My working experience

For the past three or so weeks (after returning from Beijing), I'd been working in a music academy near my house. It had been a great experience being able to work (and considering the fact that it's my first time working for a real pay). I made friends with the teachers there and got to know them quite well. It is quite a shame that I had to leave them after I began to really enjoy and love my work. The teachers and the principal insisted that if possible, I am to continue working on Saturday. But that is a decision that I will make, and honestly, it's quite impossible for me to take up that offer.

During my three weeks of working there, I'd been respected and regarded. I noticed that among all the staff in the academy, there is a mutual respect and understanding. Of course, there were also moments whereby the teachers do not have lessons to teach and they cracked jokes, which made me laughed most of the time there. Occasionally, they would even tease me (maybe because I'm the only guy working as a part-time administrator? There are two other male teachers.) but on the whole, everyone enjoyed each other's company.

During my three weeks in the music academy, I had been greatly revered as a good Classical pianist. You see, nowadays, many people who can play the piano only choose to play popular songs; very rarely do you see people, especially of my age, still stuck with Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin and Debussy. In that music academy, some of the composers whom I have named sound new to the teachers, too! One teacher who is planning to take her Grade 8 piano (she's got a diploma for Organ) even asked me to demonstrate one particular bar which she couldn't play properly. Like many others, her major is in Jazz, not Classical.

Although the teachers are nice, some of them often got frustrated by the kind of students they have. One in particular told her mother that she loves to learn the piano, so the mother sent her for music lessons. The teacher, however, had a terrible headache teaching the little girl as the latter is so lazy and choosy with the types of songs to play. She would refuse to play songs that she doesn't like. The teacher had to choose certain songs, demonstrate it once for the little girl and ask her if she likes it. Here is one of the dialogues that I heard and saw:

Teacher: Lagu ini awak suka tak? (Do you like this song?)

Little girl: (smiling) Suka... (I like...)

Teacher: (feels happy and hopeful that the girl has changed her attitude. She starts to smile, too, only to hear the next phrase.)

Little girl: (frowns immediately and stoops her head) Tapi susah... (But it's difficult...)

Teacher: (hopes shattered like the collapse of a card tower) =_="

Here's another one:

Teacher: (in frustration) Separuh campur separuh, berapa? (How much is half and half?)

Student: Tak tahu. (I don't know)

Teacher: Separuh campur separuh, satulah. (Half and half equals one)

The teacher walks out for a while and returns, only to find that the student has written the answer as half again, instead of one.

Teacher: Tadi saya sudah cakap, kan? Separuh campur separuh itu berapa? (Haven't I said it before? How much is half and half?)

Student: (after a while) Setengah? (Half?)

Teacher: (exasperated)

There you have it, some of the most frustrating moments of teaching. However there were also some memorable moments of teaching. I was lucky that the principal had given me some good students to teach, too. There is this particular boy who learns the organ and piano. I was given the opportunity to teach him piano and theory, and dear me! I could finish teaching him the subject that I wanted to complete for that day. With his open-mindedness and quick-to-absorb attitude, I could accomplish my goal for the day. It was indeed a very satisfying moment for me. I could now appreciate how it feels like to be able to accomplish the day's goal as a teacher. It was indeed frustrating that sometimes I couldn't finish the day's syllabus for some of my other students. Well, there are slow learners so we have to just keep up with them, right?

Overall, the music academy had been very hospitable to me. The staff there are very courteous and humorous. I wouldn't regret working there again during my next end-of-semester break!