It's now Thursday night. I realize that I just posted the blog from my first 48 hours, but since then, I have had 4 whole days of excitement to write home about. So you'll have to catch up on two blogs. From here on in, I will be back to my weekly postings, I hope.
Where to begin. First, you should have noticed a change to the backdrop of my blog. I wanted each of you to sort of get the tropical resort feeling through my blog background. I realize it pales in comparison, but close your eyes and just imagine all the colours, the lush green, the brightly coloured flowers. The birds sweetly singing....Ahhh.
Okay, back on track. Today was day 4 at school. I think this has been the longest 4-day week ever recorded in all of history. I feel as though the week is never going to end. I still have 1 more day tomorrow and I am dog tired. It probably has something to do with the fact that a week ago I was curled up in the living room at mom's and now I am living in Surabaya. Jet lag, gets ya every time.
At any rate, let's take a walk through the last 4 days. Monday was meet the students day. It was also meet the staff day, informally. For those of you that may have forgotten, this little introvert finds such days to be more than exhausting. It was great to meet the kids, although the transition of teachers so late in the year is a difficult one for them. I think it is a difficult one for all involved, but we will make the most of it. Monday after school I got my first exposure to rain in Surabaya. Of course I have an umbrella here, but because it was a sunshiny and beautiful day when I left my apartment that morning, I left my umbrella hanging on the door handle at home, and it was after school that it started to rain. By the time I went home, it was still raining enough that had my upstairs neighbour not shared her umbrella, I would have been mighty wet. I learned my lesson, though, because when we headed to the mall, I had my trusty umbrella in hand. Could clearly see I was new - apparently we don't take umbrellas to the mall!
The adventures of Monday wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the Supermal. No, that isn't a typo, that's actually how to spell Supermal. The Mall isn't sick (mal in french is ill, right?) but it is rather super. A stop at Starbucks to pick up my Indonesia AND Surabaya mugs as well as a chai tea latte was the first order of business. Next on the agenda was getting a sim card for my mobile. My upstairs neighbors were my guides through the Supermal. They were very patient as I perused and decided what on my list I would get immediately and what I would leave until another day. A stop at Ace, Hypermart, and a few other shops and we called it a day. I had a fairly good haul. We also stopped at Hokey, a grocery store so I could add a few more staples to my fridge and cupboards.
Tuesday was Meet the Parent/Expo/Student Led Conference day. It was another really challenging day. Mental note, when transitioning to a new classroom in the middle of the year (or better yet, last third of a year) do so during a week in which student routine is interrupted as little as possible. It was really hard to get a sense of the kids, of the school, of everything when they were so out of their normal routine. Regardless, the expo and student led conferences went well. I had a chance to meet parents and even got to chatting with a few of them. They seem like genuinely nice people.
Now, at this point in the week, I have to stop and tell you about Rose. She is my house-lady. I met her when I arrived on Friday. She lives out my back door and is a full time house lady. I am sharing her with one of my upstairs neighbours. At any rate, she is an absolute gem. As it turns out, shopping doesn't need to be my responsibility. It would appear that, on Tuesday all of the school's house-ladies get up at the crack of dawn for Market Day. Apparently market day is a big deal. At first I thought the idea of having someone go to the market for me was a little too much. However, after coming home from school on Tuesday to a stocked fridge at a fraction of what I would have likely paid, I am a Market Day convert. It also just so happens that Rose will also go to the larger grocery stores to pick up anything that I put on a list. Imagine, never having to iron my own clothes OR go grocery shopping. Hee hee hee. I am spoiled.
That being said, I will likely still head to the grocery store on my own from time to time. There is something about going grocery shopping - it's somewhat therapeutic. Where were we in our adventure...Wednesday! Wednesday was life back to "normal" at school. With the expo and student led conferences out of the way, we were free to focus on things like Running Records and looking ahead to the new unit. Trying to wrap my brain around this new unit has taken more energy than I think I actually have to expel. However, after a few very stressful and overwhelming moments, I think I get it...maybe.
And the day to which the title of this posting is dedicated - Wednesday. The big thing about Wednesday was the rain. The storm sort of rolled in like a Saskatchewan thunder storm. The sky turned really dark around 4:00. Then, out of nowhere, the sky opened up and it just poured. It was awesome to hear, see and even feel. Although I had my umbrella, it's an umbrella meant for Saskatchewan rain, not Surabaya rain. In spite of using my trusty umbrella, by the time I got home, I was pretty much soaked. It really made me giggle. Definitely need a bigger umbrella.
And here we are at Thursday. What can I tell you about Thursday. Well, it's the day before Friday and Friday is now the last day of my week (again). I have one more get up to go until the weekend. Friday is the day that Angela and I are going to go for a mani/pedi (either that or later on the weekend). Friday is the last day that the teacher I'm replacing will be at school, so I imagine it will be a difficult day for all involved. I am very much looking forward to Friday. If only it could have come a little bit earlier. I shouldn't complain, though, because I don't have a full week of school (after tomorrow) until sometime in April. Yes, the life of an overseas teacher is hard, really it is!
And on that note, I think I'll re-read what I wrote, fill my water bottle (must drink more water and head to bed. It might only be coming up to 7:30 on Thursday night, but I still hold to my jet lag and say there is nothing wrong with being sound asleep for the night by 8:00 and sleeping straight through until 5:00. One of these mornings, I will not only wake up at 5, but I will actually get out of bed and go to either the pool or hit the track.
This weekend I will also be taking pictures. Fear not, there will be some posted for you to see. Until next time...
Tylene
No comments:
Post a Comment