Blogs

I finished my first round of exam marking and students are currently writing the next round of scripts so I have a bit of time this morning to come on here and post. In the mornings I tend to spend about an hour reading the news, I start with the Straits Times, the newspaper here in Singapore and then I move on to the CBC so that I can see what's afoot back home. When I lived in Canada it seems I was much less interested in what was going on there but now that I don't I like to know what's going on. I check the news for Ottawa, Toronto and Windsor usually every morning because I have lived in all of these places and have loved ones there that I like to check on. However, CBC seems to think that I am in BC because of my current location so it tends to give me BC news first.

Today there was an interesting story about a blogger who had cancer and wrote his last letter to the world. You can read his beautiful last words here, and it got me thinking about the reality that this blog, and the one before it, are my digital legacy. I already go back and read blog posts from years ago, or when I particularly miss Ben I go back and read what I wrote about him in those early, confusing days when we both liked each other and didn't think they other one liked us back. It made me wonder what it will be like in the years to come, looking back on this blog and if I will one day show my kids the stuff I wrote when I went to Singapore. I wonder if one day when I am gone people who loved me may look back on this as a record of my mind and if this will become more than just a way for me to tell you all back home what I'm doing, but also as it's own entity that will live on past me.

I remember backing up my old blog and being struck that I had hundreds of pages of writing, as I never even consciously blogged, I just sat down and vomited out whatever was streaming through my head. But at the end of that I see that what I managed to create was actually something of some significance and something to be proud of. I suppose only time will tell what becomes of the blog but for now it's been a comfort and a good way to start the legacy I will leave behind.

Two Months

Today marks two months since I first touched down on this little Island. It feels like it's been much longer than that and working at Starbucks and hanging out in Kingston, walking through miserable snow seems like a distant memory.

Thinking back on leaving it was one of the hardest things I've done. Walking through the gate into this world was one of the most painful, exciting, sad things I've ever done. Being this far away from home and the people who love me hasn't been easy but it gets a little better as time passes. I miss Canada deeply, I long for the beautiful time of year I know it is there when the snow melts and the air is fresh and the trees are budding. It's getting hotter here and the humidity is oppressive but I like the sunshine and my skin is turning a golden brown.

I guess this adventure is still just starting but it's certainly been an interesting one so far. Thanks for following and for reading my blog, even if it isn't always the most lucid thought train around...

Three Day Weekend: Round Three

Now I wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that we don't work very hard here in Singapore, but I can't resist the chance to brag that I have another three day weekend ahead of me. I have absolutely no plans yet, and I know I'm going to have at least 80 exam papers to mark after the students write them this afternoon. However, I really love that I've had this many long weekends because the weekend is the time that I can keep a crazy weird sleep schedule and be awake to call my friends and loved ones back in Canada. 12 hours is a very weird time difference and it usually means that during the week if I want to talk to people I have to speak to them early in my morning before work, which is their evening, or right before I go to bed which is their morning. Either way there's usually a lot of sleepiness and not a lot of clarity of thought. So on the weekend I tend to nap in the afternoons so that I can stay up later at night and get the prime afternoon time when I can Skype people back home.

Exam marking is probably going to be eating my soul soon so if I don't post on here in the next little but I assure you it's not because I'm dead or anything, just busy. Hopefully I will get a bit of a break somewhere in there.

Snoopy Dance

You know when Snoopy does that dance when he's super happy? That's how my heart feels right now because Ben booked his ticket to come and visit me here in Singapore for my June holidays!! That means that for more than two weeks I will get to have Ben here and we will be able to explore Singapore and eat lots of food and just be super happy. I'll have two weeks of not having to figure out time differences and work schedules and sleep schedules to try and get to talk to him. Needless to say, I'm super pumped.

Also, for our school's staff retreat I just found out that we are going to Malaysia for a day of activities as sort of like a staff bonding thing which I think is really cool. I haven't been to Malaysia yet so I'm excited to go. How many people can say they go to Malaysia for their staff retreats?

At the school right now the students are writing exams which means that there aren't any classes, instead there are mass exams writing times. I have invigilated a few exams which essentially means wandering about giving kids stink eye if they look suspicious and making sure no one is up to anything dodgy. It's a bit strange to be on the other side of the exam, after spending so many years writing them myself.

As well, this weekend is yet another long weekend. If you've been counting that makes three in a row. So I am happy to have another extra day to loaf about and Iain got a bathing suit last weekend so maybe we will finally find out way to a beach without getting rained on.

Still getting showered in random spurts of support from back home and it's making things easier every day. Knowing there are lots of eyes on me cheering me on makes it all the more important that I rock this thing. Thanks everyone!

Election in Canada

I know I just posted a little while ago, but I'm at my desk right now listening to CBC Radio online and I want to give a shout out to Canada for having an awesome voter turnout, for the many people who voted in this election for the first time and for the fact that it looks like the NDP is going to be the official opposition. I feel very proud of my nation right now.

Never Alone

As you may have noticed, I've been feeling a little down lately. Homesickness is starting to catch up to me and the grating element of being in a long distance relationship is starting to take its toll. However, as I have been reminded time and time again when things get rough, I am never alone.

I would like to send a shout out to all of the people on facebook who responded to me posting that I wanted to go to a Shopper's Drug Mart and especially Nicole who actually went to one, bought me the stuff I needed and sent it out in a package. When it arrives I will post pictures and I am sure to send her an awesome package of cool Asian stuff.

Also, I'd like to shout out to Christina Steinhaus, who is there for me no matter how far away we are from each other and if I Skype her with tears in my eyes she immediately tells Louie to get out of the way and gets to work on making me feel better.

I'd like to thank my Dad for always being there for me and caring enough about me to be worried all the time. I can't imagine how scary it is the be a parent with a kid in Asia but I am grateful that he loves me and trusts me enough to let me come here.

I'd like to thank my Mom, who Skypes me with a banana in her hand and checks out if there are music festivals in Australia when I say I'm sad to miss Hillside this year.

I'd like to thank Kirstyn Logan for giving up her breaks at Starbucks to Viber me and see how I'm doing and for calling me when I'm on a patio on Emerald Hill because she reminds me that I have good friends when I need to be reminded the most.

I'd like to thank Nicky for always sending me updates on her random adventures, even though I'm on the other side of the world. If I didn't get those updates I wouldn't feel like I knew what was going on in the world.

Thank you everyone on facebook who comments on my pictures and tells me they are proud of me. Thank you Kat Quinlan for sending me a message to remind me that I can be a good friend to people and that there are good people who love me.

I'd like to thank Dave Harland for Skyping me and sharing his happiness with me, I'm glad that you are in a good place and I'm glad that we have stayed such good friends.

Thanks to James, to Scott, to Ariel, to Micheline, to Tim Johnston, to Ali Foster, to Juanita, to Ruth Anne, to Denise and Marlon, and everyone else I might have forgot who has been so supportive of me on this crazy quest.

Lastly, thank you to Ben who loved me enough to encourage me to leave him, who takes the effort every day to call me and manage his time around a 12 hour's difference, who finds a way to make me smile no matter how down I feel and who send me love letters when I say I feel insecure. Thank you for thinking I'm beautiful, and for believing in me enough to support me on this adventure.

It's all of you who constantly remind me that I'm not alone in the world, not even close and I never, ever will be. Thank you so much for the support and the myriad of ways that you have all helped me to be a little stronger or a little better. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you.

Makeover!

This week I've been feeling sort of down and missing home so my friend decided I needed a makeover. He started with some new shoes and convinced me that I needed something with a little heel. I'm not the heel wearing sort, but I needed professional shoes that cover my tattoo for work so I got them. I found that while I was walking about I actually felt kind of fancy. I guess the lesson of the week has been dress for sucess and that I'm a hot little lady so I ought to dress the part. Seeing as I'm a professional with a salary and stuff now, so I let him take over the other parts too.

We ended up going yesterday to Little India for facials and to have our eyebrows threaded (highlight being Iain getting his done and watching him flinch and curse while the lady ripped out his eyebrow hairs, but he was a good sport about the whole thing) then we went and got some new clothes for me, two of which are nice dresses. I've also not been much for wearing dresses and really not one for showing leg, always opting for shorts that went down past my knees. But dang it, it's time to be a lady and stuff. So I got some nice dresses for work that will go with my heels and we finished it off with a new hairstyle, and a new colour.

The thing about Asian women is that they are incredibly beautiful and largely really well put together. Walking down the street I feel like I giant hobo next to these heavily coiffed, perfectly put together paragons of femininity. So I'm trying to up my game a little while still being me and I think that this weekend helped me get closer to there. Feeling confident isn't just about knowing you're awesome, because I already do, but it also comes from the way that you present yourself. So I guess my focus now is showing the world on the outside what a badass I am on the inside.