Untitled blog post #8

23/10/14
I'm feeling insanely lucky after 2 weeks of traveling in Cambodia. It is so heartwarming to know that I have friends living here who are crazy happy and graciously invited me to use their home as a base for my travels. I'm lucky to be healthy and young enough to travel. I'm lucky that living abroad has allotted me a way to afford this lifestyle. And most importantly I'm lucky I have someone who makes me still want to come home after such an amazing experience.

24/10/14
A ridiculous thought just crossed my mind. All day long I've been roaming the capital of Cambodia with my own personal tuk tuk driver. I feel terrible every time I wake him from his slumber or he quickly sips his coffee so we can get going. " no, take you time," I say. "We go," he says. I don't think he understands much English. I think that I could never have a job where I gave my life to a person like that. Put aside my needs for food, and sleep to afford their pleasures. And then a funny thought entered my mind. I do. I put my need to pee, sleep, and sometimes eat above the needs and desires of 25 beautiful children. I love them so much.

19/11/14
Tonight I am desperate for my guitar. Or my best friend. And I just saw a picture of the last time I was in America and my nephew was still a baby, and now he is a real person. How and Why do I do this?

27/11/14
I've been having a really rough few weeks at work. Today I tried to just breath my way through and re-evaluate my classroom management. I set some goals for myself, which is always a good thing, but I was a feeling like a really crappy teacher. But then I was talking to my roommate tonight and I came up with an awesome success. There is this little boy who is a trouble maker. I have a lot of cute little boy trouble makers, and this one is particularly cute. But everyone seems to blame everything on him. At the start of the term I noticed he wasn't doing his homework so I asked him why and he said he didn't understand and his parents weren't able to help him. I asked him to stay with me and complete it during his playtime until he understood. He wasn't happy about it, but after 3 days he started turning in his english homework correctly completed each day. We've noticed he has started focusing more on his work during class time as well. What's more is that I've started sticking up for him to the other kids, saying they cannot always just push the blame on him. I am so proud of his newly acquired focus, and I'm excited to see if his behavior continues to improve. It is amazing how little bits of support (20 minutes for 3 days) can effect a kid overall.

2/12/14
I am amazed at the fact that it is already December. School is winding down. We are getting close to the point of constant practice for our Christmas show. It frustrates me because I understand the importance of it, but also...I just wanna teach. Like real things, like synonyms and antonyms and writing our non-fictions books, and researching endangered species. 2 weeks from now I'll be packing for Australia. What?!?! This last week was particularly rough because of Thanksgiving. I have never wanted to be home for a holiday so much in my whole life. We had some issues planning skype and Matt watched me have a severe mental breakdown....well 2. This poor man has watched more breakdowns in the last 6 weeks than I think my mom watched when I was in high school. It has been decided that next year I will be flying home for Christmas. I just really am craving the traditions, which is a very odd thing for me to say.

10/12/14
I hate the last weeks of terms for several reason. Mostly I just feel like a terrible teacher. I'm so busy prepping reports, portfolios, christmas concert items, that I fee like I hardly get time to teach real lessons, and if I do they are unexpected and I end up under prepared. It is a frustrating time of year. But today as I sat down to grade our non-fiction text for portfolios, I realized how amazing my kids are. Yes, their parents helped them with research, but they managed to write these books, and be excited about them, and they look like real books about animals. In fact I even learned some neat random facts about animals. And, given that I haven't spent that much time on our Christmas item the kids are doing an overall amazing job of it. Sometimes they just surprise you.

13/12/14
5 days left of school and 7 days from now I will be at the airport checking in to board my flight to Bali and then to Australia. I'm looking forward to a family christmas, even though it's not technically my family. A strange thought crossed my mind as I realized that a year ago I was texting my brother to tell him I was in love with an Australian dude. Who could have known a year ago that this is where my life would take me? Who knows where I'll be in a year. Thanks for the crazy and fascinating ride life!

Christmas Letter 2014

Dearest Friends and Family,

Another year has come and past, and it is time to reflect on how incredible and precious time can be. As I have gained and lost in so many different areas of my life, I am both wishing I was home, and wishing I could spend more of my life in new places.

I began the year in Bali with 2 friends I met in Albania. It was so nice to see them, but something inside me was dying to get back to Jakarta because I had a super cute boy waiting for me. Soon after I returned (the same day) Matt and I started officially dating. I will say that our relationship has been challenging in more ways than it has been easy, but I’m crazy about him and feel lucky to have met him through a randomly connected chain of friends.

Living in Jakarta has been a bit rough this year, and I’m finding it very difficult to engage any of my passions here. This has led to some really rough weeks, but I’m optimistic that it is the city and not the general lifestyle that are bothering me. On the positive side I’m loving the opportunity to experience teaching the same level at the same school for a second year. I find more and more that it becomes easier once you know how a school runs, and have the resources you need to set up a classroom to fit your needs.

A little about my travels:

As I said, December was spent mostly on the beaches of Bali, Lombok, and the Gili Islands, but I also did some hiking around Mount Bromo, an active volcano, which was my favorite part of the holiday.

In March I traveled to Flores to hike on Komodo Island. My friends from America came for a visit and came with. I got to do some incredible snorkeling! I also went to Karimun Jawa with my co-workers, and visited Semerang, which is the third biggest city on the island of Java.

Matt and I took a weekend getaway to Puncak, which was an excellent escape from the heat and smog of the city. Up in the mountains we occupied ourselves with some hiking and cuddling by our fireplace.

In April I took a short weekend trip to Singapore to meet Matt’s parents. We spent our first day just walking around and exploring and on the second day we headed to Legoland in Malaysia.

In July: Matt and I first travelled to Pangadaran, a small beach city in south Java. We visited a national park to do some trekking, and body rafted in the green valley and took a boat into the green canyon. The sights were amazing. 

My parents came to Jakarta to meet Matt, and he was 100& approved. Then we took off for south Sulawesi and made our way up to the north via car and ferry. We stayed in a village house, dealt with bug infestations, sat in the car for hours on end, and ate fish every night. There were lots of annoying parts, however I think overall the cultural experience was one they will never forget. We also had some beach time, got to indulge in delicious fruit, and saw an amazing waterfall.

Matt and I took a final trip to Malaysia and travelled to Tioman island to take our dive course. After one day of diving I fell sick with an ear infection. After leaving the island Matt got food poisoning, and the last day there I threw up in the Planetarium bathroom after visiting the bird park. I was ready to go home.

In October I traveled to Cambodia for my first solo trip. I started in Siem Reap and enjoyed the beautiful wonders of the temples surrounding me. Then I met up with 2 friends for a weekend in the Riverside city of Kampot. We took motorbikes (I learned how to drive) into the national park to enjoy the mountains and exploration of random deserted buildings. I spent a few days on the beach, and soaked up the extremely sad history of this beautiful country with several museum visits in the capitol.

The job search has begun and I can officially announce that I will be moving to Singapore next year. This is the first time I have chosen a specific country, instead of a general school type, and I’m still a bit nervous about finding something that meets my needs and desires. Overall I have faith that at some point the right job for me will come along.

For Christmas this year I will be travelling to Australia to meet Matt’s family and friends and soak up some sun. I cannot wait to see and experience all the things he keeps telling me about.

I hope you have an excellent holiday!

Tiara

And my advice for you this year is as follows: