Last Day of School!!

Yay! School is over!!! We had a half day today - kids went home at 12 noon, so us teachers have the afternoon to ourselves to clean up, pack up ect.. in our classroom! And tomorrow evening I will be flying high - literally - in the sky!! On my way down south... can't wait. Here are some pics I took of my kids today.. We went down to the beach and took some pics - I bought them santa hats for the occasion:) (On the second pic, you can see the school fence behind us.)

A little different than playing in the snow, eh?!!

Langkawi

I am so behind on news, it's scary!! I completely forgot to mention my trip to Langkawi!! We had a long weekend in November and my parents and 2 friends and I went to Langkawi, another island that's about a 3 hour ferry ride from here. Beautiful!!! It was a very relaxing 3 days we spent there.. Wendi and I splurged and split a jetski for 15mins! And my folks and I rented kayaks for an hour - the rest of the time was spent literally lying by the pool or on the beach! The sea was really nice - way nicer than the water in Penang!! Anyway, here are some pics.. The beach, and the little bungalows we stayed in.. This place was right on the water!! Amazing:))

operation:decorate

Two friends and I decided to spread some Christmas cheer...
We decided to decorate another friend's apartment, since he said he wasn't going to do any Christmas decorating.. Sooo, we made a plan and called it "operation:decorate". My job was to ask Steve to borrow his car to run an "errand" on Sunday afternoon... Julia bought the decorations, Wendi made a Christmas mix CD... and at 4pm, we got his car, his keys, (he had NO idea..) and headed to his place to decorate! We left Christmas lights on, Christmas music playing, and hung a blue Christmas star in his car, his front door, and even his mailbox at school (where we left his keys..) as little hints along the way! He didn't get home til about 9:30 that evening, leaving us in painful anticipation... wondering if he was going to freak out and get mad at us for invading his place and stealing his keys.. or pleasantly surprised... Luckily, he loved it and it was a great success... phew!! We had a lot of fun too!

Below is a link to a slideshow of pics we took while working on our operation! (I'm hoping it will work... otherwise you'll have to type it in manually..)
http://feeds.slide.com/p/3/Operation+Decoration+006?view=True

And yes, we emailed him this slide show the next day just as a wind up!!

The Countdown is on...

I know I know, it's been absolute ages since I've blogged! If you knew my schedule at the moment, I'd hope you'd understand!! We're now into the second last week of school and things are busy to say the least!! School plays, musicals, sports day, concerts, ect ect... plus trying to culminate my units before the last week! Plus my parents are here - they have been coming and going the past few weeks... they went up to Thailand last week and had an absolute ball - I'm so jealous! At least they have checked it out for me now:) They are in the Cameron Highlands this week and then picking up Paul (my brother) from the airport in KL, and sightseeing KL for the weekend. THEN... they all arrive back at my place for a few days... fun times... my whole family, together during a very busy week!! Then Thursday Paul leaves for Sydney and mom, dad and I leave on Friday night... the excitement is UNBEARABLE NOW!!! I am counting the sleeps!! I can't believe I'm actually going to Australia!! I've talked with my cousin, and I'm going to be staying with her in Sydney for the first week, then we will all be together at my aunt and uncle's house in Forbes (about a 5 hour drive inland from Sydney) over Christmas! It will be awesome not only to be in Aus, but to re-connect with extended family again after 8 years!! I'll be flying back on the 30th, in time for new years here with some friends, and then I have another 2 weeks holiday here! Unfortunately, I couldn't stay longer in Aus because of the tax laws... I have to be in the country on Jan 1st in order to obtain residency with taxes, ect.. (kinda complicated... but I'll abide by the law instead of getting hit with a fine!!)
So that's pretty much the rundown of the next two weeks!!

Life here is still good, and am still really enjoying it!! Though it doesn't feel like Christmas AT ALL!!! The weather doesn't change much here... it's just gone from hot to hotter... while most of you are all bundled up in warm jackets and scarves..:) I do kinda miss that - just for it to be cold over the Christmas season - would create more of an atmosphere... I've been helping different friends decorate for Christmas, playing lots of Christmas music, doing Christmas shopping, decorating my classroom for Christmas... but it STILL doesn't really feel the same!! Instead, I've been laying out on the beach/pool for an hour after school (first, to feel a little 'sane' from the craziness of school, second, to keep Wendi, my friend company while she tans before going back to the States for Christmas!) Here is a pic of Julia, Wendi and I being festive one Saturday night!!

An update

I just got back from watching the senior boys' basketball game at school - close game:101-97 to our guests! I love those close games - the energy level is oh so high in there! It was great to watch b-ball again. I don't think I've watched a high school game since I was in high school! Fun times;) So, yes, b-ball season has just gotten underway, with more games to cheer on I guess! Oooh and the highlight of my week? I got a brand new air conditioner in my bedroom that I wasn't expecting! One of those good surprises! I just put a work request in to the maintenance dept for them to check and see if the air con was in working condition in the spare room (it looked a little dodgy from the outside...) and the next thing I know, the electrician is over installing a new one! So I asked him (just in time) if he could put the new one in my room and my old one (which works well, but not as energy efficient) in the spare room! So, when my parents arrive on Tuesday (yes! they come next week!!) they will have a nice cool room too!
Thought I would just share that little "air-con excitement"!!

I know it's been a while since I wrote last.. things have been so busy and at the end of the day, I honestly don't feel like staring at a computer screen any longer! Our school thrives on communicating through our network email, (which is great and very efficient if you need to "talk" to anyone on staff!) but you end up spending any free time responding to endless emails!! BUT things have changed! I now have wireless internet AT HOME!! Meaning... I can blog away in the comforts of my own home instead of staying hours and hours after school for mmy personal internet time! Heather, who lives above me, got wireless hooked up, and I'm able to get her signal! So hopefully I'll be better at emailing too!
So, a quick update since my last blog...
Ikea..
I went to KL (Kuala Lumpur) to Ikea a couple of weekends ago... It was very fun - Wendi and I got a bus from Penang to KL (about a 4 hour ride), stayed in a beautiful hotel, (which we got an internet rate on - equivalent to about 15pounds a night incl breakfast) shopped our hearts out at Ikea and the mall next to it, got back on the bus and came home! The hotel was situated right in the centre of the mall and Ikea was literally across the road! I got a bunch of the normal Ikea-type stuff for my apartment - but limited on the size and amount of stuff, since we were taking a bus! But, as usual, Bron takes her limit to the max with "stuff" (bags full of chopping boards, dish racks, baskets, ect..) ! A little awkward and heavy, but only for a short time, but it was all worth the trouble in the end!

Duck tape... a (woman's) best friend...

So a few weeks after I arrived here, the pipe in my shower started multiple leaks... hence sprays everywhere... so what do I do? Duck taped it. Then about a month ago the pipe from the toilet tank into the wall sprang a leak - no worries... duck tape to the rescue. Last night, I went to put a load of laundry into my washing maching... hmmm you guessed it.. the pipe that drains the water totally broke off. Water everywhere. Duck tape once again saves the day. What would I ever do without my blue duck tape?!!
(Note: duck tape WAS only a temporary solution.. The maintenance staff here at school are VERY good at coming and fixing household stuff! All it takes is putting in a request, and it gets done in a day or two.. Let's hope it's the same for the washing machine.. I'm running out of clean school clothes..)

Time for a few knocks..

Yesterday right after school, a bunch of us staff took off to go knock out some pewter! We went downtown to Georgetown to the pewter factory, where we were shown how pewter is made, and then got to make our pewter bowls! One of the things Malaysia is known for is its pewter. Pewter is a type of metal made of three different metals together - tin, copper and something else..(can't remember!) We all went into this room, got to don a fancy apron, and were instructed how to hammer out our own pewter bowls! It started off as a flat round piece of pewter, and from there we had to literally knock it into shape with a mallot! Talk about getting your frustrations for the week out!! It was quite a sound when we all got going! After "knocking it out", you file the edges down, and then polish it with a scouring pad! At the end we all got certificates for graduating from the "school of hard knocks"! All very fun:)

















After all our knocking, we decided to go for dinner at this thai restaurant, "Cherry Sweet"- mmmm! Thai green curry is still not my favourite, but pondon chicken and chicken with cashews definetely is on the top of my list!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For all those Canadians (or wannabe Canadians..) HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Although it doesn't at all feel like it's Thanksgiving, given that everyone in Canada has the DAY OFF... there is no cool, crisp air, autumn leaves falling to the ground.. I can go on...! But it is good to be around at least a few Canadians this year to celebrate!
One of the staff organized a Thanksgiving meal at the hotel (next doorto the school) for all the Canadians.. It was a fantastic meal, better than last year I heard... See, it's hard for Malaysians to know what a traditional turkey dinner is all about and how to cook it! Apparently, in years past, instead of pumpkin pie, they made bits of pumpkin wrapped in filo pastry!! And last year the turkey wasn't even cooked through! It's like asking a westerner to cook a traditional Malay dish! We wouldn't have a clue! Thankfully, this year an ex-pat on the island (he's actually American) went in and helped out in the kitchen! (He used to be a chef) So yes, the turkey was done to perfection, the sweet potatos were awesome, and the pumpkin pie was ... actually pretty good! So, what am I thankful for? Wow, where do I start... Great friends here and abroad... a wonderful home.. here and abroad! And just knowing that I am in the right place - "for such a time as this."

I'll post some pics soon...

A time to reflect...

Last night we had a beach bonfire to end off Spiritual Emphasis Week - It was really cool; actually not that "cool"! Instead of bundling up around a fire, sipping hot chocolate and getting as close to the fire as possible for the warmth, (like you would in Canada..) we were sitting with shorts and t-shirts, bare feet, sipping ice smoothies in the sand!
This morning was our "new staff debriefing" - The director got us all together and we had a chance to share how we have found the adjustment since moving here. It was great to hear how you identified with so many other's stories, and also how far we had all come since the last time we all met together during new staff orientation. I can't believe it's only been two months since I've been here! So much has happened in those months, that it feels more like 6 months! Yes, there have been highs and lows since I've been here, but the highs definetely outweigh the lows! I've been so blessed with good friends, a low-stress job, and a beautiful apartment. What more could you ask for?! Thank you to all of you who have prayed for me, your encouraging emails, and just knowing you're "there" is such a comforting thought!

Another week done..

Well, it's Friday!! Yay! I am so exhausted, though - a busy week was had! Plus, in Science, we started looking at mealworms, which was just sooo exciting for the kids! They each got their own worm to "observe" and do little experiments with! So yes, Miss Bodley decides to hype the kids up on a Friday afternoon instead of bringing the week to an end with something more calming to do! But the kids loved it, and I'm loving teaching Science again - a subject I haven't taught since my student days!
This week was also "Spiritual Emphasis Week" which meant there were services Tues, Wed, Thurs night with a guest speaker from New York. He was an excellent speaker, (Huge black dude - origninally from the Carribean) and the high school kids responded really well, with lots of them dealing with issues in their lives, and also comitting and re-comitting(sp?!) their lives to Christ. It was awesome! So it's been a good week, just tiring!

School Life..

Work is going well... I know there are lots of teachers reading this, so I thought I would give you a little "picture" of what the teaching is like over here!
Outside of the academic realm, I'm doing two after school clubs... Monday afternoons I do French club with grades 3 and 4. There are only 9 in the club, which is a nice small number to work with! It's very easy, and I'm using lots of "Jolie Ronde" material/ideas with them (French program I taught at Gad's), so no prep or planning needed! (After 3 years, I can do it from memory:) The other club is girl scouts (Brownies). There are all different age groups, and the boys are doing it too - from grade 1 through grade 5 or 6. This one I was kind of roped into doing, as they needed more leaders to lead different groups! But I am enjoying it.. I have 9 kids (some grade 1, mostly grade 3) and we work on different "badges" every week. So it's pretty easy, and I'm doing all the "easy, low prep" badges first!!
Next quarter, (the school year is divided into 4 quarters - 2 quarters in the first semester which goes until December, then 2 quarters in second semester, which goes from Jan-June) which will start in a couple of weeks, (no holidays between 1st and 2nd quarter unfortunately!) I'll be continuing on with Brownies, and also doing Student Council - ahhh I don't know what I've just gotten myself into!! But it sounds fun anyway... Planning theme days, and "social" kind of events.. I will hopefully delegate a lot of the work to my council!! I'll keep you informed of how it goes...:~
As far as the academic side goes... the workload is SO much lighter than I'm used to! It's just that I find I'm "caught up" so much quicker... A few factors that maybe contributes to this is that I only have 11 kids, so the marking gets down much quicker... Also, we finish at 2:55, so the day is shorter, meaning less "teaching" time. The other grade 3 teacher and I agreed that I would teach her Science and she would teach my Social Studies, which means I only have 4 subjects to prep for! Makes life that much easier:)
I must admit, I really do miss teaching different classes of kids and also my French and DT I taught at Gad's.... I really enjoyed that! But at the same time, I am thankful of the lighter load, so that I have the time also to just settle into a different culture, and form friendships ect.

Speaking of settling in... my plans this weekend? To finish painting my bedroom! I love colour... and so the bedroom is a sage green, and the bathroom is a lavender purple... I also bought fabric to cover the cushions of my couch - a local lady is making the covers for me ... RM 5 a cover! (That's less than a pound!!) How could I NOT get it done at that price!! Can't wait til they are finished... I will post a picture when my living room is "complete"!!
I must head home now... it's Friday afternoon... What am I still doing at school??!!

Chilling in the Highlands

Last weekend I went up to the Cameron Highlands with some other gals from work. We left right after school, and headed up to the mountains. (About a 4 hour drive) It's on mainland Malaysia, east of Kuala Lumpur. Once we started climbing, we turned the air con off and opened the windows... wow - cool air!!! It was so amazing! I didn't realize how much I actually missed it! We spent 3 nights (we had Monday off) at the missionary guesthouse, which was AWESOME! Nestled in the mountains, what a view we had... My favourite part was to go out in the morning and read, overlooking the lush green mountains! The guesthouse itself was gorgeus - high ceilings, hardwood floor, 3 meals a day prepared for you... own room with huge bed and sink.. all for only RM 60 a night! (less than 10 pounds/or $20Cdn)
It was a wonderful time to relax - sleep, read... and sleep some more! It took me about a day to just unwind, since I've been "on the go" with school ever since I arrived, and haven't had a real "break". So yes, just what the doctor ordered!
On the Saturday, we went to the tea plantation which was amazing! And went to the little town nearby for tea and scones with jam and cream! (That place catered for westerners!! Not a lot of places would have that! What a treat!!)
The best part of the weekend (well, one of the best..) was wearing my jeans and socks and my hoodie sweater, curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching 3 episodes of CSI!! (They had satellite TV at the guesthouse:)) See, they had no central heating, so it got a little chilly in the evenings - when I mean chilly, hmmm about 15 degrees celsius... I guess my blood is starting to thin out already!
Coming back Mon evening into the humidity was not as much fun... But you get used to it fairly quickly!
The pics above are of the guesthouse where we stayed (beautiful rose garden!) and of the tea plantation.

Singapore!

Singapore, here I come!
(Me (left), on the road less travelled...;)
I was in Singapore for two days (with two other collegues) for a conference for work. The school flew us down(all expenses paid) and it was awesome!! An excellent 2-day workshop on cooperative learning by Kagan. Lots of practical ideas to use! Besides the "work" part of the trip, we also go to see a bit of the city! After the conference ended the first day, we got some dinner then headed to the night safari, where we went around in this tram for 45 mins - we saw tons of animals - elephant, giraffe, rino, hippos, ect. - by night! It was really cool, and if it hadn't been raining and we weren't so tired, I would have liked to do some of the walking trails around there. We also went to Little India, and had a look at the downtown area/riverside which was very pretty lit up at night. We stayed 2 nights at the YMCA (very nice!) and then flew back Tues night. Back to work Wednesday! It's been a short week at school, but boy am I ready for Friday! I feel like a bus ran over me!
Below are a few pics of us in Singapore.

A Sad Day...

An emotional day for me... Last night I came home from work to find my kitty in a seizure/fit (looked like an epileptic fit to me..) on the floor, foaming at the mouth.. I got Wendi next door to help me - and she got Corrine (another teacher who lives just down the road) who had a car and drove us to the vet. Well, Biscuit didn't quite make it there... She died in my arms.. Horrible experience! I have never quite experienced a death like that. The vet was very sweet, and I left her there to be cremated. I have NO idea what was wrong with her.. The vet said she could have been poisoned (but there was no trace of anything that had been tampered with in the house.. although she could have nibbled a plant perhaps?) or it was an epileptic fit. I was about to take her into the vet this weekend to have her spade too... It's amazing how attatched you can become to an animal after only 6 weeks! But I know she's in kitty heaven...

Relaxing Sundays...

Thought I would post a few pics of what I do on a Sunday afternoon... (prep for school?? What's that...??!!) Julia and I hit the hotel pool next door to the school (the hotel lets us school staff use their pool and deck chairs). I thought it was about time I actually lay in the sun... Everyone thinks I'm so tanned, since I am living on a tropical island.. But no, I don't really have time to lay in the sun every day!! Got a few rays in though this afternoon. It was a gorgeous day after the rain last night (the rain always clears the haze). Then about an hour after we went inside, the rain started down again! The hotel is right on the beach, so the first pic is of the hotel pool, then the other pic is the beach the hotel is on.

The Best Part...

I know I have gone on about how this place is so great (ie cheap pedicures, massages, ahmas to clean your place, cheap texting internationally, sea views, the list goes on...) , but there are the cons too.. may I enlighten you... Rats... no, thank goodness, not in my apartment, but you see lots of them scurrying around in the open gutters around town. Mmmm pleasing sight.. The mosquitos are not the most pleasant things around either.. And then you get these huge lizards called monitaurs (sp??). They are a couple feet long. Next time I see one, I hope I have my camera on me.. They creep me right out! Thank goodness my first sighting of one of these was at a distance. And then there's the ocean. Yes, it's beautiful, to look at, to listen to.. but not to swim in... It's quite polluted around here with the local pollution flowing into it.. And it's loaded with jellyfish too.. But, still, it is amazing to walk to school on the beach every morning... There's nothing like starting the day, watching the sunrise as you walk along the white sand to the beach entrance of the school. (literally a 5 min walk door to door) That's just the best part about living here...

This pic is my way to school every morning. (The black fence on the left is the school property)

The other pic is the sunrise I see behind me in the morning. (It only gets light around 7am!)

Another week gone by..

Well, it's FRIDAY!! This week has actually flown by - I'm getting into a good routine now, which is keeping me busy... Going walking with a friend (she lives below me) every Mon and Thurs after school up Pearl Hill. It's great exercise, and the hill is... steep! But we keep each other motivated which helps! And Tuesdays I'm going to a Pilates class (offered as an after school club, but lots of staff go!). So, yes.. it's a start to getting into shape!
I went for a pedicure with Wendi last night - oh the life!! I LOVE being pampered!

Last weekend a bunch of us female staff took a school van and went off the island to a Mikasa outlet store. You can imagine the fun we had there... dish heaven! And I won't go on about the prices... but they were amazing... (10 pounds for 4 mugs, 4 square plates, 4 round plates, and 4 bowls!) - And this is Mikasa stuff...mmmm! Here are some pics of some of the Americans in their element... (And one of us crossing the bridge to mainland Malaysia) We went to Carrefour to do grocery shopping and eat lunch too. (Carrefour is European - I've been to it in France!) I had a clay pot for lunch (see the pic..) It's basically chicken and rice and egg, and LOTS of soya sauce cooked in the clay pot. Tasty!

I'm in Heaven..

I came home from school on Friday, walked into my apartment, and thought I had died and gone to Heaven...
My floors were spotless, my bathroom and bedrooms were clean... (not that the place was an absolute pigsty! Don't get me wrong here!) My ahma had come and had done all my housework! It is just the best thing, when you are totally exhausted on a Friday afternoon! My ahma comes every 2 weeks for 4 hours... I think it will be the only time in my life I will be able to afford hired help! It's really very reasonable - works out to be about $12 for 4 hours work! (that's about 6 UK pounds!) I felt bad at first, but then people said that we are actually helping the locals by giving them work, and they appreciate it.. and that's what the going rate is at the moment. (10 malaysian ringett an hour)
It's well worth it, since I have so many floors to mop (no carpet at all) and by the end of mopping I'm sweating my heart out! (not something I really want to do on the weekend!) The place gets dirty naturally from all the sea air that comes in with the salt, ect.. my windows are so rusted from the salt, I can't even close the slats! My apartment may be a bit old, but hey, wouldn't trade it for the ocean view!!

Its Raining Men

Well, no, it's not actually raining men... That song just popped into my head when it started to downpour here!! Yes, rainy season is on it's way... We're getting a taste of it right now! I guess they would call this a flood in other countries, but it's quite normal here... Now I know why the gutters are so huge here!!
So here I am... stuck at school.. long gone 5pm, waiting for the rain to let up just a little so I can get home semi-dry... I just took a picture of it coming down - don't think you'll get the full effect from the picture... but an idea anyway! No little drizzles like England or Canada.. the drops are just huge! Refreshing though.. It cools down the air a lot, and the smell is wonderful! (Now that I've uploaded it, it doesn't look like much rain... oh well... it's the thought that counts:))

My thoughts thus far...

I feel so blessed here, and I know God has placed me here for a purpose, for however long that is, I really don't know. I can't really say after only being here for 3 weeks. So far, so good. It is a lot to take in, though - everything is different. I found this week at school quite challenging, not that the kids are at all challenging, but I guess it's getting used to a new school routine with different kids, ect. It does take a while to adjust. I have really missed my old surroundings, and Gad's... England was a very special part of my life, and all who were a part of that chapter... I do miss you all so much!
I remember when I first arrived in England, I had these same kind of feelings too. It's not until about a few months in, that you really feel like you "belong"! The waves of homesickess come and go... And I do feel like England was my "home". But I look on ahead, pressing on toward the goal... and embrace the adventure that waits ahead!


Below are more pics of the school. The main road the school is on, the entrance, and the new elementary wing. (the yard is still getting landscaped!)

Church Hopping

Some people have been asking about church over here, so I'll quickly explain what I have experienced..
The first two Sundays I went to Penang International Church. It's inter-denomination church, full of ex-pats (mostly Dalat School staff!) The pastor is a Canadian guy. It meets in one of the large banquet rooms in a hotel. I enjoyed it, but wanted to see what else was out there..

So this morning I went with another collegue to FGA (Full Gospel Assembly). It was very different than PIC (Penang International Church) in that it was more of a local church, predominantly made up of Chinese people, and a few Indian. (Though it is an English service, and everything is conducted in English) The worship was more lively, and the preaching was very lively too! (More of what I'm used to I guess!) But I'm going to "hop" around a little more, since there are many "English" /western churches around. I really enjoyed this morning, just being part of a different cultural group was great. I really enjoy hanging out and being with Dalat school staff, but I also want to branch out a little and meet other people, whether that be Chinese, Indian, Malay or even other westerners!

Shopping!

My first weekend at the end of what seemed to be a long first week of school! The weekend kicked off with dinner at Nandos!! A few collegues and I decided to eat and shop after school - and that's exactly what we did! Ahhhh it was good to have my chicken burger again.. Made me a bit homesick eating it, remembering all the times I went to Nandos at Bluewater!! Difference in Malaysian Nandos? I got to have a mango smoothie... yumm... And the price of course! (about 3 pounds for meal and drink!) It seemed so expensive, since I was used to spending only about a pound for a local meal! Well, we hit the mall, and boy was that an experience... Yes, it was like any other mall (with some of the same stores, ie Body Shop) , but the difference? The clothes are sooo tiny!! Never in my life have I had to buy a large or extra large top before! And you can just forget about fitting into any pants (I mean trousers!!) I'm going to have to get some made.. It was so funny, cus there are two stores that sell more western sizes, and we saw half of the school staff shopping there too! They get in a bunch of brand names from all over the world! I would suddenly come across an Old Navy top, or H&M, ect. But not a wide selection at all! I ended up in the more "posh" designer stores (which were still reasonably priced, at least for me, who was still shopping in pounds and dividing everything almost by 7! Think it will be a bit different once those pounds run out and I'm bugeting out of my local Malaysian salary!)

On Saturday, Heather (grade 1 teacher, also new) and I went back to the mall by bus... Experience in itself! The local bus into town is a great, cheap way of getting around, but is by no means a luxury form of transportation! We were squished on there, standing on the steps (reminded me of the London underground) the door not closing on this rickety old thing - which was kind of nice since we got some air... But heaven forbid if that bus had made a sharp turn... we would have easily been flung out of there! But hey, all part of the fun and learning the local ways!!

Saturday evening I went up to Batu Ferrengui (just 5km north from here) with Wendi and Julia (both American gals - on staff too). Batu is a more touristy place with loads of great local market stalls that open up in the evening. Best thing about it is you can barter with them for a better price! Our first stop was DVDs... now you must understand how big the market here is for pirated copies ... (illegal in other words...) They are all over the place! But a very common thing and most people get DVDs that way! For 4 ringett a copy.. (about $1 or 50p) you can't really go wrong.. So we ended up getting about 10 DVDs each... You should see Wendi and Julia's collection... they have hundreds!! (They say it's an addiction...;) We had dinner (Indian....yumm..) and did a little more local shopping/haggling!
The pics are of Wendi (left) and Julia(right) up at Batu - eating and shopping!

First Days of School

Well, I have made it through the first two days! I have a wonderful class - only 11 students!! They are all great - about half are Korean/Taiwanese and the other half American kids. It's going to take a while to get used to the small class size! But I know we'll have a lot of fun... The new elementary wing is great - at times I actually freeze with the air conditioning on! Need to go outside to get warm!
I have to keep this entry short, as I have loads of work to do! (new curriculum, ect to get my head around!!)
Anyway here is a picture of just the entrance to the elementary part of the school. I'll take some better pics soon!

Pics of my place...

As requested, some pics of my place inside, and of my furry housemate:)
The first one is kind of dark, I couldn't get the lighting right; usually it's much brighter than this!! (Sea views are out the front of my living room:))
I will be getting some curtains made (very cheap here to do!) instead of those brightly coloured ones:(

Goodbye Straight Hair!!

Well, I have to sadly say goodbye to any thought of having straight hair in this country... I am all curls here in Malaysia! The humidity naturally puts wonderful frizzes in my hair, and it starts to flip up about, oh, 10 minutes after straightening it!! So, I have just decided to go with the flow, and not have a fight with the hair situation every morning!!
Yes, it is very humid here, but I haven't found it overwhelmingly difficult to get used to.. Maybe it's the South African blood in me that's kicking in..! I think you just naturally get used to the feeling of being "wet" all the time!! And of course, more showers are taken (one in the morning, one in the evening!) But everywhere you go is air conditioning, so it's not all that bad. My classroom is so nice and cool, so good working environment.... and I sleep with the air con on low in my bedroom at night.
Weather has been great - sunny skies for the most part, but I've heard we are about to head into rainy season... umbrellas, here we come...;)

Time Difference...

Okay, so I gave you my phone numbers, but I would prefer that you don't call me in the middle of the night!! So, to try and avoid that (although I know some of you will just randomly phone anyway...) here are the time differences:
For those of you in the UK, I am 7 hours AHEAD of you. (It's technically supposed to be 8, but this part of Malaysia doesn't strictly follow the offical time zones... it's a Malaysian thing...)

For those of you in Canada, I am 15 hours AHEAD of you. (hmmm, a bit trickier to find a good time to phone... best on the weekends I would think..)

First week in Malaysia...

Well, where do I begin with my adventure..!! So much I have experienced in only one week! Maybe I'll take you back to the very beginning... Heathrow airport...
So, Yolande dropped me at the airport on Saturday - I was all ready to go, just a little nervous of how much it was going to cost for my excess luggage! (I was 10kg over, and Cathay Pacific was going to charge me 10 pounds per extra kilogram! Yikes!! But I prepared myself. Well, I got to the checkout, and the guy said the flight was overbooked, and was I willing to take the next flight the following day.. He said the airline would give me 300 pounds cash, a night in a hotel (with dinner and breakfast), PLUS they wouldn't charge me anything for my excess baggage!! Wow - what a blessing! My only concern was contacting the school to pick me up a day later... Thankfully, the director got my email I sent at the hotel in time, and another family was a day late too, so we both ended up on the same flight to Penang a day later. I knew this was a great start to my adventure and a sign that God was definetely looking after me!

Arriving in Penang....
Karl (the director) and Mike (another teacher) picked me (and the Sasse family) up at the airport - the flight was long (11hours to Hong Kong, 3 hours to Penang) and I didn't sleep much at all! I found that my shipping boxes had arrived a couple of days before, so when I was dropped at my apartment, I got a second wind of energy and started unpacking my boxes!! I should have gone straight to bed! But it was just too exciting...!
The rest of the week was new staff orientation. I got to meet the rest of the new staff - there are about 25 of us in all. They are all wonderful people! So it's been really great to hang out with them and do some "bonding" before school begins! Reason for so many new staff: the middle school has dramatically increased in size, so lots of new positions there, plus more ESL teachers, ect. Plus some people that left only had a short term stay in mind and only stayed for 2 years.

The School...
Dalat International School is fantastic... I know I haven't officially started "working" yet, but the staff I have met are amazing, and from all the orientation this week, I have learnt a lot about the school, and I just know it's going to be great...! I will take some pics of the school soon, and post them. My classroom is BRAND NEW! They have renovated an old dorm into the new elementary wing. It's going to be awesome! Except.. they have only just finished it, and there is nothing in the rooms yet! All the equipment is going to be moved over tomorrow (Monday) and then the fun begins... setting everything up! We have this next week to set up (plus staff conference Thurs and Fri) and then the following Tuesday is when we start! There are two of us grade 3 teachers (we are both new) and it's going to be so great to work together. Karen is wonderful - she has 3 kids and husband that is teaching high school History. I won't go on about school life, since there is so much else to talk about!

My apartment...
Aaahhh.... sea views, sea breeze, what more could I ask for?! The pics I have posted are of my place - my beach in front, the hill going down to the apartment block. I will take some pics inside my place too - I have just bought a new rug for the living room area and it looks so much better than it was! So those pics will be coming soon. I have a different housemate... she's black and furry... her name is Biscuit and she purrrrs a lot!! Great company for me! My place is slowly coming together... they took a bunch of us to Tescos the other day (yes! They have Tesco here! ) Except this one was huge, and had lots of household appliances, clothes, ect in it. The wonderful thing about this country is that it's so cheap!!! My pounds have definetely gone far over here!

I have quite a few people from school living in the same block as me - out of the 6 apartments, 4 of them are Dalat staff. It's really great - I feel so safe living on my own, and there's always someone around to talk to! My next door neighbour, Wendi, is great - we're the same age, and get along really well. She's been here a year, and so is able to answer a lot of my questions, give me some good suggestions, advice on shopping... !

Food..

All I can say is, I must start jogging on the beach! The food is excellent - I've tried a lot of the local food - we have gone up to the stalls almost every night for dinner. The stalls is like a outdoor Malaysian "foodcourt" type thing - with concrete "picnic" tables in the centre. I've had Wonton Mee, Nasi Goreng, and this amazing chicken burger,... mmmm and tonnes of fresh fruit juices (watermelon is tending to be my favorite at the moment!) And the best thing is... it is SOOO CHEAP!! My average meal costs about 4 Malaysian Ringett (about 70 pence in the UK, or just over a dollar in Canada). And the juices are about 1 Ringett (about 20p!) I've had a bit of Indian food too, which is great. Malaysia has 3 different cultures living here - the Indian-Malay, the Chinese-Malay, and the local Malay people. So, there is a lot of good food around! Also, lots of Thai food. mmmmm!

So, I'm not going to ramble on anymore... I will be sure to keep you posted; please do add your comments, and keep emailing me! I love to get email!!

Farewell, England!

Well, my last couple of days in England... It's been a great 3 years, and I have made some very special friendships during my time here - it's been sad to say goodbye, but I am also so excited about my new venture! The packing is almost done, goodbyes almost all said...

"I'm leaving on a jet plane, don't know when I'll be back again..." as the song says!

These are a few pictures from my farewell party a couple of weeks ago..














Mary and I - we grew up together in S Africa