Not a goner...

Kitten survived in shipping crate from Singapore to Cleveland

By The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - It's a "tail" of survival for this kitty.

A scrawny, black and white female kitten has apparently survived a trip across the Pacific Ocean and North America inside a shipping crate. Cleveland Animal Protective League Executive Director Sharon Harvey says a Cleveland company that received the crate of spooled steel coil Friday found the kitten inside one the spools.

Harvey says the mother cat and other kittens found in the crate were dead. The crate came to Samsel Supply Co. from Singapore. It was sealed Feb. 4 and shipped three days later.

The approximately 12-week-old kitten has been checked by a veterinarian and has responded well to being fed.

It will be kept in quarantine for about three weeks to make sure it doesn't pass any infectious disease to other animals.

I stumbled upon this news while reading Shasha Basir’s blog. It survived the unthinkable ordeal. Cats do have 9 lives after all and this little fella is a living exhibit. Speaking of the unthinkable ordeal, I wish to express my heartfelt sympathy towards my fellow course mates who are battling the war in the classroom. I’ve been reading malcontent shout-outs, distraught writings, disgruntled chat sessions over the YM as well as SMS’s full of despair. It all boils down to the bad experience during the initial practicum. Oh, tell me about it.

A friend claimed that everything must have been working out well with me. Oh you bet. My first struggle was to alter my sleeping pattern. I’m no morning person and the first day of school felt hellish. I kept on yawning during the briefing; I’ve got no interest at all to meet my students let alone to teach. Anis injected some enthusiasm moreover the rest of my trainee comrades are so hype and a bit cuckoo. Thank God I managed to stay heedful throughout the day. Yes, I had my 1st lesson with 4A1 that very first day. Went home with a pounding head.

Before I prattle more on my days of fracas, I’d love to tell you a bit about my students, my ‘anak-anak’ as I fondly address them. I’m assigned to teach a class of form 4 students and form 1 students. Both classes are of average pupils. A handful of zealous students in each class are very obliging and obedient and those are the smart ones, the one who scored A’s and B’s during the recent test.  The rest are all defiant and not at all interested of what I’m teaching them. Those you may seize 100% accountable of me getting a ‘B’ for my practicum. Ironically these are the ones I adore so much as they never fail to bring a smile to my face. These ‘anak-anak’ of mine are my amanah, to date I have not scolded or punished any of them even though most of the times they’re driving me up the wall (not forgetting 2 were caught cheating during a test, a different story altogether). With these kids I have permeated a feeling that I never thought I would allow to mess up with my emotion during this practicum, which is compassion. Armored with my new sentiment, I pity my under-achievers or my late bloomers, as I prefer to dub them; they are at oblivion, teachers talked badly of them, and their peers detest them to bits. Judging from my not-so-glorious days in school, I can’t help but to empathize. I could relate to their hidden plea so entered the second week I have made a promise to myself that I will give these kids the chance they deserve. I will not give up on them. I can’t afford to neglect these kids just because they don’t perform as expected. So far I think I’m dancing to the right tune. They are now easier to manage and respond well to instructions. These kids of mine love it when I brought realias to the classroom as well as doing role-play. I thank Dr. Noreen for the fabulous lesson on playing games in the classroom. It worked tremendously with my Form 1’s. Okay, that’s a tiny bit on my students.

As for my institution, I must say this is a ministry office in disguise. We have teachers who are almost dedicated as our leaders and at the same time teachers who love to boss around asking people to do things that they are very, very, very capable of doing before we came. I do respect the dreams that this school envisage but no offence, the workload is unbearable! Most teachers leave at 5pm doing the non-academic matters and they can actually live with that. Ohh how traditional I can be when it comes to checking out from work. Gone were the days when teachers exchanged goodbyes with their students when the last bell rang and the cricket sounds filled the staff-room when the clock struck 2pm. One of my comrades grumbled,
“Tak terurus la rumah tangga saya kak kalau jadi cikgu kat sekolah ni.”

I couldn’t agree more as the exact thing happened to my household during the first week. I did not cook as I didn’t even have time to drop by the kitchen. My laundry piled up like ABC and I only conversed a little with my hubby. As for my cats, what cats? We had our Sport’s Day on the same week and it was a high time for me as it gave me ample time to mingle with my new colleagues. I still suffer from my aching feet though. The preparation was fun. Anis and I helped a bit with the mascot and their marching gears. At the end of the day our team won. Ok, I just realized that I’m babbling too much now and most probably Anis is blogging about the same thing.(Plus I'm so sleepy...zZZZz) I think I better stop for the mean time. The thought of wasting my time blogging is agonizing as I have about 10 lesson plans waiting under my belt. Till then, allow me to enjoy my mini retreat ya! 

Next entry: My colleague, my Ustazah! Teresians, watch out for which Ustazah I’m talking about…
Drew ----<@