Canadian International School
It is hard to believe I've been teaching my own Kindergarten class now for 6 weeks. I never thought I would be teaching Kindergarten! The kids are slowly settling into their routines and we've been having lots of fun with our first unit on Stories. Everyone has brought in their favorite story. I must say how neat it is being at an International school because the students bring such rich cultural experiences to the classroom. The books have been in different languages and come from all over the world. Furthermore, just listening to the children talk with each other during snack time and hearing about their travels, elephant rides, favorite holiday spots, etc. is so humorous to me. The other day, one of my students told me that her favorite mango came from Bangkok, Thailand, but her least favorite mangoes were the Philippine mangoes because they weren't as sweet. She is four years old!
I have been coaching Kindergarten soccer now for a couple weeks. Really, this is just trying to guide the masses as they chase a ball around the field. I am coaching with another teacher and we were both surprised to have 97 Kindergarten students sign up for this ECA (Extra Curricular Activity) where last year, apparently, there were closer to 40 students signed up.
Dan and I have also been playing basketball with some of the other teachers on Thursday nights. This has been great exercise and lots of fun. I don't recall my body hurting so much when I played in high school?!?
One hard thing to overcome here in Singapore is the "fogging". To keep dengue fever, among other things, under control, the government "fogs" or exterminates three times a week at the school (and all over the city at other times). Literally, men come by with hand held machines that blow out this fog mixture. It is a little disconcerting trying to get away from it or walk through it when it's on the street. For example, they started to fog during our basketball game last night and I quickly developed a headache. Dan and I took off fairly quickly with towels over our mouths and noses.
