Boy, I suck at keeping up.
I am embarrassed that my last blog entry was from November 11! Yikes!
December was a busy month, naturally, at school and at home. Life is good though, and a lot has happened this month.
Update:
My first semester at NIS wrapped up uneventfully. Our school holiday is three weeks long, which is a welcome rest.
I have not yet taught the students the Macarena, but will very soon.
I rearrange my house at least one time a week. It puts a new perspective on things, and makes me feel like I have all new stuff. It's like shopping, but free.
Now that my Bali holiday has ended, I am beginning to save up for my trip home in March. That is, when I stop shopping, which I've been doing (and will continue to do) for the next week of break. You know, it's funny, when you start making more money, you actually go out and spend it on all the things you wish you could have had when you were poor, thus making you just as poor. Only now you own more crap.
On top of teaching each day, I am also tutoring five students a week and teaching 6 adult English classes per month. In February, I'll be house/kid sitting for a family at school who will pay me to stay with their kids (one of which is my own student).
My classroom has now been equipped with one of the only two interactive white boards in the school. It was installed over break. To get an idea of this piece of technology, imagine your computer projected onto a giant white board that lets you touch and drag and click by using your finger. It's pretty amazing, and I am honored to get the chance to use it and share my learning with colleagues.
I am missing all of my family and friends back home, but am content knowing that you are all healthy and happy.
Happy December. See you in January...
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Baliday
My Baliday
By Miss F.
(before leaving for break, I assigned each student a writing journal, in which they were to write one page each day of break. in an effort to more effortlessly share my bali trip with you, I am going to share my journal (it's only fair that I had to write one too), in about a dozen short installments, to share part of my Baliday with you. it's a quick read, if you're interested, and contains just a few pictures. please note that internet links are a bonus for you, and will not be available for my second grade students.)
----------------
December 16, 2007
Ouch!
Today was a painful day!
Miss Pruce and I went together to get our eyebrows waxed, and it was not very nice. First, they put hot wax on your eyebrows, then a strip of cotton over it. Lastly, they yank the cotton off, peeling all the hairs with it - ouch! In the end, though, my eyebrows looked great.
Late in the evening, I realized that my flight left at 9:00 am on Monday, not 9:00 pm, like I had thought. Oops! I had to pack really, really quickly, and scramble to find a ride to the airport in the morning. Luckily, Mr. Webb was able to take me bright and early. I hope I make it!
----------------
December 17
On My Way
I made it on time!
Sometimes traveling alone is really boring. Luckily, I had lots of tv and movies on my Ipod. While it was charging at the Korean airport, though, I took a break and studied my Japanese. While I was doing it, I ate a whole bag of Korean pumpkin candies. Yum!
Also today I have four different currencies (kinds of money) in my wallet - dollars (American), won (Korean), rupee (Indonesian), and yen (Japanese). I didn't really need the won, I just bought it for fun! :) My wallet is now very colorful inside!
p.s. I was so excited this evening - on my long flight between Seoul and Bali, the airline ran out of room in the plane, so I got to sit in first class! You should have seen me giggling at my luck! My seat was huge and reclined almost to a bed. But the best part was that I got to watch heaps of movie from my own personal screen, and I chose High School Musical 2, which I have been dying to see! Yay!
----------------
December 18
Contiki Bali
I really like my first resort. There are 5 pools and a spa. On day 1, I got a pedicure (for my feet) and a facial (for my face). In fact, today I booked massages for every day of my stay. How exciting!
I have already met a lot of really nice people and it has been a lot of fun. Tonight for dinner there will be fajitas, a Mexican dish that is one of my favorites. Right now, though, I am headed out shopping - I love spending money!
Contiki Bali Resort
----------------
December 19
Surf's Up!
Day one of surf school today - how cool!
When I took a holiday in Australia, I tried surfing but did not like it. So, I thought I would try it again here. It was much easier, and my instructor was great. On my first try I was up on the board surfing, and by the end of the day, I looked like a pro! I've got two more days of lessons, so I am going to get really good, hopefully. Now, if I can only get over the board rash on my legs...
----------------
December 20
Charlie and Helen
I tried surf school again today, but had to stop because my knees were so sore and bruised. I will finish my surf lessons next week. One of the boys I was surfing with, Charlie, was American. I was very surprised, though, to find out that he and his family live in Japan! I gave him my e-mail address and hopefully we'll stay in touch!
Tonight, while I was eating dinner with friends, I noticed a girl sitting alone, so I invited her to sit with us. Her name was Helen, and although she is British, she lives in Japan too! Can you believe it? It's such a small world...
----------------
December 21
Petra the Pachyderm
Today was supposed to be my last day of surfing school, but instead, I pushed back my lessons to next week so I'd have time to recover and feel better. I decided instead to go on safari today with some friends. We got in a van and drove a long way up to a volcano. When we got there, we got on bikes and rode all the way back down, through villages, seeing native peoples. My favorite part was laughing and playing with a group of local kiddos in a small village. They were so cute and had so little (very few toys - no tv...), but they were so happy. It was a wonderful experience.
On the last part of our trip, we rode our bikes into an elephant safari park. We had a great lunch and then got to ride the elephants. I've never been on an elephant before - it was a really neat feeling. In the picture is Helen and myself on Petra, our elephant.
----------------
December 22
Getting better all the time!
My Baliday is really getting good!
Today I left Contiki to move into another, more quiet part of Bali. My room at my new hotel is really beautiful, like being in a palace (pictured). I ordered food, which was brought directly to my room - I didn't even have to get up!
Unfortunately, this hotel only had one night for me, the other two nights that I needed were full - so I was a bit worried. But, things always seem to work out, and they are building a new, fancier hotel next door, which they are giving me a room in to stay for my last two nights. This hotel next door is even nicer than the one I am in - if you can imagine that! They are very expensive, but, since they are under construction, they are letting me stay there very cheap, at about half of the price of what a night will cost when the hotel is finished...
Honeymoon Guesthouse, Bali
----------------
December 23
Nature
Have you actually ever been woken by a rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo? I can now say that I have, but not by 1, but by 5, crowing for an hour, begging me to get up. Good morning! Good morning!
I visited with Mr. and Mrs. Genest today - they are staying in the same town as me! I met them at their hotel, and we went to see the monkeys at the Monkey Palace. There were so many monkeys, and wild too! Once, when I bent down to take a picture of one monkey, another jumped on my back! They were selling bananas to feed to them, but I didn't buy any because they were making the monkeys CRAZY!
----------------
December 24
Retail Therapy
Today I am on my own for the first day since I've come. I was in a good mood this morning because I slept so well in my new place - the sheets were like silk! Amazing animal noises kept waking me up all night, but I didn't mind. It's neat to sleep in the middle of the open. I am just glad my bed has a netting around it to keep the bugs OUT!
When I went shopping today, the clouds opened up and it rained for 5 hours! So, I bought a magazine and sat down at a little cafe. I ordered a chocolate-avocado juice because I thought it would be interesting to try. I didn't really like it, but now ta least I know not to want to try it again!
----------------
December 25
Christmas Dinner (x2)
Today I said goodbye to my great room (the picture, right, is the upstairs and downstairs, the entire unit which was mine during this stay), but not before taking my hand at Balinese cooking. I figured spending Christmas lunch learning how to cook great Bali foods would be really fun, and I was not disappointed.
After lunch, a cab picked me up and took me all the way back to my third and final hotel in Kuta, about an hour from where I had been. After relaxing for about an hour, Mr. and Mrs. Genest came to my hotel. We watched The Sound of Music and then headed out for Christmas dinner. I had Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple, as it seemed very Christmasy to eat these foods) and it was delicious. The restaurant was completely empty, except for us, but we had a wonderful meal.
Merry Christmas.
:)
By Miss F.
(before leaving for break, I assigned each student a writing journal, in which they were to write one page each day of break. in an effort to more effortlessly share my bali trip with you, I am going to share my journal (it's only fair that I had to write one too), in about a dozen short installments, to share part of my Baliday with you. it's a quick read, if you're interested, and contains just a few pictures. please note that internet links are a bonus for you, and will not be available for my second grade students.)
----------------
December 16, 2007
Ouch!
Today was a painful day!
Miss Pruce and I went together to get our eyebrows waxed, and it was not very nice. First, they put hot wax on your eyebrows, then a strip of cotton over it. Lastly, they yank the cotton off, peeling all the hairs with it - ouch! In the end, though, my eyebrows looked great.
Late in the evening, I realized that my flight left at 9:00 am on Monday, not 9:00 pm, like I had thought. Oops! I had to pack really, really quickly, and scramble to find a ride to the airport in the morning. Luckily, Mr. Webb was able to take me bright and early. I hope I make it!
----------------
December 17
On My Way
I made it on time!
Sometimes traveling alone is really boring. Luckily, I had lots of tv and movies on my Ipod. While it was charging at the Korean airport, though, I took a break and studied my Japanese. While I was doing it, I ate a whole bag of Korean pumpkin candies. Yum!
Also today I have four different currencies (kinds of money) in my wallet - dollars (American), won (Korean), rupee (Indonesian), and yen (Japanese). I didn't really need the won, I just bought it for fun! :) My wallet is now very colorful inside!
p.s. I was so excited this evening - on my long flight between Seoul and Bali, the airline ran out of room in the plane, so I got to sit in first class! You should have seen me giggling at my luck! My seat was huge and reclined almost to a bed. But the best part was that I got to watch heaps of movie from my own personal screen, and I chose High School Musical 2, which I have been dying to see! Yay!
----------------
December 18
Contiki Bali
I really like my first resort. There are 5 pools and a spa. On day 1, I got a pedicure (for my feet) and a facial (for my face). In fact, today I booked massages for every day of my stay. How exciting!
I have already met a lot of really nice people and it has been a lot of fun. Tonight for dinner there will be fajitas, a Mexican dish that is one of my favorites. Right now, though, I am headed out shopping - I love spending money!
Contiki Bali Resort
----------------
December 19
Surf's Up!
Day one of surf school today - how cool!
When I took a holiday in Australia, I tried surfing but did not like it. So, I thought I would try it again here. It was much easier, and my instructor was great. On my first try I was up on the board surfing, and by the end of the day, I looked like a pro! I've got two more days of lessons, so I am going to get really good, hopefully. Now, if I can only get over the board rash on my legs...
----------------
December 20
Charlie and Helen
I tried surf school again today, but had to stop because my knees were so sore and bruised. I will finish my surf lessons next week. One of the boys I was surfing with, Charlie, was American. I was very surprised, though, to find out that he and his family live in Japan! I gave him my e-mail address and hopefully we'll stay in touch!
Tonight, while I was eating dinner with friends, I noticed a girl sitting alone, so I invited her to sit with us. Her name was Helen, and although she is British, she lives in Japan too! Can you believe it? It's such a small world...
----------------
December 21
Petra the Pachyderm
Today was supposed to be my last day of surfing school, but instead, I pushed back my lessons to next week so I'd have time to recover and feel better. I decided instead to go on safari today with some friends. We got in a van and drove a long way up to a volcano. When we got there, we got on bikes and rode all the way back down, through villages, seeing native peoples. My favorite part was laughing and playing with a group of local kiddos in a small village. They were so cute and had so little (very few toys - no tv...), but they were so happy. It was a wonderful experience.
On the last part of our trip, we rode our bikes into an elephant safari park. We had a great lunch and then got to ride the elephants. I've never been on an elephant before - it was a really neat feeling. In the picture is Helen and myself on Petra, our elephant.
----------------
December 22
Getting better all the time!
My Baliday is really getting good!
Today I left Contiki to move into another, more quiet part of Bali. My room at my new hotel is really beautiful, like being in a palace (pictured). I ordered food, which was brought directly to my room - I didn't even have to get up!
Unfortunately, this hotel only had one night for me, the other two nights that I needed were full - so I was a bit worried. But, things always seem to work out, and they are building a new, fancier hotel next door, which they are giving me a room in to stay for my last two nights. This hotel next door is even nicer than the one I am in - if you can imagine that! They are very expensive, but, since they are under construction, they are letting me stay there very cheap, at about half of the price of what a night will cost when the hotel is finished...
Honeymoon Guesthouse, Bali
----------------
December 23
Nature
Have you actually ever been woken by a rooster's cock-a-doodle-doo? I can now say that I have, but not by 1, but by 5, crowing for an hour, begging me to get up. Good morning! Good morning!
I visited with Mr. and Mrs. Genest today - they are staying in the same town as me! I met them at their hotel, and we went to see the monkeys at the Monkey Palace. There were so many monkeys, and wild too! Once, when I bent down to take a picture of one monkey, another jumped on my back! They were selling bananas to feed to them, but I didn't buy any because they were making the monkeys CRAZY!
----------------
December 24
Retail Therapy
Today I am on my own for the first day since I've come. I was in a good mood this morning because I slept so well in my new place - the sheets were like silk! Amazing animal noises kept waking me up all night, but I didn't mind. It's neat to sleep in the middle of the open. I am just glad my bed has a netting around it to keep the bugs OUT!
When I went shopping today, the clouds opened up and it rained for 5 hours! So, I bought a magazine and sat down at a little cafe. I ordered a chocolate-avocado juice because I thought it would be interesting to try. I didn't really like it, but now ta least I know not to want to try it again!
----------------
December 25
Christmas Dinner (x2)
Today I said goodbye to my great room (the picture, right, is the upstairs and downstairs, the entire unit which was mine during this stay), but not before taking my hand at Balinese cooking. I figured spending Christmas lunch learning how to cook great Bali foods would be really fun, and I was not disappointed.
After lunch, a cab picked me up and took me all the way back to my third and final hotel in Kuta, about an hour from where I had been. After relaxing for about an hour, Mr. and Mrs. Genest came to my hotel. We watched The Sound of Music and then headed out for Christmas dinner. I had Hawaiian pizza (ham and pineapple, as it seemed very Christmasy to eat these foods) and it was delicious. The restaurant was completely empty, except for us, but we had a wonderful meal.
Merry Christmas.
:)
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