Love on Valentine's Day

This semester I happen to handle ‘value education’ subjects in some classes, from grade three until grade six. So far, we have discussed some various topics, such as healthy food, talents, dream jobs, hobbies, pets, kind of friends they love to have, until love.

When discussing ‘love is ...’ in grade 6 some weeks ago, I found some funny and unpredictable answers from my students.

“Love is yucky ...” one male student exclaimed.

“Love is not appropriate for kids, it is only for adults,” another student answered.

“Love is icky!” another student remarked.

But there are also some ‘nice’ answers, such as

“Love is romantic, it is about two hearts united together,” a pretty student said.

“Love is understanding,” another female student sweetly said.

The most unpredictable answer was, “love brings pain!” a male student wrote it.

However when I led the discussion to love between parents and children, everybody agreed that love is great.
Nearing Valentine’s Day, last week I asked my students to make a Valentine’s card from a very simple material: one piece of blank white paper. Before asking them to do that, I said that love is the core of all values, to make a better and more peaceful world. You can guess many of them made the card for their parents. Some others made it for their classmates (by writing ‘I love you as friends’), some others made for their siblings, and some made for themselves.  and one student made it for his adorable female classmate.

Below are some impressive, funny and touching writings in the cards. I don’t mention the names though.

1.    (a 6th grader):
I hope you get a soul mate. Tips for broken heart /a/ just sit in the porch /2/ drink coffee and eat biscuits. Happy Valentine’s Day

2.    (a 4th grader):
Dear friends, happy valentine’s day! Sorry, I didn’t give chocolate to you, I’m so sorry. Is that ok? I hope so. But thank you so much to cheer me up when I’m sad. Love. I.

3.    (a 5th grader):
To my pet, Y. (she wrote a name of one classmate). Thank you for torturing me this year! :) Remember,  I had fed you like a pet. Also being in the bathroom just for you to take a bath, but I still love my REAL pet. Arrrgghhh ...
And the last is for my fat Grandma and bony Grandpa.

Thanks for making me angry every day because you like to tease! But I still like your cooking, though I’m curious when you hug me because I think you’re just playing a drama that you love me but in fact you don’t. Still, you are my only fattest cuddly grandma.

And for my Grandpa, thanks for giving me everything I want, but it’s just, you’re very scary when you are angry. Just don’t be that EMOTIONAL.

4.    (a 6th grader)
To my sister. Thank-you list.

1. Thank you for being there for me even when I’m sick
2. Thank you for cheering me up when I’m down in the mouth
3. Thank you for being annoying (sometimes)
4. Thank your for your generosity (even sometimes it’s useless)
5. Thank you sista.

5.    (a 6th grader)

Hearts for the girl I adore, my favorite girl. Happy valentine’s day, xxxx the girl I love.

6.    (a 6th grader)
Happy valentine’s day. To my Mom.
Thank you for your love and care for me.
Thank you for the protection for this journey of mine.
Thank you for the lucky life I have from the live you gave.
Your son.

7.    (a 5th grader)
To my DAD who like to disturb me with NO REASON! And MOM!
DON’T YOU MOCK ME! I LOVE GAMES!
Anyway, thanks for letting me play games! And for accompanying me to ride roller coasters. You’re the best DAD I could ever have. But your pinch was really hurt. But I love you DAD. But why do you even like to disturb me?
I LOVE YOU TOO MOM!
Mom, I have questions for you!
Why are you angry with me when my brother disturbs me?
Why do you always play with your BB when I’m asking you something and you get angry?
Mom, I love you but you like to force me to do things I don’t wanna do!

8.    (a 6th grader)
with love from me.
To my beloved family that includes: parents, grand parents, cousins, uncle and aunt: have a lovable valentine’s day! Hugs and kisses. I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU.
The fact that I took most samples from grade 6 students is because there are more students in grade 6 () and also because they are more creative in expressing themselves (due to their age)? In other classes, they wrote almost similar things.

There will always be nice stories to share on Valentine’s Day, do you agree?

GL7 11.50 130212

Some comments from my other blogsite

delete reply rudal2008 wrote on Feb 13 Selamat hari Valentine ya......

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 13 rudal2008 said Selamat hari Valentine ya...... thank you Rud, happy Valentine's Day for you too ya?

delete reply onit wrote on Feb 13 thx for sharing.. yep interesting writing.. quite diverse & creative :)

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 13 they are really unpredictable by me :)

delete reply rembulanku wrote on Feb 13 duitku habis buat beli coklat murahan untuk temen2 tapi bukan dalam valentin sekedar ungkapan terima kasih krn mereka sudah menerimaku dan bersedia jadi temanku :D

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 13 wahhh ... tapi juga dapat coklat sebagai balasan kan ya La? :)

delete reply rembulanku wrote on Feb 13 afemaleguest said wahhh ... tapi juga dapat coklat sebagai balasan kan ya La? :) ucapan terima kasih dan minta lagi :((

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 14 rembulanku said ucapan terima kasih dan minta lagi :(( huuaaaa??? ^_^

delete reply rembulanku wrote on Feb 13 happy valentine mbak Nana :D

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 13 sama-sama ya La, happy valentine ... lebih baik menyebar cinta dari pada benci kan ya? ^__^

delete reply dinantonia wrote on Feb 13 Agree :D

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Feb 13 ouch :-P

The Countess

THE COUNTESS

(A movie based on the life of Erzebet Bathory 1560-1614)

“History is a tale told by the victors. Barbaric warriors, mad kings, and greedy traitors. Maybe most of our histories are made of fables fabricated by those glorious victors. ” 

Istvan Thurzo in “The Countess” the movie.

Elizabeth (Erzebet) Bathory is very popular as one cruelest woman in the history. She was said to have murdered more or less 650 women “only” because she was greedy of youth and beauty. One accident that was caused by the splashes of one maid’s blood to her face – that she thought it had remarkable effect to make her skin look younger, softer, and fresher – triggered this heartless cruel act of hers.

Some articles in the internet do not explain what caused her greed of youth and beauty. However, the movie “The Countess” illustrated it. At her 39 years of age, Erzebet fell in love with a gorgeous man who was 18 years younger. His name was Istvan. They both were depicted to very passionately love each other. However, Istvan’s father – Gyorgy Thurzo who also wanted to marry Erzebet for power and wealth, not for love – tried his best to stop their passionate love, accusing that Erzebet only played his son’s heart. Meanwhile, Erzebeth’s most trusted ‘accomplice’ – Darvulia – also doubted Istvan’s true love. “Young people easily change their minds. He will find another woman soon,” said Darvulia to Erzebet.

Istvan’s disappearance without letting her know what was going on and Darvulia’s remarks made the tough Erzebet relent. She blamed her age. She believed if only she were younger, Istvan would not leave her. Therefore, when finding out that the blood of young virgin girls could make her skin look younger and softer, Erzebet started to be thirsty of those unfortunate girls’ blood.

As a child, Erzebet was raised to have cruel and merciless heart. Since she was very young, she was ‘trained’ to see merciless treatment toward poor peasants who happened to do crimes. When she was a teenager, she fell in love with a boy coming from a poor peasant family. As a result, the boy was tortured to death before Erzebet’s own eyes, while the baby she had from the boy was taken away directly after Erzebet gave birth.

Erzebet married the Hungarian baron Franz (Ferenc) Nadasdy at 15 – their marriage had been planned since Erzebet was born – and had three children from him. Nadasdy died after he returned from a war against the Turk. As a great warrior, from the war he gained a lot of wealth that Erzebet inherited after his death. Despite the fact that in that era a woman could not become a proprietor of wealth, the King could not object it since he had a lot of debt to Erzebet after the Turkish wars.

Erzebet’s murderous act was ‘safe’ until her accomplices started arresting daughters of lesser nobility. Gyorgy Thurzo – aiming to get more power and wealth – reported to the King about it while convincing him that by taking Erzebet to court would make his debt to the widow of Nadasdy gone. Conspiracy.

History is indeed written by the victors?

Erzebet is a loser then. History has made her notorious.

LG 15.36 040212

Religious Studies Classes in Primary School

Last semester I had an assignment to teach SOSE class (Society and Environment ... it can be considered equal to IPS subject in national school in Indonesia) in grade 4. As I wrote in one previous post, the materials to be discussed in the beginning of the book were about religions. (check this link) However, in the following chapters, the discussion was more on society.

This semester I no longer got that SOSE class in grade 4. However, I was assigned to handle ‘religion’ subjects in grade 3, 4, 5, and 6. As the teaching material, I downloaded it from this link. It means during this semester those classes will discuss – at a glance – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism and Sikhism.

Below is my record of talking about ‘Buddhism’ in grade three and four. FYI, none of the students is Buddhist.

“Why are we discussing Buddhism, Miss? Are you Buddhist?” one student asked me.

So I answered that I was not Buddhist and during the religion subject, we would discuss some religions, such as Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, etc, not just one particular religion in order that they know some other religions too, not just their own.

Two things that attracted as well as surprised the students were
•    Buddhists don’t have God to praise
•    Buddhists do not know the existence of heaven and hell

It is easily concluded the cause why they find the two things above strange is because they have been raised in families where the parents adhere to Abrahamic religions – such as Christianity and Islam. I have never found any student who is a Jewish yet. Abrahamic religions have similarities on the teachings about the existence of God and heaven and hell.

“Then who created the universe if there is no God according to Buddhists?” one student in grade 4 asked.

Luckily one topic of SOSE grade 4 we discussed last semester was about how this universe was created in Australian Aborigine people’s belief. It started with:

“Time began when the supernatural beings awoke and broke through the surface of the earth. ...”

The supernatural beings mentioned were not related by any deity or god that then were praised or worshiped by human beings. Therefore, I reminded the students on our discussion last semester. There are in fact many groups of people in the world who have their own knowledge on how this universe was created at the very first place where they do not related it to god. When the students cannot understand how those people think about the creation of the universe without involving any god, they had better be wise to think that it is possible for those people not to believe any god’s involvement in the existence of the universe. Then it is the best to respect each other’s belief.

“If Buddhist people do not believe in heaven and hell, so where will the dead go?” was another question.

Reincarnation and ‘moksha’ are the two words to answer that question. The main symbol of Buddhism is the wheel of life which symbolizes the cycle of life and rebirth. Buddhist people believe in being born again after death. They will get a better life if in the present life they are good people. On the contrary, they will get worse life if they are bad people. Or even worse they will not be born as human being, maybe an animal.

And when someone has a perfect life – where the life of Siddhatta Gotama is used as one example – he or she will ‘moksha’ after death, just ‘gone’ in the air, he or she will no longer be born.

“What kind of life did Siddhatta Gotama have?” asked one student.

The material explained a little:

“He lived in the fifth century BC and was a prince born into a rich family. He had an easy life. However when he saw the suffering of old age, sickness and death, he decided to renounce his life in the palace and live among the holy men of the day in search of truth and enlightenment.”

To explain further I said Siddhatta Gotama was a rich prince that then left his wealth because he thought it was not fair to live such an easy life while poverty and sickness was everywhere.

“What? Is he crazy or something? I don’t get it!” the same student commented. 

“Miss, it is difficult for me to believe in such teachings,” another student responded. Her parents are church activists.

Then I said to the students that the knowledge about Buddhism in religion class (later also other religions) is only for them to know and understand. It is not always to believe in.

GL7 13.23 19/01/12

Some comments from a next door site of mine

delete reply rembulanku wrote on Jan 19 PR menterjemahkan iki

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Jan 19 rembulanku said PR menterjemahkan iki wedew .... hihihihihi ... sakjane meh tak tulis dalam dua bahasa, nanging durung sempat nerjemahke :)

delete reply martoart wrote on Jan 20 afemaleguest said durung sempat nerjemahke :) gpp, kita sempat nungguin kok.

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Jan 25 martoart said gpp, kita sempat nungguin kok. belum sempet nerjemahin Kang ... sabar yaaa? :-D

delete reply onit wrote on Jan 19 afemaleguest said Siddhatta Gotama was a rich prince that then left his wealth because he thought it was not fair to live such an easy life while poverty and sickness was everywhere. “What? Is he crazy or something? I don’t get it!” hmm.. i got this when i was in middle school.. we say "life is not fair" not only when we're unfortunate, but also when we're fortunate compared to others. "we" doesn't apply to all people in the world, of course.

delete reply mawarangel wrote on Jan 20 "is only for them to know and understand. It is not always to believe in" sweet tapi sangat sukar diaplikasiin Mba, apalagi di daerah aku yg semi2 kampung,, bullying a/n agama masiiiiih aja terjadi,, *anak ku termsuk korban* dan sbg minor sy tak tau cara menasihatinya yg jujur (selama ini lebih ke cari aman: jgn dilawan, lapor guru, diemin aja) padahal -jujur- aku mau bilang "tinju aja mukanya", but they're just 4th grade,,

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Jan 25 mawarangel said "is only for them to know and understand. It is not always to believe in" sweet tapi sangat sukar diaplikasiin Mba, apalagi di daerah aku yg semi2 kampung,, bullying a/n agama masiiiiih aja terjadi,, *anak ku termsuk korban* dan sbg minor sy tak tau cara menasihatinya yg jujur (selama ini lebih ke cari aman: jgn dilawan, lapor guru, diemin aja) padahal -jujur- aku mau bilang "tinju aja mukanya", but they're just 4th grade,, aku juga bingung ketika seorang sobat curhat ke aku tentang bullying yang menimpa anak-anaknya, dilakukan oleh tetangganya pula, di kota yang ga kecil-kecil amat lho menurutku, Cimahi, masih dekat Bandung ..

delete reply dinantonia wrote on Jan 21 what an interesting class u have! :)

edit delete reply afemaleguest wrote on Jan 25 dinantonia said what an interesting class u have! :) yeah ... I do enjoy it :)