse, go join the dots. And they say, oh tell me what you think I love hearing new creative ideas, but they don't mean it. If you ever try something different, they'd say, oh thats very interesting but why don't you edit this edit that, until eventually, GUESS WHAT? You end up with the very same picture you would get if you joined the dots in the first place! Then you end up feeling uber-frustrated for wasting all that time, your talents going to waste, and for having the boringest job in the entire world. A primary school kid could have done that!

So yeah, I really appreciate it in America. I thank God every day that I can draw any type of horse I want, the more different the better. In fact I can even go ahead and draw a unicorn, as long as I have a rationale behind it and can convince people why I did it. Best part is, even when one of my experiments flop, they still say: good try.

Dead tired

Today I worked for 18 hours straight! Non-stop! (Except for sharing a Starbucks with dear friend Charlotte for about an hour in the afternoon) It's a personal record. :)

Yep, I managed to complete my powerpoint and notes for tomorrow's Autism presentation. Tomorrow is also the day for the Diversity Fellows Colloquium, which I've been involved in organizing. Its a very busy week indeed.

I also finally got all my tax forms together and filed my federal taxes! Apparently the US government owes me some $750. Hurhur. I shall look forward to getting my money back! That should be enough to pay for my flight to San Diego in May (which I have yet to make plans for, arg!) and maybe to New York sometime in the summer! WOOHOO!! I have a sudden crazy desire to go to FAO Schwarz and the Met and also watch something on Broadway.

I still have to do my state taxes tho, maybe tomorrow if I can figure out how. All this tax business is wayyy to confusing and complicated. They should really come up with a better system!

Obama is coming to Purdue to give a talk this weekend and everyone is really excited about it. A lot of people I know want to go, just to hear him speak even if they are not sure they support him. Last week Bill and Chelsea Clinton were in town too. The presidential race is really heating up..! Not like I'm American or can vote, but I still have quite a vested interest in it, immigration policy and all! And the war. And the weakening dollar. And healthcare. And special needs policies. And gas prices!!

Can we fix it? Yes we can!

The kids all love Bob the Builder. The song is actually really cute and catchy, except they really only know the first two lines: Bob the Builder, can we fix it? Bob the Builder, yes we can!! (repeat 1472852 times)



Ah well, at least they are thinking positive. ;)

Feeling better

THANK GOD. Its about time. I've been sick for exactly one week.

Today I let my friend practice driving my car. Can I just say, being a driving instructor is a hazardous job. I found myself clutching the door grip in fear almost all the way, because even tho she was crawling along at the speed of 30mph, she would make sudden turns or jammmm the brake. During one turn, she somehow managed to lose control of the car and skidded and bumped on the curb! Needless to say, she's probably going to need a ton more driving lessons.

My front left tire looked a little flat after that so I took it to Walmart for tire repairs (AGAIN!) and 顺便 get my oil changed. The person told me I probably have an oil leak since I only had a half quart of motor oil left in my tank. Gahhh. Well its a good thing I found out when I did!

The weather has been perfectly gorgeous this weekend. I'm looking forward to a week of sunshine. :)

The illness that never ends

If you know me, then you'd know that the only reason I'd be seen in glasses is..

EYE INFECTION!!!

Yes, as luck would have it, the virus that has plagued my throat for the last 3 days has decided to relocate to my eyes. I actually woke up with a thick coat of pus around my left eye today. How gross is that?! I've had conjunctivitis more times than I can count, but that is still a first for me. I also have bloody snot in my nose, if you can believe it.

My throat is better tho. Thats the good news. So I probably won't go to the doctor since filing an insurance claim is probably more trouble than it's worth. As if I don't have enough paperwork in my life. My dream is to outsource all my paperwork to a PA in Bangalore. I read in The World is Flat that some teachers in the US get their lesson plans written by Indians some 5000 miles away! Lucky.

Recuperating (I hope!)

The sore throat and laryngitis combo is driving me crazy!

Preschool today was fun. I'm glad I pulled myself together and went despite my failing voice. My little kid W made it in today after missing a week of school. I missed him a lot! We played some April Fool's "tricks" on each other. The lack of cognitive sophistication on the kids' parts is very amusing ("There's an alien behind you!"). LOL.

Then in the afternoon I went back to Jeff HS for a while, and got stopped by the security who thought I was a student without a hall pass. I am flattered that I can be mistaken for a high school kid. HAHA. But anyway, I think the school campus is very poorly designed for security purposes. The building is huge and there are some 10 different doors to enter. Yesterday I entered the building through the back door and no one even noticed. They do have armed personnel patrolling the hallways though. Pretty scary huh.

My supervisor talked to me about possibly tutoring one of my clients in the summer. I said I'd love to. He's the cutest kid and I love playing with him. Besides, I'm not sure if I will have an assistantship over the summer so God knows I could do with the money. One of the things I love best about America is how opportunities just fall onto my lap without me even looking! (Its really too bad that most times I feel alienated and unappreciated by my own country.)