More weddings (and another funeral!)

Greetings, dear readers!

Well, another Christmas season is now well and truly in full swing, and thankfully I don't have to worry about working at Big W over the Christmas period for the first time since 2008! However, I have been kept busy, and quite a number of things have happened since my last blog post. So I will try and squeeze as much in as I can - hopefully without boring you to death - before my traditional end-of-year annual review.
  

I am currently writing this blog entry while based at Vanessa's family's holiday house in scenic, hilly and windy Dunedin in the southern part of New Zealand. More about that later.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently took up a teaching position at Deakin University English Language Institute, otherwise known as DUELI. So far, it has been an interesting and challenging experience, but I am so grateful that God has provided me with friendly and helpful colleagues for the two subjects I am currently teaching. Although the teaching rate is fantastic, and the students are on the whole well-behaved, teaching at tertiary level comes with its own set of issues. For starters, you can't issue detentions or suspend students who continually rock up late to class. You also can't really confiscate their mobile phones, which are a major source of distraction. Then of course, as at all levels, there are varying levels of language competence.
Some of the humbling lessons I've had to re-learn include:

• Speaking slowly and clearly and keeping my language simple; 
• How to concept-check to ensure understanding, i.e. ask guiding questions instead of asking students if they understood something; and  
• My students are people who have issues that affect how they are in class, i.e. get to know what's going on in your students' lives and 1) cut them some slack where necessary, and 2) suggest them to seek professional help.  

Just five days after I wrote my previous blog post, our family was hit with the biggest shock in a very long time: the totally unexpected passing of the last of my grandparents, my beloved 阿嬤 (also known as 奶奶 - paternal grandmother). From what I've heard, it is a normal thing for couples who are married for many years that the moment one goes, the other follows soon after. But Grandma had been in good health right up to the last day, so we thought she had at least a few good years left in her. I was teaching at Deakin at the time when my youngest brother Jared texted me that Grandma had passed away. Needless to say I was shocked and didn't want to believe it, but minutes afterwards Mum called from the hospital to confirm the news. Although we were all shocked and saddened by her departure, we also are assured that she is in heaven reunited with Grandpa and free of suffering, and that we will see her again.

A few weeks after the funeral, Mum, Elise, Tom and Jared flew off to Malaysia to celebrate their marriage with the relatives based there, while James, Dad and I stayed at home. While they were away, I had a wonderful time catching up with some friends whom I hadn't seen in a while: my French-Aussie friend Sophie, who had returned from her internship in Europe and finished off her PhD, her sister Chloe, who has just completed her Master of Teaching and now has a boyfriend, Joe, an IT professional from the USA, and some others.

The day after Mum and Jared returned from Malaysia, it was my turn to fly out of Melbourne for the second time this year for my FIRST EVER TRIP TO NEW ZEALAND! You may have remembered that I mentioned in one of my earlier posts that Vanessa's older brother Myles was going to tie the knot in Dunedin, but before the Chens arrived in NZ, they first had to fly to Vietnam for the traditional wedding ceremony for the bride's family; Huong is originally from Vietnam, and her family are still based there. Then they flew to Taiwan to celebrate with their family members there before a long-haul flight to Dunedin which included stops in Singapore and Auckland. Thankfully, Vanessa appeared to be over her jet lag when she greeted me at Dunedin Airport.

I might talk more about my time in NZ in another post, but to briefly sum things up, the wedding was a beautiful one, held at the historic St Joseph's Cathedral (see picture on right), and it was great meeting Myles' friends (especially his hilarious best man Joe) and being able to play small roles in making the day easier for the happy couple.

OK, that's enough for now. Time to get ready for bed and then the flight back to Melbourne
tomorrow afternoon.

Cheers and God bless!