Well, Monday found me again, as she always does. I'm back at work and at my desk. I like being at school though so don't think I'm complaining.
I had a great weekend, being able to go out with some friends was a great relief to the oppressive loneliness that I feel sometimes during the weeks when I am stuck in Tampines watching Skins on the Internet. I got to go to Arab Street with Iain on Saturday and that was a lot of fun. We found Haji Lane which is a street I had read about online that has lots of shops by Singaporean designers that make clothes and jewelry and things like that. We also went and got some Egyptian food that of course reminded me very much of being in Windsor and noshing on Shwarma! It's funny that the white girls misses home in the midst of Little Arabia, but there you go.
Sunday I spent on my own generally loafing about and cleaning my room and talking to Ben. It was good to have a chunk of time where we could talk and remember the first time we kissed and all the stupid foolish things we were afraid of when we first got together and realized we liked each other.
There is an art exhibition of Van Gogh's work coming to Singapore and they are offering free admission to teachers so I signed up to go with some of my teacher friends on the public holiday in May. It's always handy to know the arts teachers because they know where the cool stuff is at. As well, I have a meeting this week with the Stage Club, which is a theatre group here in Singapore that I head about through one of the drama trainers that come into the school so I'm hoping to have a creative outlet there and maybe get the chance to do some acting while I'm here.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
Night Safari!
This is the first of three long weekends in a row, so I decided to try and do some cool stuff around Singapore because our plans to go to Jakarta/Thailand did not pan out. Last night I went with some friends to see a short film that one of them had been in and after we went out, Iain met us and it was good to introduce him to some other people here in Singapore that are cool.
Today I went with Michael and Yi Lin to the Night Safari, one of the attractions that I read about in the guides about Singapore before coming here that was on my list of things that I wanted to do while I was here. It's a really cool idea to have a zoo open at night because so many animals are nocturnal so you don't really get to see them do much during the day if you go to see them. It reminded me a lot of the trip to the Toronto Zoo that I went on with my Starbucks friends in the summer which increased my homesickness a lot. It's been rough the last few days with missing Ben and home a lot and feeling really sad. But, I'm doing my best to combat it and I know that Ben is coming to Singapore in 49 days so I can't be too mopey and what better way to deal than to go and see some tigers?
They don't want you to use flash photography at the zoo because they don't want you to startle the animals so my pictures are laregly blury, but I posted them on photobucket here. The scariest were the gator things cause they were really close and one of them smacked its nose and spooked me. Also, the creep so slowly down into the water it is sort of eerie and makes you realize how quickly one of them could sneak up on you if you were swimming with them. I also really liked some of the cats and the tiger and leopard even though they were sleeping because in their own cattish ways they reminded me of Alfie. The flying swuirrels were also pretty cool and we saw one fly from one tree to another which was nifty. There were also bats flying around and otters playing in the water and making seriously adorable little otter noises. The firebreathing show was sort of funny and culturally slightly offensive in terms of fetishizing Asians in loinclothes, but hey, whatcha gonna do? All in all it was a fun time and I would love to go back again, maybe I will bring Ben when he comes to Singapore. Our ticket also includes admission to the bird park so on Sunday we might go there and I'm sure I'll take more pictures of birds.
Today I went with Michael and Yi Lin to the Night Safari, one of the attractions that I read about in the guides about Singapore before coming here that was on my list of things that I wanted to do while I was here. It's a really cool idea to have a zoo open at night because so many animals are nocturnal so you don't really get to see them do much during the day if you go to see them. It reminded me a lot of the trip to the Toronto Zoo that I went on with my Starbucks friends in the summer which increased my homesickness a lot. It's been rough the last few days with missing Ben and home a lot and feeling really sad. But, I'm doing my best to combat it and I know that Ben is coming to Singapore in 49 days so I can't be too mopey and what better way to deal than to go and see some tigers?
They don't want you to use flash photography at the zoo because they don't want you to startle the animals so my pictures are laregly blury, but I posted them on photobucket here. The scariest were the gator things cause they were really close and one of them smacked its nose and spooked me. Also, the creep so slowly down into the water it is sort of eerie and makes you realize how quickly one of them could sneak up on you if you were swimming with them. I also really liked some of the cats and the tiger and leopard even though they were sleeping because in their own cattish ways they reminded me of Alfie. The flying swuirrels were also pretty cool and we saw one fly from one tree to another which was nifty. There were also bats flying around and otters playing in the water and making seriously adorable little otter noises. The firebreathing show was sort of funny and culturally slightly offensive in terms of fetishizing Asians in loinclothes, but hey, whatcha gonna do? All in all it was a fun time and I would love to go back again, maybe I will bring Ben when he comes to Singapore. Our ticket also includes admission to the bird park so on Sunday we might go there and I'm sure I'll take more pictures of birds.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Morning in Asia
This morning I think I fell a little bit in love. And no, I'm not cheating on Ben, I mean I fell a little bit in love with Asia.
The sunrise here is beautiful. The sky turns a beautiful pink, then red and purple. The air is hazy and thick with humidity. As I walked to school it looked like I was trudging through mist. On my iPod suddenly came "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" (and Dave, if you're reading this, yes I still listen to the music of our high school days and I'm not ashamed of it. Those were good days with a beautiful soundtrack and I don't need to prove my musical wanksterdom by always finding new stuff when the old does me just fine). At that moment my heart panged a little for Canada and the world I had left behind. I started to feel sad thinking about the person I was when I was seventeen. And then I kicked myself in the emotional butt.
The person I was at seventeen is the reason I'm on the other side of the world right now. She would be pretty damn proud to know that I obtained two degrees and at the age of 24 had found my way into an adventure like this. And yes, I'm far from home and yes, that is sad as hell sometimes. But it's also exciting. You can't let the beauty and the goodness of the things you are leaving behind be weights to hold you back, they aren't reasons to mourn but to give thanks that you had them in the first place.
So I opened my eyes and looked around me at the lush, green plants that seemed so exotic upon my first arrival and have already begun to be common place. I looked at the stray cats that always seem to have half a tail that pounced on small lizards in the grass. I took in the colours and the smell of garlic and chili and curry that permeates the air even at 7 in the morning. And as I walked further a small boy crossed my path, looked and me and stopped. He bowed his head to me and I recognized the uniform of St. Hilda's and nodded my head to him as he scurried away.
There's just something about this place that you can't really hope to describe. I miss in my bones the land of Canada, the air there, for some reason I long for fall and the feeling of crisp leaves and cool air. I know that in Canada right now it will be Easter Weekend and that slowly the ground will warm, the sun will come out and the snow will melt. Fresh green growth will start to rise from the dead ground and the world will feel awakened. But where I am now, it never goes to sleep. It stays living and thriving and breathing and greening all year round and there's something really beautiful about that too.
The sunrise here is beautiful. The sky turns a beautiful pink, then red and purple. The air is hazy and thick with humidity. As I walked to school it looked like I was trudging through mist. On my iPod suddenly came "Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl" (and Dave, if you're reading this, yes I still listen to the music of our high school days and I'm not ashamed of it. Those were good days with a beautiful soundtrack and I don't need to prove my musical wanksterdom by always finding new stuff when the old does me just fine). At that moment my heart panged a little for Canada and the world I had left behind. I started to feel sad thinking about the person I was when I was seventeen. And then I kicked myself in the emotional butt.
The person I was at seventeen is the reason I'm on the other side of the world right now. She would be pretty damn proud to know that I obtained two degrees and at the age of 24 had found my way into an adventure like this. And yes, I'm far from home and yes, that is sad as hell sometimes. But it's also exciting. You can't let the beauty and the goodness of the things you are leaving behind be weights to hold you back, they aren't reasons to mourn but to give thanks that you had them in the first place.
So I opened my eyes and looked around me at the lush, green plants that seemed so exotic upon my first arrival and have already begun to be common place. I looked at the stray cats that always seem to have half a tail that pounced on small lizards in the grass. I took in the colours and the smell of garlic and chili and curry that permeates the air even at 7 in the morning. And as I walked further a small boy crossed my path, looked and me and stopped. He bowed his head to me and I recognized the uniform of St. Hilda's and nodded my head to him as he scurried away.
There's just something about this place that you can't really hope to describe. I miss in my bones the land of Canada, the air there, for some reason I long for fall and the feeling of crisp leaves and cool air. I know that in Canada right now it will be Easter Weekend and that slowly the ground will warm, the sun will come out and the snow will melt. Fresh green growth will start to rise from the dead ground and the world will feel awakened. But where I am now, it never goes to sleep. It stays living and thriving and breathing and greening all year round and there's something really beautiful about that too.
No Jakarta :(
Things fell through with the Jakarta plans, so I will be staying on the Island this weekend. Of course, there are much worse places to have three days of free time in than lovely S'pore. My only goal it to get into the water somewhere, be it the beach or a swimming pool, I just want to go swimming! We are now planning to have our vacation on the next long weekend which is Singapore's labor day and if we actually manage to get things booked in advance it should work out.
On the teaching front I got to teach two lessons this week and while they may not have been the most spectacular pieces of pedagogical craft work, they at least achieved their desired goal and got my foot in the door. This term is quickly wrapping up and soon there will be lots of exam writing and marking I imagine. I am hoping that soon I find out which classes I will be assigned for the next term so that I will know who and what I will be teaching.
Snapshot of Singapore for the day: Students in a class doing a presentation, when pointed out that they have misspelled words on their slides a loud exclamation of "Ah yio!" which is my favorite Singapore saying right now. It so satisfyingly expresses the sense of frustration.
On the teaching front I got to teach two lessons this week and while they may not have been the most spectacular pieces of pedagogical craft work, they at least achieved their desired goal and got my foot in the door. This term is quickly wrapping up and soon there will be lots of exam writing and marking I imagine. I am hoping that soon I find out which classes I will be assigned for the next term so that I will know who and what I will be teaching.
Snapshot of Singapore for the day: Students in a class doing a presentation, when pointed out that they have misspelled words on their slides a loud exclamation of "Ah yio!" which is my favorite Singapore saying right now. It so satisfyingly expresses the sense of frustration.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Jakarta?
Michael and Iain are planning a weekend trip to Jakarta possibly this weekend so that we can travel a bit over Easter Weekend. I'm very excited to get out of Singapore and explore a little bit more of the world. One of the great things about this country is that it is easy flying distance to so many other wonderful places. It's something like a 6 hour flight to go to Australia, or Japan, or China. It's only about $100 to get a flight to Jakarta for the weekend. Imagine that!
Yesterday I taught my first lesson and I think it went well. It will take some getting used to teaching in a classroom with 40 students where fans are going and outside street noise is infiltrating the room but I've always enjoyed a challenge! I'll let you all know what happens if I go to Jakarta and I'll make sure to take lots of pictures!
Yesterday I taught my first lesson and I think it went well. It will take some getting used to teaching in a classroom with 40 students where fans are going and outside street noise is infiltrating the room but I've always enjoyed a challenge! I'll let you all know what happens if I go to Jakarta and I'll make sure to take lots of pictures!
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Monday
First, I would like to say that there seem to be a whole lot of Singaporeans reading this here blog lately...I wonder who that could be? So bear that in mind my loyal readers...
This Friday the drama club had the chance to go and see one of the only nine schools in Singapore that achieved a gold with honors in their English Drama performance. It was an excellent opportunity for our students to be exposed to the work of other drama clubs and to see what the standard is that the judges are putting a high value on. I was incredibly impressed with the production that the students at Fairfield Methodist had been able to accomplish and I was struck at how theatrical and physical their show was. Clive and I were talking about the performance after and he found out that the school had used this piece as their school production the year before so they had a lot of time to prepare and we are thinking about doing the same this year, using a piece for the production that can double into the SYF.
On a social note, I spent some time this weekend with some colleagues which was very nice to get to know people outside of work and I was also able to meet up with a group of young expat teachers who are living at the campus of a Polytechnic. It was supposed to be a Scottish themed party but aside from some brief Scottish dancing there wasn't much Scottish about it. All the same it's really nice to meet up with people who are in a similar situation to me and understand the way I feel, even other people who are in long distance relationships and understand how hard it is. All you have to say when you leave early is "Time difference" and everyone knows that it's because you need to Skype someone on the other side of the world when they wake up which is when you would be going to bed.
Another good thing is that Ben and I are planning for him to come and visit me in June during my holiday from school for two weeks which is pretty much the most exciting thing on my horizon for a while. I'm incredibly excited to see him again and to be able to show him around Singapore and go on adventures. I find it's hard here to really go out and do things like go to the zoo or sight seeing because I'd be doing those things on my own. Sophie from the Scottish party did say she would like to go shopping with me or go to the zoo one day so maybe I am making progress on finding people to share things with. It's not the same though when you are apart from the person that you love.
I am going to try and keep my blog public, because I would like to be able to share my life with you all back home, and of course that comes with a double edged blade...
This Friday the drama club had the chance to go and see one of the only nine schools in Singapore that achieved a gold with honors in their English Drama performance. It was an excellent opportunity for our students to be exposed to the work of other drama clubs and to see what the standard is that the judges are putting a high value on. I was incredibly impressed with the production that the students at Fairfield Methodist had been able to accomplish and I was struck at how theatrical and physical their show was. Clive and I were talking about the performance after and he found out that the school had used this piece as their school production the year before so they had a lot of time to prepare and we are thinking about doing the same this year, using a piece for the production that can double into the SYF.
On a social note, I spent some time this weekend with some colleagues which was very nice to get to know people outside of work and I was also able to meet up with a group of young expat teachers who are living at the campus of a Polytechnic. It was supposed to be a Scottish themed party but aside from some brief Scottish dancing there wasn't much Scottish about it. All the same it's really nice to meet up with people who are in a similar situation to me and understand the way I feel, even other people who are in long distance relationships and understand how hard it is. All you have to say when you leave early is "Time difference" and everyone knows that it's because you need to Skype someone on the other side of the world when they wake up which is when you would be going to bed.
Another good thing is that Ben and I are planning for him to come and visit me in June during my holiday from school for two weeks which is pretty much the most exciting thing on my horizon for a while. I'm incredibly excited to see him again and to be able to show him around Singapore and go on adventures. I find it's hard here to really go out and do things like go to the zoo or sight seeing because I'd be doing those things on my own. Sophie from the Scottish party did say she would like to go shopping with me or go to the zoo one day so maybe I am making progress on finding people to share things with. It's not the same though when you are apart from the person that you love.
I am going to try and keep my blog public, because I would like to be able to share my life with you all back home, and of course that comes with a double edged blade...
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Bronze!
We got our results yesterday with bated breath for SYF and found out that the students got a bronze medal. I'm really proud of how hard they worked and I know that they all know that they put in their very best on the day of their performance. We had a celebration with the kids with pizza and I found out that some of them have found this blog by searching for SYF on the Internet.
The next project for the Drama Club is the Literature Festival that takes place in July where students make a trailer for a book so I think that will be the next adventure in Drama. In the meantime the Drama Club stands down and we only meet once a week for the rest of the term. As much as I have spent many a 12 hour day at school with the drama kids in the past few weeks it has really been my pleasure and I will miss going to the performing arts studio every night for the next little while.
On the teaching front I am planning my first lesson for one of the classes that I have been observing and will hopefully be teaching it on Monday.
Tonight our drama club was invited to a performance from a school that got a Gold with honors on their SYF presentation so we are going to see what exactly the judges were looking for this year to get some ideas for next time. I also think I am going to a Scottish themed party that one of the other teachers from Michael's school invited me to and likely will spend countless hours on Skype again this weekend. I told Ali on facebook the other day that it feels like I have become a hermit with a bumpin social life because I spend my weekends inside my house talking to tons of people. Maybe it's what it feels like to be a WOW nerd?
The next project for the Drama Club is the Literature Festival that takes place in July where students make a trailer for a book so I think that will be the next adventure in Drama. In the meantime the Drama Club stands down and we only meet once a week for the rest of the term. As much as I have spent many a 12 hour day at school with the drama kids in the past few weeks it has really been my pleasure and I will miss going to the performing arts studio every night for the next little while.
On the teaching front I am planning my first lesson for one of the classes that I have been observing and will hopefully be teaching it on Monday.
Tonight our drama club was invited to a performance from a school that got a Gold with honors on their SYF presentation so we are going to see what exactly the judges were looking for this year to get some ideas for next time. I also think I am going to a Scottish themed party that one of the other teachers from Michael's school invited me to and likely will spend countless hours on Skype again this weekend. I told Ali on facebook the other day that it feels like I have become a hermit with a bumpin social life because I spend my weekends inside my house talking to tons of people. Maybe it's what it feels like to be a WOW nerd?
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