Marchie

As a music teacher in Shanghai 🎶🎼🎵

Last two weeks of School Year 25–26!

For our final Grade 7 MYP Music unit, we are exploring Chamber Music, and students will be performing as part of a Chinese Orchestra.

Throughout the year, they have developed different musical skills—from reading and writing music to creating and now performing it. For this final task, students were assigned different orchestral parts and are responsible for preparing, learning and practicing their own parts.

To make sure everyone has a fair opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned, parts were assigned based on two simple factors: (1) students who already play an instrument were given parts that are closest to their experience, and (2) students with less instrumental experience were given more accessible parts so they can still be successful.

This is actually my first time running a Chamber Music unit, so I am just as excited as the students to see how everything comes together. 😅😁

I'm not even a guitar player, but carrying this electro-acoustic guitar case on my way home today somehow brought me back to my college days at PNU.

Back then, this was exactly how I imagined a music student would look. Funny enough, I entered Music Education with very little music knowledge and almost no real musical skills. Looking back, medyo makapal din pala mukha ko.

The truth is, around 90% of what I know now—including playing the piano—I learned in college. The remaining 10% is something I picked up along the way. TBH, parang sa 10 years ko sa basic ed, isa lang ata dun ung totoong music teacher. Hahaha (Mam Apilado, Novaliches Elementary School aka Rosa L Susano Elementary Schoo - who taught us how to read the staff and use sol-fa syllables)

Sometimes I laugh when I think about it. If you told my college-days self that one day I'd be conducting orchestras, performing with choirs, playing the piano, teaching music, and doing all the things he's doing now, he probably would've said, "Sure ka ba?"

Life really has a funny way of working out. Sometimes we have an idea of where we're going, but somehow we end up somewhere we never expected, someone's grand scheme of things—and that's not always a bad thing.

The education landscape in China is changing!

(see comment section for full details…)

Missing in Action. Proof of Life

To my followers (kala mo talaga napakadami eh. Hahaha) Apology for not giving updates regularly.

And thank you to friends turned family. Iba iba man kami ng work place, masaya pa din.

Congratulations, Grade 12 Class of 2026!

Your thoughts?

The OP is offering a job position in China where the employee will act as an assistant and tutor to the child of the CEO of the company and rhe CEO himself.

My take? Grabe yung mga ibang kapwa pinoy ano, kumita lang... Pinapabulaklak ung job description para magtunog legal! You cannot be an assistant to an office and tutor at the same time. It’s either one or the other! In addition, tutoring in China is technically illegal. People are to find loopholes to China’s labor law.

If you ever encounter this OP or any similar posts, please do not engage, no matter how desperate you are.

Last major weekend activity this school year!

And yes, parang this is the busiest school year ever since starting teaching in China. Every after two weeks atang may major ganap. 😅 But I am grateful for having some of the best co-workers I could ever have. 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻

The breakfast and the view!

Bahala na kayo mag isip kung ano ang breakfast at ano ung view. Haahahahaah

Anyway, grabe sobrang busy last month, actually for the last two months. Daming paganap sa school. Hahaha plus recently, wala akong ganang mag post post. Hahaha (tawang tawa yan? haha)

42 days and counting.

As an OFW, I’m still fortunate to receive credit card offers even if I’m no longer working in the Philippines.

But that doesn’t mean I have to activate every card offered to me.

Credit cards can be useful, but only if they fit your lifestyle and spending habits. Kahit mataas ang credit limit, if the card doesn’t align with how I manage my money, then it’s not for me.

So I called BPI and asked them to cancel the card ASAP.* Hindi unlimited ang pera nating mga OFW.

So always be wais with spending. Credit cards are beneficial, but only when used properly. Ayern lang! 😅

BTW* I used Viber Out to call from abroad, super helpful for OFWs who need to contact Philippine banks without spending too much on international calls.