Hey everyone! Sorry that I have not posted for awhile. I guess I have either been super busy or super lazy. Haha. When I am not at school I am usually out watching a movie and eating delicious movie theatre popcorn or sitting at home on my butt relaxing.
Last week was Thanksgiving and I was quite sad to be reading all of the posts on facebook about people having the holiday off, going Black Friday shopping, and most of all, spending time with family. Those are the times when I really miss my family and my friends. I have made a "family" here in Jakarta but it's just not the same, you know?
Luckily, my BBS family and I went out last Saturday to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Four Seasons Hotel. This is a 5-star fancy hotel that serves a delicious Thanksgiving buffet every year (also with free flow wine and champagne to go along with it). One of my favourite foods of the spread was probably the cheese. That's how you know I am from Wisconsin right there. They just don't have good cheese here. Well, they do, but I don't really feel like paying $12 for a block of good cheese. Otherwise, if you buy sliced cheese, it doesn't melt. I don't really know what it is made out of and I probably don't want to know. I don't tend to eat cheese very often here. I really enjoyed my time with the KJ & PIK campus teachers. There was a lot of talking and laughing, of course. It was just two bad that the two campuses couldn't sit together. They didn't have a table big enough for all of us.
We started our testing with the kids on Monday so the semester is really coming to an end very soon. I mean, in 15 days I will be leaving on a plane to fly to America for the holidays. I am very excited and I can't wait to see everyone. We had to mark the compositions today that the students wrote and it seemed to take forever as usual. I marked one full class and half of another, so probably about 45 scripts. It took me about 3 hours to do all of them. Then we have to mark the other half next Wednesday as we do double marking for our compositions.
We will finish up our testing this next week and have one week for results processing and parent teacher conferences. I already hinted to my kids that they shouldn't give me food because I will never eat all of it before I go home. Last year I was given so much food and I had to either throw it out or give most of it away.
Well, I don't really have much else to tell all of you about. I am going to another one of the Thousand Islands this weekend so I can blog about that and post some pictures when I get back. I hope that everyone has a great Friday and also a great weekend! I will be home from December 22nd - January 10th so I will be seeing all of you Wisconsinites soon :)
Friday 6 December 2013
Tuesday 24 September 2013
Hello MRT! Singapore Weekend :)
This past weekend another teacher (Danna) and I decided to take a weekend getaway to Singapore. We booked our tickets and hostel last minute and away we went on Friday after school. I was so excited to get to the airport, because the first place that I wanted to eat was Subway! Oh, how I missed it so much! After we left the airport, we made our way to our hostel.
Singapore is so clean!! They are not allowed to eat on the MRT and chewing gum is illegal. There are major fines. They really want to keep this city clean. It really is nice to go from Jakarta to fresh air and even greens. You could see the sky at night clearly with stars and the moon. Normally in Jakarta it is too hazy that you can't see anything. I wish Jakarta was the same. At least Singapore is close enough, that I can go there to breathe some fresh air every once in awhile.
Singapore is so clean!! They are not allowed to eat on the MRT and chewing gum is illegal. There are major fines. They really want to keep this city clean. It really is nice to go from Jakarta to fresh air and even greens. You could see the sky at night clearly with stars and the moon. Normally in Jakarta it is too hazy that you can't see anything. I wish Jakarta was the same. At least Singapore is close enough, that I can go there to breathe some fresh air every once in awhile.
Thank goodness for the MRT! It is so much better than trying to get around in Jakarta. Usually you are stuck in Jakarta traffic for 2 hours before you get anywhere. I wish they would just build one here. It would make everyone's lives a bit easier, and you would definitely get where you are going much faster. Maybe it would help with a lot of the air pollution here too. We took the MRT to the Lavender stop on the Green Line and walked about 8 min to our hostel on Lavender Street.
When we got there, we had to stand in front of a camera and a guy buzzed us in. That was something I hadn't really seen before. When we got to the top of the stairs, there was a man sitting at his desk, but it sounded like there were a bunch of people like a dorm. I wasn't sure we were going the right way. He checked us in and showed us our room. There was a guy sitting next to us that was just passed out in the chair. I think he may have been up all night working the desk the night before or something. I'm not really sure. Otherwise, I am thinking that he may have been drunk. Haha.
It was pretty late and there were other girls sleeping in our room when we got there, so we tried to get settled in as quietly as we could. We went out in the common area and used the computers and logged onto the wifi on our phones. I noticed that the guy that was working the front desk kept getting up from his chair and going over to the fridge. He was drinking liquor straight out of the bottle!! No wonder he was acting strange when we first got there. I didn't know what we were getting ourselves into, but oh well. It was a place to sleep and that's all we needed.
The next morning, we woke up around 9 am and started our day. They offered free breakfast of toast with jam, so we took advantage of that. Danna actually had a doctor's appointment that day, so we didn't have much time to explore before that. We went to a store called Mustafa Singapore to look around. Little did we know that it had like 5 floors and 2 buildings! We would never get through the whole thing. We only had about 45 min to look around and then we had to find the nearest MRT station to make it to her appointment.
Of course, like in any hospital, they were running behind. We had to wait quite awhile before Danna even got in to see the doctor. I sat in the waiting room and used my iPod to look up directions to our next location. We were going to be meeting up with a friend (Mildred) that used to work at Bina Bangsa School with us, so we didn't have a lot of time after the appointment. We decided to go to Little India to get some lunch.
We walked around for awhile and tried to find a good restaurant to get some food. We found a place that looked pretty busy. That is usually a good sign if there are a lot of people eating there. After we were seated, I started looking around and saw that everyone was eating with their hands. I just looked at Danna and was like, "Uh....I think there isn't any silverware here. Everyone is eating with their hands...." The waiter took our order and thankfully, he brought us some silverware right after. Haha. I was a bit relieved because I wasn't sure how I felt about scooping rice and curry with my hands. Anyway, the food was delicious!
After we ate, we walked around some more to try and find a place to buy some Indian clothes. Danna ended up buying one shirt and I didn't really find anything that jumped out at me. We decided we would have to go back the next day, because it was time to head to Chinatown to meet up with Mildred.
When we arrived, it didn't take long to find Mildred, because she ran up behind us and scared us! The lantern festival was going on in Chinatown, so Mildred walked us around and we got to see the beautiful lanterns hanging above the street. We decided to eat in Chinatown. We got a variety of dishes and shared with each other. I really like doing that, because then you get to try a lot of different types of food.
After we were done eating, we walked down by the water. We waited just long enough that we could hear the Grand Prix race starting. It was so loud! It was like we were right there. We walked even closer and we could see the tops of the racecars driving by on the track. Races don't usually peak my interest that much, but it was pretty cool to be so close at such a popular race.
We decided to go back to Mustafa and look around since it is open 24 hours. I found a backpack for travelling, which is what I really wanted for our October trip. I found one that fit me well and wasn't too bad for price. I also bought some other gifts for family and cockroach traps of course. Haha. That's where we get the good ones. This place had everything from electronics to food. I had never seen anything like it. It was like a huge department store with groceries and everything else you can think of all in one. It finally got to the point that we were so tired, and my feet were really hurting. We just had to get out of that store. Haha.
I slept much better the second night than the first night. The first night, it was so noisy in our room because it sounded like the window was open. The traffic was so loud! It also didn't seem very cool in there, even though the AC was on. I was sweating so bad the first night. The second night I switched and slept on the bottom bunk, and that seemed to be much better. I don't like climbing up and down from the top.
First stop on our last day in Singapore was Little India. I wanted to find a kurti that I really liked. I actually ended up buying two of them, and Danna bought another one. She had hers tailored and I also had one of mine done. They are beautiful shirts and the people that do the tailoring are so fast at it. After we left Little India, we decided that we should go and find something to eat. We walked to Orchard Road and we looked around. We found the mall that we were looking for and picked up a few things for teachers that asked us to get them things.
Then our search began for the Hard Rock Cafe. It was so close to the stop where we got off the MRT, but it took us forever to find it, because we walked the wrong direction. Instead of crossing the street, they actually have an underpass that you can take so it was a little confusing to us tourists. After a good 40 min of walking there, we finally found the place.
I decided after all of that, that I needed a drink. Danna and I both ordered a burger and we enjoyed some relaxing time at the restaurant. I bought a t-shirt from the store to add to my collection of other Hard Rock shirts. Hard Rock is always a little pricey, but you know they always have good food. I'm actually pretty excited to go to the new one in Jakarta (hopefully very soon!). As we were going out, we realised that they actually have a location in the airport so we could have just gone to that one. After all of that searching, and they have one at the airport....
After Hard Rock, we searched for the Funan Electronics mall. We hopped on the MRT, and took it to the nearest stop to the mall. City Hall was a zoo, because there were so many people watching the race. We finally got out of the crowd and into the mall. Danna was looking for a tablet to buy. After looking in a few stores, she found the one that she wanted. After that, we didn't really have that much time so we headed back to the Little Red Dot (our hostel).
We grabbed our bags and headed for the airport. Our flight was delayed by an hour so that gave us extra time to sit around in the airport. If you are going to have a delay or an overnight layover at any airport, I would want it to be in Singapore. That airport is amazing and has so much for you to do. There are so many shops and lots of restaurants that stay open 24 hours (including Subway!).
When we finally boarded the plane, I was pretty tired. I slept as soon as we took off until we landed. I really enjoyed my weekend away, and I can't wait to do it again! It was great to meet up with Mildred and I wish I would have been able to meet up with my friend too. Oh well, there is always next time. I will definitely be going back for a visit sometime in the spring.
The next morning, we woke up around 9 am and started our day. They offered free breakfast of toast with jam, so we took advantage of that. Danna actually had a doctor's appointment that day, so we didn't have much time to explore before that. We went to a store called Mustafa Singapore to look around. Little did we know that it had like 5 floors and 2 buildings! We would never get through the whole thing. We only had about 45 min to look around and then we had to find the nearest MRT station to make it to her appointment.
Of course, like in any hospital, they were running behind. We had to wait quite awhile before Danna even got in to see the doctor. I sat in the waiting room and used my iPod to look up directions to our next location. We were going to be meeting up with a friend (Mildred) that used to work at Bina Bangsa School with us, so we didn't have a lot of time after the appointment. We decided to go to Little India to get some lunch.
We walked around for awhile and tried to find a good restaurant to get some food. We found a place that looked pretty busy. That is usually a good sign if there are a lot of people eating there. After we were seated, I started looking around and saw that everyone was eating with their hands. I just looked at Danna and was like, "Uh....I think there isn't any silverware here. Everyone is eating with their hands...." The waiter took our order and thankfully, he brought us some silverware right after. Haha. I was a bit relieved because I wasn't sure how I felt about scooping rice and curry with my hands. Anyway, the food was delicious!
After we ate, we walked around some more to try and find a place to buy some Indian clothes. Danna ended up buying one shirt and I didn't really find anything that jumped out at me. We decided we would have to go back the next day, because it was time to head to Chinatown to meet up with Mildred.
When we arrived, it didn't take long to find Mildred, because she ran up behind us and scared us! The lantern festival was going on in Chinatown, so Mildred walked us around and we got to see the beautiful lanterns hanging above the street. We decided to eat in Chinatown. We got a variety of dishes and shared with each other. I really like doing that, because then you get to try a lot of different types of food.
After we were done eating, we walked down by the water. We waited just long enough that we could hear the Grand Prix race starting. It was so loud! It was like we were right there. We walked even closer and we could see the tops of the racecars driving by on the track. Races don't usually peak my interest that much, but it was pretty cool to be so close at such a popular race.
We decided to go back to Mustafa and look around since it is open 24 hours. I found a backpack for travelling, which is what I really wanted for our October trip. I found one that fit me well and wasn't too bad for price. I also bought some other gifts for family and cockroach traps of course. Haha. That's where we get the good ones. This place had everything from electronics to food. I had never seen anything like it. It was like a huge department store with groceries and everything else you can think of all in one. It finally got to the point that we were so tired, and my feet were really hurting. We just had to get out of that store. Haha.
I slept much better the second night than the first night. The first night, it was so noisy in our room because it sounded like the window was open. The traffic was so loud! It also didn't seem very cool in there, even though the AC was on. I was sweating so bad the first night. The second night I switched and slept on the bottom bunk, and that seemed to be much better. I don't like climbing up and down from the top.
First stop on our last day in Singapore was Little India. I wanted to find a kurti that I really liked. I actually ended up buying two of them, and Danna bought another one. She had hers tailored and I also had one of mine done. They are beautiful shirts and the people that do the tailoring are so fast at it. After we left Little India, we decided that we should go and find something to eat. We walked to Orchard Road and we looked around. We found the mall that we were looking for and picked up a few things for teachers that asked us to get them things.
Then our search began for the Hard Rock Cafe. It was so close to the stop where we got off the MRT, but it took us forever to find it, because we walked the wrong direction. Instead of crossing the street, they actually have an underpass that you can take so it was a little confusing to us tourists. After a good 40 min of walking there, we finally found the place.
I decided after all of that, that I needed a drink. Danna and I both ordered a burger and we enjoyed some relaxing time at the restaurant. I bought a t-shirt from the store to add to my collection of other Hard Rock shirts. Hard Rock is always a little pricey, but you know they always have good food. I'm actually pretty excited to go to the new one in Jakarta (hopefully very soon!). As we were going out, we realised that they actually have a location in the airport so we could have just gone to that one. After all of that searching, and they have one at the airport....
After Hard Rock, we searched for the Funan Electronics mall. We hopped on the MRT, and took it to the nearest stop to the mall. City Hall was a zoo, because there were so many people watching the race. We finally got out of the crowd and into the mall. Danna was looking for a tablet to buy. After looking in a few stores, she found the one that she wanted. After that, we didn't really have that much time so we headed back to the Little Red Dot (our hostel).
We grabbed our bags and headed for the airport. Our flight was delayed by an hour so that gave us extra time to sit around in the airport. If you are going to have a delay or an overnight layover at any airport, I would want it to be in Singapore. That airport is amazing and has so much for you to do. There are so many shops and lots of restaurants that stay open 24 hours (including Subway!).
When we finally boarded the plane, I was pretty tired. I slept as soon as we took off until we landed. I really enjoyed my weekend away, and I can't wait to do it again! It was great to meet up with Mildred and I wish I would have been able to meet up with my friend too. Oh well, there is always next time. I will definitely be going back for a visit sometime in the spring.
Saturday 24 August 2013
Back to School
Sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I was vacationing in the Philippines and Phuket for the summer. It has been so long since that trip, that I don't think I will remember enough to blog about it anymore. I will post some pictures on Facebook at some point.
Our summer holiday was so short. It was only about 2 1/2 weeks before we had to be back in Jakarta for the teacher's conference at school. When I got back from the holiday, I also met my new roommate Amy. She had been here already for about 3 days. She is from Milwaukee, WI and we went to the same college in La Crosse, WI. We had never met each other before though.
We also had 1 full week of preparing for school and meetings. My birthday happened to fall during this week so a bunch of us got together and went out for dinner at Hotel Mulia in Senayan City. It is a really fancy hotel that has a buffet dinner. They have food from around the world such as Indian, Indonesian, Western, Chinese, etc. The best part about this buffet is the room that is full of desserts. I think I would pay the $35 just to eat that. The dessert room also includes a chocolate fountain with an assortment of fruit that you can coat in the delicious chocolate. What a great birthday dinner with great friends.
Then, school started on Monday, 15 July. My workload this year seems to be about the same as last year even though I have a lot more gaps during the day. I am teaching Primary 3 English and Project and Primary 4 Math. My form class (homeroom) is in Primary 4 Grace again this year. I know I had posted before about how my class last year was very talkative and sometimes quite naughty, but I am actually missing them a lot. I see them around school quite often. One of my students from last year that I had a lot of behaviour problems with asked me if I have any students in my class this year that are like him. Haha. He actually knows that he can be difficult.
My Primary 3 Hope English class is the smallest of 19 students and I see them everyday along with Primary 4 Grace Math class. I have a student in P4 Grace that I taught last year for Science. He was quite the handful last year, but I think he has matured quite a bit. I have his little brother this year in my P3 Hope class so it seems that I have him all over again! They are the same, but I'm not sure which is going to be more of a handful yet.
Because I am teaching new subjects, it seems like it took me awhile to get into the swing of things again. P3 English is new to me, so it's like I'm starting over. Only 3 weeks into the school year and we had another holiday, which I will write about in another post sometime soon. I travelled to Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.
I have a new set of responsibilities this year which include writing tests for the whole Primary 3 level. I am the Primary 3 level rep for English. I have to write a test this weekend actually. This year is going by so fast already. It's almost September!
Well, the weekend is here and I have no plans besides working on an application and writing the English test. Hope everyone who reads is doing well and has a great weekend!
I promise, I will post pictures from my vacations on Facebook soon.
Our summer holiday was so short. It was only about 2 1/2 weeks before we had to be back in Jakarta for the teacher's conference at school. When I got back from the holiday, I also met my new roommate Amy. She had been here already for about 3 days. She is from Milwaukee, WI and we went to the same college in La Crosse, WI. We had never met each other before though.
We also had 1 full week of preparing for school and meetings. My birthday happened to fall during this week so a bunch of us got together and went out for dinner at Hotel Mulia in Senayan City. It is a really fancy hotel that has a buffet dinner. They have food from around the world such as Indian, Indonesian, Western, Chinese, etc. The best part about this buffet is the room that is full of desserts. I think I would pay the $35 just to eat that. The dessert room also includes a chocolate fountain with an assortment of fruit that you can coat in the delicious chocolate. What a great birthday dinner with great friends.
Then, school started on Monday, 15 July. My workload this year seems to be about the same as last year even though I have a lot more gaps during the day. I am teaching Primary 3 English and Project and Primary 4 Math. My form class (homeroom) is in Primary 4 Grace again this year. I know I had posted before about how my class last year was very talkative and sometimes quite naughty, but I am actually missing them a lot. I see them around school quite often. One of my students from last year that I had a lot of behaviour problems with asked me if I have any students in my class this year that are like him. Haha. He actually knows that he can be difficult.
My Primary 3 Hope English class is the smallest of 19 students and I see them everyday along with Primary 4 Grace Math class. I have a student in P4 Grace that I taught last year for Science. He was quite the handful last year, but I think he has matured quite a bit. I have his little brother this year in my P3 Hope class so it seems that I have him all over again! They are the same, but I'm not sure which is going to be more of a handful yet.
Because I am teaching new subjects, it seems like it took me awhile to get into the swing of things again. P3 English is new to me, so it's like I'm starting over. Only 3 weeks into the school year and we had another holiday, which I will write about in another post sometime soon. I travelled to Bali and Lombok in Indonesia.
I have a new set of responsibilities this year which include writing tests for the whole Primary 3 level. I am the Primary 3 level rep for English. I have to write a test this weekend actually. This year is going by so fast already. It's almost September!
Well, the weekend is here and I have no plans besides working on an application and writing the English test. Hope everyone who reads is doing well and has a great weekend!
I promise, I will post pictures from my vacations on Facebook soon.
Sunday 16 June 2013
First Year of Teaching Is Done Already!?!
Well, I have finished my first year of teaching in Jakarta, Indonesia. The last week was very busy with going over the final tests with students, class parties, Primary 6 graduation and parent teacher conferences. I feel like this year has gone by so fast. It feels like I was just home in America for Christmas not that long ago and now it is the summer holiday.
I am really going to miss my kids, even though their behaviour was not always the best (haha!). They really improved this year. Even my student who had a lot of behaviour issues in my class earned the award for making the most progress since the first semester. I was so proud of him and I am glad that he started to get his behaviour under control at the end of the semester.
The students finished up all of their exams and then we had to go over all of them. I had to go over all of the tests in my classes in one day. It felt kind of rushed. I wish we would have had a little more time, but oh well. I got it done.
On Tuesday we had our class party, and so many students brought food. We had so much extra food, I had to share with the rest of the teachers. Our party was at breakfast time, but then by the time lunch rolled around a student had ordered pizza for all of us! I definitely wasn't hungry, but I did take some of the pizza home.
On Tuesday we had our class party, and so many students brought food. We had so much extra food, I had to share with the rest of the teachers. Our party was at breakfast time, but then by the time lunch rolled around a student had ordered pizza for all of us! I definitely wasn't hungry, but I did take some of the pizza home.
On Wednesday, we basically had meetings all day. We also had our end of the year meeting with the directors. We did find out that we got the extra housing allowance!! I guess our letter that we wrote to the directors helped after all. We were also able to give other suggestions to the directors and principal about what we would like to see or improve for next year.
Thursday was the Primary 6 graduation ceremony. It was over 2 hours long!! It was a very nice program, but I think it was longer than my high school graduation. It was very different than a any graduation that I have been to. There were lots of awards given out and there was a singing program done by the students to thank their parents for supporting them. It was actually very nice. Afterward, we all had a buffet lunch.
This was also report book day. We had to make sure that all of our grades were entered on the computer and that they were ready to print. This is always a day of waiting. There is always a long line of people waiting for their reports to be printed so we can sign each one and put them inside the books.
On Friday, we had parent/teacher conferences and then we went out for lunch with all of the teachers as a farewell to our Math HOD, our Chinese teachers and our dear Vice Principal, Ms Lina, who are all leaving us. Ms Lina is like our Mother of Bina Bangsa School and now she is leaving us to go to another school. It's very sad and we will all miss her very much.
Some of my students brought me gifts, and I even had one student who took me out for dinner on Friday night. We went to the mall nearest my building. He also got me a very nice watch. I also got a lot of food as gifts from the students, which is very common here in Jakarta. I get all of this food, but then I leave in 3 days! I don't know how I am going to eat it all. I'm not I guess. Haha. I will have to give a lot of it away.
Monday I am headed to the Philippines with some other teachers from KJ and Eduardo (he also teaches at PIK with me). I think it's going to be a great trip. After we are in Palawan, Philippines for a week, we are going to Phuket, Thailand. We are going to spend most of our time relaxing on the beach. I would also like to do a little island hopping. There are some beautiful places that I am told that I need to check out in the Philippines and Thailand. I'm sure that I will blog about the trip and post pictures when I get back.
Wednesday 15 May 2013
I Choose to Forfeit My Accommodations Package? That's News to Me!!
We were informed earlier in the school year (2012) that we would not be provided with housing anymore here in Jakarta through the school, even though our contract (for most of us) says that we will have accommodations provided to us. The school has said that they will give us a housing allowance of about $2,500 USD for the year.
Just a week ago, the teachers at PIK (me) heard that the other campus (KJ) would receive a higher housing allowance than us. How is that fair to the rest of us at all? We all live in Jakarta, it is not cheap. Their basis on this increase for the other school is that they live in an area that is more expensive than us teachers in PIK....It's not my fault that they chose to house the teachers in expensive apartment buildings that are a lot newer/nicer than the apartment building that I live in. I live in a building that is 10+ years old, but the benefit of that is, the space is much, much larger. All of the new apartment buildings these days have tiny units that you can try and hold two people in.
The teachers teaching at PIK that live in City Resort are sharing a 2 bedroom that is tiny. The little room in their units fits a bed, which allows you a little walking room. That's it. The other bedroom is okay, but the units do not seem like they are meant for two people at all. We all just want to be comfortable while we are here.
So, if the teachers in KJ live in a more expensive area, those of us in PIK can't help that. We just don't think the $2,500 USD is sufficient for us to cover the bills that we need to after paying the fees just to live in the building. They did not take our extra expenses into consideration when calculating these figures. The service fee for living in the building has been increased and also the rate for electricity. As of right now we are getting an allowance for water and electricity where if we go over a certain usage amount, we have to pay the excess. Next year, we will have to pay all of it out of pocket, because there won't be any of the housing allowance left to help cover these things.
I am just very disappointed that I am getting stressed out about something that I shouldn't have to worry about. Why should I be worrying about how much money I am going to have to pay out of pocket next year, when this school told me at the recruitment fair, that I would be provided with two years of housing that is paid for?
I really hope they understand that what they are doing is not right, and I really hope they take all of the teachers' points into consideration when making a decision. I am not only fighting for myself, but for other teachers that I know are very concerned with this situation.
The story behind the title of my post...We received an addendum to our contract today at school and one of the first lines says, "I choose to forfeit my accommodations package that was originally stated in my contract..." Uh...when did I choose this? One teacher asked if we could get the language changed to say, "I am being forced to forfeit my accommodations package..." I am refusing to sign this right now along with a lot of other teachers. I hope this makes them realise that we are being very serious about this and that we are very unhappy about all of this.
Now that I am done with my rant about housing...on with the rest of the week. Only two more days, Friday and Saturday maths course, and then my weekend can start. Bring it on!!
Just a week ago, the teachers at PIK (me) heard that the other campus (KJ) would receive a higher housing allowance than us. How is that fair to the rest of us at all? We all live in Jakarta, it is not cheap. Their basis on this increase for the other school is that they live in an area that is more expensive than us teachers in PIK....It's not my fault that they chose to house the teachers in expensive apartment buildings that are a lot newer/nicer than the apartment building that I live in. I live in a building that is 10+ years old, but the benefit of that is, the space is much, much larger. All of the new apartment buildings these days have tiny units that you can try and hold two people in.
The teachers teaching at PIK that live in City Resort are sharing a 2 bedroom that is tiny. The little room in their units fits a bed, which allows you a little walking room. That's it. The other bedroom is okay, but the units do not seem like they are meant for two people at all. We all just want to be comfortable while we are here.
So, if the teachers in KJ live in a more expensive area, those of us in PIK can't help that. We just don't think the $2,500 USD is sufficient for us to cover the bills that we need to after paying the fees just to live in the building. They did not take our extra expenses into consideration when calculating these figures. The service fee for living in the building has been increased and also the rate for electricity. As of right now we are getting an allowance for water and electricity where if we go over a certain usage amount, we have to pay the excess. Next year, we will have to pay all of it out of pocket, because there won't be any of the housing allowance left to help cover these things.
I am just very disappointed that I am getting stressed out about something that I shouldn't have to worry about. Why should I be worrying about how much money I am going to have to pay out of pocket next year, when this school told me at the recruitment fair, that I would be provided with two years of housing that is paid for?
I really hope they understand that what they are doing is not right, and I really hope they take all of the teachers' points into consideration when making a decision. I am not only fighting for myself, but for other teachers that I know are very concerned with this situation.
The story behind the title of my post...We received an addendum to our contract today at school and one of the first lines says, "I choose to forfeit my accommodations package that was originally stated in my contract..." Uh...when did I choose this? One teacher asked if we could get the language changed to say, "I am being forced to forfeit my accommodations package..." I am refusing to sign this right now along with a lot of other teachers. I hope this makes them realise that we are being very serious about this and that we are very unhappy about all of this.
Now that I am done with my rant about housing...on with the rest of the week. Only two more days, Friday and Saturday maths course, and then my weekend can start. Bring it on!!
Sunday 28 April 2013
~ The Little Mermaid, Jr ~
The weekend of 19-20 April, PIK Primary put on the show The Little Mermaid, Jr. The students and teachers had been preparing for this for about 6 months. After all of that hard work and practise the show finally came. The teachers had to stay back from school to help out with props, and there were a lot of teachers that had production roles for the play. My role was to help with the booklet. I did not design it, but I helped put together the contents inside.
After school on Friday we all stayed back to get ready for the play. I sat and watched the kids practise as they anxiously waited for the show to begin. A lot of students from my form class participated in the play. Most of the students that were in the play are part of the Performing Arts Club at the school. Two of my students had lead roles. One was Flounder the fish and the other was Sebastian the crab. You can see them above on the cover of the programme. I also had 4 other students from my class that had roles.
They performed three times, and there was actually two different Ariels. They thought that both of them did a good job, so they took turns with the role. I was so impressed by this musical. They put on such a good show for primary students. I never knew how talented they were. I didn't know how talented my class was. Sebastian also played the drums at the beginning of the show. I don't know how they got up there and performed in front of everyone like they did. I guess I used to be in musicals, but I never had solos like most of them did. I was always in a chorus or something.
I will say that I am glad the musical is over. It took up a lot of time, and pupils were missing class so that they could go to practise. It was hard when my students work in groups and their group members are gone. I think the rest of the teachers are very proud of the students, but they are also super glad that it is all over. I think they wanted to burn the props when they were done. Haha. Some teachers put a lot of time in on the props, like my roommate, Amber. She was definitely glad when we had the curtain call at the last show on Saturday night.
Next year, the musical will be at the other campus (KJ), so I will be anxious to see which show they pick. Hopefully I will be able to watch it. This weekend I haven't done much. I went to see Iron Man 3 last night with Amber. Otherwise, today I have done nothing except clean up the kitchen a little bit and visit with Andrew from upstairs. It was nice to have a relaxing weekend. In May, I will be at school on the weekends for my Maths course. I need to prepare myself to be busy/tired. Haha! Oh well, the school year will be over soon, and I will be on my way to some island to relax on the beach...(hopefully)!
Friday 5 April 2013
3 Terms Down...1 Term Left to Go!
Well, we just had a week off from school for our term 3 break. I will write about my trip to Thailand in a different entry. I was thinking that I don't write about school on here very often, so I should probably start. I have been blogging about all of my trips! Haha. Anyway, I can't believe that 3 terms have already passed by since I have started my new adventure teaching in Jakarta. I think it has flown by! Summer vacation will be here before I know it.
I know I wrote before how my Primary 4 class was a little hard to handle. They still are, but I think they have gotten better with their behaviour. Of course, some days they are the same as they always were, but then other days they are great. I have figured out some classroom management strategies that seem to work for them. That is something that I can always work on and I hope that is something that I improve on for the next year.
I feel like I have also gotten used to the flow of things at the school. I really have learned how things work in the school and how things should run in the classroom. I have gotten used to how fast paced the subject material is and and how the lessons need to be done. The pupils have to have so much information covered in a short amount of time for a test. I have been able to cover all the material needed with my students before the tests. I was having troubles with that during the first couple of terms.
This first week back has gone pretty smoothly. I feel like it was so calm, but I am sure things will pick up soon. We start remedial and co-curricular activities again next week, so that will be two days that I have to stay back after school. It has been really nice to come home at 2:45 pm everyday this week. I have been keeping up with my marking so that I don't have a ton to do on the weekends or at night (that was my New Year's Resolution).
Just before the term break, we had the annual Sports Festival Week. The school is divided into 4 houses (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow) and they compete in sports events throughout the week to earn points for their house. I am in the Blue house and we got 2nd place this year. I guess in the past years, our house has always lost. We are improving! Yay :)
They participated in events such as soccer, badminton, sack race, basketball, shoer race and the tug-of-war, just to name some of them. I think sometimes I was more excited than the students! Haha. Although they can be pretty competitive, they still have a lot of fun.
You're probably wondering what the shoer race is. I didn't know what it was either until the day of the event. The students have to take their shoes off and put them in a box at the end of the court and mix them with the others on their team. They must run down to the box from the starting line, put their shoes on as fast as they can and tie them, and then run back and tag the next person in line. I could not believe how many kids in Primary 3 and 4 that could not tie their shoes! The Blue team lost because there was a student who could not tie his shoes properly. He was sitting there forever. Their nannies tie their shoes for them, so they don't know how. I just couldn't believe it....Haha!
We also had some very sad news this week. One of the other American teachers that worked at the KJ campus passed away. He fell from the 29th floor of his apartment building. They are not real sure what happened yet. That was so sad to hear. I only met him at orientation and maybe saw him a couple of other times at meetings. I feel so sorry for his family and his friends that were close to him. It was such sad news to hear after the term break. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they are going through this hard time.
Well, the weekend is here and I am going to relax, do some lesson plans, and get ready for the next week of teaching. I hope that everyone has a good weekend :)
I know I wrote before how my Primary 4 class was a little hard to handle. They still are, but I think they have gotten better with their behaviour. Of course, some days they are the same as they always were, but then other days they are great. I have figured out some classroom management strategies that seem to work for them. That is something that I can always work on and I hope that is something that I improve on for the next year.
I feel like I have also gotten used to the flow of things at the school. I really have learned how things work in the school and how things should run in the classroom. I have gotten used to how fast paced the subject material is and and how the lessons need to be done. The pupils have to have so much information covered in a short amount of time for a test. I have been able to cover all the material needed with my students before the tests. I was having troubles with that during the first couple of terms.
This first week back has gone pretty smoothly. I feel like it was so calm, but I am sure things will pick up soon. We start remedial and co-curricular activities again next week, so that will be two days that I have to stay back after school. It has been really nice to come home at 2:45 pm everyday this week. I have been keeping up with my marking so that I don't have a ton to do on the weekends or at night (that was my New Year's Resolution).
Just before the term break, we had the annual Sports Festival Week. The school is divided into 4 houses (Blue, Green, Red and Yellow) and they compete in sports events throughout the week to earn points for their house. I am in the Blue house and we got 2nd place this year. I guess in the past years, our house has always lost. We are improving! Yay :)
They participated in events such as soccer, badminton, sack race, basketball, shoer race and the tug-of-war, just to name some of them. I think sometimes I was more excited than the students! Haha. Although they can be pretty competitive, they still have a lot of fun.
You're probably wondering what the shoer race is. I didn't know what it was either until the day of the event. The students have to take their shoes off and put them in a box at the end of the court and mix them with the others on their team. They must run down to the box from the starting line, put their shoes on as fast as they can and tie them, and then run back and tag the next person in line. I could not believe how many kids in Primary 3 and 4 that could not tie their shoes! The Blue team lost because there was a student who could not tie his shoes properly. He was sitting there forever. Their nannies tie their shoes for them, so they don't know how. I just couldn't believe it....Haha!
We also had some very sad news this week. One of the other American teachers that worked at the KJ campus passed away. He fell from the 29th floor of his apartment building. They are not real sure what happened yet. That was so sad to hear. I only met him at orientation and maybe saw him a couple of other times at meetings. I feel so sorry for his family and his friends that were close to him. It was such sad news to hear after the term break. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers as they are going through this hard time.
Well, the weekend is here and I am going to relax, do some lesson plans, and get ready for the next week of teaching. I hope that everyone has a good weekend :)
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