It’s the first day of my March holidays!

No, I haven’t gotten my bearings wrong. The preschool conveniently closed their doors for staff training yesterday, leaving yours truly to spend the day with my kids. Only one word can describe my feelings: sianz (weary). But I made the best out of it. I actually took my PSLE Science series to Bird Paradise

I didn’t have it easy today, either. Changed the order of my son’s name recently, which meant that I had to brave the queues at two banks to facilitate the change to his savings accounts. Even had to wait for two hours at POSB because I was woefully unaware that today is the day when our Malay friends secure crisp new notes for the upcoming Hari Raya.

Yes, I was prepared. Don’t you know that I bring a book with me everywhere I go? But this post isn’t about how unflappable I am.

It’s about the nice customer service agent at POSB who broke the ice by asking, “So, you speak Japanese?” That was invitation for me to exchange pleasantries and even ask her about the colour of the baju karung she has selected for her New Year. She asked other questions, such as how I met my wife, how many children I have, do they speak Japanese, etc.

Now, maybe because I’m an extrovert, that’s why I don’t mind these potentially intrusive questions into my life. But, because I am extroverted, I really appreciated how she humanised what could have been a cold and stale interaction. She could have just kept to herself and endured the onslaught of a busy day, but she chose to bring 💯 of herself to me.

It perked me up. I hope to do likewise for my students and colleagues even though teaching can be a walk-on-a-precarious-tightrope kind of job.