Category Archives: On My Mind

On My Mind

Travels with Kids

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The dedicated Harry Potter fans out there might remember the bemusing Gilderoy Lockart, author of a series of books about the exploits unsuspecting adventurers that he attributed to his own prowess. One of these books was titled Travels with Trolls and that’s the inspiration for the title of today’s post.

No, I am not traveling with trolls. No, I have not had children since my last post. No, I am not offering advice on how to travel with children because I have no experience in such things.

I am, however, getting ready for a week-long trip to Cambodia with the grade ten class at my school. There are about 90 of us on this trip, and 12 of them are exclusively my responsibility. I have to admit, that’s rather terrifying.

In addition to regular teaching, the grade 10 advisory team has spent the last three weeks collecting medical forms, health insurance forms, trip waiver forms, passport copies, and passport photos. We’ve spent hours sorting out who will be in which room at the hotels and on which flights. Just when we thought we had it all figured out, about 15 new kids joined the school and about half of those want to go on the trip. And the process repeats.

The past two days after school I have gone to the money changer to change literally more money than I have ever held into small US bills so we can pay the $35 per person visa fees at the airport in Cambodia. Note to people who are unfamiliar with visas-on-arrival: Airports require USD in exact change or in very close to exact change. They will happily take your $50 and send you on your way if that’s all you’ve brought with you (and if the airport isn’t busy enough for you to hope for change).

All that aside, I’m really looking forward to the trip. Once we land in Cambodia, a very cool educational tour group is partnering with us and they are responsible for everything related to the itinerary, programming, and experience that the kids will have. Awesome job, right? We’ll be working with social enterprises and NGOs, participating in circus school, taking a cooking class, biking through town to visit local businesses, hiking to a temple, and learning what social activism means. Had I known one could have a job facilitating such experiences, I might have rethought my career!

Dealing with discipline and disruption in the middle of the night, on the other hand? Less fun. Equally necessary. Unsurprisingly, that’s on us teachers. As I’ve told my advisory kids, who have never seen me angry, I am neither happy nor patient in the middle of the night and they’re better off not testing me on that.

Fortunately, after being with kids and on call 24 hours a day for a week, we have two days off for Chinese New Year. I’m spending two nights at home to recuperate and then flying to Bali for two more nights to relax in some peace and quiet. I am also looking forward to that! There are going to be some changes to my career and living situation in 2016 and I’m trying to do as much as I can before that happens.

If you happen to be at the airport here in Singapore on Saturday and you see 90 people in red shirts . . . congratulations, you’ve found us.

Look out for travel photos coming mid-February!

On My Mind

A Long Way Home

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Friday marks the end of my school break. I’ll begin my 30ish-hour journey back to Singapore tomorrow evening, land early Sunday afternoon, get my life in order, and head back to work first thing Monday morning. Some of my friends are already back in Singapore, but I really don’t do well with downtime. I’m already getting close to a point of emotional turmoil  so the quicker I get back into my routine, the happier I will be (and the sooner I’ll be rid of the inevitable jet lag).

I’m sure I don’t have to say that it has been wonderful being back in the US for the holidays. Mitch and I made a lot of decisions during the 4 days we spent together in New York City, and the subsequent week or so we spent together in Rochester. I feel much better about the choices we’ve made and about our future, than I did before we sat down in person and talked. Since Mitch and I have so many important discussions over the phone, I often forget the instantaneous communication of body language. In truth, body language makes tough conversations a lot easier. Silence takes on a new meaning. Togetherness matters a lot more when it’s not taken for granted.

While I was home, Mum and I took a quick trip to Montreal to see my grandparents.Seeing one’s grandparents really shouldn’t have to be a special, planned occasion. I’ll see them again over the summer when I’m back in the States, but that’s a long way away. It’s unfortunate that we had to drive for 5 hours (and then back) to make Bubbie and Zaidy dinner, but that pizza with a puff pastry crust was delicious. In some ways, we’re lucky that it’s only a 5-hour drive because it’s easy to do in a day. It’s a distance that I’ve been used to for the last 23 years, but I’ve never grown to like it. More convenient than the distance between Singapore and Rochester, though!

No matter how often I fly back and forth, or how many people I say goodbye to on either end, I’m never completely ready to leave. It was easy to leave Singapore for a 3-week break because everyone was leaving and we’d all be back soon. It wasn’t easy to leave Malaysia last June because it meant saying goodbye to my friends, possibly forever, and it wasn’t easy to leave Rochester in July. I usually find myself somewhat anxious and certainly rather despondent. It makes me reluctant to act and leads me to avoid productivity. For example, I should be collecting various clothing items and putting them in my suitcase, but I’m writing this blog entry instead. I want to get back to my home, friends, and even my job, but I don’t want to leave the family and friends I have here.

It’s a conundrum. Welcome to the fragility of life abroad.

On My Mind

So Long, 2015!

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On New Year’s Eve, the clock strikes midnight and a new day starts. And that’s about it. I was about 10 years old the first time I was allowed to stay up to watch the ball drop, and I was sorely disappointed. The adults kissed, sipped champagne that no one wanted, turned off the TV, and ushered us kids up to bed. Happy New Year.

People in a variety of lunar-based religions and cultures around the world ring in a new year at different times, and follow different calendars that track different years. The Jewish new year celebration, Rosh Hashanah, takes place in the month of Tishrei (usually September or October) and this year we welcomed 5776. The Islamic calendar has changed a bit in recent years, but the new year often falls in October or November. Chinese New Year usually falls in January or February, and this year will be the Year of the Monkey.

However, most people live their daily lives on the solar Gregorian calendar, which has decided that December 31 is New Year’s Eve and that 2016 begins on January 1. Parts of the Western world adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1582; it replaced the Julian calendar, reforming leap years, leap days, and certain Christian holiday observances. As with any change, switching to the Gregorian calendar did not happen over night. Europe’s majority Catholic countries (Italy, Spain, Portugal) were the first adopters, with China waiting until the revolutions settled down in 1929. And because of time zones, we all ring in the new year at different times over a period of 26 hours. Yes, 26. Because not all countries have daylight savings time. Samoa and Christmas Island are the first countries to enter 2016 and most of the US Minor Outlying Islands are the last.*

As I wait for 2016 to cross over into Eastern Standard Time, I generally like to think about what I’ve done over the course of the past year, as well as what I hope to do in the coming year. I’m not one for New Year’s Resolutions, mostly because I’m stubborn and make commitments to myself on a regular basis (and then, because I’m stubborn, actually follow them). That being said, I have goals. While I’m not going to share them on my blog, I will write them down in my journal so they’re documented for the sake of progeny.

In the meantime, today is just another day – with a big party and a whole lot of glitter at the end.

 

*The information in this paragraph comes from this website. (I am forever reminding my students to cite their sources and feel guilty when I don’t do the same.)