Halloween!

I didn't actually Trick-or-Treat, nor did I give out candy (costs too much lol), nor did I party, etc. Title is there because today is the eve before All Saint's Day! =) Also, I decided to upload a picture because otherwise it makes my link on facebook, look boring =(.

This is the candy my family used to hand out (and those Tootsie Pops) since my dad used to buy them at bulk quantities at Costco. 

Anyways, today is my first day at Erin Woods Elementary school. It's quite different compared to Forest Lawn. It has a warmer feeling, probably due to it looking more modern than Forest. Also, the bulletin boards were filled with artwork done by the students of the school. I had the chance today to look at a Grade 3 class and a Kindergarten class. All I can say is that I CANNOT teach Kindergarten students! They sapped all the energy out of me today. =(

So for Day 2 of the Song challenge: My Least Favorite Song...

Hmm... tough one... The first song that comes to mind is:

Yiruma - River Flows in you. Lol oh I can sense Yiruma fans out there wanting to strangle me, but I'm sorry, I personally don't see why people love his music so much. I admit his melody lines are pretty good, but they're so repetitive! I really dislike hearing this piece due to its repetitiveness. This is the best video clip I can find of this piece since its actually the composer playing (I think that's Yiruma...) and he actually improvised the middle a bit, so its not as boring. =P

So...

Just got home pretty much so I won't be posting the long blog that I promised =(
I'll do it next week, where I will also compare and contrast my experience since I'll be at an elementary school this week! Hopefully everything goes fine!

So today, I got the chance to play Dixit. Mind blowing game =.= but fun though! I also played some kind of lego/pictionary game which turned out to be chaotic but enjoyable as well.

So I guess I'll take a break from posting pictures, and instead use this game that people were playing before on facebook. I hope this gives you guys a better idea of what kind of songs I enjoy listening to. As you may have guessed by now, its the 30 Day Song Challenge!!

BoA's Smile Again, which was found on her "Lose Your Mind" single that was released on December 


12th 2007. It's my all-time favorite song since I love the lyrics! BoA pinned them herself when she was 


thinking about the hardships she faced on her way to fame. It speaks about never giving up, always 


giving your all and I guess pretty much, just smile again. Here's the translations of the song:




Days, Day after day I always wonder around in a trance the dream that I have envisioned in the past seems to have escape me too I\'ve forgotten how to smile I am unable to shed tears too as I embrace your shadow 


* SMILE AGAIN 
Smile once again the wings spread within my heart let\'s look towards the sky therefore 
TRY AGAIN 
Do not give up hope as time passes believe in my undying affection because I will protect you 


Why do you always escape the light? I am looking for your shadow that is concealing itself I don\'t understand myself. I am aware of your presence but I am afraid to ump into you Because I am in denial.


** SMILE AGAIN 
Letting out a loud cry as the burden was lifted from me let\'s get to the clouds, and then 
TRY AGAIN
Protecting our love for one another even just a little is fine don\'t be in a hurry because we still have time 


*Repeat 
Because I will protect you..


[credit: http://www.jpopasia.com/lyrics/26504/boa/smile-again.html]

Late post for my 5th day!

I didn't post yesterday since I was out stuffing my face at All You Can Eat (at Sushi Ichiban) =P. After coming home, I played SC 2 until bedtime.

Anyways, my last day at Forest Lawn consisted of me following one teacher throughout the day. I had the chance to visit Science 14s and a Science 20 classroom. It was interesting to see differences between the two Science 14 class taught by two different teachers. (More to come when I write my longer blog tmmr =P)

So to finish up today's post... I got the chance to listen to BoA's new song coming out in December. The title of the song is Milestone. It's a nice slow ballad, but has yet to grow on me. Since I didn't take any pictures recently, here's a picture of BoA to those who don't know what she looks like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J6zsvcvhaU

^ The link to her upcoming single!

4th Day!

Fourth day at Forest Lawn! I had the chance to visit the computer classes (including a design class), the library and the guidance councillor office. I have to say that the computer class was very interesting. Students were designing cool things like cars, animals and even a dragon!

What interested me the most in the afternoon was the tour of the guidance councillor office/student services. I learnt more about the school's culture. It was actually quite surprising to find out about the school's demography. (I guess I'll discuss more when I finish this week's practicum at Forest Lawn with a lengthy post on Saturday or Sunday).

Tomorrow is going to be the last day at Forest Lawn. Strangely enough, I have to say I'm going to miss that school. I actually wouldn't mind coming back next semester/year/future to teach at Forest Lawn.

I'm running out of pictures to post, so here's a picture of the latest Gundam I built! I finished this Gundam late August I believe!

For those who don't know this kit, its MG 1/100 Wing Zero Endless Waltz Edition (similar to the Ver. Ka model but the original color scheme of the EW kit is apparently darker). I did minor modifications to the kit this time. I only changed the yellow-orangey paint to a gold color. I did however, paint the entire Gundam, but I kept the color scheme the same. I used a mixture of dull cote and shine cote to finish the Gundam. Any guesses with what part got which cote? =P

Third Day!!

Today we got to start late! 9:45! Woot!

But I still woke up early to do some work. =P First off was gym! I went to Forest's auxiliary gym first to observe the class there. All I can say that it was FREEZING cold in that gym. =(

In the afternoon, I got the chance to visit an ESL group and a group of students that never had the chance to get formal education (LEAD). I have to say it was an eye-widening experience. It's not necessarily different from the other classes, but it gave me a taste of what the life of an ESL student was at school. I wish I could write more, but I don't know how much I'm allowed to diverge! =(

Anyways, the picture of the day comes from the snack I had after practicum today! It was very nutritious and delicious. =P

It consists of cinnamon toast squares, garlic crackers and dark chocolate balls that contain blueberry and acai berry juice/pulp/whatever its called. The little plaid pattern on the bottom left hand corner is my pajama pants! =D

2nd Day!

Today, we got the chance to visit English and Social Studies classrooms. I had the chance to visit an English 10-2, a 20-1. a Social 20-1 and a 30-2. They were reading Hamlet in the the 20-1 class... and I had no idea what was going on =(

Anyways, here's a picture of my stuff dog that I keep on top of the piano at home. I had this dog for nearly 12 years I think. When I was young, I would imagine that this dog was my mom, who constantly kept her eyes on me while I practice to ensure that I stayed on task. I had to say though, that I didn't always practiced what I had to practice (lest alone, practice daily...)

The sheet music you see is "Kiss Me Good Bye", sung by Angela Aki and transcribed by Vincent Lo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLgmV6NfoPE

First day of practicum/field experience!

Well what do you know! Forest Lawn High School isn't as bad as what people tend to think it is! It felt like going back to Pearson, just that the building looks a bit older and that the lockers are HUGE (twice the width of Pearson's I believe!)

In the morning, we started with science classes. I got the chance to experience two extreme ends of the spectrum: Science 14 and Chem 30 H. Quite a difference between the two! (I'm not sure how much I can say, since we're bound to a code of ethics).

In the afternoon, we got the chance to visit math classes. It's interesting how they incorporate technology into the classroom! The teacher was using a Smart Board-like board to go over a quiz, which I found to be quite cool.

Tomorrow, we get to go visit English and Social Studies classrooms. It's going to be quite interesting, since I find these two subjects to be my weakest during my primary and secondary schooling.

Since I'm not allowed to post pictures of my field experience (I think, but I don't want to take any chances...), here is a picture of my Dragon Vale island so far! This is the first out of two (third island is still being made) that I have at the moment!

First day of practicum tomorrow!

Tomorrow is my first day of practicum! I'll be at Forest Lawn High School for the first week and Erin Woods Elementary School for the second week. For both weeks, I will be responsible for observing the classes and noting the culture of the school. It should be an interesting two weeks!

Here's a picture of my ID badge that I whipped up. Isn't it the coolest badge ever? =P

Sunlight!

Bah, its been a while since I had to be in school for 12 hours. Should have went outside when I had the chance! I got zero hours of sunlight in today =(  (8AM - 8 PM). I need my daily dose of Vitamin D!!!

The reason why I was at school for so long was because I had a midterm at 8 AM in the morning (which went pretty well I think) and then a training session for Calgary Reads from 4:30 -8 PM. I also bought lunch for the first time this semester! I been trying to save money by going home to eat, since I only have one job at the moment =( [It doesn't help when almost 50% of your income goes to pay off my cell phone bill, but I guess that's the price I pay for buying an iPhone!]

Anyways, for today's picture, its a picture I took yesterday before going home. I really liked the sunset that I witnessed yesterday! There's a feeling of peace that I get from looking at sunsets, for the Sun is winding down after a long day's work. 

As you may have guessed, this picture was taken from my iPhone (like most of my pictures). 

OMG! THESE READINGS ARE KILLING ME

I decided to take a break since all these readings are going through one ear and out the other. =(

Well nothing really exciting happened over the past couple of days. I've been going to school, volunteering, work and karate. Time just keeps on flowing...

I actually managed to download iOS 5 on the 12th, but late at night. Luckily, I was able to download the iOS and install it onto my iPhone 4 on my first try! After playing with it for the past couple days, I have to say that I like the changes they made. Perhaps my favorite change is the notification center. Never again will I be interrupted by a text (not that I don't like receiving texts) when I collect money from my dragons or chomping on humans in Zombie Life! Instead of a box pausing my game play, there's a small banner that displays on the top of my screen with the contents of the text message. I'm glad that Apple decided to copy this from Android! Also, I like how I can quickly go respond to a text from the lock screen by swiping across the message. =D

I also like how they place all my new content on the notification center. I can quickly glance at my new texts and emails while check the weather and stocks (though I don't play the stock market... yet).

Another interesting feature is iMessage (apparently a copy of RIM's BBM feature for their blackberries). It's great for iPod touch and iPad users since its essentially another way to send text messages. For iPhone users, I find it to be just a nice gimmick. I guess it's kind of interesting to be able to read when the other person read your text, but one can easily disable this feature...

On to another topic, I decided to start listening to BoA songs again! I uploaded a few of her ballads onto my phone. Being somewhat of an audiophile, I ripped the tracks off my CD collection. Here's a picture of my collection!

I don't want to remind myself how much I spent on these CDs...

Meh... iOS 5

Just finished writing an in-class assignment for EDUC 404 (Literature, Language and Culture)... and I think I bombed it >.< Should have spent more time studying for it!

After hearing about the problems people are having updating to iOS 5, I guess I'll wait a bit till things clear up. Apparently its due to the fact that too many people are updating their Apple products at the same time that the servers are having a hard time catching up =(. Oh well, there's no rush for me to update my phone. I don't want to lose precious time playing this new game I found!

The new game I found is called Dragon Vale. Its pretty much based on FarmVille, but you train/hatch/breed dragons instead. I find it to be quite addicting... I spent practically two hours on this game on Monday... and another 30 minutes yesterday...

Here's a picture of what the game looks like. If you happen to have a game center account, go get this game! Not only will you have fun, but you'll get the chance to give me a free present (red gem i believe).  =D

Thanksgiving Turkey

I think this is the first time I ever had turkey for thanksgiving! Usually we only eat turkey during Christmas eve.

I guess I should have done this yesterday...

I should have introduced myself to those who do not know me that well.

First of all, I'm David Maruyama. As you can probably tell looking at my last name, I have Japanese blood in me. I'm 50% Japanese, 50% Chinese and 100% Canadian. Unfortunately, I am unable to speak either of my "mother tongues". =(

Currently, I'm a first year B.Ed (Bachelor of Education) program at UofC. I just completed my degree in Biological Sciences at the UofC. Any guesses with what discipline I want to teach in high school? =P (Though I'm not sure if I will end up as a teacher... for another day)

Likes? Well I enjoy watching asian dramas, in particular Japanese dramas. The reason why I prefer Japanese dramas over any other asian dramas (ie: Korean, Taiwanese, Mainland, etc) is because episodes are shorter in length (typically 45 minutes) and seasons/series are short (mostly 9 to 11 episodes). I find that in this way, there seem to be less "filler" in the episodes; they get straight to the point.

I also enjoy building gundam models whenever I have spare time. I find that they help my hand-eye coordination and apparently... seem to help control my shaky hands (I have extremely shaky hands). As to date, I built 1 high grade model (which is a basic kit), 3 master grade models (which is intermediate in my opinion) and 1 perfect grade model (which is advanced).

Hmm what else... I can't think of anything else to write at the moment! I guess I'll get to the next point of writing this entry.

When I blog, I'm going to write random things that interests me for that day. It could be a topic I'm keen in, controversial issues, reviews of certain things, etc. At times, it maybe what I did for the day. Besides working on my literacy skills, I hope to look back at my past as I grow older (like what I was doing with my livespace blog ages ago).

That's it for me now! Oh, and to make it more appealing, I'll try to add a picture to every blog post. This picture was taken from my study spot. Whenever I feel stressed from studying, I'll just look outside to calm down! ^.^

First Post

Not my first time blogging, but I thought its a fine time to start blogging again. There are two main reasons why I'm starting to blog again:

1) According to my GMAT course, I'm a total FOB =(
2) I just read an interesting article (for EDUC 404) that was talking about blogs.

I'll try to blog at least once a week =P