Sunday, April 30, 2006
Filipino table etiquette punished at local school (reposted from blooey's blog)
Filipino table etiquette punished at local school : Lunch monitor tells student his eating habits are ‘disgusting’
The Chronicle BY ANDY BLATCHFORD
A Roxboro woman has filed a formal complaint with a local school board after her son was disciplined by a lunch program monitor at Ecole Lalande for eating in what she says is a customary Filipino manner.
Luc Cagadoc’s table behaviour is traditionally Filipino; he fills his spoon by pushing the food on his plate with a fork, his mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, says. But after being punished by his school’s lunch program monitor more than 10 times this year for his mealtime conduct — including his technique — the seven-year-old told Gallardo said last week that he was too embarrassed to eat his dinner.
“Mommy, I don’t want to eat anymore,” Gallardo says Luc told her at the kitchen table April 11. “My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.”When he eats with both a spoon and fork, instead of only one utensil, the Grade 2 student said the lunch monitor moves him to a table to sit by himself.
Upset over Luc’s story, Gallardo confronted the lunchtime caregiver the next day and on April 13, she telephoned the school’s principal, Normand Bergeron. His reaction brought her to tears, she says. “His response was shocking to me,” Gallardo, who moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999, told The Chronicle. “He said, ‘Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.’“I find it very prejudiced and it’s racist. He’s supposed to be acting like a professional. This is supposed to be a free country with free expressions of culture and religion. This is how we eat; we eat with a fork and spoon.” Luc’s father, Aldrin Cagadoc, was also surprised by the comment. “I can’t believe even the principal would say that,” he said. “A person of that calibre, I wouldn’t expect him to say that.”
Gallardo, who operates a day care out of her Roxboro home and is close to completing her studies in early childhood education, wrote a letter last week and lodged a formal complaint to the Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys (CSMB) yesterday.
She disagrees with the lunch monitor’s approach to teaching children how to eat and says it is emotionally abusive to Luc. When she questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, she says he replied that, “If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.”
But Bergeron says it was Luc’s eating technique combined with his behaviour at the table that was inappropriate that day, which is why he was moved. “Luc can be turbulent,” he said yesterday. “Like other children, he is frequently in situations where we have to intervene. It’s normal, he’s a child. He is in a period of learning.”
The principal of the 387-student Roxboro school said he explained his position on using two utensils to Gallardo during their telephone conversation. “I said, ‘Here, this is not the manner in which we eat.’ “I don’t necessarily want students to eat with one hand or with only one instrument, I want them to eat intelligently at the table,” he said. “I want them to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them. That’s all I ask. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it, but it is not the way you see people eat every day. I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time.”
CSMB spokesman Brigitte Gauvreau says the board will not comment — due to confidentiality procedures — until Gallardo’s complaint is filed and she makes a public statement.
taken from http://www.westislandchronicle.com/pages/article.php?noArticle=6063
The Chronicle BY ANDY BLATCHFORD
A Roxboro woman has filed a formal complaint with a local school board after her son was disciplined by a lunch program monitor at Ecole Lalande for eating in what she says is a customary Filipino manner.
Luc Cagadoc’s table behaviour is traditionally Filipino; he fills his spoon by pushing the food on his plate with a fork, his mother, Maria Theresa Gallardo, says. But after being punished by his school’s lunch program monitor more than 10 times this year for his mealtime conduct — including his technique — the seven-year-old told Gallardo said last week that he was too embarrassed to eat his dinner.
“Mommy, I don’t want to eat anymore,” Gallardo says Luc told her at the kitchen table April 11. “My teacher is telling me that eating with a spoon and fork is yucky and disgusting.”When he eats with both a spoon and fork, instead of only one utensil, the Grade 2 student said the lunch monitor moves him to a table to sit by himself.
Upset over Luc’s story, Gallardo confronted the lunchtime caregiver the next day and on April 13, she telephoned the school’s principal, Normand Bergeron. His reaction brought her to tears, she says. “His response was shocking to me,” Gallardo, who moved to Montreal from the Philippines in 1999, told The Chronicle. “He said, ‘Madame, you are in Canada. Here in Canada you should eat the way Canadians eat.’“I find it very prejudiced and it’s racist. He’s supposed to be acting like a professional. This is supposed to be a free country with free expressions of culture and religion. This is how we eat; we eat with a fork and spoon.” Luc’s father, Aldrin Cagadoc, was also surprised by the comment. “I can’t believe even the principal would say that,” he said. “A person of that calibre, I wouldn’t expect him to say that.”
Gallardo, who operates a day care out of her Roxboro home and is close to completing her studies in early childhood education, wrote a letter last week and lodged a formal complaint to the Commission scolaire Marguerite Bourgeoys (CSMB) yesterday.
She disagrees with the lunch monitor’s approach to teaching children how to eat and says it is emotionally abusive to Luc. When she questioned Bergeron about punishing students for their table habits, she says he replied that, “If your son eats like a pig he has to go to another table because this is the way we do it and how we’re going to do it every time.”
But Bergeron says it was Luc’s eating technique combined with his behaviour at the table that was inappropriate that day, which is why he was moved. “Luc can be turbulent,” he said yesterday. “Like other children, he is frequently in situations where we have to intervene. It’s normal, he’s a child. He is in a period of learning.”
The principal of the 387-student Roxboro school said he explained his position on using two utensils to Gallardo during their telephone conversation. “I said, ‘Here, this is not the manner in which we eat.’ “I don’t necessarily want students to eat with one hand or with only one instrument, I want them to eat intelligently at the table,” he said. “I want them to eat correctly with respect for others who are eating with them. That’s all I ask. Personally, I don’t have any problems with it, but it is not the way you see people eat every day. I have never seen somebody eat with a spoon and a fork at the same time.”
CSMB spokesman Brigitte Gauvreau says the board will not comment — due to confidentiality procedures — until Gallardo’s complaint is filed and she makes a public statement.
taken from http://www.westislandchronicle.com/pages/article.php?noArticle=6063
Saturday, April 29, 2006
internship chronicles (part 1)
i have not really experienced working... working as in a real job. after graduating from college, i went straight to law school. so that explains it. although i've been through several internships or on-the-job trainings, it still is different. i'm currently having my internship at the ongkiko kalaw manhit & acorda law offices in makati. as compared to my previous internships, this is internship is, i could say, the closest i can get so far to a real job.
i attempted to go home to valenzuela after office, but i felt really tired after driving through the horrendous traffic in the metro. so i decided to just stay in palme starting last tuesday. the experience has been great thus far. besides the usual research stuff that the lawyers give us, we get to tag along with some hearings and go out of the office from time to time to go to the prosecutor's office or the court. i'm also enjoying the company of my co-interns, peewee and leah. after my first week at the office, i can say i'm really enjoying. probably because of the working environment in the office.
more of my internship adventures... Ü
----
some "interesting" stuff...
- parking costs 115 for the whole day. gawd, and i thought the 40-peso parking fee in rockwell was iniquitous
- i walked from the office (located near greenbelt 1) up to rockwell last wednesday. call me crazy but i had to because i can't get a cab to ride because of the so-called rush hour, and i had to get to get to rockwell the soonest possible time because there was a send-off dinner for the summer interns. it was OVERLY TIRING!!!
i attempted to go home to valenzuela after office, but i felt really tired after driving through the horrendous traffic in the metro. so i decided to just stay in palme starting last tuesday. the experience has been great thus far. besides the usual research stuff that the lawyers give us, we get to tag along with some hearings and go out of the office from time to time to go to the prosecutor's office or the court. i'm also enjoying the company of my co-interns, peewee and leah. after my first week at the office, i can say i'm really enjoying. probably because of the working environment in the office.
more of my internship adventures... Ü
----
some "interesting" stuff...
- parking costs 115 for the whole day. gawd, and i thought the 40-peso parking fee in rockwell was iniquitous
- i walked from the office (located near greenbelt 1) up to rockwell last wednesday. call me crazy but i had to because i can't get a cab to ride because of the so-called rush hour, and i had to get to get to rockwell the soonest possible time because there was a send-off dinner for the summer interns. it was OVERLY TIRING!!!
post-BOS '06 post
after holy week, the ateneo human rights center conducted its basic orientation seminar (BOS) for the 2006 summer interns. i was really excited because this is the "real opening" of SIP 2006. of course, another chance to work with (And make chismis) with my batchmates. hehe!
anyhow, the sked for the interns was lighter (at least, from where we see it) than ours last year. and our interns were so mabait. i remember last year... day 2 of BOS, i was late becasue i wanted to take a bath first before going to breakfast (or leaving the room, for that matter). so the following days saw us (me and my batchmates) going to breakfast first before going to the conference room. this year... day 2 of BOS, i was the facilitator for the day, i went down with flory at 7:30am (call time for breakfast), all the interns were already there and had already finished taking their baths. i was really stunned. hehe!
i'm just so happy that the BOS was successful, minus the dismal attendance of junketeers during the cultural night. this was because, fr. b held his talk on the same time and day. fine, fine, i'm not faulting anyone. hehe!
speaking of cultural night... pictures really do tell stories. see for yourselves... (no captions needed!)
CONGRATS to my batchmates, the BUYONEROS, for a successful BOS! good thing, ok din yung immersion and the send-off dinner!
<----- buyoneros during BOS '06 (top: hector. middle row: che-che, bekih, jhun, roksee, val, bhoyet. bottom row: emerson, veron)
by the way, we have new names. thanks to anna's (err... veron pala) bright idea. how to come up with the name, just look at the person then suddenly, a name comes to your mind that fits the person. (i.e. si chel mukhang che-che! bagay! hehe!)
on to another adventurous summer with my batchmates, now as facis of SIP 2006.
the buyoneros with batch paglaom (SIP 2006) -------->
top: philip, marge, francis, mon L, mon A
middle: peng, jehan, hope, janice, ben, kath, eyps, chel, me, april
bottom: anna, jason, flory, lea, sher
anyhow, the sked for the interns was lighter (at least, from where we see it) than ours last year. and our interns were so mabait. i remember last year... day 2 of BOS, i was late becasue i wanted to take a bath first before going to breakfast (or leaving the room, for that matter). so the following days saw us (me and my batchmates) going to breakfast first before going to the conference room. this year... day 2 of BOS, i was the facilitator for the day, i went down with flory at 7:30am (call time for breakfast), all the interns were already there and had already finished taking their baths. i was really stunned. hehe!
i'm just so happy that the BOS was successful, minus the dismal attendance of junketeers during the cultural night. this was because, fr. b held his talk on the same time and day. fine, fine, i'm not faulting anyone. hehe!
speaking of cultural night... pictures really do tell stories. see for yourselves... (no captions needed!)
CONGRATS to my batchmates, the BUYONEROS, for a successful BOS! good thing, ok din yung immersion and the send-off dinner!
<----- buyoneros during BOS '06 (top: hector. middle row: che-che, bekih, jhun, roksee, val, bhoyet. bottom row: emerson, veron)
by the way, we have new names. thanks to anna's (err... veron pala) bright idea. how to come up with the name, just look at the person then suddenly, a name comes to your mind that fits the person. (i.e. si chel mukhang che-che! bagay! hehe!)
on to another adventurous summer with my batchmates, now as facis of SIP 2006.
the buyoneros with batch paglaom (SIP 2006) -------->top: philip, marge, francis, mon L, mon A
middle: peng, jehan, hope, janice, ben, kath, eyps, chel, me, april
bottom: anna, jason, flory, lea, sher
Saturday, April 15, 2006
boracay get-away
i couldn't be happier (and re-charged) after my boracay vacation with my blockmates and friends. it's been eons since i posted an entry in my blog. obviously, life had been so busy in law school. and this summer get-away surely was a welcome break.
<--- picture on the van on the way to caticlan with cathy, mar and dykim. it was sooooo much fun. drinking and partying till 4am (almost) everyday. minus, the occasional glitches in our vacation like the delayed flight, rain in saturday night, lunch at tonton's (tonton's anyone?!?!), among others, i super had fun with the people. oh, who could ever forget the nightly slammer at pier one that made people fall down while dancing (hi shynne!). hehe!
@ pier one, boracay... the place of nightly slammers.
hehe! -------------------->
i can't write anything more, but pictures do tell stories (naks! tinatamad lang mag-isip ng isusulat. hehe!)
<----- after paraw sailing Ü
<--- picture on the van on the way to caticlan with cathy, mar and dykim. it was sooooo much fun. drinking and partying till 4am (almost) everyday. minus, the occasional glitches in our vacation like the delayed flight, rain in saturday night, lunch at tonton's (tonton's anyone?!?!), among others, i super had fun with the people. oh, who could ever forget the nightly slammer at pier one that made people fall down while dancing (hi shynne!). hehe!
@ pier one, boracay... the place of nightly slammers.
hehe! -------------------->
i can't write anything more, but pictures do tell stories (naks! tinatamad lang mag-isip ng isusulat. hehe!)
<----- after paraw sailing Ü
snorkling yan kahit na mukhang mga nasa monkey bar. hehe! ---------------->
<---- at puka beach (think puka shells) after lunch at tonton's (L-R: peewee, cathy, shynne, cecille, julie, me)
banana boat ride... woohoo! mga nalalaglag na, pa-picture pa rin ang inaatupag. haha! -------------->
<---- @ jonah's milkshake (clockwise from bottom: kq, julie, renee, shynne, me, ces, peewee, jacqui, john paul, aren, cathy)
partying the night away @ club paraw (L-R: joei, ces, julie, me) ----------->
<----- @ the beach kasama ang "head" ng bar-ops (L-R: me, dykim, ces, peewee at ang nakabaon na si jacqui, head ng bar-ops)
somewhere in aklan
na may cold springs (L-R: ces, julie, dykim, peewee, me, aren, renee, cathy, shynne, kq, cathy, teng) si john paul ang kumukuha ng picture ------->
more pictures to come. hehe! Ü
i'm excited for our next vacation get-away. haha!Ü
