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.
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!
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!
I am glad you are going to have a great holiday creating new traditions but also glad you crave traditions of a lifetime. i just realized parents work very hard at creating that longing at the same time they are trying to create independence. You do both well! We must have been successful. But the independence is sometimes confusing as we long for you to still stay attached. The picture of Daddy saying goodbye to you when you left for Albania probably expresses this emotion better than a thousand words could. And we think he is a man of few words?
ReplyDeleteHe certainly loves his little girl! And so do I.
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