I'm still alive. Sorry for the lack of updates on my part. I've been rather busy with work/school. I told myself last time I quit teaching that I would never teach again, and I've been remembering why.....Teaching is exhausting. There's so much to plan for, so many details...you're never done. But, so far, this experience has been more rewarding than either of the two years I taught before. Probably in large part because I'm not teaching "special ed", but
"regular" kindergarten. Actually, so far, my students are great, relatively easy going and very bright. I've only got two right now, but five more are scheduled to come in this month and we expect to grow to at least 15-20 before the end of the school year.
The school is great too. It's so diverse. I've only taught in predominantly black inner city schools before, so this is a real switch. I love the make-up of the school. There are student's from all over the world attending there. I keep thinking what an extraordinary experience it is for these students to have such a diverse group of classmates and friends. They really are very privileged in the best sense. And the teaching staff is diverse as well, several are from Australia, and several are from Singapore, but there are only two people on the kindergarten staff from North America (me and a Canadian). The differences in cultures are fascinating. I'm going to learn so much from my students and the other staff members.
And now for something completely different......Thailand was great. We saw a puffer fish when we were snorkeling which was very exciting for me. The trip was very relaxing at a time when I was very stressed out. It was also nice to spend some quality time with Mark. We're both so busy with our respective jobs these days that it was really good to spend some time together away from home/work. Ko Samui was shockingly built up though. This shouldn't have surprised me, because there are direct flights there from Singapore and if there are direct flights then you should expect a highly developed tourist infrastructure. But they had Starbucks and Pizza Hut. And as much as I like Starbucks here in S'pore, I don't want to see it on vacation in supposedly pristine beach towns. Still, Ko Samui was very nice, and very easy which was what we wanted.
I have a week off in April for Spring Break. Hopefully we'll be able to go somewhere a little more off the beaten path then. Maybe the Maldives or Perhentian Islands