TU Cent Thoughts, 12-26-05

[greybeta]

Welcome
Welcome new readers samroswell and thedigitalkuri!

Administration
On New Year's Eve, I will cull my reading list. Have no fear, I will not cull people who have already friended me. It's just that if I feel like your part in my quest has ended, it is time to part ways.

One hundred icons
I'm now up to 43. It's getting harder and harder to choose which one to use. This one here is from the anime Eyeshield 21. It's a Japanese take on American football.

Convos of the Day (or why living with me would be a pain in the you know what)
Dad: [In Vietnamese] You have to understand how important you are to this family.
Mom: [Viet] You are the one and only golden son.
Dad: [Viet] We rise and fall with you.
Mom: [Viet] We are sad and happy when you are sad and happy.
Dad: [Viet] I believe you can do great things.
Mom: [Viet] I believe you are the key of our family.
Sis: That's a lot pressure!
Me: Yeah, but it takes a lot of pressure to turn a lump of coal into a diamond.

Mom: [Viet] Why can't you do things one step a time? You'd be more organized that way.
Me: I have to see the big picture. I'm like a painter who can't start on his work until he sees the entire thing in his head.
Mom: [Viet] Normal people don't do that!
Me: I'm not a normal person.

Mom: [Viet] How confident are you in being a teacher now?
Me: I will make a 4.0 for the next three semesters.
Sis: Don't say that! You're going to fail if you think like that!
Me: Well, you asked how confident I was...

Dad: [Viet] I read in this one article that Vietnamese food is the most healthy in the world.
Me: Oh, where did you read that?
Dad: [Viet] Well see there's the food pyramid...
Mom: [Viet] No, honey, he's asking what newspaper or magazine you read that from.
Sis: He's asking where's the proof.
Me: Actually, I'm just curious and I want to read this article for myself.
Dad: [Viet] Uh, I...uh...think I threw it away.
Me: Well, that's awfully inconvenient.

Sis: You're a stuck up smarty pants, aren't you? You always have to be right.
Me: Yes, and?
Sis: Sheesh, who would want to be your friend?
Me: People who want to know the truth.

Quote of the Day
"The good ended happily, and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means."
~Miss Prism, Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest (courtesy of scarletdemon)

Link of the Day
It sort of perturbs me that no one commented on my explanation of why I am heretic. Was it so profound that no words can do it justice?

Steelers Watch
The Pittsburgh Steelers control their own destiny. When they beat the Detroit Lions this Sunday, they will clinch a wild card spot.

You're fired!
In-freaking-excusable.

Reading queue
C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity

Blogging queue
-Depression article for Collegian
-Two Schools of Blogging
-Why I am a social conservative but an economic liberal
-Lunch with the red headed Brigid

Movie queue
Kong
Syriana
Memoirs of a Geisha

Anime queue
Ayashi no Ceres
Elfen Lied
RahXephon

Eggrolls
I know how to make my mom's awesome eggrolls now. But I can't tell you how because it's a family secret.

Random Question
Do you have any good Christmas shopping stories? Comment if you do...

Comments

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

LOL...normal can be pressure...just steady pressure.

Some people might find it difficult to sort out the difference between what they want for their lives and what their family wants for their lives. But maybe that doesn't feel true in your situation? perhaps for cultural reasons?

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

But maybe that doesn't feel true in your situation? perhaps for cultural reasons?
Sons are supposed to be doctors, pharmacists, or engineers. Daughters are supposed to be teachers.

I want to be a teacher.

Not exactly jiving with my culture, am I?

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

When I said "culture" I was thinking more about 1st or 2nd generation Americans--e.g., when parents or grandparents were immigrants to the US. Generally, there's a strong emphasis in the generations raised in the new country to bring increased acceptance/status with their achievements. For example, my dad was technically an immigrant (he was born in Ireland), but he lived here from age 6, so in many ways he was probably more typical of 1st generation. I believe he always felt a great deal of responsibility to achieve for his family's sake (too much so in his case). And almost always the burden is more on sons than daughters [daughters do best to increase respect by marrying well ;)]



I wouldn't presume to know what is respected or not in Vietnamese culture, since I have little to no knowledge about it. I have some familiarity with some other Asian cultures (primarily Korean and Japanese--based on the faculty and students I've known from these cultures) where a job of teacher carries quite a bit of respect with it (although nothing carries the respect of a doctor!).

However, I think that how much respect "teacher" carries even in American culture depends partly on who the teacher is teaching. Generally, the younger the students taught, the less respect, I'm afraid.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

How about a high school teacher who can teach American government and math?

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

LOL...just my opinion: High school teachers get much more respect than junior high, and especially elementary. Math and science always seemed to carry even more respect (perhaps because of the status they carry as professions in the larger society? or maybe because they are more "male" professions? who knows?). But being able to teach two very different subject areas is especially impressive (to me, at least).

Alas, not too many people seem to place as high a respect on American government as a topic area as math and science carry, probably reflecting people's opinions about government as a whole. It should be highly valued, because it's the one topic area that can most influence the type of citizens that students will grow into being.

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

I'm curious, what is it about teaching that interests you? It's always interesting to me to hear why people choose their career paths.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Who is teaching your children?

I wake up every day because I want to teach.

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

Thanks..those posts address my question beautifully! One of the wonderful things about teaching is that you have the potential to make a difference in so many lives. Think about the teacher who influenced you to choose teaching, and then all the people that you'll influence as a teacher...his influence has that kind of a ripple effect. **sigh** I miss teaching.

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

If you don't me asking, why aren't you teaching now?

[cathawk.livejournal.com]

This post (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cathawk/43087.html), then this one (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cathawk/43692.html), and finally, this one post (http://www.livejournal.com/users/cathawk/64193.html)sums up how I ended up in my current situation. I actually like the job (most days), although the workload is a bit too heavy (partly because I have a small private psychotherapy practice where i see some long-term clients, partly because the job has a huge learning curve, and partly because that's just the nature of the position). But I still miss teaching, I'll definitely go back to it some day.