End of the year sights

The school year has ended and I am back in the USA. It was a great last day of school - bittersweet. My students and their parents lavished me with love and precious gifts. I will spend the summer in Minnesota, with my family, and I will head back to Singapore the end of July. The day after school ended my good friend Cora arrived in Singapore. We spent two weeks touring Singapore. At the end of her time in Singapore, we hopped on a ferry and spent three days in Bintan, Indonesia. 

A look at the hotel. Lush and green.

Part of the pool had a swim-up  bar. There were stools in the water so that one could sit in the water and enjoy a smoothie, sandwich or dessert. 

My feet in the Southern China Sea.

Cora and I on a tour boat.

While in Little India Cora and I stopped at a salon and got Henna tattoos. Henna tattoo is a temporary that is used primarily in India.

Another one of our adventures was the Fish Spa. The fish nibble the dead skin off one's feet, leaving the feet rather smooth.

The nibbling fish felt like flies tickling my skin :)

Miss J's B-day

This past Monday was my birthday. To begin the day, I was pleasantly greeted by eighteen little farmers. Each of my students had dressed up as farmers in honor of me being raised on a farm. The day ended with a party that included a choreographed dance by my students, eighteen hand made cards, and a farm cake. This cake was the most detailed cake I have ever had; everything on the cake was edible! The moms of my students worked so hard to make me feel loved and special.

Enjoy a glimpse of my fun day!

End of the year is in sight

After studying a unit on farming, I introduced my students to the Peterson Farm Brothers. These brothers have made two music videos of farming parodies of current pop songs. My students fell in love with the music videos. At the beginning of the 2013, we wrote the brothers fan mail and sent it off. After waiting almost three months, we received a reply. Not only did we receive a letter but an autographed poster. The poster is now on display in our classroom.

With only seventeen days of school left, the students are very ready for the year to be over. I saw an idea on the internet and brought it into our classroom. Being there are eighteen students in my class, we began a countdown - "The Last 18 Days of School." I blew up eighteen balloons and put a special activity inside each. Each day, a different student pops a balloon and reads the special activity. The first activity was a paper airplane competition. The kids had a blast making and testing their airplanes. It seems chaotic, but I would not have it any other way. 

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.