Saturday, December 11, 2010

I Meant it in a Good Way

Apparently, it’s not socially acceptable to say to your very pregnant friend, “Amber, you’re not that big -just because your stomach enters the room three minutes before you do”.

Well, now you tell me.

Women –it turns out- already know this.

Which got me to thinking that if men were the ones who got pregnant, the social protocol surrounding pregnancy would be radically different.

Gus: Heya fellas. Long time, no see.

Everyone: Hi Gus.

Fred: Dude, you are so huge!

Burt (high-fiving Gus): You are -like, as big as a house!

Fred: How much have you gained?

Gus: (beaming from ear to ear) Forty-seven pounds.

Everyone: Awesome! You are da man!

Fred: (knuckle-tapping Gus) Sweet! Last year, my cousin Karl, put on 51 pounds.

Burt: Somebody get Gus another piece of cheese cake.

So, I’m sorry Amber. I didn’t mean to make you feel bad.

But, it wasn’t my fault.

I couldn’t help it.

I’m a guy.

-Jack

[posted with permission and a lot of laughing]

Friday, December 10, 2010

Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Recruiting new staff for an international school is a much more involved process and therefore the hiring cycle starts much earlier. As a result, before we break for Christmas vacation, our school here in Hong Kong needs us to officially declare our intentions for next fall. We have until the 16th to either sign the contract or not.

Yikes.

On a related note, if any teachers out there have ever considered teaching overseas, I would encourage you to consider it more fully. This has been a really wonderful experience both professionally and personally. It’s been very rewarding for our family. No doubt about it, it has definitely stretched us and has been hard at times, but we have really been blessed by the whole experience.

International Christian School would be a great place to start the process. It is a stand-out school by any standard. I haven’t worked this hard since I was a first year teacher, but the staff and students are wonderful to work with. Beautiful facilities. Great city.

But I would be more than happy to help anyone who is interested in embarking on an international teaching job search. December is the beginning of the hiring cycle for international school.

I was fortunate that I was actually able to secure a two-year leave of absence from my school district in Chicago that made this China endeavor possible. Because of the soft economy, your school district might be more inclined to extend to you a leave of absence than they would have been under other circumstances.

Email me.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Christmas Concerts

I teach middle school. I have a daughter in elementary school. I have a daughter in high school. The result: I attended three school Christmas concerts in four days.

And that was just for the choirs.

The best part is that I get to repeat it all over again next week for band and orchestra.

Good thing I live at the school.

Literally.


Challenge: can you find Elise? It’s like “Where’s Waldo?” but without the red striped shirt.

-Jack

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

They’re not Kidding Around

Singapore is a city-state on the southern tip of Malaysia. She’s a booming metropolis that often gets compared to Hong Kong. We flew into Singapore on our way to Indonesia.

As you can see, Singapore takes the rule of law very seriously –especially when it comes to drug trafficking.

Monday, December 6, 2010

6,000

Well, we just hit 6,000 pageviews. Thanks to all of you who have been reading and continue read.

-Jack

Putting the Equator in the Rearview Mirror

After dinner on Thursday night, I had the boys pack up and place their suitcases on the dock outside of their cabin. They couldn’t understand why I was going to have them leave their suitcases outside on the last night. But, once I’d inspected the room to make sure it was packed up and clean, I had them haul their suitcases back inside.

Only then would I let them go down to the beach to join the girls at the bonfire. We spent our last evening in Indonesia around the fire sharing what we had seen and learned. Everyone agreed, our week spent a half a degree from the equator had been a memorable one.

We had to get up at 5:30 the next morning so it was lights out at 9:00. Despite the long day –despite the long week- the boys were a little energetic. I finally got them into their bunks and settled down. As we all lay in bed, David –Mr. Shrimping himself- broke into song. It was an original, stream-of-conscience summary of our week. David may be a goof, but he’s incredibly musical. In addition to touching on the highlights from the week, he sprinkled the song with Indonesian words we had learned over the week. He had us all laughing instead of sleeping. It was a great way to finish our week. Finally, I had to flip on my teacher voice and tell him that was enough and for everybody to go to sleep.

In the morning, we didn’t have time for a sit-down breakfast, so the staff from Telunas Beach gave us all a sack breakfast to eat on the two-hour boat ride back to the Batam where we would catch the ferry to Singapore. From there it would be a short flight back to Hong Kong.

Thank heavens for individual in-flight movies and video games to keep the kids busy. I was exhausted.

Back in Hong Kong, several parents met us at the airport. We dismissed most of the remaining kids who would find their own way home from the airport. My colleagues and I had to escort two of our students all the back to Shatin.

Preparing to take eighteen eighth graders on a week-long trip to Indo had been more stressful and nerve-racking that I could have anticipated. Leading up to the trip –overburdened with passport numbers and packing lists and parent meetings- there were several moments when I wasn’t sure that I was going to make it. But I survived, it was an amazing, memorable week, and we brought all eighteen students back safe and sound as promised.

And, as a bonus, my very pregnant colleague did not go into labor.

The kids were outstanding, the villages unbelievable, and the beach was amazing.

But I was exhausted and ready to crawl into my own bed where hopefully I could sleep through the night without any critters gnawing on my thumb.

-Jack

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Mangroves and Waterfall part 3 of 3

Shortly after we started on our hike, I’d noticed that our two drivers weren’t with the group any longer. I had wrongly assumed that they had stayed back with the boats. Halfway through our hike I found out what they’d been up to. While we were still on the river bank, getting ourselves organized, they had gone on ahead of us. On the second half of our hike the jungle got denser and they had been busy bushwhacking the way with their machetes for us. One more thing I can scratch off my list of things to do in life. Hike through a tropical jungle while my guide slashes his way through with a machete. Done.

After an hour’s hike we arrived at the much-anticipated waterfall. It was everything the kids and I had hoped: tall, with a deep pool below, and plenty of high rocks to jump off of. And yes, there was lots of cajoling and jumping including a couple of kids who had not jumped off of the platform back at the resort. One of my students stood on top of the bluff for ten or twelve minutes before she finally jumped and then she only managed to do so because I –with her permission- gave her a push.

We were due back for lunch, so we toweled off as best we could, put our shoes back on, and headed out.

I thought about suggesting to my students that we walk in silence in hopes of seeing monkeys, and then thought better of it. As I did one last check to make sure no one had left anything behind, further down I could hear them singing.

-Jack