A Yankee fan's nightmare

Three World Series appearances in this millennium.
Two rings in the past decade.
Those champagne celebrations in late October, outnumbering the World's Greatest Team of the 1900s.
Take me back to the grand old days of the late 90's,
It's been a long time.
The home grown drafted players,
All gone bust and flopped.
The biggest rival,
After two years of the "titanic sinking", Bobby Valentine,
Cellar dwellers in 2012 and the epic fried chicken-video gaming-beer drinking shenanigans,
A long lost memory in time for the Red Sox.
The postseason ghosts haunting,
Derek Jeter's nasty injury last October,
Nothing gone right for the Yankees.
Here I go,
Scream my heart out,
Rooting for Detroit to win the AL pennant,
Fielder is as big as Ortiz,
Both can't run bases,
One got thrown out in a crucial inning running to third.
Never saw it coming,
Should have never started running,
A good twelve hours ago.
So I lay my head back down,
And I pray to the baseball gods,
May the Cardinals beat the Red Sox.
They are my only hope.

Raffles Institution Invitationals 2013

Busy has been taken to a whole new level. It was an exciting and fulfilling learning experience for me, not just passing on my skill to the students; albeit information overload for a few students as it was their first time on the panel, as a fifteen year old. Although at 10pm on a Sunday night, I am still reeling from the adrenaline rush and amount of work done, I am contented. Simply: the fact that I cannot stop talking about how proud I am of the team of students I guided and mentored.

From the simplest of all things at eight in the morning that I did: taking attendance of all the judges present, and briefing them on the scoring range I implemented for consistency to moderating and calculating scores (for consistency issues), doing power matching for the second and third round under a very tight schedule and  re-allocating judges multiple times, this sure taught me to multitask even further. In addition, I gave one of the students the autonomy to make logistical decisions, rather than be the one have a say in every single issue.

I probably listed out most of what I had done yesterday in the span of ten hours, not including judging three rounds, giving the verdict and oral feedback to the teams, what a whirlwind day indeed.

Special thanks to Kelvin for letting me play a part in running the tournament. Much appreciated for giving me more experience!

Not forgetting Samuel, Malcolm and Deon. The past 3, 4 weeks of non stop emailing with information, thanks for the swift replies and great suggestions and productive day. It was a pleasure working with all of you.

What's the scoop?

Besides writing a first grade English book on sentence transformations and close passages, and teaching a year 4 class on debate and other classes since July (most of my classes are scheduled to end in late September as they are all project-based),

I also helped out at a Homeworks! Habitat for Humanity house-cleaning project in July in Chinatown. It was really meaningful and made me appreciate what I have. My team consisted of a flight attendant who works for Singapore Air, a lady who works at A-Star Institute and a high school junior. We cleaned, dusted, wiped, scrubbed a destitute lady's house. She was in her eighties and had almost next to nothing.

Here are a few tournaments that I have judged at since April this year; not including the national secondary/high school tournament:

Raffles Institution Under 14's (May/June 2013)

Ministry of Education-ACJC inter collegiate debating championships (June 2013)- panelist for the quarterfinals which involved two highly skilled teams and the eventual champion (ACJC vs Hwa Chong Institution)

Singapore Polytechnic Debate Open (June 2013)- panelist for all preliminary rounds, knock-out rounds including the junior/secondary school division grand finals

Valid ITE (July 2013) - panelist for all rounds including the grand finals

Hwa Chong Invitationals- High School Division (July 2013)- panelist for all rounds including the grand finals

Singapore British Parliamentary Debate Championships (August 2013)- panelist for preliminary rounds and the semifinals of the senior division

(evidence is always good and this time, here I managed to get a screenshot of my name for one of the rounds I judged:)

Upcoming:

Raffles Institution Elementary School Debate Invitational in early September. I am helping as an adviser to the student-organizers in addition to judging the tournament. (thanks Kelvin for allowing me to be part of it!)

Hoping to get my book done and dusted with very soon!

I cannot wait for college football to start again. Go Bruins! (I am a converted UCLA Bruins football fan, thanks to my good friend who is a UCLA alum.)  Why is USC ranked in the top 25 again? Boooooo.

Devolution of a new type of evil

While seated on the bed in our hotel room, I could not help but notice a folder in his hard disk, next to the one which he had loaded up with movies and asked me to copy over to my computer. Curiously, I opened the file. It contained pictures and videos of hardcore pornography, which Paul had apparently forgotten to hide before handing me his hard disk. I refused to inquire about his pornography, the fact that he would be checking out of the room and headed down south to meet his friend, as he claimed. Or perhaps, his life partner, an elderly Chinese lady. This put an exclamation point to what Paul had said to me in conversations before meeting him, that he had a “special liking” for eastern Europeans and naked women. And the incident confirmed my growing unease about this supposedly successful man. He was in fact a closet sex addict and deviant.

A few months before our encounter, Paul asked me to fly up for a few days to meet him right when Christmas break started. We had already parted ways, long distance was never going to work out for us- and the fact that he had thrown me aside like a hot potato upon returning home from our previous vacation together.  One one occasion during our previous trip, Paul had decided to wear the same colored t-shirt that immediately after seeing what I wore before heading out to the pubs. “Elaine, how do I look? Is my hair OK? How about this shave – is this a close shave or what?” he asked me. And I immediately sensed an insecure and narcissistic side to this otherwise confident man which I had known for about a year and half.

I initially got to know Paul at through a mutual friend when they showed up at a bar I was at, unannounced. We talked about sports and American culture. During that time, nothing out of the ordinary struck me about Paul. In fact, my first impressions of Paul were generally positive. He seemed to be a confident and determined person, with a genuine desire for helping middle and high school students reach their full potential. What’s more, he is a driven and organized person, who constantly seeks out new challenges. 

Besides having good looks and being a slick talker, Paul has the perfect resume and educational credentials that any student under his tutelage would envy.  He earned honors from Stanford University. Following graduation, he obtained a Master’s degree and PHD from Harvard in technology and English. Paul, who comes from a mix of Hispanic and Western European descent, is an adviser of various educational committees. In addition, he is a member of various prestigious elitist circles. A promising man in his late-forties, he unabashedly calls himself a professional geek.

During my fourth encounter with Paul, he drank heavily, downing everything in sight. More disturbingly, he constantly hit on me, trying to kiss me at every opportunity. I felt extremely irritated. “Could you please stop hitting on Elaine, you’re embarrassing”, a concerned friend interjected. In response, Paul slyly said, “I’m too drunk to know what’s going on, dude.” He backed off temporarily, but eventually started his obnoxious act once again. “Elaine, I really would like to have you tonight, you have made my time in Malaysia simply the best time ever.” I was now irate with his despicable behavior. "Paul is simply another desperate guy hiding behind the shield of being drunk as an excuse to get into my pants.” I thought to myself. As the night went on, inebriation got the best of me. I eventually gave into Paul's requests and took the first move- kissing. Paul's magic words which made me fall into the first kiss was "I haven't kissed someone in a long time," something along the lines of that. He insisted he was single, but that truth was to be short lived, two years later.

My gut instincts were right, but yet I chose to ignore it and believe his words that he was dating someone right after we split up from the previous vacation. If he was dating, or engaged, there wasn't much of a detriment to remain as friends and talk on a daily/every other day basis exchanging at least an email or text message over a phone messenger. Right after the first trip, he had walked down the aisle and now, he will be moving two hours down south from where he was based with his life partner of a year. The photos which I discovered by chance on documents left online by chance, a week after I discovered the pornography. Paul was a douche. A typical slimy man with a high flying career and a sex partner in every country nearby. 

I used to have a weekly social circle, going out for drinks with friends who all knew Paul. After the first incident sparked, I lost everyone when I should have believed them that he had the ring on his finger and a player. I chose to believe the lies that Paul told me, and the fact that he never wore a ring when we hung out at all. Deep down in me, since he said he was dating, there might be that very chance for me to get back with him, despite a twenty year age difference. To me, age does not matter when I'm way too deep into Paul. During a send off at the airport four months back, Paul still had the absolute cheek to tell me these words "Maybe we might work out if you get a job and move to wherever I'm at, in Taiwan.." I foolishly believed him yet again, when he was already happily hitched for nine months. Finally when he said those words "Elaine, listen. I have been married for a year. She's easily jealous. And we both got jobs at the school in Taiwan, so it's none of your business..." before hanging up suddenly on me.

Unknown to students and the woman he's with, Paul is sexually attracted to younger girls. Actually, the word “attracted” is kind here; “lust” is probably more appropriate.  Although he appears harmless, this is someone who is frankly dangerous in many ways. 

Despite the Ivy League education, Paul is no better than other slimy expat men, who frequently stalk prostitutes outside of Singapore’s famed Orchard Towers or Bangkok's Nana Plaza and Soi 4, Pattaya's Walking Street – where teenage girls from the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia and China gather each night to sell sex. Lacking the stereotypical middle-aged man bulge, Paul is tall and well dressed – making him appear less offensive on the surface. He is usually decked out in a Calvin Klein or Guess or Lucky Brand t-shirt and shorts and loafers or leather sandals. Paul approaches girls who are friends of his in a cautious manner, not showing any obvious signs of his sexual desires. Indeed, at many places, Paul is so slick that most students do not even know he is preying on them- that includes me.

Working in high schools enabled Paul to have a large pool from which to attract his female students. If he failed to feel comfortable with one, he would simply flirt with another girl. Voices of temptation undoubtedly spoke in Paul’s head. “They are so young and soft. This is like heaven.” “These girls trust you. Be gentle.” At night, when Paul was alone, he watched hours of school girl pornography to fall asleep. His subscriptions to sites distributing pornography had multiplied like rabbits mating. The more pornography Paul watched, the more his mind was fixated on young girls, lusting after their bodies.

Even more alarming, while at work with students around, Paul would become sexually aroused by students. He subsequently would make a beeline to the bathrooms to masturbate. Students trusted him easily because he ran the competitions professionally. But behind this professional façade, Paul preyed on young girls, often going to dinner with them after a school event he did technology support for. From dinner, he would lure them back to his home in various ways by making them feel at ease. Daring girls were more than willing than most to make out with him. Some of these girls likely had family problems or personal issues, leading to low self esteem; others no doubt simply wanted to experiment with an older white guy. Paul once confided to me during that fateful trip last year right before he got hitched that he once dated a former student who was twenty-four years younger than him. 

To be continued...

*names and details of universities and locations changed to protect identity.

They were raised out of steel here in the hoods

Despite battling a 100 degree temperature, strep throat and cold over the past few days, I walked away inspired from a tournament that I judged at. I've lost count of the number of debate matches judged, but two rounds- the first and last one left an image in my head. A positive one, indeed.

Students from the technical college who are generally looked down upon as the outcasts of society. The ones who can't make it in academics and on paper that's why they end up there. Battling this all my life and fallen behind due to poor decisions of laughing now and having fun while everyone is hitting it hard with the books in my younger days, I totally empathize with these students. Having to live in the shadows and face stereotypes and negativity. Lots of them come from broken homes, living in the ghettos and never had the chance to succeed.

They walked into the room and exhibited signs of defeat even before the first speaker was up on the podium. Everything seemed just too familiar to them, the going through the same motion of negativity. They lost to the junior colleges by a huge margin, but when I spoke to them, they were determined to learn how to improve. I could see it from their body language. If only they were taught how to. If only they were not looked down upon and were given the chance. It's just another opponent. If you look at it in sports, the score before every game is zero even. If only they could see that there is always a chance at the start.

I gave them a few handouts which I use throughout all the classes that I teach at elementary school level and they were extremely grateful. Nobody is a failure at all. These students have won already. They did not believe it when I said to them that they're all winners for being able to go up and deliver a speech. It ain't easy for sure. Small milestones. Give these students a chance. They aren't goners cause they're in the dumping ground of schools.

Happy Independence Day!

Having spent a total of 30 nights in the States over 2010 and 2011/12, the past 2 Fourth of July's have got me all emotional.

Three years ago, I was in Utrecht City. Someday I would love to be in the States for Independence Day.

What am I thankful to America for?

Bruce Springsteen.
The San Antonio Spurs, New York Yankees, North Carolina Tar Heels, LA Kings/NY Rangers, NY Giants... the best professional sporting leagues which keep me entertained year round.
The giant sodas and huge burgers and pizzas which I somehow never put on weight during my time in the States.
Samuel Adams, Goose Island, Sierra Nevada beer (yummmmmmmm!)
Country music.
Baskin Robbins and Ben and Jerry's ice cream
Hard Ice Tea. Yum.
Dueling piano shows
Mark Twain, Ernest Hemingway, David Foster Wallace, Arthur Miller.
Hanna Barbera cartoons
Smokey the Bear.

Forgive me for being stuck and having limited ideas but I've been blitzed with lesson planning, teaching and writing a book. No rest for the next few months, no vacation and long days pulled. Working hard for the 'man 'cause in the day we sweat it out on the streets of the runway American dream, quoting the best rocker who walked this earth's famous song.

617 Standing strong.

December 30, 2011. After 4 hours on the road from Stowe, Vermont, finally I've arived in Boston slightly before noon. Rainy morning and a few gaffes with the hotel as my family was checking in early. The day went by pretty good. Had a stumptous lunch at Legal Seafoods and walked around the Boston Common and Beacon Hill all the way to the Charles River overlooking MIT. After about four hours of walking around, my family decided to head in the direction of Boylston Street to shop, most vividly at City Sports on the 400 block and around Copley Square. Fast forward to dinnertime, we ended up at Max Brenners, situated within a block where both bombs went off. I don't know why but every major attack in the States occurs, I recall my experiences so vividly. And I go on an emotional rollercoaster hating myself for not treating my friends good enough, especially the handful who have stood by me during my darkest days and stood firm on being my friend, when I tried to throw them out, and cussed and hated at them. This makes me incredibly sad, tearing up and emailing a best friend that I love him and value him in my life last night.

And Max Brenner was where it all happened, where I felt touched by a friend on my birthday. Where I ate my first chocolate pizza for dinner. Yum. Walked back stuffed up and went to a liquor store on the same block to buy a beer to drink back in the hotel room.

December 31, 2011.

After visiting Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, my family decided to walk across the Charles River bridge to Back Bay. Cloudy skies on new years eve, and the roads sparsely filled with tourists. Walked down all of Back Bay, and I could see Fenway Park from Berklee College of Music. Stumbled upon a fire station, went in and watched the firemen at their drill. Bought a tshirt from them as I thought it'd be neat to own an original fire station t-shirt. Walked further down to the Prudential Center, and my. It was huge. Quardruple the size of the Ion mall downtown in Singapore. Had ice cream at the food court, and the mall was closing early for New Year's eve at 5pm. By then, it was already dark outside and the crowds were starting to line the street for the parade. Floats and street performers made their way down the stretch of Boylston which had been closed off to traffic. My first New Year's eve NOT spent in an airport or in a plane going back to SGP and it felt so surreal.

Boylston will never be the same again.

Like a memory that you can't erase, it's here to stay.