A Glimpse of January

Happy new year 2025! 

I guess it's not too late to say it right?

We have almost passed the first month of this year. I hope you, are reading this, stay healthy and passionate in whatever you do. As we enter February, I'd like to share some things as a glimpse of what happened in this month.

In the first week, I spent a few last days of the semester break at home with my family. It just felt so great to meet my big fam and got the chance to celebrate the new year with them. I went back to Palembang on the fourth day. Actually, I wanted to stay longer until Sunday to join the family gathering to celebrate new year and also my grandma's birthday. I was afraid that I couldn't manage myself to prepare for the first day of work if I made the flight on Sunday. So, I could only see the photos from of the gathering and said happy birthday from afar.

In the first week of school, nothing much happened. What is memorable the most for me is, the parents of my students sent nasi tumpeng and pempek for my birthday. Some of my students also surprised me with a birthday cake that one of them brought to school. I can say that it's my first time ever to get a "celebration" from my students and parents. Although i never expect much to be like a big fancy celebration, but I truly appreciate the moment. 

It's still related with my birthday celebration, my teammates (grade 3-4 teachers) came to my classroom with box of donuts and a birthday present. It was on Monday, January 13. I feel blessed for every wish, hope, and prayer from each one of them. Since this is probably, gonna be my last birthday celebration in this city, I even took notes of them in my mind and my phone. Hehehe...

In the second week of school in the second semester, nothing much happened. We entered the new unit in our learning, so I can see the excitement in the eyes of my students and I am thankful for that. This is one of the things that makes me excited in teaching as well. Although I feel tired, somehow just seeing their excitement can make me feel the same. It's like they transfer their energy to me. Hahaha... Well, because we're currently learning about forms of energy, so yeah it kinda affects pretty much. 

In the third week, everybody got busier and lots of things to catch up. My students had their Math summative test on Tuesday, January 21. Yes, they already got their summative after two weeks of school. As the one who is in charge in Math subject (with the topic word problems of four operations), I had prepared the questions and rubric for the assessment a week ago. Luckily, I could still see the one from last year as my reference. Thank God, they seemed to do it in ease. Some of them could even finish it in less than 30 minutes!

On Friday, January 25, our school celebrated the Chinese New Year. We had assembly, where we sang the CNY songs and listened to the message of this year's theme. After that, we decorated our classroom with CNY ornaments and accessories. This is part of the classroom decoration competition among the classes. So, my students got really excited to hang on lanterns, stick angpaos and other ornaments, and make some crafts of their own. We also had potluck where students brought their foods from home, especially Chinese food. We could taste and pick any food we want, such as dumplings, noodle, oranges, and cookies or sweets.

In the fourth week, we had the Chinese New Year holiday for a whole week. Considering there are many students at our school who are Chinese or come from Chinese ethnic, the school makes it as one full week for the holiday. I am very thankful for this and it impacts a lot for me as a teacher. Since last Monday, I didn't have to wake up very early (though I still woke up at the time when I usually wake up). I could enjoy the fresh air in the morning, I could make my own breakfast, and I could do some washing. For the rest of the week, me and my teammates visited the houses of my students when they invited us to come as part of the CNY traditions. We cherished the moments in every family that we visited and saw that they are all unique, celebrated the CNY in their own way. I got to talk with the parents and even their grandparents. I enjoyed the snacks and foods that they served. It's all good! None of them were lack of anything (from me personally, as someone who doesn't come from Palembang).

Well, I think that's all that I can share. How fast time flies. At the time I'm writing this, my mind throws back to those days that I have passed since we entered 2025. It seems like it's fast, but if we take a moment to think back and see the traces that we have left, there are just so many moments and stories that we get. I don't want to forget and ignore those moments. That is why I keep them here, by writing them down so I can easily read it again for a flashback. Hopefully, I can maintain this habit, write a post in my blog once a month.

Hey you, thank you for reading this. Have a great day or enjoy your rest!

~Palembang, 310125