Teachers

Recently, I've actually had many occasions to reflect on some of the wonderful teachers I have come across in the past year. Over a wonderful lunch at Elixir yesterday (I had a wonderful beet root salad, elk carpaccio and sticky toffee pudding), I had a really interesting conversation with FC, an uncle who had spent his entire pre-retirement career in education. We discussed his thoughts on what is wrong with the education system in Hong Kong as well as the similar educational pitfalls facing Chinese children in Vancouver.

In Hong Kong, there has been a lot of talk about the failure of current education reforms. Parents blame the poor quality of teachers, students blame the pressures placed on them, teachers blame incompetent administrators and overly-demanding parents. Everyone is pointing the finger at someone else. We often hear that kids aren't learning today what they need to be successful tomorrow, because the education system is broken. So parents, who feel their children aren't getting the education they need, push their children into after-school tutorial classes. At the end of the day, many Hong Kong students end up doing double desk time, while learning less.

In all this discussion, I can't help thinking that we've lost sight of what learning is all about and forgotten who teachers really are. The most important thing about learning is that it's a life-long process; it's not about how many tests a student can ace or how many degrees a person earns. We should never get to the point where we think we have all the answers. In fact, it should be the opposite -- the more one learns, the more unanswered questions we find. So the most important teachers are the ones who can encourage that thirst for knowledge and learning. This is actually not something that needs to be taught; most young children have this already. The irony is that it is often in school that this curiosity and enthusiasm for learning is sapped. Students are often labeled as "difficult" if their minds wander and start asking too many questions that are outside of the hour's lesson plan. But those are probably the students who are most actively learning, because they are trying to grapple with the subject matter in their own way. Yet we should recognize that teachers have a difficult job to do, trying to juggle a classroom-full of 40 active minds. And they often have to do it within rather restrictive parameters. So we need to accept that schoolteachers cannot teach everything a student needs to learn.

Teachers, in fact, are not just the people who stand in front of a classroom. We often think that we can only learn from people who have been to well-known schools. But knowledge is everywhere for the taking and everyone has something to teach; it is simply a matter of whether we choose to recognize this. We place too much faith and responsibility in so-called experts to give us answers when the person next door without the degree from Harvard in all likelihood has something even more relevant and enlightening to contribute to our learning. Recently, I've been reminded of this in my conversations with a shopkeeper, a barrista and a mover. Each person tipped me off to something interesting, which made me question old assumptions. This is why it's so important to be with and engage in conversations with people who are seemingly different from us. FC lamented the fact that private schools in the Vancouver area are predominantly Chinese, and he saw this as a real obstacle in these Chinese-Canadians' education. "Chinese parents think they're too good for public schools, that their children will end up learning all the wrong things from these other seemingly less-privileged children. In reality, they're depriving their children of a real education." FC said.

So I need to thank BDL, who gets the teacher-of-the day award, for sparking off this post by sending me the incredibly inspiring video that follows of Professor Randy Pausch's last public lecture at Carnegie Mellon University entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" (It's over an hour-long, but it's well worth the time). His lecture, full of the kind of common sense that we all know but oftentimes find much harder to live by, so neatly sums up much of what I believe to be true.

Old Town Scottsdale Refreshed

It's been fours years since I was last in Scottsdale. Back then, Scottsdale Fashion Square and Biltmore Fashion Park were the two main hang-outs, with Biltmore having the higher end shops. Since then, the area south of Cambelback (i.e. the Nordstrom side of the mall) is being developed into the Waterfront, a mix of residential, retail and office space. I used to remember Stetson Drive, Fifth and Sixth Avenues as being uninteresting for its overabundance of shops selling cowboy boots, southwestern turquoise and silver, chunky belt buckle and jewelery among other cheesy Southwestern souvenir shops. That area is now undergoing quite a transformation, part of which is the new SouthBridge development, which does not take in any chain stores as its retail tenants. Whereas once "irrelevant" might have been the word used to describe the scene along those streets, now people use the words "trendy" and "glam" to describe the area and its much younger clientele.

I spent a couple hours one afternoon strolling around the area. The highlight of my walk was a stop in g2 Gallery, where I came across the intricately-zen works of Kaoru Mansour (collages on a celadon-crackle background) and the whimsically-sureal works of Patrick LoCicero.


Also worthy of mention:
Fine's Cellar -- An absolute godsend after nearly a week of drinking Starbucks' watered-like coffee (The Starbucks experience, for some strange reason, is so much better in Asia; at least there is the smell of coffee when walking into a Hong Kong Starbucks. I was glad to hear that Howard Schultz is taking the reins once again as CEO after seeing its share price take a nose dive in 2007.). I had tried The Coffee Bean and Coffee Plantation, which were marginally better. But it was the Caffé Mokarabia in Fine's Cellar that put the smile back on my caffeine-addicted face. And from the name, they also have a very fine wine cellar.
Lululemon -- Even though I'm spending a considerable amount of time in Vancouver, the hometown of Lululemon, I couldn't resist walking into the store since it was right behind Fine's Cellar. The store only opened three weeks ago, but they have a wide selection of styles. I didn't have time to check out any yoga studios this time around, but the Lululemon staff suggested I try At One Yoga.
Rejuvenation -- Just across the street from Fine's Cellar is this rather chic-looking Thai massage and private yoga/mat pilates center.
The Mix @ SouthBridge -- A collection of independent fashion and lifestyle boutiques including a beautiful floral design studio, Angelic Grove.

Vancouver: The Chill Life

Vancouver is such a chill city, where people never seem to be in a rush. I'll be spending much of this month in Vancouver with the objective of finishing Little Cream Book: Goodwill Shopping, which AC had started nearly a year ago. I've always had this fantasy of writing a book in an isolated cabin deep in the woods by a lake, somewhere in Maine or Northern California perhaps. This, of course, is pure fantasy. What if the plumbing fails and there's no hot water? What if the electricity goes out? Or worse yet, what if there's no internet access or mobile phone network (scary, scenes from Misery flash through my mind)??!! Reality just isn't all that idyllic. Instead, being somewhere with no social engagements or friends and family nearby is probably as close as I'll realistically get to that distraction-less, isolated log cabin fantasy.

So for January 2008, this blog should be renamed a Little Chill Life. I doubt much will vary from today, which was spent:
1. Reading the New York Times over a cappuccino and bagel in Cito espresso, one of those rare instances where I forgo my usual Starbucks even though it's just across the street.

2. Sending my poor iBook to Mac Station to see if it can be resucitated from it's flashing-question-mark start-up state. Even though it will take 3 weeks to fix, I am not stressed. For that, I must be grateful to google and the emergence of cloud computing, which enables me to keep working from any computer with an internet connection since my emails and most recent documents can be found in gmail and even the working draft of Goodwill Shopping is on google docs.

3. Researching fair trade, developing world social enterprises for five, uninterrupted hours. Came across some inspiring organizations such as Agros International and Right to Play's Red Ball initiative, which won't make it into the book but are worthy of mention.

4. Practising Anusara yoga at Yaletown Yoga. They list one of their instructors as Paige, and I wonder if it's the same Paige who just left Pure Yoga in Hong Kong a few months back.

5. Buying Oliver Sacks' new book, Musicophilia, from Book Warehouse, where the staff really do know what they stock and sell. I overheard the guy recommending several books to another customer, so when I was paying for my book, I asked whether he had read any good books lately. He suggested Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. I'd never heard of Philip Pullman or the trilogy, but when the guy mentioned The Golden Compass as the first in the trilogy, I blurted out, "Oh, you mean the Nicole Kidman/Daniel Craig movie! Have you seen the movie?" He had, but of course, found the books much better: "The books have good people doing bad things and bad people doing good things, but the movie simplifies the story with good people doing the good things and bad people doing the bad things." The plot line was a bit confusing, something to do with a girl from Oxford who travels between worlds to stop an oppressive "authority" from cutting off the connection between people and their souls, which appear as talking animals. Hmm...maybe I'll just go and see the movie.

But then again, I have the luxury of time.

Last day of 2007: On the slopes of Whistler

A day skiing and snowboarding on the slopes of Whistler was the perfect way to end 2007. The only other time I've been to Whistler was between Christmas and Millennium New Year (by New Year's Eve, I was in Napa Valley). It was a very different village back then. These days, Whistler is gearing up for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Certainly, shopping is much improved.

Generally, I prefer skiing in European resorts such as Lech and Cortina, my 2 favourites. European skiing offers everything that I love -- great skiing with mid-morning stops for a gluhwein or bombardino, gourmet mountain restaurants where a few glasses of wine at lunch sets me in the perfect mindset to brave the afternoon's chopped-up slopes, lively apres-ski, good shopping and Michelin-starred restaurants for dinner.

For the past three years though, there has been a serious shortage of snow in the European resorts. So this year, I decided to give North America, specifically Whistler-Blackcomb, a try. Whistler certainly has not disappointed on the snow front. To date, the resort has gotten 13 feet of snow. With visions of white, fluffy slopes dancing in my head, I was very much looking forward to spending the last day of 2007 on the slopes.

It was one of those rare sunny days in Whistler. For much of December, the resort had been covered by a blanket of snow clouds. My ski and snowboard instructor for the day introduced himself as Chicky Boom Boom, apparently so named for his love of Dusty's chicken wings and beer. Only at the end of the day, when he handed me his name card, did I find out his real name. We spent the morning skiing Whistler, with a beautiful run from Peak to Creekside, then switching to snowboarding Blackcomb in the afternoon. Of the two mountains, Whistler's slopes tend to be more crowded. When he's not an instructor in Whistler, he runs his own business, Velosports Asia, importing high-end bicycles to Korea. Ski, snowboard and running (he also trains triathletes) tips aside, his most interesting comment was that his father's bankruptcy actually allowed him to grow up a happier person. Food for thought heading into 2008 -- If you don't fall when skiing/boarding, you're not going to improve. If you don't fail, you'll never reach your true potential. All that from a guy who likes to be called Chicky Boom Boom.

Have yet to come across good mountain lunching spots, but I did have a few other good meals at:
Ciao Thyme, Blackcomb -- Even though I wasn't hungry from jet lag, I ended up eating most of the salmon platter (salmon jerky, candied salmon, salmon pate and smoked salmon) ordered for sharing along with my own warm goat cheese salad.
Celadon, Whistler -- Week-old Korean restaurant in Hilton's arcade. Loved the spare ribs and grilled rice cakes.
Fifty Two 80 Bistro, Blackcomb -- Had a wonderful breakfast at the Four Season's restaurant with great views of the mountain. Love their service, got everything I asked for -- a copy of the New York Times (even though it was only the Times Digest, but it was good enough for me), ordered mixed berries fruit bowl with just strawberries and the bagel with smoked salmon came with so much salmon that I had to pack most of it to go.

Stayed at Sundial Hotel. The location is very convenient for rolling out of bed and onto the slopes (it's right in front of the Blackcomb gondola in Whistler Village, just steps away from Whistler Village Gondola). The rooms are spacious with a well-equipped kitchen, and guests have the option of ordering groceries online before arrival. However, it is slacking in some common hotel amenities. Minibar, room service and an entertainment center in the sitting room would be much-appreciated additions.

Am now looking forward to closing out the Year of the Pig and ringing in the Year of the Rat on Whistler's slopes early next month and having a whole week to check out more restaurants and hotels such as the soon-to-open Nita Lake Lodge!