Makanan!

Spring Break is here!! We've enjoyed hanging out around Canggu, going to Ubud for the day, Michael has been diving and I've been relaxing! And very soon our friend Nicole will be here!!

Since I'm not lesson planning and I have time to blog, I thought I'd talk about makanan-food! The first Bahasa Indonesian words I've learned involve food. I've blogged about the restaurants and cafes before but didn't focus on the local dishes. 

nasi- rice

mie- noodles

goreng- fried

Put them together and you've got nasi goreng and mie goreng, two favorites that can be enjoyed at breakfast, lunch and dinner with a fried egg on top served with prawn chips. Of course you've seen the beautiful rice paddies-rice is a staple here, and they say it's not a meal unless there's rice!

campur- mixed 

kuning- yellow 

kucing- cat

Another goodie: nasi campur with nasi kuning. At the warung, you'll see shelves of yummy side dishes to add to the yellow rice. It usually costs about $1.50 for Michael and me. But don't order nasi kucing..

tipat- rice dumpling rolled in banana leaf

tahu- tofu

pedas- spicy

And last but not least tahu tipat! Again $1.50 for Michael and me (20,000 rupiah) for fried tofu, tipat, and bean sprouts covered in peanut sauce. Michael orders his spicy. Sounds like a crazy combo but it's delicious. I had to google a photo because I always forget to take a picture.

You'll see carts like this one rolling down the street usually serving bakso or tahu tipat. This is our favorite tahu tipat guy!

Yummy!

Chicken, tofu, tempe, eggs, spring rolls, veggies, all zero calories ; ) 

Nasi campur 

And here's a story: Yesterday, Michael and I were leaving to run errands. I forgot my helmet (again...) and ran inside to grab it. Michael was waiting on the bike so I put it on quickly (without checking for the usually pesky mosquito) and ran back outside. Once on the back of the bike I felt something crawling on the crown of my head inside the helmet!! My first thought as I struggled to undo the snap was -Brain sucking spiders are real! Gracefully...or not.. I undo the snap rip, off my helmet and fling it across the driveway to see a GECKO fly out and run into the neighbors yard! Yuck! I get the willies just thinking about it!! Guess I'll be more careful checking my helmet! 

Our First Nyepi

Yesterday I wrote to explain what Nyepi is and today I want to tell you about our experience as expats. Sorry, I can't get photos on here, so it's a lot of writing!

Friday we didn't have school; the morning felt like any weekday morning except for the large ogoh-ogohs in front of the temples. Then around lunch time all the shops closed and the roads were deserted. We drove to our friends' house so we could go to the parade together. They were told by people in their banjar to come to the temple before the parade. Three of us put on sarongs and we all headed up to the temple to find all the women in white kabaya with a sarong. So we turned around, put on white tops with a sash and Michael put on a sarong too.

Take two! When we got to the temple, the women were sitting in front motioning for us to come pray with them. They were so genuine and welcoming. We sat and talked for about an hour before the ceremony began; I struggled through with the little Indonesian I know. Usually in a sarong women sit on their knees- it's best to kick off your flip flops and rest the tops of your feet on them. This was a long ceremony so some of the ladies were sitting cross legged like the men. 

Then it was time to pray. Fortunately, I've participated in ceremonies before, so I wasn't too lost! The lady beside me shared her flowers and incense. Michael sat in the back with the men and prayed with them. There is a bell ringing and each time it stops, it signals the next step. Sometimes your hands are open, sometimes closed on your forehead and other times you hold a specific flower in between your fingers. At the end, holy water is sprinkled on your head, then three sips are put in your hands and one more to put on your head. Last you take wet rice and stick it to your forehead and chest. I wish I knew what each part of the ritual is for but I thank God for such a beautiful experience.

After the ceremony we went to see the parade. It was about a mile walk to the street corner. If you can imagine the exact opposite energy of the very peaceful ceremony-that was the parade! Loud music, yelling, excitement, scary Ogoh-ogohs, flashing lights, and fireworks-it was wild! Then we went to the big intersection. This parade had larger and more detailed Ogoh-ogohs, music and narrators telling the story of dancers. Each banjar had a full 5-10 minute show. By the time we left it was 10:30 and there were still five more to go.

The next day was the day of silence. All I could hear was birds, insects and the occasional dog, no motorbikes, cars or people. We didn't do any work but we did watch a couple of shows, read and worked out. We have an outside kitchen, so we cooked breakfast and lunch really quietly and ate indoors, then prepped for dinner knowing it would be too dark once the sun went down. At night we pulled both curtains in the bedroom and just turned on a dim lamp. We had to be careful getting things from the refrigerator, because the light was so bright! When it was really dark, we had a glass of wine and looked at the stars which were stunning!

It was a lovely day-something I don't think we would ever be able to experience at home! Can you imagine Walmart shutting down 24 hours?? : )

Ogoh-ogohs and Nyepi

Happy New Year!! It's New Year's Day according to the Balinese calendar and we're ringing in the year 1937! I don't want to blog about our experience with Nyepi yet, because today is Nyepi, so I fill you in tomorrow. But first I want to tell you what Nyepi is and how it's celebrated. And I'll give you a small update from me and Michael : )

Every year, the men in each banjar (small village community or neighborhood) get together to create an Ogoh-ogoh. These are large statues made from styrofoam or natural materials and are built for the parade on the eve of Nyepi. Ogoh-ogohs are made to look like demons or bad spirits, most I would describe as creepy and terrifying! I can't wait to show you photos! The idea is to bring out all of the naughty spirits so that the environment can be cleansed and purified for the new year. The parade usually includes loud music with percussion especially symbols, fireworks, yelling and of course the Ogoh-ogohs.

The next day is Nyepi and it is a day of silence. This is the time for reflection, meditation and setting intentions for the new year. There are a four rules:
Amati Geni (no fire or light)
Amati Karya (no working)
Amati Lelunganan (no travel)
Amati Lelanguan (fasting and no entertainment)

Even the international airport on island shuts down for the day! It's the only airport in the world to close for a religious day! Also the roads are closed unless you are going to the hospital. The only people that are out of the house are Pecalang (banjar security) who remind community members to follow the rules.

Since we are not Hindu, we do not have to follow all of the rules, but if we stay at home (not travel to a resort) we need to be respectful to our neighbors. I hope the sky is clear tonight, because everyone says the stars are unbelievable on Nyepi!

And a small update: This week was grea!  I feel like we're getting back to normal. Michael went diving two days in Tulamben and Nusa Penida with some manta rays. I went back to school and it was so nice to see all of my kids and colleagues! A lot of the teachers have had dengue so it was interesting to hear everyone's experience. One teacher said, "Welcome back to life!" : ) Two weeks to 3 months is how long it can take to get your energy back after dengue, but I feel stronger everyday! I had a doctors appointment and my platelets are normals again!! 193!!

And if you follow my class Instagram you've heard this story already:
On Tuesday, I read Stellaluna by Janelle Cannon to the class. In the story the mother bat loses her baby and then comes back to her. We've been focusing on text to self connections so one boy raised his hand to share his connection. He said, "It's like when you were gone and then you came back to us yesterday!" and the whole class agreed. They melt my heart!

Selemat Hari Nyepi!

Dengue Fever

First of all a big Terima Kasih (thank you) for all of the thoughts, prayers and messages over the past two weeks!! I was definitely feeling the love from all over the world!

Last Saturday I woke up with a fever, body aches and headache. If you get a fever in Bali, there's always the thought-Uh oh! Hope it's not Dengue! If you've never heard of dengue fever, it's an illness contracted from mosquito bites in Southeast Asia which is why we wear bug spray religiously, especially during rainy season. Any other questions you can contact Wade T. because I'm sure my parents are Dengue fever experts now ; )

The fever continued and the body aches got worse especially in my legs. It was very painful to walk. I also had no appetite so I was just trying to stay hydrated. Sunday, Michael was wonderful and went to the closest warung to get me a kelapa muda (young coconut) which is great for hydration. Well the man who usually cuts the coconut wasn't there so Michael decided to open it himself when he got home. Any guesses what happens next? Six stitches in his thumb!

Monday I was still running a fever with the headache and body aches. I took Panadol (Tylenol) but it didn't help. Tuesday I went to the doctor which turned into an all day event. I tested positive for Dengue fever. It really affects your platelet levels and mine were at 74 (normally 150-400) so they said I needed to be hospitalized.

I was in the hospital for 7 days. The hospital was really nice and the nurses were great. My room was large and private and it had cable TV! (I gave up television and movies for Lent but I don't think it counts if you're really sick!) I didn't love the IV, especially when they told me it has to be switched after 3 days. And I had to have blood drawn every 12 hours to check my platelet count. So 6:30AM everyday the nurse woke me up to take blood.

I've also learned Dengue as other weird symptoms. On day 6 my hands and feet were itchy. The antihistamines and lotion didn't work so I had a couple of poor sleeps. It also causes a bad taste in your mouth, so even water tasted bad which is not fun when you're asked to drink 3 liters a day! My platelet count got down to 43, but then started to increase on day 8! When the nurse said it went up by 1 point we did a happy dance! When it reached 70 I got to go home!!

Now I'm on the mend, still drinking lots of water and resting. I told Michael when I get my appetite back I want veggie pot pie for dinner! Next week I'll go back to school-I can't wait to see my kids! And Michael's stitches are out- he went surfing today : )

New Year!

So we have been back in Bali for a little over a week now and finally feeling back to normal (over the jet lag)! 

For starters, Christmas break was amazing. Going home after moving to a new place has a wonderful way of helping you feel grounded. We had a great time with family and friends-lots of love, laughter and of course-food! If the veggie doesn't have "fried" before it, "casserole" after it, or it's not "from the garden," then I'm not eating it! ; ) Thanks mom and Ms. Debbie for spoiling us with your good cooking! : )  

The journey back was a bit longer than the one going there. Raleigh to London (6 hours) with a long layover, London to Doha (7 hours) with a long layover, and Doha to Denpasar (10 hours). The good news is we found a lounge room in the Qatar airport so we could lay down for a while. 

When we got home, showered and had dinner, we learned a fun fact about Bali-if your house is locked up for a couple of weeks in wet season, your clothes and the sheets on your bed will mold.....gross. The good thing is with all of the rain everything is really green and beautiful! I could tell a big difference on campus-it's so lush! 

We're excited for the new year-new goals, travel plans and visitors to look forward to. I have six new kids starting this semester and lots of other new students at Green School, so there is wonderful energy on campus right now! In class we're starting Fairy Tales in thematics and a worm farm for our practical frame. We're hoping we'll be able to make food for the middle school's aquaponics program and sell the liquid gold at the school's farm stand! 

Well I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! Stay warm! ; )

Rain, Spiders and Christmas!

Just a quick update from Bali-

Rainy season is here! It rains at least once a day, December and January will bring lots of rain!! And it is hot hot hot! Not July in NC hot. More like June heat and April showers. But since we are outside all the time, we are constantly sweaty!

I saw the biggest spider of my life two days ago. It was on a small box that I picked up!! I did drop the box and run away, but I did not scream a bad word in front of the children, so I reckon I handled it pretty well! My classroom assistant took care of the beast, gently waving it away with a piece of paper. I’ve learned the large spiders here don’t spin webs, they are hunters, so they walk around looking for food...I do not like anything about this!! At least with webs they stay in one spot!

The ants and mosquitos are annoying and the spiders are scary, but then I look around at this beautiful place and try to take it all in! Right now I’m sitting in my classroom while the kids are at art. I can hear laughter, talking, a few bands of instruments, bugs, frogs, the river, and rain. Oh and of course the Christmas music I am streaming from 101.5 FM!

I am so looking forward to going home for Christmas!! But in yogi terms-I’m also trying to “stay present.” I can’t wait to be home, but I really don’t want to wish this time away! Tonight we’re having a potluck dinner for Thanksgiving, two more weeks of school and Alissa is coming to visit!! So many wonderful things are happening, so I’m balancing my excitement with focusing on the here and now! : )

Grateful

This is from a colleague and friend's status-beautifully written and so true! 

"Everyday I walk into my classroom at Green School. Our path is lined with lemongrass and our bamboo classroom is magnificent. An enormous blazing sunflower has just come out. On the way to the toilet hut is an enthusiastic pineapple growing freely out of it's cactus. Chilis, eggplants, bananas, and bamboo are growing around our wall-less-ness. We hear the winter-less wind rip through them sometimes. Most of all I love the amazing people I work with, so generous, so unafraid to show true love and care, great people. My students are an international crew of awesomeness and I am so proud of everyone one them."

Wednesdays my kids have two hours of thematics, two hours of proficiency (math and English) and two hours of Bahasa Indonesian (language and culture). I teach the first two classes, break, two more hours, then lunch with the kids. Today I remembered my Wednesday schedule from last year. It was the exact same-2 classes, snack, 2 classes lunch. The difference is now, Wednesdays do not feel like a long day!!! Of course I'm tired after work-being outside in the heat all day will do that. But it's a good tired! I think there are a few reasons it feels so different. 

1. These kids are kind, caring and value "peace." 
2. I only have 14 students! 
3. There are 3 adults in the room-I have an awesome Indonesian teacher and classroom assistant!
4. Thanks to no walls, noise is never a concern.

I guess my point is on this Wednesday afternoon is that I am feeling incredibly grateful for this opportunity and thank God everyday for bringing us to this island!  

Singapore

This weekend we made a quick trip to Singapore for a visa run. We've heard mixed reviews-some say Singapore is boring, just go for the day; others say it's great, make a weekend of it! We decided to go early Friday morning to get the paperwork done and stay until Saturday afternoon, and it was wonderful! 

Don't get me wrong-we absolutely love Bali! But it was great to get away for a bit. We joked that we had gone back to civilization! We had hot showers, went to Starbucks, Lululemon and two microbreweries.  I didn't pack a hair dryer when we moved to Bali and never bought a new one, so at the hotel I used one for the first time in months! We also pumped the AC and slept under a duvet. The best part of it all...no bugs crawled on me for over 24 hours! 

This morning we visited a church for a second time and really enjoyed the fellowship and worship! Looks like we found a winner! And on Friday at school we have BamBOOpalooza-a big Halloween carnival! Can't wait to dress up! 

Lembongan and Teacher Talk

Last weekend we took our first trip outside of Bali to Lembongan!

We caught a ferry in Sanur, a city on the east coast about an hour’s drive from Canggu; in 30 minutes we went from the normal black sand beach to white sand beach with crystal clear water! I knew the diving would be good, but I didn’t know the island would be so beautiful. We spent Saturday and Sunday in Lembongan. They had diving, snorkeling, paddle boarding, and banana boats! I went the relaxing route-$10 full body hour long massage followed by an afternoon of tanning and sunset dinner with friends. It's amazing how rejuvenated you feel after going away for a weekend! 

This next part is teacher talk! 

For starters, one of my goals for this year is to not use the printer. We have journals for math, writing, homework and thematics, and I improvise for other things. For example, I use Starfall for calendar time instead of a bulletin board (partly because I didn't have room to pack my sweet calendar set) For assessments like running records, I just keep on my computer in student folders. Homework is a daily entry in their journal like:

Find a pattern in your home.

Practice skip counting by twos.

What book did you read tonight?

Write a sentence about...

Write the four greetings in Indonesian

Of course this is easy to do with only 14 kids! 

This past week was Challenge Week. Here is an article from the Green School Newsletter shares all the activities in the different grades with pictures. http://www.greenschool.org/weekly-newsletter/sep-12-2014/challenge-week-update

The idea is to take time and assess the whole child. Challenge Week is a time to focus on intellectual, creative, social emotional and physical developments.

My teaching experience has been in NC public schools and an American school in Kuwait, so I basically have no experience in holistic education! I want to share a little bit of my reflection on this subject and try not to ramble!

What does it mean to provide child-centered education? Is my class subject-centered or child-centered? How does my schedule reflect this? 

I have always worked in a school where the schedule tells me when to teach Language Arts, Math, Social Studies and Science. The goal is to integrate all the subjects and for the children to understand the concepts presented. 

Now I am teaching in a school where the day has blocks for thematics, English, Math and "specials." Our next theme is Indonesian Fairy Tales. I teach first grade, when they still believe in magic. The tooth fairy visits when they lose a tooth, and when I asked last week what they want to be when they grow up, I got two princesses and a fairy. How can we teach Indonesian fairy tales in a way that is relevant to the children? So the next question: 

Is childhood its own culture? Do I speak the language? How do I provide time for kids to be kids? Should there be time for play? 

Many of my students come from a home-school or un-school setting. Some parents want their kids to play most of the day, others are ready for academic rigor. My goal is to find a balance. 

On Thursday, I put out math manipulatives with no instructions or rules for what they could or could not do-this was really difficult for me!! At one center, I put out a balance scale, where two of my students who are learning English, played for 20 minutes. They put in crayons, pencil sharpeners, erasers, then took everything out, sorted the materials, and counted how many were in each group. First-I would have never thought to have a center with a scale and art tubs! Second-they were completely engaged, talking to each other (some in English, some in their native Hungarian and Japanese) and doing math related activities! My Indonesian teacher and I just watched in amazement!

And my last question: Do we allow time for development? Is it okay if Cindy can't add yet, because she is still learning her numbers? Is it okay if Johnny can't label the life cycle of a frog? 

Last year I would have said no, it's not okay. If they don't understand it's, because they're not putting in effort to learn the concepts. One of my colleagues would say "I just want to throw out the whole schedule and do project based learning!" I think I understand why now! 

This year will be a lot more work-planning, reflecting, and research, but I'm excited to see how my teaching philosophy will grow and change! 

And to any teacher friends who read all of that-thank you! : )

My two favorite things!

I'm sitting outside (at the kitchen counter) on this beautiful Sunday morning feeling well rested. We have had an amazing weekend. Friday night we had drinks with friends, Saturday morning we went for brunch at the cafe right beside our house, then I went to a 90 minute vinyasa flow. We spent the afternoon at the beach and while Michael was surfing, I went for a pedicure at the spa right beside our house. This morning we worked out, ate breakfast at a beach restaurant and stopped by the local farmer's market. Now I'm sitting down to lesson plan...but first I want to blog about my two favorite things: the beach and good food!

First, I want to show you where Canggu (changgu) is, so here is a mini geography lesson! : )

Indonesia is in red. 

Map of Bali highlighting Canggu

And this shows the west side beaches. We live on Jl Pantai Batu Bolong. 

The beach we go to is called Canggu Beach, Batu Bolong, or Old Man's-because of the restaurant. On this map it says Canggu Surfing. Echo Beach and Berawa are right next to us.

One of our favorite places to go for food and drinks is Old Man's. They have great seafood, breakfast and happy hour.

photo from google haha 

View from our picnic table this morning. 

The beach is about a minute scooter ride away or a 10 minute walk. Right now the water is chilly, but it's clean and there's plenty of beach to lay on at low and high tide. Apparently the wet season brings trash up on the west side, so we'll see what happens.

Now let's talk about food! We're living in a tropical climate, so the fruits and veggies are amazing! Eating out is really cheap; entrees are $3-5 US dollars. There are always organic, vegan, raw and gluten free options. Most places have a list of fresh juices: watermelon, pineapple, orange, mango, papaya and banana. And at the markets those fruits are easy to find and inexpensive.

Here are some pictures of this weekend's breakfasts: 

Crate: our favorite breakfast place!

sorry Starbucks and Caribou-Crate might have you beat!

part of the menu

  

breakfast at Old Man's

fresh watermelon juice

papaya, watermelon, pineapple, mango, museli and yogurt!

farmer's market at a local yoga studio

Lucky for me, the lunches at Green School are amazing too! There's also a raw vegan cafe on campus. I've tried their frittata, key lime pie and blueberry cheesecake-all really good! 

Next blogpost: What is our school dress code?? Tropical Professional! : )

And if you suffer from OCD....I apologize for the pictures. There's no way to straighten them!! eek!

A little bit of everything!

We are now in our fourth week in Bali and loving it! We're really enjoying the small beach community where we live called Canggu (pronounced Changgu). It's really laid back and a lot of young expats live in the area.

The weather has been beautiful. It's the dry season, so the high is 80 degrees and the humidity is fairly low. This means less mosquitoes (great) but more snake sightings because their thirsty (eek!). Of course all of this will change in the wet season-we'll see how that goes!

I was going to write about the food tonight, but it deserves it's own post and lots of photos!!

My commute to school is about 11 miles and takes 30-40 minutes on the scooter or "motorbike." I don't have to be at school until 7:45AM (later than I'm used to!) and the kids are at school from 8:15AM-3:15pm. Teachers leave at 4pm. The kids have been great. I have an incredibly diverse group-children from Italy, Norway, Japan, Australia, America, Hungary and Switzerland! It's going to be a fun year!

Michael has been surfing everyday and looking for a job. He's been amazing getting us settled. And I was able to find a really nice yoga studio in Canggu.

The yoga shala at Desa Seni 

That's all for now! I'll update again soon : )

Our New Home!

We found the perfect house!!! 

As you know, when we first got to Bali, we stayed in a place we found on airbnb for 10 days while we looked for a place to rent for the year. Michael did a great job of getting contacts by driving around and looking on airbnb and various facebook groups. Finally we decided to check Craigslist (which is rarely useful in Bali) and we found this gem! It's two bedroom, two bath, and is the perfect location-walking distance to great shops and restaurants, 8 minute walk to the beach, 1 minute motorbike ride. We're also spoiled with an oven, a closed living room and a beautiful yard. We really can't thank God enough for providing a place to live just in the nick of time. 

 Okay, who's coming to visit?? : )

Getting Settled

Hi friends and family! Just wanted to take some time to update y'all on our first week in Bali, Indonesia! Sorry it's wordy tonight!

As you know, I had my first day of orientation on August 1st. The next day, we had informational meeting in the morning, and another fun activity in the afternoon-a Balinese mixed martial arts and yoga practiced in a mud pit! It was a crazy team building activity where we found ourselves wrestling and throwing instructors in the mud, dancing in a circle and doing yoga with a duck on our heads! It was a blast!

a few of the teachers after the mud fun!

The next day we had a morning meeting with our head of school. He is inspirational to any educator who hears him speak and he is so passionate about Green School. While all of these ideas and philosophies are exciting, it can also feel overwhelming in that I will really be pushing myself as a teacher. When we were done, we went for another excursion-this time we rode in the back of a truck to a place where we could climb through Subak tunnels, which is a traditional Balinese irrigation system. At some points it was really scary-you had to completely trust the person in front of you. Afterward, we went to a Hindu temple for a blessing with Ibu Kadek (she takes care of all of the food at school and is like a mom, so it was really special to attend the temple with her.)

After dinner, we hopped back in the truck to head to school. It was pretty dark and I grabbed the railing where a nasty spider was sitting. It bit me! (If you know me, you know I'm terrified of spiders!!) Thank goodness there are rarely deadly poisonous spiders in Bali. It just hurt and my hand went numb for a bit. Don't worry mom and dad, my arm didn't fall off!

Orientation since then has just been lots of programming and curriculum work. Sorry, this paragraph is for my teacher friends : ) I received 3 pieces of good news today.
1. As of right now, I only have 16 students!
2. The library is nice and is fully stocked for guided reading!
3. The other Grade 1 teacher sent me really amazing resources for our thematic units!!
I'm still learning exactly what resources are available. For example, we have math manipulatives even though they are made of plastic, because it was not realistic to make each material. I've learned there are 3 frameworks, proficiency (math and language arts) thematics (taught by me and my Indonesian co-teacher) and experiential (art, music, yoga, PE, etc. taught by specialists).

Okay enough teacher talk. This week, while I have been at work, Michael has been working really hard trying to find us a place to rent for the year and taking care of other errands. I'm really not sure how a new teacher at an international school does everything on top of a busy orientation schedule!

Michael and I keep having to remind each other that we have only been here 6 days! We are so looking forward to this new lifestyle, but we are not there yet! We need to find a place to live first and then we can unpack our things, Michael can find a job, get a surfboard, we can join a church, I can find a yoga studio, and we can spend our weekends on the beach : )

First Day of Orientation!

I had my first day of orientation yesterday, and the experience was so unique and wonderful!

It started with a bike ride that the founder of our school John Hardy mapped out. He called it a "princess ride" but it was a long 30 km ride down the Kintumani volcano that my beach cruiser skills were not quite ready for!! It was a great way to get to know each other, and I can already tell I will be working with a great group of teachers! 

view from the top

Add caption

We rode all the way to Green School and when we arrived, we jumped in the spring fed natural swimming pool, followed up by lunch and a campus tour given by the co-founder. As we were walking through, she pointed out the pineapple, papaya, cocoa and bananas. We stopped at the lemongrass to pick it and rub it in our hands-a natural mosquito repellent and of course it smells amazing! She told us the history of the school, the struggles they've had in the past 7 years, and places in the school that are not "green." She showed us the river turbine and solar panels-this will be the first year they are completely off the grid! It was a lot to take in, but I'm so excited to be working here! I can't stop comparing it to a first day at a public school in NC-how would the activities be different, the meetings, the food, the campus tour. It's night and day!

path from Grade 1 to the Heart of School

a meeting area

one of the seating areas in the Heart of School

bamboo and glass table!

quartz 

where they picked the organic lettuce for part of our lunch

the pool beside the river

eating lunch on the bridge-the very first bamboo structure built at Green School

We have arrived!

Hi friends!! It's currently 4:30AM and I am awake and ready to start the day (thank you jet lag)!!

We have arrived in Bali, Indonesia! We left July 28th, flew through Washington, DC to Tokyo, where we enjoyed a long layover in a nearby hotel. The next morning, we flew straight to Denpasar, Bali. A lot of friends asked how long it takes to get there. We broke it up, but it was 1 hour to DC, 14 hours to Tokyo and 7 hours to Denpasar.

We got in July 30th in the evening, met the driver at the airport, and made our way to Canggu (pronounce Chenggu!!) where we are staying for the next 10 days until we find a place to live. The lady renting the place to us has been so helpful! When we arrived-hangry for dinner, I asked if there were any places to eat or markets within walking distance-there's not. She said "Hold on," ran away and came back with a menu of a nearby restaurant, ordered for us, and the delivery guy came an hour later. She brought a scooter the next morning, and when I asked where to buy SIM cards, she said she would take care of it, which she did in 30 minutes!

Yesterday we went for a walk in the morning, drove the scooter to the nearby beach and ate lunch. I have never seen waves like that before-a surfers dream!! Then we decided to visit the school. I sat on the back of the scooter with Michael's phone and google mapped our way there!

The school is absolutely stunning; pictures don't do it justice-but of course I'll take lots today! I have never walked into a school and said, "Wow, this is beautiful." The classroom I grew up in, and later taught in had cinderblock walls and tile floor or carpet. And of course the grounds are amazing, so green and lush.

Well I'm off to my first day at orientation! I'll post again soon : ) 

Next Stop: Bali, Indonesia

For the past six months, I have been searching for an international teaching job. Recruitment for teachers occurs nine months before the school year begins and dive shops post jobs weeks out, so it's easier for me to find a job first, as long as it's a dive friendly location for Michael.

In December, I decided to just look up some places we would love to live, just to see what is out there. Last spring we visited Bali and loved every thing about, so I started there.

When you google "international schools in Bali" one of the first sites to pop up is for a school called Green School. 

I was struck by how beautiful the campus is-all of the buildings are made from bamboo. The school's mission is to provide holistic education for its children and is 100% committed to sustainability. I watched the videos of children singing barefoot, working in the garden, and learning at desks in a room with no walls.

Throughout my job search, Green School remained at the top of my list, and after a rigorous application process, I was offered a Grade 1 position starting in August at this innovative school!

The past two years have been unbelievable-full of travel, friendships and a very different culture, but we are so excited to be back by the water-and Michael in the water!! 

I'll be posting more about our next adventure, but until then, here is a TED talk about the school!

http://www.ted.com/talks/john_hardy_my_green_school_dream

The Job Search

As you know, Michael and I are ready to move to a different country. Kuwait has been a great place to start, but it's time we get closer to the water! International schools all over the world will be recruiting for the next few months, which means most of my weekends are spent researching schools and looking for openings. There are also recruiting sites and school reviews that have been really helpful. 

It sounds easy-we just need a location with kids and water! But, there are a ton of factors that we have to consider....

Here are the easy ones:

Is it on the coast?

Are there any dive shops or is it a place where tourists want to go diving?

How many years of experience do they require?

Do they hire teachers with a non-teaching spouse?

What benefits do they offer?

Then it gets a bit harder...

What are the accommodations like?

How large is the school?

Is it in a city, suburb, or remote area?

Is there a sense of community with the faculty/with the families?

What leisure activities can teachers do on the weekends?

Is it easy to travel to other areas/countries?

What resources are provided for the classrooms?

Do the teachers collaborate and work in a team?

Does the school use best practices? and a hundred more teaching questions!

It's crazy to think that we don't know what continent we'll be living on in 6 months!!

I do know what continent I will be on in 2 days! Europe : ) We will be meeting Michael's parents in Italy and visit Rome and Florence. Looking forward to the sights, the food and the wine! 

Kuwait will be celebrating their National Day and we're doing activities this week to celebrate their country. Here is a cool video that a company here made. They are in the huge mall-Avenues. Enjoy!

Zain Kuwait National Day Lip Dub

I also wanted to add this video that I talked about earlier. The quality isn't that great, but it does a good job of painting a picture of Kuwait. (and I love Oprah!)

Zain Al Sabah on Oprah

I just noticed they both say Zain. In the first video, the company is called Zain. In the second video, the lady being interviewed is named Zain. It also means "good" in Arabic. : )

Enjoy!