Job Discussion Forums

bnix · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 645

If I could choose one moment to go on forever...it would be the time i was walking along the beach on Joal(a beach south of Dakar,Senegal) with three of my best friends.We had just bought some bottles of Flag beer...but it was warm.Then,virtually out in the middle of nowhere,we ran across an ICE FACTORY.Simple ,but the time I remember most.
There is a movie called "The Moment"(I have never seen it,but have read reviews of it) concerning this subject.I believe it may be a Japanese film.
Favorite moments.And yes,I already know what some of you guys(and maybe some of the ladies,too) are thinking.But, please,let's try to keep it CLEAN. Smile

Marcoregano · Joined: 19 May 2003 Posts: 872 Location: Hong Kong

I suspect that this thread won't be taken seriously by many, but here goes(and this MIGHT be my last post for a while).....bnix...you didn't specify that posts should be in the TESL context - but mine is. Not exactly a 'moment', but there was a time in Korea a few years ago when I became aware that:
1.The natives hadn't eaten me and my job was OK and well paid
2. I had money in the bank for the first time in years
3. I had found a new and very promising relationship (no, b4 someone makes a smartass comment, not a Korean)
For a while I was as happy, perhaps happier, than I had ever been and it's nice to remember it.

bnix · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 645

Well,yeah,knowing some of the types lurking out there.Marco,I would be extremely surprised if everybody took the thread seriously.But that is okay.Of course,it cn be in a TESOL or non-TESOL context.Not being in a TESOL context has not stopped many posts in the past here...

Wolf · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 1245 Location: Middle Earth

I'll take this seriously.

Most of the "good" moments in my life have been anticlamatic. Finding jobs in new countries, etc, when I know that I'll be scraping by for the next couple of years.

There was the day I finally paid off my student loan. 2 years of scraping by, and finally I was debt free. Kind of overshadowed by the fact that a decision was made to close my entire company 2 weeks afterwards, though (they lied to us, but I knew.)

They day I got my own apartment for the first time. Having a place to call my own felt good.

"Bittersweet."

7:14 am Tuesday Nov 23, 1999. This was when I said goodbye to everyone and got on the plane. Haven't been able to afford my way back for a visit since. I knew then it would be a long time before my path took me home. With my expenses and salry, it will likely be at least another couple of years before I'll have to set my watch to Atlantic time.

Being fired in Japan. A financial blow, to be sure, but it gave me a good reason to go to grad school (Distance Learning.) I want to teach, but I want to get the best job I can. If that means breaking myself - again - to get that MA, then so be it.

Tong Dawei · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 215

I'm sorry but I think that pining away over how good it was at one point in your life is antithetical to living. This is by no means meant to be a flame and while I can relate to the amusement factor inherent in such an exercise I also think that it short changes the payback we get from being healthy and alive. I am a "stop and smell the roses/flowers" kind of guy. I will say that there have been many an occasion when external/internal conditions have allowed me to experience my personally defined cherished state of serenity (IM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE FAVORITE MALE PAST TIME Twisted Evil

). But i realize that to wish for this serenity to go on forever is not what living is about. Effort and toil interspersed with calm are part & parcel of life.

I realize that I have hijacked your thread and sincerely apologize for raining on your parade Embarassed

I just couldn't help myself!

tjpnz2000 · Joined: 22 May 2003 Posts: 118 Location: Japan

And back to business....

Mine is (or was?) lying on a beach about 2 hours north of Auckand last New Years morning, about 2 am, with all my closest friends looking up clearest most star filled sky I have ever seen, it was so clear that you could even see the `dust` (no idea what the technical term is, anbody?) between that stars.

I could go on for a page and a half about the combination of a dark rural area, the north's lack of pollution and how beautiful the souther cross looked on what must have been the cearest night of the year, but I think that will be enough.

The strangest and best thing was that put on specially for us. A moment I that made me feel very small and that I will always carry.

T

Roger · Joined: 19 Jan 2003 Posts: 9138

There are TWO kinds of sweet memories in my life:
- The totally UNIQUE ones, unpredictable as to when they occur;
- the ones I can recreate, i.e. memories I can refresh by going to
visit certain places or see certain folks.

The first kind keeps everybody going, I suppose. It is like mountaineering - once you are on a mountain top you can't see beyond the next peak, so you climb down and tackle the next one.
The last time I experienced this kind of fond sensation was when Linda told me "I have been waiting for your telephone call all week...". Linda was my latest flame, and a special one with many ordinary Chinese characteristics but some extraordinary ones that I can never put out of my mind!
We did have to part company though - because she was in some ways a very common Chinese gal: manipulative and greedy, and this destroyed our relationship. But I can't forget her "I have been waiting for your telephone call all week..." - because IT WAS SO TRUE!

The other kind when I go to a place purely for nostalgic reasons. A few months ago, I visited Coloane Island, Macau. I retraced steps I had taken there with friends many years earlier. It was at a sandy beach with a campsite, very idyllic. It is neither particularly scenic nor very clean - but it is Macau's only swimmers' beach, and it is seldom full of people. And, every time I visit Macau, it is a pleasant 'deja vu' - with those graceful old Iberian buildings still intact, the restaurants offering fusion cuisine that combines Africa, Europe and the Orient...

MartinK · Joined: 01 Mar 2003 Posts: 344

PanamaTeacher · Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 278 Location: Panama

leaving the US at sunrise heading for an uncertain future in panama crying a little because it was a major life change

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Why, Panama, I never realised you were the sensitive type!
I'm having a ball at the moment in a summer camp in Spain with 93 kids aged 14 - 16. Some are really keen to learn, others would rather be somewhere else, but they're all great fun.
The other day some of the girls were flirting with a group of Italian tourists, whistling at them and asking, "Doo yoo speeek Eeengleesh?" I wouldn't have missed it for the world.

PanamaTeacher · Joined: 26 Jun 2003 Posts: 278 Location: Panama

i was sensitive before the cantankerous bitterness set in Wink

soon i'll go back looking for a suburban bank job Wink

glad to hear you're having a good summer Smile

hasta luego amigo!

grahamb · Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945

Panama, I take it all back. This afternoon they were monsters! Never mind, tomorrow's another day.
Un fuerte abrazo.