Required reading from the New York Times. (Registration is required, unfortunately, but the NYT is worth registering for. It's free.)

At long last I too have a contract now to look over and sign. Our uncertain situation is gradually getting resolved, thankfully. I have been very, very busy at work; we have to scrape together a demo in a very short period of time; I'm polishing up my tap shoes for certain parts of it.

Mr. Rogers is dead. Some of my earliest memories were of watching his show. While it wasn't my absolute favorite as a kid, as I grew older I grew to realize what a class act this man was. It's a sad, sad day in the neighborhood.

CLASS LIST: I got a list of the little ones starting my class on Monday. One's just moved from Norway, the other moved here from Korea. I hope they both speak English! Only two to start with, but others will be arriving the following week: 3 from Japan, and 1 from the U.S. Two of the Japanese students do not speak English. I don't speak any Japanese. Should be interesting.
BTW, those of you interested in coming to visit us in Singapore now have another year to do so. I've signed a contract to stay and teach until July, 2004.

I'm so overwhelmed right now. I was expecting to have a couple of weeks to volunteer in this school and get to know the layout and the staff at a leisurely pace before getting work as a relief (substitute) teacher. Instead, I've got a crazy/mad week spent trying to get ready for a full-time class with kids who may or may not speak English and will be expecting me to teach them, full-time, on Monday!!! Isch.
I'm not complaining (or at least I'm trying not to). I'm very glad to have work. But the next few days/weeks are going to be draining.
On the plus side, the other teachers at the school seem sympathetic, and the principal is very nice. I really believe I'll enjoy this teaching experience much more then the other two years. And Mark and I are going to Thailand (Koh Samui) in a few weeks, so I'll get a nice little mini-vacation after my first week on the job!

GET A LIFE! Yesterday I was excited because, after a month or so of no social activities, Mark and I are starting to be asked to drinks and game nights by acquaintances. Also, I'd started volunteering at a school, so I was getting some minor career satisfaction. This morning, I was thinking "good for us, we finally got a life"....Well now it seems, I may have also found a job. The school I mentioned in an earlier blog is planning on opening another Kindergarten 2 class on Monday. So on Monday (this Monday, really that soon!) I may be going into work for my first paid day. I just need to get the work permit papers processed and I'm on my way.
Ironically, I also got a call from another school today that I'd e-mailed my resume too. They wanted to schedule an interview with me. I guess when you're hot, you're hot.

I've added a list of birds we've spotted, down at the bottom of the left (red) column. Over there, to your left. Down a bit. You've got it. The mudskippers were the highlight of the day; they're frequently the stars of nature videos we see. It's cool to see things that you knew existed, but you always thought existed somewhere else. Like last year when we went to Tioman Island and saw flying fish, monitor lizards, and giant clams.

Fun and Sun. We went to Kusu and St. John's Islands today. We saw Mudskippers (evolution in progress), giant spiders, Magpie Robins, Kingfishers, Brahminy Kites, Sandpipers, some very tiny white-bellied birds that we were unable to identify, as well as the usual suspects: mynahs, crows, Black-naped Orioles, and some Ospreys. We did some swimming too and were hoping to spot some sea-creatures while snorkeling, but the visibility was crappy.
Overall a pretty fun day.