Fall foliage - Part 5: Oak - Fall's pieces

Writing these entries, I feel like a child joyously and clumsily playing with an interesting jigsaw puzzle – a multibillion-piece puzzle of autumn that I really enjoy doing... 

And this entry is about a lovely piece that I am happy to pick up and place into the beautiful picture of fall –  oak leaves :) 

Fall foliage - Part 4 : Maple & Shining sumac

Photos on Nov 10, 2013

To me, it is interesting to watch leaves changing colors, and it is even more interesting to find out the names of these species of trees. 

In previous entries, I have written about ginkgoes and sweet gums. In this entry, I continue with the other two species of trees that have brought gorgeous fall colors to me:  maples and shining sumacs. 

When I was a teacher...

"listen to her firm and emotional eyes at the end. This insightful and inspirational video suddenly reminds me of the time when i was giving classes on presentation techniques." - that is how I feel after watching a TED talk my friend shared on fb. (original link: http://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.html) -  This is a great talk on how we should deal with stress. I can learn from it, yet what makes the clip more moving to me is, when I watch it, I am reminded of the old time when I was a teacher. This may sound odd & irrelevant, but that is how I feel...

Listening to that clear tone of voice, noticing her body language, facial expressions, the way she talks, the way she smiles... and many other techniques that she uses, I can't help missing the time when I was teaching presentation skills. These TED talks were once used as example videos in my class... Long-buried memories just come back so vividly. At the end of the talk, looking at her firm and emotional eyes, I feel touched... as in that look, I see the old me ... 

If I have a chance to write about my 4 years being a teacher, there are many things to write, but for now I am not talking much about that. I just briefly say these 2 things:
- I feel honored to have been a teacher and have taught my students - some that are very eloquent and brilliant!, some that are innocent and playful, some that are caring and artistic, some that are confident and talkative, some that are sweet and lovely... and all that have something for me to learn :) 
- I do not care if they know to appreciate all that I did, or if they still remember me now & forever. I am just happy as whenever I look back, I know I once taught with all my heart, & I am happy when some students tell me that I have inspired them and have changed their life.

Time swiftly goes by since I came here. Sometimes, I feel stressed and do not want to stop to remember who I was. I have a new life and a new plan. I am always like that, always look cold, but inside, I never forget and you know I am not an indifferent person at all. I want to leave the past all behind as I have so many things to catch up here. I do not want to be caught in nostalgia missing me and the good old days. However, sometimes, being reminded of who I was, on the bright side, gives me more motivation to keep going ahead and add more meaning to my life.

Today happens to be Nov 20 - Vietnamese Teachers' day. Annually, on Nov 20, I miss my old teachers and my schooldays... This year, Nov 20 comes reminding me of my teachers, my schooldays as usual, but now, it also reminds me of the time when I was a teacher.

Many things to say, but as I put it, my love, my memories, my emotions and experiences are there deep in my heart, what I say here is just what I could say, in a brief entry.
Just a brief entry for an emotional day...

_____

Nov 20, 2013

Today is a hazy day. 
I spend a whole afternoon reading emails, messages and greetings from my old students. Sometimes I smile, sometimes I stop to think, and sometimes I laugh a lot...
It is still raining outside...


Some teaching memories

portrait from my student.

a surprise handmade from a lovely"Santa Claus"

View all

KhoaThy's Journal

"Yesterday - Today - Tomorrow 

Each day is as special as you want it to be."

Fall foliage - Part 3: Sweet gum or Maple? ;)

I am busy these days and cannot find time for writing, but this entry has been waiting for me so long, for already a few weeks. So now, let me make time for some writing before fall flies away. :)

Date taken : Nov 2, 2013.
Photo credit : My husband 

***

Have you been there just like me – admiring beautiful sweet gums every fall day but mistaking them for some kind of maples? 

Sweet gums and Maples are no siblings from the same family, but if we have not seen them before, we may be easily confused by their similar leaf shapes.

Fall foliage - Part 2: Ginkgo - Mùa thu & rẻ quạt

(Continued from Part 1 : A quest for fall foliage )

If you are a fan of Japanese comic books or have watched some famous Japanese anime, chances are that you have heard of this romantic tree – ginkgo, or “hoa” rẻ quạt - as how it is beautifully translated into Vietnamese...

I have once or twice read and imagined how this “hoa” rẻ quạt might look like, whether it would be that poetic in real world… I was curious, yet I never thought that one day, in my first fall in California, this interesting tree would unexpectedly walk out from the old comic books and come to me that beautiful...

Fall foliage – Part 1: A quest for fall colors

I am still overwhelmed with love for autumn and don’t know where to begin this entry… Many things to write...

Đi tìm mùa thu ...

- Fall, where are you?