me: so, did you learn anything interesting in school today?
8 yr old pt: no.
me: you didn't learn anything new?
pt: no. we're just reviewing the same old stuff.
me: how come?
pt: for the PSSAs
me: when's that?
pt: in a few weeks
me: how does that make you feel?
pt's dad: he's nervous.
me: well, if you aren't learning anything new, then you must already know it all, right?
pt: i failed a couple sections.
me: which ones?
pt: inferencing and subtraction
(inferencing is not a word according to spell checker here.0
me: you'll get better if you keep practicing.
(primordial tiger mom speaking here....)
pt: oh, and we are supposed to have division, but we didn't learn that yet.
me: have you learned multiplication yet?
pt: OH YEAH!
me: if you can do multiplication, then division is just the opposite.
pt: OOOOOH. I KNOW WHAT 100 DIVIDED BY 100 IS.
me: you do?
pt: it's 1.
me: great. do you know why?
pt: no.
me: well, anything divided by itself is always 1. say you have 5...
pt: FIVE HUNDRED APPLES
me: right. and you have 500 people. how many apples does each person get?
pt: ONE!
me: ok. and say you have a pizza with 8 pieces, and there are 4 people in your family. how many pieces does each person get?
pt: some people eat three, and some people don't eat any.
pt's dad: nooooo, like, everyone gets the same amount of pizza.
pt: oh. two.
me: good! you know how to do division.
pt: and there are no leftovers.
me: correct. no remainders.
pt: my family always orders two pizzas.
me: ok.
pt: because everyone likes different kinds.
me: what's 'inferencing'? is that for science?
pt: no. it's for reading. like, you have to guess what happens next in a story.
me: oh. well, you should be pretty good at that since you were filling in all the blanks of the pizza story.
pt: duh! i already know my family!
me: -_-
good luck, son.
---
observations + analysis:
-this kid is probably at the top of the bell curve in my neighbourhood regarding conversation skills, according to my definition of conversation skills.
-semi-sad that kids have to learn 'to the test'
-wish that we could take these 'street smarts' and somehow translate as 'book smarts'
-or wish that education system could hone 'street smarts' into something that would help such kids become more socially mobile
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Friday, March 15, 2013
When all your peers are gone
Saturday I was walking home from a friend's place and decided to cut through Phoenix park.
Lo and behold i ran into the church spring break interns cleaning up the park and painting the fence with the simple way folks. I stayed to chat for a bit, then promised to return later to hang out and enjoy the space.
Rewind- Phoenix park used to be an abandoned warehouse and twenty row homes. A seven-alarm fire started in the warehouse, destroyed the homes and displaced many people. This happened in 2007. Predictably the city didn't pay much mind to this marginalized community. Finally after five years the horticultural society gave some funds to plant grass. The simple way painted tires and starred lining the space with it. This past year a mural went up. I imagine it was named Phoenix park after the Phoenix..... Some strength and beauty coming outta the fire. Hopefully.
Anyway I returned after finishing my own chores. We played some soccer w neighbourhood kids. A nearby fight broke out. This was the first time I saw a street fight from beginning to end. Beginning when two foolios are looking at each other in the face, then a crowd assembles, then everyone gets riled up, then some boys start taking off their shirts, or maybe just flashing some chest tattoos or pectoral muscles for intimidation? I have no idea. Finally someone throws the first punch. A guy ends up on the ground. The crowd is this flowing migrating amoeba. There is yelling. Once the guys is on the ground, everyone seems to want a chance at hitting/kicking, whether or not they were part of the original conflict. Then an older (40ish) man picks up the young buck off the sidewalk, tells him "get up" and walks him down the block. Chap's face is bloody.
Do I run over and make sure his teeth are ok??!!!! Just kidding.
He brawl is over because someone yells "popo is coming". A van with two female police officers drives up around the block.
So several thoughts:
-I am sick to my stomach whenever I see human brutality live. I can handle on tv and movies and video games. But when I see humanity engaging as animals, I need to barf.
-I am a shameless gawker.
-kudos to sue telling the kids to run away from violence, rather than towards it, as they started doing
-I bet the person who got beat was probably being obnoxious or offensive, even though I feel bad for him
-the older man who picked up the guy on the ground beat the inner city life expectancy for black males. Sadly the majority of killings in this part of town is against black and Hispanic makes 18-35. I wonder how many friends he has seen die. And I wonder how many of his peers are left. My grandparents as octogenarians always seemed a little forlorn to me. I would be too if I witnessed most of my peer group pass away.
------
An addendum here is that this week, pastor Fred gave a devotional for us at work. He mentioned a lot of conflict is because there is too much ME and not enough Jesus. Too many street fights coz "someone looked at me wrong" or too much drama at church coz "the pastor didn't pay attention to me".
Sigh. Is it not enough to know that the freaking God of the universe knows my name?! Let alone, He cares and died to save my soul from hell, and I didn't even have to do anything to earn it?! Do i always have to a cow when something doesn't go my way?!
Anyway, I guess being made aware of so much brokenness makes it much easier to desire eternity with God and for Jesus to come soon. Like now. I suppose that is partly why nuns and the pope practice this poverty thing.
Good night.
Lo and behold i ran into the church spring break interns cleaning up the park and painting the fence with the simple way folks. I stayed to chat for a bit, then promised to return later to hang out and enjoy the space.
Rewind- Phoenix park used to be an abandoned warehouse and twenty row homes. A seven-alarm fire started in the warehouse, destroyed the homes and displaced many people. This happened in 2007. Predictably the city didn't pay much mind to this marginalized community. Finally after five years the horticultural society gave some funds to plant grass. The simple way painted tires and starred lining the space with it. This past year a mural went up. I imagine it was named Phoenix park after the Phoenix..... Some strength and beauty coming outta the fire. Hopefully.
Anyway I returned after finishing my own chores. We played some soccer w neighbourhood kids. A nearby fight broke out. This was the first time I saw a street fight from beginning to end. Beginning when two foolios are looking at each other in the face, then a crowd assembles, then everyone gets riled up, then some boys start taking off their shirts, or maybe just flashing some chest tattoos or pectoral muscles for intimidation? I have no idea. Finally someone throws the first punch. A guy ends up on the ground. The crowd is this flowing migrating amoeba. There is yelling. Once the guys is on the ground, everyone seems to want a chance at hitting/kicking, whether or not they were part of the original conflict. Then an older (40ish) man picks up the young buck off the sidewalk, tells him "get up" and walks him down the block. Chap's face is bloody.
Do I run over and make sure his teeth are ok??!!!! Just kidding.
He brawl is over because someone yells "popo is coming". A van with two female police officers drives up around the block.
So several thoughts:
-I am sick to my stomach whenever I see human brutality live. I can handle on tv and movies and video games. But when I see humanity engaging as animals, I need to barf.
-I am a shameless gawker.
-kudos to sue telling the kids to run away from violence, rather than towards it, as they started doing
-I bet the person who got beat was probably being obnoxious or offensive, even though I feel bad for him
-the older man who picked up the guy on the ground beat the inner city life expectancy for black males. Sadly the majority of killings in this part of town is against black and Hispanic makes 18-35. I wonder how many friends he has seen die. And I wonder how many of his peers are left. My grandparents as octogenarians always seemed a little forlorn to me. I would be too if I witnessed most of my peer group pass away.
------
An addendum here is that this week, pastor Fred gave a devotional for us at work. He mentioned a lot of conflict is because there is too much ME and not enough Jesus. Too many street fights coz "someone looked at me wrong" or too much drama at church coz "the pastor didn't pay attention to me".
Sigh. Is it not enough to know that the freaking God of the universe knows my name?! Let alone, He cares and died to save my soul from hell, and I didn't even have to do anything to earn it?! Do i always have to a cow when something doesn't go my way?!
Anyway, I guess being made aware of so much brokenness makes it much easier to desire eternity with God and for Jesus to come soon. Like now. I suppose that is partly why nuns and the pope practice this poverty thing.
Good night.
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
babel-ing 3
a happier, less moody post!
some praises to the Lord, which i am trying to articulate in a more polished writing format for our ehc newsletters (alas, my rusty writing brain!):
-one of the indonesian ladies who was rescued from some type of sexual slavery situation in freaking harrisburg, is coming tomorrow to receive her new dentures. finally! yay! they are my favourite patients who do not speak any of the languages i speak. hopefully they don't feel as awkward as i felt getting my hair chopped in chinatown yesterday, and not understanding anyyythingggg. (fu zhou hua, and gong dong hua)
-js, the 30 yr old who lost all her teeth from vehicle accident-related prescription narcotic drug abuse-related heroin abuse, also received her dentures recently. she scheduled her wedding two days later.
-my neighbour, who is a missionary in kensington, is receiving affordable care at our health center. she loves when the nurses pray with and for her. hooray!
some praises to the Lord, which i am trying to articulate in a more polished writing format for our ehc newsletters (alas, my rusty writing brain!):
-one of the indonesian ladies who was rescued from some type of sexual slavery situation in freaking harrisburg, is coming tomorrow to receive her new dentures. finally! yay! they are my favourite patients who do not speak any of the languages i speak. hopefully they don't feel as awkward as i felt getting my hair chopped in chinatown yesterday, and not understanding anyyythingggg. (fu zhou hua, and gong dong hua)
-js, the 30 yr old who lost all her teeth from vehicle accident-related prescription narcotic drug abuse-related heroin abuse, also received her dentures recently. she scheduled her wedding two days later.
-my neighbour, who is a missionary in kensington, is receiving affordable care at our health center. she loves when the nurses pray with and for her. hooray!
babel-ing 2
when i see people doing stupid things each day........
ok. i don't judge. it's just frustrating to read the news sometimes. or to see patients who are the people making the news.
sometimes i wonder if we've reached our intellectual peak as mankind.
the human genome is complete after all.
brain power is being replaced by smartphones.
folks don't know the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE anymore.
technology seems to be getting more expensive, rather than less expensive. major generalization here - just read an article on hospital billing.
so. i wonder if we have reached our knowledge tower of babel.
God is on the verge of humbling man, and taking back His glory. and now we all frustrate each other and look like idiots.
ok. i don't judge. it's just frustrating to read the news sometimes. or to see patients who are the people making the news.
sometimes i wonder if we've reached our intellectual peak as mankind.
the human genome is complete after all.
brain power is being replaced by smartphones.
folks don't know the difference between YOUR and YOU'RE anymore.
technology seems to be getting more expensive, rather than less expensive. major generalization here - just read an article on hospital billing.
so. i wonder if we have reached our knowledge tower of babel.
God is on the verge of humbling man, and taking back His glory. and now we all frustrate each other and look like idiots.
babel-ing
this past sunday's sermon was about how jesus drives the money changers and folks selling sacrifices at the temple out of the temple. the gist (always) is that jesus is passionate about God's glory. so when things aren't right in the heart, it doesn't matter how glorious it appears. the temple's purpose was to be a place of peace, forgiveness and teaching truth. instead, people were taking advantage of the situation, perhaps in the name of 'convenience' or 'one-stop shopping'. but, we can never really have 100% pure subservient motives. gaaaah. there is always that ugly residue of "meeeeeee meeee meeeeeeee!!!!!!! all about MOI!"
so, jesus sees through this and is upset.
i've been thinking about this as it relates to the church across the street. now that daylight is longer, i can see it more clearly on my walk home from work. i especially like to look at it at dusk. while at work, from our 7th story window, it's one of the only pretty buildings amidst the sea of row homes.
unfortunately, it's the inside that is decayed and destroyed. therefore it would cost millions to fix, which no one wants to invest. there isn't a thriving congregation attached to the building, hence the neglected upkeep, and the hearts of the people aren't there.
last week at our staff retreat, a westminster OT prof and another local pastor gave us teaching and exhortation about THE CHURCH. it was made clear that the Church is not a building, rather it is God's people. broken, messed up people. we can't be part of the church if we appear to be perfect.
except me. just kidding.
so. maybe it's okay that the church across the street will be torn down. i still fear the dust that i might be inhaling during the demolition. time to wear my filter mask i guess. but. i don't need to have a cow about it. the new prayer is not for something even prettier to be built there, but for space where grace and the gospel can be experienced. whatever that looks like.
so, jesus sees through this and is upset.
i've been thinking about this as it relates to the church across the street. now that daylight is longer, i can see it more clearly on my walk home from work. i especially like to look at it at dusk. while at work, from our 7th story window, it's one of the only pretty buildings amidst the sea of row homes.
unfortunately, it's the inside that is decayed and destroyed. therefore it would cost millions to fix, which no one wants to invest. there isn't a thriving congregation attached to the building, hence the neglected upkeep, and the hearts of the people aren't there.
last week at our staff retreat, a westminster OT prof and another local pastor gave us teaching and exhortation about THE CHURCH. it was made clear that the Church is not a building, rather it is God's people. broken, messed up people. we can't be part of the church if we appear to be perfect.
except me. just kidding.
so. maybe it's okay that the church across the street will be torn down. i still fear the dust that i might be inhaling during the demolition. time to wear my filter mask i guess. but. i don't need to have a cow about it. the new prayer is not for something even prettier to be built there, but for space where grace and the gospel can be experienced. whatever that looks like.
Friday, March 1, 2013
different views on justice
today a very obnoxious 3 yr-old (patient's son) kicked me. he didn't kick me hard. no pain. and he more or less kicked my pant leg, then brushed my shin w/ his 12-inch leg and 5-inch foot. but it was definitely intentional. and then he smirked. i responded with a stern, "don't kick people. that's not nice!"
i proceeded to tell yoly and she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back and said, 'you don't like that, do you? so don't do it to others!"
and since i have to tell every remotely traumatic story at least five times in order to get it out of my system (therapy/catharsis, whatever you want to call it), i told terry. she did not hear yoly's response. nonetheless, she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back. like, 'oops. sorry!' don't tell anyone i said that."
so, i'm often alone in my views within this team. and, of course i attribute it to my east asian upbringing. it's probably not just that.
my analysis is that, for me, the shame of being reprimanded by an adult SHOULD have brought some guilt to this toddler, which would have led to behaviour change and rehabilitation. now that i think about it, that probably won't work for this kid.
for my teammates, it didn't matter that the boy was only three, or that he was a patient/patient's relative. eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, b****!
WAPAH!
ok. just kidding. yeah. i dunno.
there are differences in discipline and perception of discipline.
i proceeded to tell yoly and she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back and said, 'you don't like that, do you? so don't do it to others!"
and since i have to tell every remotely traumatic story at least five times in order to get it out of my system (therapy/catharsis, whatever you want to call it), i told terry. she did not hear yoly's response. nonetheless, she responded with, "oooooooh. i woulda kicked him back. like, 'oops. sorry!' don't tell anyone i said that."
so, i'm often alone in my views within this team. and, of course i attribute it to my east asian upbringing. it's probably not just that.
my analysis is that, for me, the shame of being reprimanded by an adult SHOULD have brought some guilt to this toddler, which would have led to behaviour change and rehabilitation. now that i think about it, that probably won't work for this kid.
for my teammates, it didn't matter that the boy was only three, or that he was a patient/patient's relative. eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth, b****!
WAPAH!
ok. just kidding. yeah. i dunno.
there are differences in discipline and perception of discipline.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)