Happy Merdeka!

I am enjoying a wonderful long weekend - thanks to Merdeka! Merdeka is Malaysian Independence Day... (Aug 31) and it's a big one this year - 50 years they have been independent from the Brits! This day, 50 years ago, Malaysia became it's own country and free from British rule... Not long, eh?! They have been building up to this weekend forever!! (Before I even left for the UK!) And now the day has come and gone, and it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.. traffic wasn't nearly as bad, and I hardly heard ANY fireworks!! I think it all happened downtown in Georgtown.. But usually we hear quite a bit of commotion down on the beach - it was pleasantly quiet this year!
I am enjoying my second year here in Malaysia...knowing the ropes makes life so much easier! I often think back on this time last year and where I was... and I'm glad I've gone through most of the transition! Not that I don't still get hit with culture shock once in a while and get really frustrated at some of the Malaysian ways of doing things.. but it's nice to know what to expect instead of being surprised all the time!
And as far as work goes, it's going really well - I'm team teaching this year with another teacher and we're both tackling a large grade 4 class. We get on really well and having a lot of laughs ;)
I promise I'll be more faithful with blogging from now on..! Oh, and there are some new links on the right of this page (thanks Caron, my IT specialist;)) - including my grade 4 blog - if you want to see what's happening in our classroom from day to day - each day a different student has a chance to blog - it's kind of cute the things they write :)

A few more pics from Europe..

Back in the Groove...

I know I haven't blogged in absolute AGES... but... travelling the world has kept me busy for a little bit! I'm back in Malaysia, and for the past week, I've been stuck in my classroom doing lots of work to get ready for the new school year! The kids return tomorrow, and I'm ready... finally ready. This start of the year has been much less stress than this time last year! Even though I've had to set up a new classrooom and am teaching a different grade level, I still feel like I have everything under control... unlike last year! So... here's to another fab year in Malaysia ;)

Hopefully very soon, I'll get a slideshow going with some of my Europe pics on. For now, I'll just post a few, as time is really short, and I need to get home!