20th July, 2000 (Thursday) Shiny

1.

Vicky burst into tears intensely outside the school when Amy and I arrived at around 9:00 a.m. It has never been my intention to hurt the little heart and she cried because of the long-awaited call that I didn't eventually make. My sympathy towards her grew, so did my desire to train her to be stronger and tougher in the face of new changes and challenges. I gave her a warm hug and it was only until then did I realize that she was so fragile and vulnerable. All misunderstanding went away after thorough communication and she in the end put on a simile on her face again. It's true, the only thing that will never get punished is forgiving.

2.

Amy and I would like to have some shopping time of our own in the town. We went down to the Dolphin Centre together, but we visited different places for our own acquaintances back home. I made a fourth visit to high street and my initial enthusiasm about shopping in a British-style street dwindled. The need to get something typical of England drove me to make another two comebacks later towards the end the trip. When it was time to go back, we met Dennis, the panel chairperson in the English Department of St. Paul Boys'? College, at the bus stop and we had a chat on our way back to school. He was also heading for our school as 30-odd boys put in his care had just arrived from Hong Kong at Poole the previous day. The boys from St. Paul were on a separate programme with the Eagle School and they preferred to form groups among themselves rather than learn with other international students. Anyway, throughout the remaining days of our trip, we didn't really have much engagement / active dialogue with one another and they stayed on for another two weeks after we're gone.

3.

Lunch went on as usual. The project session in the afternoon continued well into three o'clock in the afternoon, again an hour earlier than scheduled. Amy went back home for a rest as she started to show sign of fatigue. Vicky felt sick in the middle of the course and she felt like going back home for a rest. Being the only teacher in her sight, I accompanied her until we got back to her place in Poundlane street. Afterwards, I walked back to school to make sure all the kids knew when and where to meet for the coach down to the Poole Quay as a firework display would be held there that night (in fact, on every Thursday night.)

4.

We arrived at the Poole Quay a lot earlier than the time for firework display. Amy and I took a group of 10 kids to the King's Knight bar for a drink. To our surprise there was a section for people under the age of 18 and those junior form kids could therefore have a license to be there. Going to bars seemed to be a 'luxury' to young kids as most of them have never been allowed to get inside a pub so openly. We did have a great time there before we proceeded to an area where a variety of game stalls were scattered along the Quay. Crowds were getting bigger and bigger and we had to struggle through the crowds before we could move forward. The day was drawing close and I could feel the excitement of all happy hearts around us. When the clock struck nine, an explosion could be heard from far away in the sky and debris of the fireworks was seen dropping from the sky like snowflakes, but it could never reach the round. The moment of glory captured thousands of hearts on the site, and the magnificent view in front of us represented new hope and faith. The state of euphoria only lasted for 20 minutes, but it had already made a strong impact on people coming from places thousands of miles away. The moments of excitement was then followed quickly by moments of silence when all visitors dispersed in twos and threes in all directions. Judging from our students' facial expressions, I could be rest assured that that was the night all students would find enjoyable.

5.

There were some irregularities as to our students'? conduct. Alex Yiu and Peter Chiu were initially accused of teaching some German and Italian guys foul languages. After listening to both sides of the story, I did believe that Alex Yiu and Peter were wrongly accused and there was no conclusive evidence of what they were thought to have done. The benefits of doubts went to the accused and I did believe that they did behave honorably in the class. It is better to let the guilty go rather put an innocent person into treachery.