Life as I know it

I took last Friday off from school; it was a great day. I slept in (at least until 7), I talked to family and friends from back home, I organized my room, and I made a new friend. As I was organizing my room, I heard some noise outside my window. My window faces the outside walkway that leads from the car park (garage) to the stairs going to the front door. At first I thought it was Kristin, my aunt; the noise from coming from where she stores the broom. After it did not stop I thought I should check out the situation. Was I in for a BIG surprise. The first thing I saw was a long tail. Thinking it was a snake, I quickly ran back inside, collected myself and grabbed my camera. 

A monitor lizard had made its afternoon napping locale on my window sill. Although it seemed to be a baby, he was at least 2.5 feet long! I have only ever seen these lizards near water. Being that our house is no where near a body of water, we do not know where he came from. Sandy, the name my five year old cousin gave the lizard, stayed for the weekend. We checked on him periodically and even tried giving him some leftovers from dinner. Broccoli and chicken are not a lizard's choice dinner. After spending about two days with us, the lizard disappeared and has not been seen since.

Bintan, Indonesia

With less than a month left of school, three friends and myself hopped on a ferry and spent the weekend laying on the beach. Bintan, a small island south of Singapore, was our destination. Only forty-five minutes on the ferry and we were in paradise! Although it was a rainy day in Singapore, the beaches of Bintan greeted us with clear skies and lots of sun. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed the day soaking in the sun. 

I found a hermit crab in the water. He poked his head out a few times and even tried to grab my finger.

Ahhhh....

Tranquility.

Angela, Kara, Laura, and myself - all teachers at ICS

It was such a great opportunity to get to know these great ladies.

Easter in 2nd Grade

What better reason than Easter to have a party! We began the day with the reading of the Easter story. My students always amaze me with their insight and curiosity about Christ. They truly have an understanding of who Christ is and why He came to this earth. 

To remember Christ's death, both the horror and beauty of it, we made stain glass crosses. Using contact paper and tissue paper, my students created beautiful crosses that are now on display in our classroom.

Students first created an outline of the cross.

Once the outline was created, students took shredded tissue paper and decorated their cross.

In order to allow the crosses to stick to the windows, we left about an inch of contact paper around the entire cross. Since contact paper is sticky, the crosses stuck perfectly on the windows.

Some of the crosses on display.

One of the wonderful room moms planned a beautiful Easter party. Instead of eating candy and playing games, we recreated the Passover Seder. This is a Jewish ritual that retells the liberation of the Israelites from slavery.

One of the center pieces. 

Three crosses and a rock; the rock is to represent the tomb.

Part of the ceremony requires the recitation of the ten plagues  As each plague is being recounted, we dipped our fingers into grape juice and dropped it into another cup.

Our beautiful table.

Spring Break with Mom

I was blessed to have my wonderful mother travel 10,000 miles to visit over my spring break. Although she was a bit under the weather the first few days, we trekked all over Singapore. Our adventures included a bus  and boat tour; shopping in Chinatown, Little India, and Holland Village; sightseeing in Clark Quay, Merlion Park, Botanic Gardens, and Orchard Road; manicures and pedicures; enjoying the beach of Sentosa.

Our first two days were spent seeing the city through a bus tour. The "Hop-on, Hop-off" bus has three bus routes that go to all the major sights of Singapore. The ticket allowed us to get on any of the buses at any time. When there was a location we wished to get off and do more exploring, we simply "hopped off", did our exploring, and then "hopped on" back on. 

A street in Little India. Please note the 7-Eleven.

A glimpse of the public housing here in Singapore. Housing & Development Boards, or more commonly referred to as HDBs, are seen all around Singapore as the majority of the population live in accommodations such as these.

A sign outside of a school.

Raffles Hotel which is named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the man who discovered Singapore

This beautiful colonial-styled hotel is home to the Singapore Sling.

A view of Marina Bay Sands and the Singapore Flyer. Marina Bay Sands, the building on the right that has three towers and a ship on top, is a hotel. The Singapore Flyer is like a Ferris Wheel which offers incredible views of Singapore.

A closer look at the Flyer. Those capsule like objects are what you ride in. I've yet to do this, but am very much looking forward to it!

While walking through the Botanic Gardens, we spotted a beautiful swan. These graceful animals are another living proof of the magnificence and creativity of our God.

A walk along Orchard Road

Outside the Ion, one of the major shopping complexes, there was a display of life size animal origami.

Merlion Park

Probably one of the most famous sites of Singapore. 

Yes, this is a real parrot and I am not wearing any protection on my arm.

Hike at Bukit Timah Nature Preserve

Last Sunday I went hiking. It was a beautiful day.

A quarry that is now filled with water. The rocks across the water are granite. 

We found a bridge!

My cousin Emily and I crossing the bridge.

Only in Singapore would one find a shoe in the middle of the jungle. Towards the end of the hike, I noticed a man walking on the path without shoes. Perhaps he was looking for his shoes; could this have been it?

A Colugo spotted in the trees. These mammals are specific to Southeast Asia. A Colugo has flaps of skin between their limbs to help them glide between trees, like a flying squirrel. 

The funny thing about finding this animal was he was literary right above this sign. The sign says to "stop and spot". We did!

8.9.12

A date carved into the rock. Not sure if it was 2012 or 1912 or 1812. Nevertheless, it was a cool find.

Classroom Fun

In February we celebrated the 100th Day of school! Although we did not have a formal party, I brought in snacks and we played some games.

Snacks for the 100th day!

A pretzel and two Chips Ahoy - please notice that is spells out "100"

To celebrate, we played scavenger hunt BINGO! 

In Social Studies we learned about resources. Students had to identify different goods that come from various resources. While grading the worksheets, I found one student who had wrote, "I love you God" at the top. It was as if this student recognized that all things come from God. The faith of a child is so beautiful.

International Night!

Every year my school has a celebration called International Night. This is a night of dancing, food, and fellowship. The first part of the celebration was watching different daces from different countries. Groups practiced for weeks in order to perform a dance from their country. There was a Korean Fan Dance, Korean Pop Dance, Irish Jig, South African Chant, American Line Dance...and the list goes on. It was a beautiful night of fellowship and experiencing different cultures. The second part of the evening consisted of sampling foods from all the different countries!

My favorite part of my classroom. A world map that showcases the various countries represented in the classroom. The countries include USA, South Africa, Holland, Sweden, Latvia, Korea, Taiwan, Philippines, and England.

To celebrate our diversity, students cut out their hand print and decorated their hand with their country's flag.

Three-fourths done with first year of teaching!

Eighth month in Singapore. Three-fourths done with my first year of teaching. Spring break is not this week but the next week. Spring break will be a time of relaxation and time spent with my mom. I am so thankful my mom is able come - eight months away from your mom is too long! But before she gets here, I still have one week of school plus conferences. Much of this past Saturday was spent getting report cards done so they can be ready for conferences on Friday.

Please be praying for this last quarter of school. I want to finish strong - both in the classroom as well as physically. I hope this last quarter will be one full of laughs, continued academic growth, and students recognizing Christ's love.

Thank you to all who have been praying for me! I greatly appreciate your prayers. God is alive and at work in my life and in the lives of my students.