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.

Very fun. Last night we hooked up with friends of our friend Dean who live in town. Ended up at a karaoke bar -- the "Woody Green"? -- where our group were the only "ang mo", but these people were regulars there. The rule was, when the wrong lyrics appeared on the monitor for the song you're singing (which was often), you had to sing them. We did room-clearing versions of "You're So Vain", "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", and "Oh, Darling". A very fun bunch of folks. Dean, Rob says to tell you that you're a "pooftah".

Marjorie got us tickets to see the Rolling Stones here in March. Woop!

I figured out today that my phone number here is "93-SEXILY".

Baby Gecko In Da House! Apparently they can make they 17 floor climb. This guy's quick too. I spotted him/her on the floor and it promptly ran under a cd case, but when I lifted the case the little fellow was nowhere to be found. Oh well. Hopefully he'll eat all the little black bugs I've seen flying in the house lately...I think these came in due to our orange plant. The orange plant is gone, yet they remain, but hopefully not for long now that Lizard is on the job.

Not much to report today. Marjorie went off to a movie tonight, giving me a chance for some quality time with my guitar. We've resolved to run off to a beach somewhere, Real Soon Now, as exploring's what we really came here for. Just finding the right time to go is the issue, with my work.

Hopeful: I woke up this morning with no real job prospects, but, lucky me, I got a call around 10am asking if I could come in for an interview. Yea! I'm not going to jinx it by talking about specifics, but the interview went well. Money was discussed, which is a very good sign. And it was more money then I expected, which is GREAT!!!! So wish me luck. I'll let you know more as soon as I know.

Yuck. I've gone off before about the ridiculously-named Speak Good English movement here. Recently I've decided that what they really need is a Stop Picking Your Nose In Public movement. Seriously, it's disgusting. I spot people on the buses and trains all the time, in practically up to their wrist, without an iota of self conciousness. Their ears too. It's obviously just a different set of standards for acceptable societal behavior, but -- eesh.

Konichiwa! With only a few hours advance notice, I found myself sitting in a three hour Japanese class tonight. It was the very first class, and it's "total immersion" -- meaning, not a word of English was spoken by the sensei (teacher). To overuse a metaphor, I was drinking from the firehose... The coworker I'm taking it with and I are both of the opinion that a little English up front might be helpful, but then again, my French teacher in high school did the same thing, and I still remember a lot of the language.

A rainy Sunday. Soccer later will be soggy at best.

The worldwide war protests yesterday had a decidedly different flavor over here. Word was spread via cell phone SMS messaging, but only five or six people showed up to protest at the US embassy. They were "discouraged" from doing so, as they didn't have a permit. In fact, they were taken down to the station for questioning as to the source of the cell phone messages, but not charged (yet). Read all about it.

Wonder how they would have reacted to a US citizen with a placard? The words "next plane out" come to mind.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!
Song of the Open Road By Walt Whitman

"Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself. will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?"

This poem was the only part of our wedding vow that we contributed. We found out months later that this poem was also used in the vows in the movie "Love Story", I swear we didn't know beforehand. This poem is so beautiful and personal to me. It really seems to embody the spirit our relationship.
This Valentine's day will hopefully be as romantic and tailor-made as possible.I got the only gift I really wanted...time. Mark's taking the day off to spend with me. Already on the agenda: Pancakes with blueberry citrus sauce for breakfast at home (in our new Valentine's day presents, Mark got a robe too). A free day to do whatever..... Then dinner at the Singapore Zoo complete with a "love tram" through the zoo. Perfect.

Taken for a ride. Trying to go out to dinner last night, we told the cab driver to take us to Robertson Quay. "Robinson...?" It was like he never heard of it. And this is not that obscure of a place. We should have jumped out right then. But he acts like he knows where he's going so we don't press it. After ten minutes or so, though, even I know enough of the layout here to see that he's not going the right way at all. I ask if he really knows where it is, and he pulls up and says, "Yes yes, here we are, Robinson Drive." Nowhere near. He offered to try again, but we figure our chances are better with some other cab driver who might have a clue. We gruffly pay him off; he may have been conning us, but he did at least give me back more change than he should've.

It takes us at least a half an hour to hail another cab, during which time I realize that my cell phone has gone missing. It apparently fell out in the first cab. Yay. A report has been filed, but I don't hold out a lot of hope.

Anyway, at least I have today off to spend with my sweetness.

Ever feel like you have a theme song for a particular experience? This Soul Coughing song seems to rattle around my head a lot in Singapore:

White Girl,
Market at Van Ness,
Heels to drag,
Discombobulated.
Air all soft around,
Hear the man singing,
Inclines and wires,
Telegraph Avenue.
Look away and she's eastbound, out of sight.
Dropped here,
By the hand of the Astronaut,
Builder of the pyramids,
The man from outer space.
Innocent farmgirl,
Raised by the aliens,
Out in Northridge,
Out in the larger world.
Look away and she's eastbound, out of sight.
WHITE GIRL! WHITE GIRL! WHITE GIRL! WHITE GIRL, WHITE GIRL, WHITE GIRL.

Trust me to open my mouth... Okay kids, I need to apologize for the previous blog, nobody's trying to "prohibit a flag" what's really happening is the State legislature in Virginia are considering passing a bill proposing to DISPLAY (note, not prohibit) the South Vietnamese flag at "official" events where other countries flags are flown. This IS pissing off the Vietnamese government, and maybe rightfully so, but it's not the issue I was upset about.
This is the kind of thing that happens when you don't research your sources and you blog when you've had beer. Oh well.

Very cool new bird spotted on the TV attennae of the low-rise building across from us -- the blue-tailed bee eater. From his high perch he (she?) was making short swooping runs down, presumably to catch bees and wasps, just like they describe here. Later he or she returned with two friends. They're still doing their bombing runs as I type this.

Staring at a neighboring building through binoculars for long periods of time is probably a good way to get in a lot of trouble.

Now this is disturbing: According to today's Straits Times (the English newspaper in S'pore) "Vietnam angered by flag ban in Virginia"...apparently Virginia has passed a bill prohibiting the flying of the Vietnamese flag during public ceremonies....WHAT?!!!!! Is this not the United States where freedom of speech and expression are guaranteed rights? If this law is really in effect it really shouldn't be. I believe it would be rather unconstitutional. These kinds of policies really piss off our friends abroad, and I fear most Americans, including myself are probably totally ignorant of their goings on.
On a positive note, there was a pro-American peace rally in South Korea yesterday. My parents told me the only news they saw in the States from Korea was of the anti-American nature (and they watch a lot of news). So far, all I've seen reported in the Straights time are pro-American stories such as the latter. The truth probably lies somewhere between.