New Year's Eve Thailand Style

So, I had a New Year's Eve like no other that I will ever have. It was full of laughs, dancing, new friends, new experiences, and thousands of people shoulder to shoulder.

I've been sloppy with my blog in the past months, but I had to share this New Year's Eve with you, and since I took no pictures, I figured I would share it this way. We arrived in Phuket around 4:00 and experienced the worst airport taxi system ever. I've been pretty impressed with most Asian airport taxi queues, but the one in Phuket took forever and didn't seem to really have any system. It was a true representation of the idea that the Asian culture doesn't line up like the Western culture. But you just go with it!

Finally we got to our hotel, and because we were running late, we had to get ready pretty quickly for the hotel NYE gala. So we were supposed to stay for the whole countdown with all our fellow hotel-mates, but by 10pm, we peaced out because it was definitely more intended for families and couples. It was calm and well done, but not for us. It was complete with Shania Twain covers, a man dressed as a woman belly dancing, and some kind of strange life size puppet show. I can't even explain it properly, but yeah, not for us.

So we googled where to go for NYE in Phuket, and there are a million places to go - the most popular being Patong Beach, which would be a huge celebration. We thought, Nah, we don't want too crazy. So we chose to go to something in Old Phuket Town. We got dropped off there around 10:30, and started to walk, only to realize that we were the only tourists at all and were getting a lot of strange looks because we were a little dressed up. It's New Year's Eve right?! The locals celebrate in a cheerful, but very casual way. 

And sooooo, we negotiated for a long time with taxis to get a halfway decent fare (it still ended up being $50 - ugh). We tried many taxis before we finally got one. Most of the taxi drivers don't work on New Year's Eve, and the tuk-tuk drivers could possibly be drunk. Our taxi driver was a very kind man who had his wife and son with him, and so we got to chat with them about some of the Phuket traditions for New Year's. I wanted to know the tradition of the lanterns; he explained that you make wishes for your upcoming year and let go of your old year as you release the lantern. Finally, we got to Patong Beach at 11:30pm.

It. Was. Crazy. A sea of people, very happy people. We found out the direction of the beach and started running as we shouted, "Sorry, oops, excuse me. Oh, Happy New Year!" with frequent pauses as people would shove a camera or phone in front of your face as they shouted Happy New Year in their own language. We were attacked at least a dozen times by silly string, silly snow, and whatever else came shooting out of people's aerosol cans. Fireworks were already going off all around us as we quickly dodged and wove our way down the main street. 

We got to the edge of beach where we were wedged in tightly with shoulder buddies and could no longer weave or dodge. It was 11:55pm. Just in time! We shouted Happy New Year for about 10 minutes because there wasn't a real countdown; that one moment when the year changes over stretched on a little longer in Phuket. It was chaotic for those ten minutes of people cheering, hugging, yelling Happy New Year, smiling into cameras of complete strangers. Thousands of lanterns were floated off above our heads to celebrate new beginnings, fireworks went on for ages all around us; it was one of the coolest ten minutes of my life, I think.

Melanie and I planned on not staying out super late, but our plans changed when we were asked to take a picture of these girls from Chile, Germany, Korea, and Vietnam. We got chatting and sharing our stories leading up to NYE, and suddenly we were roped into celebrating the rest of New Year's Eve with them. We gained a group of American guys a little bit later (we really had the globe well-covered), and soon we had a chain of 13 people weaving our way back through the never-ending crowds. Don't worry, Mom, we were all counting constantly to make sure we didn't lose anyone.

We danced and laughed the rest of the night, learned a little about each other's cultures and lives, and shared in this special New Year's Eve away from our friends and families, which is totally bittersweet. Even though I couldn't keep track of everyone's names and didn't get anyone's information at the end of the night, I think that is sometimes the best way when you travel (of course, there are exceptions). You make these cool connections, appreciate each other for that little bit of time, and then go on to do it again with the next people you meet and form bonds with. Someday when we run into each other haphazardly again in some foreign country, we'll reminisce about that New Year's Eve in the craziest place on Earth.

For me, someone who is more introverted, I am always grateful to get back to the people I know and love dearly and who know me. However, this is one New Year's Eve that was different, exhilarating, unexpected, and one that I'll never forget!

An Encouraging Kind of Day

Sometimes I worry about my students' academics and whether I am teaching them in the best way I possibly can. I wonder if I could be doing more.

At times like this, God steps in and gives me wonderful little reminders. Like today right before lunch, two of my students came over to me. They know I'm on lunch duty this week, and they argued back and forth a little bit over who would ask me. I kept saying, "ask me what?" They kept nudging the other. Eventually, one of them said, "We have some questions for you."

"Okay...." The bell rings.

"Will you sit with us for lunch?" I say I will, of course. What teacher doesn't like to be invited to join their students for lunch? It was very sweet.

It turns out that they wanted to ask questions about Heaven and Hell, which led to a conversation about grace and sin. Yes, a very weighty lunchtime topic, but an important one, nonetheless. So, we got talking. "But, Ms. Becca, we make so many mistakes every day!"One of them said.

"I do, too, but God is gracious and understanding and will forgive you if you go to him."

They gasp; seriously, they gasped. "YOU make mistakes?"

"Many. Every day."

"I don't know if I believe that. We see you every day, Ms. Becca."

It was my turn to be astounded. I was surprised that my students never noticed my mistakes or errors. They didn't see the moments I may have been less patient than I'd like to be. They didn't care about the times when I did my mental math wrong (darn you, mental math). They didn't care about that. It was very humbling, and it reminded me of the grace that God extends to me and that I must extend to myself as well.

It was indeed a humility day. I had a conference with a student's parents today that was very encouraging; it reminded me that being a teacher is as much, if not more, about what we are implicitly teaching our students than it is about what we're explicitly teaching. You know, those little life lesson moments, those eternity-impacting moments, those moments when you realize there's a change in your student.

I met the student of the parents I had the conference with at our school's orientation day at the beginning of the year. I remember him being so quiet, so discouraged about school. He was not rude, but he explained that he didn't like school, didn't like reading, and school just wasn't his thing.

I told him that I hoped he'd change his mind about school over this year.

Today, his parents told me that he practically pushes them out the door in the morning, saying he can't be late. They said they never have to make him get up anymore. They said he is happy. It was such an encouraging moment for me.

I don't know if they'll ever know how special those words meant to this rookie teacher.

If you're a first year teacher, too, then remember this: How you care about your students matters. Hugely.

Dear cockroach, you've met your match

I have been very good about not leaving any food, dirty dishes, crumbs out overnight for fear of an infestation of cockroaches. I've had success until this morning when I entered into an epic battle with the most stubborn of cockroaches. I walked into my kitchen chipper as ever at 5:15am because everyone is chipper at this time of the day. As I opened a cupboard door, I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. I flung aside several dishes from my sink and saw.... it. A scurrying, unwelcome cockroach. There was no way I was squishing him in the sink I wash my dishes in, so I decided the best method would be to try and drown him by turning on the tap. Needless to say, he quickly scurried out of the sink and along the counter. I grabbed the bowl that had filled with water and started throwing water at him which just made him move faster. He scurried into my drying rack of clean dishes and I kept tossing water at him. At this point, I have water pouring off my counter, but do I care? No.

He then scurried behind a sponge. I kept throwing water at him behind the sponge and then there was no movement for a few seconds. I thought I drowned him. With great trepidation, I flicked aside the sponge, and I swear he hissed at me. He ran away just as I realized how silly it was to fling water at this tank of a cockroach. I clanked a cup down over him. With relief and trembling hands, I went about cleaning up the sopping mess of my counter and soaking up the puddles on the floor. I tossed all my clean dishes that were on the counter in the sink (who knows where he had placed his grimy little feet) and had my breakfast. I hoped that when I went back he'd just be dead, so I wouldn't have to squish him.

But no, he was freaking out! Complete cockroach freakout! I slid the cup along the counter and onto a cutting board (which is still soaking in my sink tonight). I place the cup and board on the floor on a sheet of paper. I grabbed a sandal and released the beast. For a split second I worried that if I killed him, two more would grow in his place; he was just that relentless. The worry only lasted for a second. I managed to get him before he sunk into the floor, disapparated, or got me first.

Tonight, I basically sanitized my kitchen. I've learned two lessons from this morning, just skip the water fight step next time, and never leave a dirty pan in your sink overnight.

(p.s. this is no exaggeration of my first, and hopefully last, battle with a cockroach. I will admit, he probably didn't hiss at me, and it was just my imagination in the heat of the moment)

Math Centers: A crisis averted, a goal achieved.

After the first two weeks of school, there is so so so much that I want to say about it. The first week felt like it was a month long. The second week felt like it was half a day. It's surprising to see how quickly my students are learning certain routines and how they are taking a little bit longer on others that I thought would be quick. These are all little tidbits of learning I'm discovering on my own. I'd like to share a triumph of this week with you though.

If you know me, you'll know that I adore English, reading, writing, and everything literacy. So there is a small part of me that can relate to the child who tries to sneak a peak of the next page in their novel when their stamina is fading while finishing a math worksheet. When I see this though, I've realized that I really want to find a way to engage my students in math in the same way that they are engaged in their book long after reading is over. Although our math curriculum is very thorough, well-organized, and user-friendly, I am seeing first-hand the need for differentiation in math in our grade three classroom.

I have long block of math (about 60-75 minutes) and a short block of math (30 minutes) every day. We work on our current chapter during the first block and do practice together. During the short block of math last week and this week, I was doing a whole-group activity about developing their facts fluency. Although it was okay, I have realized that it is not ideal because it doesn't meet all my students' math needs and isn't extending their learning from the curriculum objectives we are working on during the first block. Today, I did a short spurt of math centers during my second block of math. It went very well.

I was surprised to be completely honest. As I said, my second block of math is only 30 minutes, and we were running late coming in from a break. So, I actually only had about 20 minutes of the second math block. I had intended on teaching about centres for 10 minutes, and then having my three groups do just 5 minutes at three centres. This would be considered a full rotation, and now I realize that this would also be considered overwhelming for the first time doing math centers. I am so grateful that I couldn't actually do this because I think it could have ended in disaster, especially with it being Friday afternoon and without building any math independence. Right before the lesson, I decided I would take 10 minutes to still do a mini-lesson on what math centers are, and then have the students do about 7-8 minutes in just one center with no rotating for today.

I sent one group of three to a math game centre where they played Math Tic-Tac-Toe; I sent another group to a Math Challenge center where they completed a math writing activity collaboratively; and I kept a group of three with me at the "work with Ms. Becca"station.

It was just what they - and I - needed today in Math! In my center, I had the chance to better assess two students who seem to struggle in math. My students who really were needing a challenge in math got it finally today. And my more kinesthetic students played tic-tac-toe in the reading corner on the rug.

I wasn't interrupted at all. The other two groups worked steadily the whole time, and I could hear sounds of collaboration. One of my students was new today (he started late), so he sat close to me during work with teacher and started his pre-test that we did last week for this unit. I worked with the other two in a quiet area on the carpet. I wish I could convey my excitement in discovering that one student in particular was able to demonstrate his math skills to me much better in this context. The group setting was far too over-stimulating for him, and he was easily distracted.

If I had carried out my initial plan, I know I would have been interrupted repeatedly, felt frazzled with making sure the students were transitioning properly, and therefore I would not have been able to work with the students at my center. My students would have felt confused, frustrated about what they were doing, discouraged about their math skills, and altogether lost.

I am grateful for the last minute change! I really should have known better from the start.

I plan on digging into the Daily 5's program for math, the Daily 3, more in the coming weeks. I want to work this into math often. I did three centres today not considering the Daily 3, and what I did sort of ended up working with it. The Daily 3: Math writing, math with someone, math by myself. I'd like to put this more to use in the coming weeks.

If you have experience with the Daily 3, please send along your thoughts that you think I should consider. Or if you just have something to say about teaching grade three math that you think I should know, I would LOVE to hear from you. This first-year teacher will take all the guidance in teaching math that she can get!

What is this all about?

(I wrote this update last week, and I'm finally uploading it. Sorry for the information overload, but I've finally gotten around to uploading my updates for family and friends)

What a whirlwind it has been. Life is fast, unpredictable, and exhilarating here in Jakarta. We’ve had the chance to explore Pluit Village. The food has been incredible. I think my favourite so far has been the chicken sate. We are moved into our apartments, so we’ve been doing a lot of shopping for our places. My best find was a set of cool canvas prints for the space above my couch that was previously occupied by some slightly unfortunate “art”. This first week has also included familiarizing ourselves with the school, the wonderful staff (I can’t say enough how great they are), and discussing the vision of Sekolah Pelita Harapan International. 

Let me tell you about the organization because I just got the full run-down on it today, and I’m so pleased and encouraged. The SPH coordinator who is like the superintendent, Philip Nash, came today during our morning devotions and talked with us about SPH. First, the organization runs three different types of schools: Sekolah (school) Pelita (lighthouse/spotlight) Harapan (hope) International, Sekolah Dian (medium light/lantern) Harapan, and Sekolah Lintera (small light/candle) Harapan. Each school targets a different audience, thus the different words for light. 

Sekolah Pelita Harapan International

Sekolah Dian Harapan

Sekolah Lintera Harapan

SPH targets the wealthy in Jakarta, and our schools teach an International curriculum in English. The SDH targets the middle class and their schools teach the national curriculum through an international lens in Bahasa. SLH targets the lower class and teaches in the local language in the village schools. Expat teachers can only teach at the SPH schools, and national teachers are equipped (through our teaching college) to teach at the other two organizations of schools. I think one of the most unique things about this organization that I was super pleased about was the vision to provide quality education in SPH, SDH, and SLH. The difference is that each “light” is different because of varying states of influence. A student at SPH comes from a wealthy family, and so they can have more influence on society at an international level. SDH and SLH graduates have influence, too, but it’s on a different level. Mr. Philip explained a key thing though: each school branch has the same Harapan, or HOPE. I love this.

Another interesting fact about the organization is coming up. Paying attention? This is key. The fees and tuition at SPH are very very expensive, but the Yayasan (the organization) is transparent about where that money goes: the Dian and Lintera schools are completely subsidized so that a family at that socio-economic level can send their children to school. How amazing is that? Mr. Philip described it as a bit of a Robin Hood concept.

I think it is incredible that such a prestigious organization in the international education field also has established and continues to support schools for the middle and low income families. The vision comes from the founders who wanted to see quality health care and education throughout Indonesia. I wish I could remember the ultimate goal for how many schools they want to establish in all three branches. I know that they want to establish 10 SPH schools around Jakarta, and guess what? Pluit Village is #5! I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be a part of such a beautiful movement. 

Finally, here is my absolute favourite fact about SPH. Are you ready? We have the unique experience of living amidst a Muslim and/or Buddhist community, meanwhile showing our students the love of Jesus Christ and teaching them about the call to come into a personal relationship with him. How freeing! 

It is so evident that this is an organization of integrity, love, and commitment to quality education. It is truly blessed. 

It Has Begun!

Alright, so I've been doing this blogpost in intervals. I sit down to write a few paragraphs, and then I have to go somewhere, I have to catch a flight, I fall asleep, my internet cuts out, or I just get distracted for no reason. If you want the summarized version of my exciting airport adventures, scroll down to the part where I got a little bit lazy.

On July 11th, I got up at 3:00am and drove to the Charlottetown airport with my mom and dad to catch a flight to Toronto first. Having to get up at that hour is just absurd and will never ever be okay. As soon as we got there though I basically guzzled down a cup of coffee and inhaled a bagel whilst taking things out of my checked luggage because it was over the weight allowance. I may have packed expertly light on my trip to China, but this time was very very different. I ended up having to leave a couple mugs at home :( (But today my new bank in Jakarta gave me a mug as a thank you for opening an account; I doubt they've ever seen someone look so happy about one of their mugs).

I said see you later to my parents and Emily (my kindred spirit who came to see me off as well), and then I got on my plane to Toronto. It was lovely to fly out of Charlottetown and finally see the Island from the air.

Now, the next part is about the Toronto airport. I warn you travelling types who are going through Toronto: things have changed! When you are going through US customs, it's all automated now, and supposedly it should have sped things up. I don't know about everyone else, but if something is different in navigating airports, I start to have a minor panic attack. Permission to call me a creature of habit granted. I'm calmed though immediately if I see someone freaking out more than me. Thank goodness for the lady with the fanny pack in front of me who had been "going through this airport since basically it's opened" and was flagging down customs officials every five minutes. (But you know what, that's probably me in 30 years).

After this though, it was smooth sailing. Here is the shortened version of my thoughts on the rest of my travel to Singapore.

See above for Toronto adventures.
Slept one hour to Chicago.
I had an incredible pesto chicken wrap and another coffee in the Chicago airport.
Got on a flight to Hong Kong.
Sat in one place for 15 hours with minimal pee breaks because of the two sleeping, heavily drugged, snoring Asian gentlemen on either side of me.
Asian gentlemen's sleeping helped me sleep for five hours altogether.
Got to Hong Kong.

Back to the expanded version. I arrived in Singapore, and I admit that I was pretty nervous about everything that I had to do between getting off the plane and getting to my hotel room. I’m grateful that it went as smoothly as it did! I got into the terminal, went through immigration, and got my bags. I was fortunate that I could leave my checked bags with “Left Baggage” at the Singapore airport as I’d be in Singapore for the next two and half days. I did not want to lug around that many suitcases. I grabbed a cab, and it took me to the hotel. Easy peasy. I had no need to worry. English is even one of the main languages in Singapore, so all the signage is in English!

I met up with a few fellow SPH teachers, and we spent the next day relaxing, hunting for free wireless (this does not exist in Singapore by the way), and trying to eat for as cheaply as possible. This is something we learned fast about this little island-city. They may as well ask for a piece of your body when you’re paying for things; it is ridiculous. At one point, we went out, and I realized that I had not put sunscreen on. As soon as we got to the mall, I went searching for sunscreen. Place #1 had some - price: $52.00. Place #2 had a travel size of banana boat stuff - price: $15.00. I bit the bullet.

That night I explored the bayfront with Hyunge, a teacher from South Korea who would be at a different school. Singapore is a very posh city with towering modern structures. It is a very interesting city with a Merlion spitting out a fountain of water into the river. I know you’re wondering what a Merlion is; well, it’s exactly what it sounds like: a creature with a lion’s head and a fish’s tail. Across the river is the famed Marina Bay Sands hotel which honestly looks like a space ship (think Star Trek Enterprise) with legs. 

I woke up a little later the next morning, and went down to breakfast at the hotel. I found a table full of SPH teachers to sit with. After introductions (and my first coffee), we agreed that we needed to explore the city some for the day. So we navigated our way to the subway station. After a few wrong subway stops and escalator choices, we arrived at the Gardens by the Bay for a couple hours of exploring. It was beautiful! So many gorgeous flowers and incredible trees to see. We needed to get back to the airport in time, so we only saw probably half of it.

Later we arrived at the Singapore airport in a big thirteen seater taxi-van. We checked in nervously. The reason we were nervous is that we found out about some weight restrictions we were unaware of for our Garuda Indonesia flight :/ We planned on pleading, begging, smiling, and reasoning our way through being waived the fees. Unfortunately, no one was successful and we all had to pay for the bags we had that were overweight. After this, we explored the Singapore airport.

Most airports are pretty boring, but Singapore is the exception. We managed to go into a two storey butterfly house that is attached and get foot/calf massages for free! You could also go down the biggest indoor slide in the world (I think); you could watch a movie in the movie room; there were so many options. We all have to go back again to finish our visa process, so we won’t be bored in the airport. 

Once we arrived in Jakarta, we completed VOAs and everyone was met by some of their school staff! Because there are five SPH schools, we were met by our own school and taken to our accommodations. Jen, Dylan, Zhang Li, and I are the new expat teachers at SPH Pluit Village. We were met by people we’d come to realize have some of the biggest hearts you’ll ever meet. Alexis, our lead teacher was there, and Alex, the head of all our departments was there. Yes, he is head of all departments because our school is in its pioneer phase. Somehow he still makes time to do things like take us out for dim sum and make sure that I’m not going to electrocute myself in my kitchen. Then there is Alexis. She is our lead teacher (she performs principal duties); she is our unofficial Bahasa Indonesian teacher and translator; she is our shopping buddy; and she just has an incredible heart for the vision of SPH. We are truly blessed to have her as our leader, and I’m so grateful for her. Plus, she loves Anne of Green Gables!! :)

Okay, so that is enough for my first post. I’m seriously behind in giving full updates. I will get better at this, I promise! 

Avoid the Big Mistakes

There is so much for us first year teachers to learn and think about. Every now and then, I'm hit with a new realization that I'll need to plan this or do that. Yes, it can be daunting and very nerve-wracking. We need to accept that we will make the occasional mistake and then learn and grow from the mistake. 

I've had a few friends who have already gone through their first year of teaching give me some advice, all of which I greatly appreciated. They shared with me some of the mistakes they made so as to help me avoid them. I know I'll make mistakes all of my own, too.  Recently, I came across an article that explained a common mistake teachers often make on their very first day of school.

Here is the article. I hope you take something from it, like I did. It's a mistake that is totally innocent and could have happened to me without even realizing it! I'm thankful I stumbled upon this article.