Traveling Em

Chiang Mai

2011-10-19T13:28:00.001+04:00

Chiang Mai, a set on Flickr.

I know I've been away from here for a long while. I've been hostessing, working on my masters, working at being a better teacher and, of course, traveling. I'm currently in Thailand (yes, again).

Living Life Rather Than Writing About It

2011-06-28T09:27:00.002+04:00

My dear friend Sha was recently in Europe and as such we got to hang out, a lot. She commented on how many of her friends who have blogs haven't been posting recently and it seems as though many of us are living our lives rather than writing about them. And that's certainly what I've been doing!

I went and met up with the aforementioned Sha in Venice. It went something like this:

Sha: I'm going to Venice for the weekend, want to join me?
Me: (hesitates about 5 minutes) Ok.

So, I got a day off of work, put some of my air miles to good use and went to Venice for the weekend.

Venice is everything you imagine it to be and everywhere. So often when I travel I end up in the "real" part of a city, where people actually live and where it stops looking like the post cards. But this never happened in Venice. It really is that picturesque, everywhere. At least when you're on the islands of Venice anyway.

It's all narrow canals with gondoliers:

Hordes of tourists:

I, of course, hated the hordes of tourists, but somehow managed. Of course, I had Italian coffee, pizza for breakfast and wine for dinner to sooth me. Rarely do I immediately think of returning to a place, but I'm already planning a return trip for April break with my parents.

Then there was prom and graduation. Both really nice events, though somehow they were planned over a four day weekend!?!

Prom was on a boat:

There was beer and wine. And it was really fun. The boat made it great as it was only our students and teachers.

Here I am with the Assistant Head of the Upper School:

Graduation was interesting. There were singing/band acts in the middle.

And when each student's name was read there was about 20 seconds of a song of their choosing played. It ranged from heavy metal to show tunes to the Beatles. But in the end, that part was mostly awkward as the student just stood on stage in the middle with everyone staring at them. There were only 2 or 3 that did some sort of dance. Hopefully that will change in the up coming years.

Then suddenly the school year was over. I went with the grade 10 class to Wallabi World (why is a Dutch amusement park named after an Australian animal?!)

And then it was really over. And now it's summer holidays. I've been to Muenster, Germany. It is a small town that was completely destroyed in WWII and completely rebuilt to look like it used to. It's full of older people and because of that yarn stores. I was in heaven.

Here's Joz at our first cafe. Note the cliental, I'm not kidding when I say the town is mostly older people.

I went with my friend Joz and her 2.5 month old bebe L:

The baby fell asleep in my arms 3 times. That feeling of rocking a baby to sleep, having them sleep in your arms, it's incredible. Not so incredible that I want it (for now anyways) but it was pretty awesome. As was the chance to take funny pictures of her like this:

We got to go to the great farmers' market and got rained on quite a bit:

but that left more time for playing Quiddler in cafes.

When it wasn't raining we went to the (free!) botanical gardens:

Now I'm back in Amsterdam. Laura and I went to hear (free, again!) opera in Vondelpark:

And I built a ladder for my cat to climb more easily in and out the roof window. I haven't seen her use it yet though. But she's been super cute:

And that's the life I've been living. I'm off to California tomorrow to continue with the living.

Queen's Day

2011-05-01T20:55:00.002+04:00

It was "Queen's Day" here, which is a huge national celebration of the Queen's birthday. Think Mardi Gras, except that everyone was wearing orange, there were no beads and the day began with a mass yard sale, which ended at noon when the drinking began. It was an experience, but I don't really need to repeat it. I'm also really glad I stayed in Ouderkerk rather than going to Amsterdam.

This photo was taken just after noon about 5 houses up from me. As you can see, not so crowded yet:

This one was about 14:00 across the river. Lots of orange, everywhere.

I stopped taking pictures after that, because I don't really need loads of photos of people drinking outside. The highlight was spending a day outside as it was (as you can see) gorgeous.

I enjoyed today, the day after queen's day better. I rode my bike to Uithoorn along the Amstel River (about 10 km) and had a lovely brunch. The return trip was all up-wind, so took a bit longer, but the only people out today are those who are serious about their biking. So hardly any cars or other traffic. Lovely.

Keukenhof

2011-04-28T21:51:00.002+04:00

There's this flower garden. It's pretty touristy. But was also awesome. And had so many different types of tulips. And other flowers. It was awesome. These are just a few... I took 80 some. Boring, I know, but some of the photos are pretty good. So go have a look...

And there were other flowers too:

March?!

2011-04-10T19:30:00.002+04:00

Just heard about the shooting in Alphin a/d Rijn. I'm guessing (hoping) that I'll know no one involved as I don't even know where that is. Terrible though. I can't imagine how scared people were during those 10 to 20 minutes.

Um, guess I never found the time to post in March. To say that I've been busy would be the understatement of the century. But busy in a good way. Joy! was here to visit from California immediately followed by my sister and cousin. So on top of working, and taking online classes towards my masters I've also been having a lot of fun with friends and family. Just returned from a weekend on the island of Terschelling in fact. I'm going to start posting some pictures and will try to write a longer update on Tuesday on the plane headed to Indianapolis (I'm going to the NCTM national conference, which is super geeky and AWESOME, for me).

Tapas in Barcelona

2011-02-22T10:50:00.003+03:00

Yesterday Bree and I spent the day roaming the city shopping with our mutual friend Pat. Pat used to live in Barcelona and her husband still does. We spent the day shopping and then sharing some wine. When Bree and I would have thrown in the towel and headed back to our lovely B&B for a nap, Pat wouldn't let us. Instead plying us with coffee and water so that we could forge ahead.

And in the end, we went to Quimet & Quimet where we met up with Pat's husband for some tapas. It was a tiny place that in passing you would think was a liquor store. And it did have loads of wines, a few beers and whiskeys. But there behind the counter, you spy some lovely foods. Incredibly fresh, we tried many and they were almost all incredible. All the while standing up surrounded by locals and a few other tourists.

Here's Bree, Pat and her husband:

And here's some of the food (click to go to Flickr for notes with descriptions of each item):

My favorites were the razor neck clams, the fava beans, the beef and the white asparagus (which I forgot to photograph).

London

2011-02-21T11:07:00.002+03:00

Remember I said we were going to London for the boy's birthday. Well we did and had a great trip. We ate some really good food and walked a ton! It was lovely to walk along the Thames, they've really developed it into a nice pedestrian area.

So here we are in front of Buckingham Palace:

That's me holding my two new pairs of boots (I think I'm addicted to boots)

And here we are wearing bibs as we at yummy noodle soup at Pho Cafe in Soho:

And now on a bridge crossing the Thames with Big Ben just barely in the background:

At one point in the trip I mentioned that I wanted to return to see Wicked and he told me he'd never heard of it. So I say, "It's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West." Blank look. "You know, from the Wizard of Oz." "That's American, I've never seen/heard of it." "Dorothy? Toto? The yellow brick road? Munchkins? Flying monkeys?" Obviously there is some serious cultural sharing that I need to do. Maybe he'll enjoy it the most if I play it along with The Wall though...

Andorra Schmandorra

2011-02-21T10:55:00.002+03:00

And Ian think's Luxembourg sucks. Andorra is not worth the visit people. Sure it's a beautiful drive to get there:

And you get to stop in cute little towns like Le Seu d'Urgell to have lunch:

But then your in Andorra and it's like your in a 1980's Panama City with mountains instead of the beach. It was packed full of people, many of them Russian, people still smoke inside there, we walked down the main strip for about 20 minutes before finding a restaurant (pizza and pasta) that didn't look terrifying. And by terrifying I mean plastic pictures of food out front and only men inside smoking and drinking beer.

I'm traveling with Bree and we only went for one night. Mostly because we'd never been there and it's a "plus 1" for countries we've visited. But in the end, totally not worth it. Especially since we didn't get a passport stamp out of it!

Babette

2011-02-10T22:40:00.003+03:00

Meet Babette:

I've started a cat share! I used to love my farm share in California and still miss it, but this experience exceeds that by a long shot.

I work with a great woman, Monica who has a great cat and has had her for 10 years. However, 3 years ago, Monica had a baby. And the cat doesn't like the baby/toddler so much. I'm sure, much like me, the cat finds him too sticky (note: it's not that I find Monica's son especially sticky, I tend to find all children under the age of 10 to be sticky).

So, now Babette is living with me part time (Monica is taking her back when I go on holidays (well, holidays longer than a weekend)). She's much more dog like than cat like in that she always wants to be petted and by your side. Except when she wants to go out - oh wait, that's like a dog too. I know the way she's different... when outside she loves to be up on the roof!

Anyway, she's great! And when I've got my camera back here at home, I'll show you how cute she is too!

Traveling fool

2011-02-10T22:33:00.003+03:00

Holy moly, I've been doing a lot of travel since returning from Australia (as if that weren't travel enough!).

Went to the beach

It was much colder than it looks. See how bundled we are (in things I've knit for us):

Went down to Den Haag (you might know it as The Hague) to chaperon THIMUN. This is an MUN (Model United Nations) conference with over 3,000 student delegates. It might be renamed, MMM (meat-market-mun). You've never seen so many geeky teenagers finding love.

That was Wed - Friday and then immediately headed down to Utrecht. I've been there before, but this time was to have dinner with Amy, who I went to Munich with, and we decided to turn it into a weekend. Which included lunch with my landlord. He's a pretty awesome guy. It was lovely.

Last weekend I was in Brussels with our junior math team (one of my teams took 11th place out of 65 teams!). I like Brussels, but by the end wasn't feeling well. No surprise with how much travel I've been doing. Thankfully, I seem mostly recovered. Which is good because this weekend it's off to London for the boy (pictured above)'s birthday.

So I'll try to return here at some place to post more, but it really requires me to be home more.

First day of teaching in 2011

2011-01-10T21:58:00.002+03:00

Before leaving for the year, the staff was reminded to turn off our computers, projectors, printers, etc. I, of course, already do this daily. However, someone in staff also followed up on this and unplugged all our projectors from the projector itself, where it hangs suspended from the ceiling. Upon plugging it back in, I had to readjust the alignment and recalibrate my SMART board so that the mouse would click where I touched rather than an inch below. But all that is fairly standard. However, my colleague's projector couldn't find a source. Even after consulting with me (during which time I made sure everything was plugged in, connected and turned on), still no dice.

Her (both of our's really) plan was to use a PowerPoint from last year to introduce quadratics. Remember, this is the Monday morning after a 3 week break. So it was either leave her hanging to wing class sans technology or bring her class into my room and squish the students all together. We went with the latter and it was actually a great lesson.

However, it really made me realize how dependent upon technology in the classroom we are becoming. I had my first formal observation in the weeks before break and one of the comments I got was on how well I used my SMART board. While I don't feel as though I'm doing anything revolutionary, it is hard for me to imagine teaching without it. It's easy to save all my lessons as pdf files and then post them online for students to access (the perfect solution to "what'd I miss?") While teaching it's easy to go back and say, "Remember this? We talked about it <10 minutes ago>, , ." Beyond that, I find my lessons are much better prepared because I can create an outline in advance that gets filled in as class progresses.

Today I had students looking at a "Deal with the Devil" type problem where the devil offers you $1000 today, but at the end of the day he takes $100 commission leaving you with $900. Tomorrow though, he'll double your money (giving you $1800) but will also double his commission and remove that at the end of the day. And the question was, would you take this deal for a month? By day 8 the numbers start to get big. And I would immediately turn to a spreadsheet to help with the calculations. But this class I was working with all groaned and said that they "hated" it. And then told me that they would just type the numbers in rather than having the spreadsheet make the calculations. These students are 16/17 years old! I'd assumed that they'd be comfortable with entering formulas by the time they got to me. But I guess not. And I guess it's up to me to turn their hate into love.

By the way, at the end of day 10 you're left with zero dollars. So remember, it never pays to make deals with the devil.

Cleaning

2011-01-08T16:30:00.003+03:00

I hate cleaning. It's just not how I want to spend my time. However, I want a clean house. I've taken care of it myself since I moved in in August, but my one and only 2011 goal is to find a house keeper, preferably to come once every two weeks primarily to dust and to do my floors (I hate, hate, hate vacuuming and mopping). My neighbor's were having their window's washed and I jumped on the man to have him come do mine (to my credit, I don't own a ladder so I couldn't do the tops myself ever) and he's now coming every six weeks.

I'm taking applications now if any of my 5 readers would like the position. ;)

Winter Holidays 2010

2011-01-06T18:51:00.003+03:00

I left a really snowy Amsterdam

and was one of a very few flights to get out of Schipol, but I got out because I was headed to Asia. There were so many people stranded that weekend though. While I was there, they shut down all the transfer desks, telling people to check the monitors and if their flight was leaving to go to the gate, otherwise they were to call or check the internet. Friendly, right?

First stop, Kuala Lumpur and the Sheraton Imperial. It was fancy pants, and you all know how much I love fancy pants hotels. Here's the view from my window:

Then I headed off to Brisbane to meet up with my Moscow friend Lydia. She's living inland from there in a town called Toowoomba (emphasis on the "woom"). It's set up in the hills and for summer, it was a bit cool.

We also toured a bit and I got to see some chickens with furry feet:

And we also went to look at Christmas lights:

In the second photo, those are Lydia's clothes I'm wearing. Turns out that when leaving Amsterdam it was too icy to unload the luggage and hence there was no space to load any new luggage. Yet somehow it was not icy enough to take off... I got my bag 4 days into the trip.

And just in time for us to head off to Rainbow Beach where you find the Carlo Sandblow. Named after one of Captain James Cooks's ship mates. It's a huge expanse of sand that is spreading. It's also part of the Great Cooloola Walk, which is a 5 day, 90 km walk that would be awesome to do sometime.

We spent the 2 sunny days on the beach:

Turns out it's very common to drive your 4wd on the beach, park and sit by it all day. While I prefer my beaches without cars, we did it one day and it sure was nice to have a bit of shade. Australian sun is hot!

I spent a lot of time knitting (perfect rainy vacation activity) and hanging out with this little guy, the grandson of some of Lydia's fiance's friends:

I made two skull snowflake hats:

Once the rain stopped, I was actually glad we had the rain. Because when it wasn't raining, it was hot and humid. I've said it before, but I'm a terrible southerner as I hate the heat. But, on the nicer days though, we were out and about. And I got to see some wildlife in the wild:

A cockatoo:

A dingo (sorry it's blurry, it's taken from the car) (also, don't joke about them taking babies, apparently it's still a touchy subject and there are still people who don't believe the story!)

A wild turkey:

And best yet, a koala just hanging out in a tree in Noosa:

I'd like to spend more time in Noosa, hiking and on the rocky beaches, but it was crowded, so I'm glad most time was spent at Rainbow.

Returning, I had an overnight flight back to KL. Landed at 6 am and departed at midnight for another overnight to Amsterdam. However, the layover at KLIA was not bad at all. For just 60 USD, I was able to get a hotel room for 9 hours with access to a sauna and steam room. To lay down flat and sleep for 7 hours, it was totally worth it. They also have a street food restaurant that's cheap (for airport food) and an affordable spa where I spent an hour having a facial. Plus upon checking in, I was able to pay a totally reasonable amount to upgrade to business class. For a 13 hour flight, that was the best decision I've made.

And now I'm back in rainy Amsterdam. However, given the choice, I'll take 31 F over 31 C any day!

Zwarte Piet

2010-12-16T18:50:00.001+03:00

Remember how I told you about Sinterklaas and his Zwarte Piet, here they are on a cookie.

Doesn't really look like chimney soot on the Piet to me ...

And here I am at school with Sint and some Pieten:

The celebration at school was interesting. The Piet go around throwing small gingersnap like cookies, most of which end up on the floor and the children follow Sint around. It's definitely festive feeling, but all the cookies everywhere being ground into the carpet bothered my need for cleanliness and order.

Afternoon classes were canceled so that students could give each other secret santa gifts. The fun part in this was the wrapping was as important as the gift and also each came with a poem about the recipient which were at times brutally honest. I really liked that tradition though, makes it really personal.

Luxembourg

2010-12-06T18:34:00.000+03:00

Back in early December I went off to Luxembourg with Ian. He worked there for 3 years and this was our trade off for me taking him to Moscow. He and 2 of his good friends from there showed me an all around great weekend. And though they call it Suxembourg, I loved it.

Everywhere you look, it looks like you've entered into a fairy tale. There are castles on hill tops:

By castles, I of course mean banks. (Really, every time I asked, "Wow, what's that?" The answer was always, "A bank." and never "That's where Rapunzel/Cinderella/Sleeping Beauty live." Tragic, I tell you.) For this is a town/country built on managing other people's money.

It's a town where you can walk everywhere, even if it was perilous due to the ice:

(that's Carmen, my hostess with the mostest)

There was also random, funky art. Like the blue lady:

There were also Christmas markets with hot wine and cookies:

And that weekend was the international festival, where we each bought a bottle of Canadian Maple Whiskey:

It was an awesome weekend. And I don't care what they say, I love Suxembourg.

Munich

2010-12-02T21:24:00.002+03:00

Did you know that you can go surfing in Munich? The city has created a "wave" that runs all the time in a glacial fed river that runs through the English Gardens. Did I mention it was snowing when I arrived? There were 5 people surfing when we walked by:

Careful, they might be insane.

Ah, here's one where you can see the snow and surfing better:

The main reason we went was to go to the Christmas markets. I think we went to three of them before I caved in and went home to lay in bed and moan.

There's a beautiful cathedral right in the center of the old town:

I don't actually have any more pictures to share. I'll try to get more when I head to Luxembourg (tomorrow).

Thank you, antibiotics

2010-12-02T19:40:00.003+03:00

Well, I no longer feel like I have the plague.

Of course, seems like ~everyone~ at school is sick, so hopefully I'll get healthy and stay that way.

It snowed like crazy today. Really unusual this early apparently. It's beautiful and secretly, I've got my fingers crossed that we'll have a snow day tomorrow.

A woman just walked by wearing a dead muppet. Seriously, I'm not sure what other creature her coat could have been made of.

I'll be back with less rambles and Munich photos shortly.

Go away, damn it!

2010-11-30T22:23:00.002+03:00

I've been sick now for 18 days. I finally went to the doctor yesterday and though Dutch doctors are notorious for not prescribing antibiotics (something that I am really happy about actually, I think those things mess with your system in bad ways), the doctor brought it up before I did. Her guess was sinus infection and based on the way the sinuses in my forehead feel (like they're pushing out from the inside), I'll agree. Today was day 2 of the meds and I can't say I'm feeling on the mend. Hopefully going to bed now, at 8:30, I'll wake up feeling like I have the energy to take a shower. Just couldn't manage it today.

But I did start in on a new show... Nathan Fillion (Mal from my favorite show Firefly) is in a new series called Castle. Apparently it's on its (notice the correct use of it's and its) 3rd season already. And it's Law and Order minus the boring court parts plus funny. I'm really enjoying it.

Oh, and in the meantime, I've also been down to Munich for the German christmas markets. When my energy returns, I'll post photos. It was lovely. Even if I did feel like doodoo the whole time.

Dutch Christmas

2010-11-20T11:05:00.003+03:00

Yesterday Sinterklaas (also known as Sint Nicolaas or just Sint) and his helpers, the Zwarte Piet (black Pete), arrived into Ouderkerk via boat. Why did they come by boat? Well, because he's coming up from Spain (duh). And why are his helpers black? Well, some would say it's the soot from coming down the chimney (but then why isn't Sint black as well), some will say it's because they were originally Moors, I wonder if it has anything to do with the Dutch history of colonization... Whatever the reason, this is happening all over Holland.

And what exactly is happening, you may be thinking? Well, Sint and his helpers are arriving all over the Netherlands on different days of course because they have to go from location to location. And they are met with parades, families singing songs and children dressed as Sint and Piets - these completely in black face (I'm not kidding) (ever see the book Little Black Sambo) (I find it offensive, the Dutch find it offensive that I find it offensive).

I've digressed, they've arrived so that they can check to see who's been naughty (in which case you might get stuffed into a sack where Sint or Piet will pretend to kick you) or nice until present delivery day - December 5th. All this checking time, roughly 3 weeks, you leave your shoes by the fire (radiator) in the hopes of finding treats in the morning. Mmm, candy in my shoe, yummy.

David Sedaris does a great job of describing this bizarre holiday in his reading "6 to 8 Black Men." You can read the essay here on Esquire or listen to it via YouTube - this is video 1 of 3 and you don't really need to look at the video. He starts talking about Christmas at 3:38 and then Netherlands specifically around 4:30:

First visitor!

2010-11-20T10:51:00.002+03:00

One of my cooking friends who I first met through the CookLight (magazine) bulletin board back in 2000 and then met in real life in 2001 just came out from Portland for a visit.

For those of you who've been to Portland, she brought with her Stumptown coffee and VooDoo doughnuts. They make a bar doughnut with maple glaze topped with bacon. Yeah, it is as decadent as it sounds. Go look at their menu, it'll make you want to go to Portland.

She also discovered Koan Float (careful, the website has really annoying music). Remember those sensory deprivation chambers of the 1970s? Being barely born, I, of course, don't, but sure I've heard of them. Well, that's what Koan offers you. A chance to float around in your own little pod of very, very salty water. Amanda landed (11 hour flight), dropped off her luggage and then headed straight into the city to go float. She says it was an awesome way to start her trip. I returned with her a few days later to try it myself. And yep, it's hippy, err, cool and it is relaxing. We determined 45 minutes is the optimal float time. We tried for an hour and got bored at the end.

We had grandiose plans of heading off to Mastricht or Delft, but there is so much to do and see in Amsterdam, that we stayed. Of course, this is for the best because this is also when I started to really feel bad. But Amanda was a trouper, coming home early with me and twice (TWICE!) she cooked dinner for us.

So here are her tips:
1. No need to bring cycling gear. No one wears it, you'll look like a dork.
2. When Em tells you to get off the train at Spui don't panic because you feel like you've been on the train too long and get off 5 stops too early, it'll make you late for your float.
3. There are many good (unhealthy) Dutch snack foods, but it's hard to define a Dutch meal.
4. Bring a pair of low/no heeled boots. You'll want them for the weather, cobble stones and fashion.
5. Bring a warmer jacket than you'll think you'll need and some sweaters.
6. Bring some Emergen-C (that's just for me though)
7. Bring plenty of room in your suitcase because there is a lot of cute stuff here.

What I've been up to

2010-11-18T23:58:00.002+03:00

Man, it's been a while since I posted. In the meantime, I've gone to Moscow and back for October break. Here's my Amsterdam friend (yes, just a friend) Ian at the Kremlin

Here he is reflected in some really creepy record covers at Garage - a pretty cool modern art museum in an old bus depot:

They've removed the scaffolding from the facade of the Bolshoi Theater.

It's still not open, but we did go see the Bolshoi ballet perform, something I never did while living there. It was amazing, but as always, a bit too long with the excessive number of pas de deux. We saw Sleeping Beauty and some how there were 4 extra couples who danced - Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, Puss in Boots and um, someone, Cinderella and her Prince and another couple that I can't remember. Bizarre and completely unnecessary.

I also got the chance to go inside a Dutch green house:

So many plants, and all machine operated. You would not believe.

I've been home sick the past two days and have been knitting like crazy - love it when these spurts happen. Hoping to finish a birthday set for my mom and get it shipped off next week. Oh and grades are due next week. I hate this time of year.

Sumo Background

2010-11-02T21:31:00.003+03:00

I've switched the background of my gmail account to be sumo and this image popped up today. I ~love~ it. Whoever designed this background makes me laugh on a daily basis.

Utrecht

2010-10-10T23:05:00.002+04:00

I wandered around Utrecht today taking pictures. I know that it's a small college town, but I didn't really get that feeling. Well, I got the small town feeling, but not the college town part.

It was really pretty:

And really sunny, making for some great shadows:

And some great non-graffiti

Being the Netherlands, there were of course bicycles and canals:

Occasionally there was the feeling of fall:

But also memories of Paris with flying butresses:

And gargoyles who cover their ears:

And random spitting lions:

Can you tell I had a great day?

Last weekend

2010-10-03T22:56:00.001+04:00

Prague
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

I went to Prague to visit D & S and their kids. We did a walking tour of the city and in the old town square there's an astrological clock. It dates back to 1410. That's 600 years, people. It was awesome. Of course, I have no idea how to tell the time, but it will also tell you the phase of the moon, the season, etc. It was super geeky and awesome.

The Russian Consulate

2010-10-01T18:05:00.002+04:00

So I went down to the Russian Consulate today because I'm going for a visit in October with one of my new friends. Foolish to return so soon perhaps, but I miss my friends.

Anyway, I wasn't scheduled to teach classes until 12:30 and, according to their website, they start accepting applications at 9 am. So, even though the consulate is in the Hague and far enough from Hague Central Station to make the trip over an hour each way, I thought I'd make it back in time.

But in true Russian fashion, I show up and there are loads of people waiting and all the blinds are closed on all the windows. At 9:50, they open 1 (one!) window and every queues. I finally get to the front and they have the info from Moscow, but the forms they had online for me to fill out were not correct for this type of visa. So I have to go fill them out, front and back answering questions like where I went to uni, parents' full names and whether I have weapons training (seriously). I get back in line, finally make it to the front again (by this point it's 11 and I know I'm not going to get back to work in time and have already started sending frantic texts.) THANKFULLY she accepts both forms for me and Ian. Since he didn't sign the second, she kept his first as proof for the signature. Then I have to go to window 3 to pay. Of course, window 3 is just where you get the receipt, you actually pay in window 4 and for Brits it's 35 euros, for my USA passport it was 95! Bloody hell. And then I'm told I can come back anytime after Oct 8 to pick it up between 12 - 1; right, because that's convienent.

So I leave and finally make it back to Hague central station, take a train to Schipol (Amsterdam's airport) and from there a 40 euro taxi to work to make it 20 minutes late to my class. I should have just come on my old visa! But it seems as though all is going well and next Friday, Ian and I will get our passports back.

TGIF! (which we have every Friday in our staff bar)

What people do while riding their bikes:

2010-09-12T11:33:00.002+04:00

So far, it seems to be similar to what American's do in the cars:

Apply make-up
Talk on their cell phone
Change songs on their music device
Eat from a bag of chips/crackers
Pull things out of their pockets
Drink a beer (hopefully this isn't happening in cars...)
Hold hands with another person on a different bike (ditto...)
Carry another 2 or 3 people (not always/usually children) on their bike

So far I've only done one of those things, probably the only one I will do. Any guesses?

House Warming - Check

2010-09-12T11:27:00.002+04:00

Had my house warming. I'd invited some school folks and all the houses on my street. I did the latter by writing out invitations (in English) and then putting them in everyone's mailbox. I'd say around 15 neighbors came and around 20 staff. It was 20 wine bottles worth of people anyway and a really great time.

Here are some colleagues and some of the many flowers received (the next morning it looked like a wake...)

People standing around the food (those of you who have ever been to any of my gatherings know I tend to go crazy with the food. No exception. I spent 3 days preparing, making lists, checking them off, down to what would be served on which plate and it was a great success.):

And then people in the living room:

It appears that I only remembered to take photos after the Dutch neighbors left. I put an end time on the invite and the Dutch strictly adhered to it! Crazy. Next time (I'm thinking a winter holidays party, no end time!)

Nothing like a house warming

2010-09-02T23:38:00.004+04:00

...to really kick you into gear of settling in. The house warming is Saturday and today the handy man came today to hang pictures, I made 60 meatballs and a tomato-bacon dip. Then, I cleaned the kitchen. Then I relished this moment. Of looking around and being surrounded by memories. Here, let me share.

As you come into the house and look to the right you've got the pictures that I got in Thailand when I went for a wedding. On the wall between the windows is a series of framed post cards bought at the MLK museum when A came to visit me in Atlanta. And of course on the sills, plants. I've got 2 orchids and 2 succulents at the moment. As well as a photo of my grandparents and parents.

This is even more bittersweet as the groom suddenly died a year later. (Thinking of you L and T!)

Here's A at the MLK memorial.

As we continue towards the kitchen, there's the paining by a college friend, beyond that is a framed Russian poster which always makes me think of Bree who is slightly addicted to them and a great travel/photography companion.

Here's Bree blending in in Boston:

As we turn into the kitchen there's another framed piece of Russian art work, this done by a former student, who wasn't Russian at all. Above the sink is a framed mushroom bought at an art auction for charity. Cliche, I know, but there was a nail already there and it's the right size. Of course what we also see is that my kitchen and knife racks are now hanging again. Something that's been a sight in every kitchen I've had. On the island is my Swedish fruit bowl.

Heading upstairs, there are the Russian photos from M and all my framed art deco post cards that I had done in Russia, though only a few of them are Russian. There's some from Alcatraz, Spain and Italy as well.

Here's M and I in Turkey with a great bunch of students:

And then we're in the bedroom. I should have moved the mosquito net more, but there's another piece by the college friend, a silk carpet on the floor, bedding from my trip to visit K&M in Bangladesh, at the foot of the bed a carpet made from the mom of my Swedish friends.

Yep, I love this part of moving in.

SAIL Amsterdam

2010-08-23T20:17:00.002+04:00

I headed into the city this Sunday to catch SAIL. This is when hundreds of old, old sail boats from all over the world, like this Russian one:

descend on Amsterdam. It only happens every 5 years and I was lucky enough to be here already for it. There are SO many boats, I don't know how they avoid hitting each other:

Of course, with this many boats comes a lot of people:

So I didn't last at SAIL long. But I did enjoy wandering around the city. Stopped by a flower market:

.

Since living here I've also learned why many of the houses lean:

It's not because they're old and built on water (though they are). But it's intentional so that when the hook at the top is used with a pulley to haul things up, said big heavy things won't bump against the house on the way up. Genius.

Dear Self, Always wear pants!

2010-08-23T20:08:00.002+04:00

When you decided to wear the lovely teal/green dress given to you by Mrs. C last year, it wasn't raining that hard. I know. But instead of wearing only your rain jacket you should have also worn the pants, or at least packed them! Then, about half way, when it was actually raining and you lap was covered in rain drops - yet still obviously drops - ie there were dry patches - you should have gone home and either gotten the pants or a change of clothes. Because just a few minutes later it really started raining. Arriving to school physically dripping with rain is not very professional. Thankfully it was only 7:30 and it seems most people don't arrive before 8. So you were able to park in front of the fan to dry out. But you don't really want to repeat this experience do you?

By leaving time, around 4, it was sunny. But, self, you still need to wear pants! Riding a bike in a dress leads to exposure, especially when it's windy along with sunny. And you're just not a good enough of a rider to hold your skirt with one hand and steer with the other, especially when it's really windy.

So self, please remember this day and always wear pants!

Nightmares

2010-08-19T23:03:00.004+04:00

The classroom I moved into was chock full of cr4p. I spent my first "work" day cleaning it out. I've never seen more rubber bands in my life. The way I was getting rid of things you'd think I don't have an attachment to stuff.

But, then my shipment arrived...

And since then, I've been afraid to come home.

Did you notice those were only photos of the downstairs...

My bed was covered with clothes. Since then, I've filled a big box of clothes to donate (why, why, do I have so much?) and managed to fit the rest into my closet. The shoes are another matter, but I'm working on it.

I'm still working on the downstairs, but have managed to find homes for most of the kitchen gear with only getting rid of a few things (photo for add)

Ok, back to the organizing...

Oh, RIGHT, today was the first day of school for students! I only had homeroom. I've got a 12th grade class of 15. They all sat next to each other without me telling them too and obviously all got along... what a change that's going to be! I really like them so far and am excited to see them through the year.

As a 12th grade advisor, I'm automatically enlisted in organizing prom. At the first teacher's meeting we were told that we need to make sure that this year prom only has beer and wine... Yep, that'll be another change. Maybe the students will actually stay for the dancing here.

Another Night in Ouderkerk

2010-08-11T22:05:00.002+04:00

Did I mention that part of our contract includes a gym membership?! It's one of those big fancy gyms, though not really "Globo Gym" like. So far I've only swam, Saturday and again this morning. We were told that the pool is through the sauna (the naked co-ed sauna). So I go and walk through the sauna, this takes you outside via a covered pathway into a large locker room. I walked through that, heading (I though towards the pool) but kept meeting doors with a red circle and a horizontal white line through the center - a "Do Not Enter," right?! Finally I stop to ask a much older woman who's showering, "Why can't I find the pool?!" Yep, it took me 8 minutes to find the pool. But I found it and swam.

...

Today was our first day of "work." It's still orientation though. My first impression is "pink." Seriously, the walls, the carpet, it's all pink. It looks like I'll have my own classroom, though I'll be sharing it with my head of department (HOD). It's up on the third floor (math departments seem to be always the furthest away).

After work, I went to buy a screw driver to finish assembling my new sofa (bed). Here's the new living room set up. In the lower right, that's the top of the newel post - I was standing on the stairs to take the photo:

And here's the couch pulled out into bed form - double bed side. Ready for visitors!

And here I am enjoying a post assembly glass of wine along the Amstel.

I was with new friends M & L. Here I am with L:

Long Way There

2010-08-08T19:01:00.002+04:00

I went to visit a colleague today - one who I think will turn out to be a good friend. I ended up getting a bit turned around in Uithoorn (pronounced out-horn), so it took me a while to get there (1.5 hours). You can see the route on the map I attempted to create (why, oh why, can't you map a bicycle route on Google maps in the Netherlands?! Dude?!). The distance is about the same even though I took (what I thought was) the longer way along the Amstel River out and went through pasture land to get home. However, it only took an hour to get home and that was up wind most of the way. I have to say, my tuckas is not as sore as I expected.

View Ouderkerk in a larger map

I live top right, it's just starting to say Ouder...

Here's a couple of photos from the beginning of the ride.

Amazingly I didn't get rained on!

It's like being back in SF!

2010-08-08T12:36:00.003+04:00

I went the gay pride parade today. In Amsterdam it takes place on a canal... of course. And in amazingly, one of my new colleagues lives on a houseboat, on the canal that the parade went along!! It was raining, so we could stay inside, dry, but be up-close and personal with the boats... and with the woman on the boat across from us who was an amateur exhibitionist... and not a very good one at that. She kept flashing the gay boys, silly woman.

Anyway, I know you want photos, so here you go:

From inside the boat looking out on the parade:

Gaymobile (taken just for Joy!), these guys are a bunch of builders apparently:

The best part was that most boats had choreographed dances! Fun! This isn't the best of them, but it's the only video I've got:

Is God your rainbow?

If so, are these your angels?

Looking up river at a Christmas float:

My Commute

2010-08-06T20:37:00.002+04:00

I got a bike yesterday. I went back to my local bike shop and asked if they also had used bikes. Turns out they do, down in the basement where the repair shop is! So I got a bike that retails at 900 Euro for 350! Go me. Of course, spending so much on a bike means that I'm terrified of it getting stolen. It's only a 30 minute ride into Amsterdam, but no way am I taking that bike into the city!

So, anyway, I've got a bike, saddle bags and 2 locks, but no helmet. No one wears a helmet here. I keep thinking about my brain and how much of a risk I'm taking. So far it doesn't feel like much of one because there are bike paths everywhere. Seriously. Though mopeds also use the bike lanes, the times I've been passed so far by both mopeds and other cyclists, have felt really calm and safe. So there you go.

Anywhere, here's my bike leaning against the fence out my backdoor.

For as big as it is, it's super light, when the bags are empty of course. See the keys, that's one of the two locks. It locks around the rear wheel. I also have a chain lock for putting around the frame and front tire.

I rode my bike into work today to try out the commute. As I was timing it, I didn't take any photos, but here's a description of what I saw along the way:

Sheep laying along a canal
The Amstel River
More sheep
A vineyard
Some cows
A little bit of suburb/city

Then I was at school. In just 10 minutes. And this was my first time riding a bike in, oh, 3 years. So I'm thinking it'll end up being more like 8 minutes. Have I mentioned I love where I'm living?

It's time for people to start visiting!

Ouderkerk aan de Amstel

2010-08-04T12:19:00.003+04:00

That's the name of my little village. Quaint, huh?

I've taken 3 pictures of the apartment. Will take more once I've got my shipment. Here's the dining room, taken standing against the back of the sofa:

Then the living room, standing at the forward most dining room chair:

And then standing against the wall on the right side of the table looking into the kitchen:

There are notes on each photo. Go to flickr for more details.

I have arrived

2010-08-03T18:49:00.002+04:00

I'm feeling really mellow. I love my apartment, except perhaps for the stair case, but maybe that's because it was really difficult to get 2 50 lb suitcases up the stairs. The stairs are narrow and steep, which is good because they have a small footprint, but bad because I'm terrified I will slip down them at some point because I tend toward clumsy.

The exposed ceiling beams in the living room are painted green. I love it.

The bedroom has a curved ceiling that's really tall in the middle. I also love that.

There are two bins for trash - one for compost (YAY!) and the other for trash - no recycling. Hmph. I can take paper, glass and plastic myself, but I haven't found the closest bins yet.

I have a tiny fridge, no freezer and no pantry. Not so sure how I feel about that.

My little village is just what I was hoping for, except I haven't found a cheese shop yet, though the butcher does have some cheeses. I've been to the grocery store twice. About 5 houses down from me are 4 restaurants that have outdoor seating right on the river.

I went to the bike shop in town today to buy a bike, but the cheapest one was 599 Euros (that's almost $800). Ugh. I'm going to look in the next biggest town tomorrow when I go in to set up my bank account. I expected to spend money on a bike - especially for a good lock and the saddle bags that I want. But, I don't need a fancy pants racing bike. I just want to be able to ride around everywhere. $800, really? I hope not.

Intern David

2010-08-03T18:39:00.003+04:00

The following story was told to me by A, one of my closest college friends. I have no reason to doubt her, though the story seems made up.

A works as a theater manager for a small non-profit theater company in North Carolina. Occasionally they take on interns and when they do it is A's responsibility to train and find things for them to do. She finds this to be one of the frustrating parts of her job because it often ends up being a time suck. I completely understand as it's the same way with student aides. But everyone has to start somewhere, right?

So one summer A gets a new intern, Intern David. Trying to find an easy task for him, she gives him 10 letters to be copied and then mailed out to past donors. She gives him these at around 3 in the afternoon. When he leaves at 5 he hands a stack of papers to A's boss and says, "I'm sorry I didn't have time to finish them all. I got through 7 and I'll do the rest tomorrow." Then he leaves.

Then A and her boss look at the stack to find that Intern David has indeed been copying the letters... BY HAND. And on letter 5 when his pen ran out of ink (I find I must restate this part: HE WROTE SO MUCH BY HAND THAT HIS PEN RAN OUT OF INK) he switched to ... PENCIL. He wrote all of these on blank copy paper. What I want to know is did he go to the copier to get the paper out?

As you can assume, much laughter was to be had. A feels lucky to have had the opportunity to get it all out before having to talk to him about it the next day. "Intern David, I want you to know that it's ok to ask me questions. Especially when you are confused about something or think that something seems strange. (Or if you run out of ink in your pen and need a new one (that statement added by me))."

In the buckle of the Bible belt

2010-07-26T04:05:00.002+04:00

I was at a conference this weekend in Austin. I was amazed at how many openly Christian people there were. It's been a long time since I've lived in Texas. But it was nice. Well, actually, the conference wasn't so good unfortunately, but I got to see some friends from college and also had dinner with my non-Aunt (she's my uncle's sister (but he's my uncle by marriage)). I just met her last weekend in Boston at the wedding, but she seemed great. So I agreed to let her take me out to the Oasis (great view, over-priced TERRIBLE food, do not go there).

So I get picked up by my non-aunt and her husband. Before I'm even buckled up in the car he's handing me this book titled "Are there Christian Cops in Austin Texas" (no question mark in the title, it pains me not to include one). And then he asks me, "So are you religious?" "No." "Not at all?" "Nope, not at all." "So then you study world religions?" "Well, superficially in college."

And by now I'm sure you're thinking what I was thinking, "what have I gotten myself into?" And he goes on to tell me that he's written this book and it's all about this cop who is and I quote "like you'd imagine Jesus to be." And he was fired from the Austin PD because he's Christian and refused to tasar people and thus didn't fit in with the APD philosophy. Holy shit, have I been abducted by evangelical conspiracy theorists? And so I'm skimming through the book now because if I'm just listening, I might throw myself from the car. And it's just a proof version, but the formatting is terrible and every chapter begins with a bible verse and the prose is almost unreadable. Unfortunately, the story sort of peters off there. He finished explaining to me what the book was about and didn't discuss it again at any point. Nor was I taken away to a tent with snakes and holy rollers to be saved. But I'm keeping the book to show everyone that comes to my house.

Boston

2010-07-19T02:15:00.002+04:00

Pictures coming soon. Brief wrap-up though.

Wedding - traditional in a very old, very HOT church.
Reception - mostly traditional, but with liberties. SUPER FUN.

Got to see a few cousins (too few!), got to eat yummy, yummy dim sum in China town.

It was a good time, but I'm glad I don't have to share a room anymore!

But you're pretty...

2010-07-15T05:15:00.002+04:00

My sister and I are walking down a side street in Brunswick, Maine. We're discussing the difference in personality of East Coast Northerners versus Southerners, at least that's what I'm discussing. It's noticeable. For a Southerner, the people here almost seem rude - waitstaff doesn't stand around to chat, you're not often greeted when walking into a place - but I've come to realize that's just how it is here. Just like I won't find really spicy food (the chocolate chipotle gellato I had tonight is the one exception - my mouth was on fire) or sweet tea.

Anyway, my sister and I were having this discussion because my mom and I had made appointments to had our eyebrows and legs waxed, respectively. My sister wanted to have her eyebrows tweased because wax makes her break out (it's true, I've seen it). And the receptionist wasn't friendly enough in her opinion. (I thought she was fine, but I've been here 3 days longer.) Besides that I'd offered to twease her eyebrows myself.

Sister: "I'm sorry but I just don't trust you."

Me: "What?! I'm totally trustworthy."

Simultaneously two boys (young, 18, 20 tops) pass us in the street.

Me to the boys: "I look trust worthy, don't I?"

One of them: "No, but you're pretty."

Well, at least I've got that going for me.

Well, the Netherlands lost

2010-07-13T01:38:00.002+04:00

And honestly, Spain played better. So it goes.

Nothing new to report. Still in Maine. It's foggy.

I'm (supposed to be) writing a paper about equity in education. I think my mom was surprised to find out I don't believe American education is equitable. I battle often with the feeling that I've sold out by teaching overseas. I know I am a much better teacher now than when I started. And it'd be nice to be applying these skills where I might make a difference. As it is, the students I teach now, they're most likely to succeed with or without me. The difference I offer, for the most part, is that I can help show the girls that it's ok to love and be good at math and to show all of them an alternative (generally more liberal) way of thinking about things. But in US public schools, well, for most of the students I also might not make a difference, but to those I did impact, the influence is likely to be far greater.

I'm a firm believer that the path to change is to create schools that are diverse socio-economically. However, I read a NYT article today about the attempt to do that in San Francisco and how it's almost impossible because all the middle/upper class students have been pulled out of public schools. Ack! What do we do then??

I'd often wondered if I'd be able to do it.

2010-07-11T03:53:00.004+04:00

As an omnivore and one who enjoys eating meat, I'd often question if I'd actually be able to kill a living creature in order to eat it. While tonight, I discovered that yes, I can. But it wasn't pleasant. At least not until I was eating it.

I dropped 4 live lobsters into a steamer basket. This is almost worse than dropping them into boiling water I think because they aren't initially aware of how bad it is going to be. Then once I stuffed them in (and I had to, to get the lid on), I could hear them rattling against the lid for the first 7 or so minutes. I ignored their cries and kept reading (Pride and Prejudice - it's so good! who knew?!). And after 20 minutes, opened the lid to reveal 4 bright red lobsters which my family and I devoured.

Here I am kissing mine good-bye:

My sister, newly arrived to Maine ate hers almost instantly and declared "I eat 9 oz of protein a meal, you know! (Actually, no I didn't) I'll need two next time." Um, ok.

My dad had fun playing with his.

As did my mom:

This was my dad's 3rd lobster in 6 meals. Here he is at lunch with my mom looking on.

Not to worry, she also had lobster, but in the form of a club sandwich. Me, I had a salad. There's only so much of eating out that I can take (never thought you'd hear me say that, huh?).

Maine - first impressions

2010-07-10T00:44:00.002+04:00

It's humid in Maine. Seriously, disgustingly (though I have a low tolerance for humidity) humid. However, the view from the back deck of our rental house (actually the view can be seen from every room in the place) is awesome. See:

Also we found a farmer's market today (you know I love those) and bought goat cheese, sweet corn, sugar snap peas, well you get the picture.

Now if only to avoid being driven crazy by the fact that there is no escape from the people I'm with (my parents). It's not them (for the most part), but more the fact that I ~need~ my alone time.

This post brought to you by the commission for parenthesis in every sentence (great for a mind that's often side tracked).

I'm calling it football

2010-07-03T21:27:00.002+04:00

Living in Europe (Moscow is sort of European) for the start of the World Cup was pretty great. I was never that into soccer, but I do enjoy going to sports bars. So I started watching with Bree. And then I got into it. When I'm invested, I'm the person jumping up, almost knocking the table over, screaming.

And man, has there been a lot to cheer about these past two days. My future home, the Netherlands BEAT Brazil yesterday. Since NED was ranked high it's not ~that~ much of an upset, but to the world of football (and to the world, it is football, it's a game played mostly with your feet, it makes sense, America, get over it and start calling it football) fans, I'd say it came as a surprise. And me, I've never enjoyed watching Brazil - whiny, actors the lot of them. So I say "Suck It, Brazil! Enjoy the long flight home." Ha. GO NETHERLANDS!

Then Uruguay and Ghana going to shoot out! I was on the edge of my seat at the end of that match.

And today, what should have been a close game, but no, Germany slaughtered Argentina. Yet another surprise and again awesome because the Argentinian coach, Maradona is, in my opinion, a douche. I'll admit, I laughed at his tears. And we all know I have a thing for Germans.

The most hilarious part of this game was when the announcer used "tantalizing and scintillating" in the same sentence. Dude, I'm watching football (or soccer if you must), not porn.

But if it comes down to Netherlands vs. Germany, I'll be wearing orange.

Ups and Downs

2010-07-02T17:16:00.003+04:00

Hm, haven't posted since my pack out day... which is now over 2 weeks ago. I've been everywhere emotionally and haven't known how and what to write here.

I'm still not sure that I could put it all down. I'm really going to miss my students - I would have loved to have continued teaching my grade 10 students as they head into the IB (feel free to send me questions!). I'm going to miss seeing Bree as often as I did. I almost cried saying good-bye to my vegetable lady - she was the first Russian (outside of Bree's boy) who was truly friendly and patient with me and continued to be for 3 years. But in the end, I only cried on the last day of school for teachers.

I spent one more week in Moscow to test out this relationship that had just started. However, even in the few weeks that it lasted had so much more drama than any relationship I'd ever had. I should have known that was a bad sign. I should have trusted my instincts. But I'm a gambler when it comes to love. I'm willing to accept that it will appear when I least expect it and to take a risk to see how the cards fall.

But this, the day that I felt like I was suddenly in a Jerry Springer episode, I should have stopped seeing him then. I know my students think I watch too much How I Met Your Mother, but Ted was right in saying that nothing good happens after 2 a.m. Or if you go to bed super early like I do, after midnight. And too often in the end did I allow myself to see him and make decisions after midnight. So much energy spent there that could have been spent enjoying Moscow. Not that I wasn't enjoying my time, but was the emotional stress worth it? Well, at this moment, I'm thinking not really. And I'm ready to let go of that - easier said than done, but hopefully writing it out will help.

I'm back in Atlanta; I've been here a week. And I've met two new babies. Here I am with my best friend's girl:

My sister had a pool party for her birthday (hence the suit) and here I am with Beth and her son.

I've eaten tacos and bbq. I've made summer pasta salads and a fresh tomato sauce. I've had a minor surgery and was told by the doctor and nurse that I'm the calmest patient they've ever had. Post op, I showed them my tattoo and it all became clear to them that I have a high pain tolerance.

I'll be in Atlanta another week, then off to Maine, Boston, back to Atlanta, Austin, back to Atlanta, then Asheville and then back to Atlanta to fly to Amsterdam. I'm also taking 2 online courses. In so many ways, it appears that I am mildly insane.

Moving Day

2010-06-16T17:01:00.002+04:00

It's strange watching strangers pack up your life. I look at the things I've acquired living here - carpets and yarn mostly, but also Russian souvenirs - things I never thought I'd have. As well as the items that have been in so many different houses with me - mostly kitchen wear. I still have the plates that Ashish and I bought together for our first house out of college. My guess is he doesn't have his half anymore, but I should ask him. Because he, way more than me is a collector. Then I've got the board games - a fetish finally honed in California, though I've got 2 chess sets from college days as well.

However, the movers, they don't care about my stuff or my memories, so in just under 3 hours, they've packed up my whole house. In case you're curious, all my wordly possessions, well except for my much missed Kitchen Aid mixer living with Nate and Vero, fit into 50 boxes and 3 suit cases. I love having movers, someone else to lift the heavy boxes, to wrap up all the glasses and pictures. This is the way to go, I may never be able to move my own stuff again. I'm spoiled, I know. It's a problem, but admitting it is the first step, right?

And now, finally, the excitement of leaving Moscow and moving to Amsterdam is starting to set in. I'll miss my friends, I'll miss the school, I may even miss my apartment. But there is very little about this city that I'll miss. I've got another week and a half to try to soak it all in though. I really hope it warms back up… it's only 60 F and has been raining for 2 days straight. It's mid-June people, come on!

I hate this part of moving

2010-06-06T14:27:00.002+04:00

Cleaned out the cupboards of the food stuffs that I've bought, but haven't used. I hate that - knowing I've wasted money and food! However, this situation is a bit better as I'll be taking most of it to school and I'm sure people there will take it - nothign sells better than free, right?

I'm less and less ready to leave Moscow every day...

Good Bye AAS

2010-06-05T06:16:00.001+04:00

Good Bye AAS
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

Oscar Night at AAS. I was photographed for the school news paper for an article on leaving teachers. I'm not sure what was done to the photo, because I'm fairly sure I don't look this good on a daily basis, so thanks Balint. It's a great shot!

Secretly I've been a person all along

2010-06-02T15:10:00.002+04:00

Well, graduation weekend has come and gone. The school feels really empty without the seniors around. It was a weekend of reflection on my 3 years here, because really after teaching most of this class when they were in grade 10, I knew that I wanted to stay and see them through graduation. I expected to cry, but didn't. Instead, I felt so proud. I can't even imagine what it's like if you're a parent - you must want to explode with the joy of what they do and can do. And when they disappoint, the heart ache must border on wondering if you should call an ambulance.

As a class, these students were not cohesive, which I've related stories of before. However, as individuals, they are amazing and I have no doubt of what they are capable of.

There were fewer teachers than usual at the post-graduation celebration at the Hard Rock. It is strange to share a beer with students, especially for those of us coming from North America. But, I had a good time. Seeing some of my favorite students smoking was awful. Seeing some of my former students who had come back for the ceremony no longer smoking was awesome.

On the way out the door, at a very reasonable 10:45, I was stopped by one of the students. "Ms. S, I don't know if should tell you this or not, but we've found your blog. I went back and read the whole thing and I feel so much more connected to you... you know, as a person."

I'm always conscious of this being, well, on the Internet, and knowing that whatever is here is for public consumption. But I did have a fleeting moment of "should I be worried?" But then, I realized (hoped?) that it was that students aren't used to thinking of their teachers as people with lives outside of the school. But it's true! We are people, maybe we just don't such a good job of making it obvious in the class though.

And while I find it exciting that my readership is now up to potentially 8 (eight!), perhaps instead of googling me, y'all should have been studying. But now that exams and graduation have come and gone and you're on your way to college feel free to comment or send my messages occasionally.

Best of luck, class of 2010.

Cooking with the Seniors

2010-05-27T21:58:00.003+04:00

I volunteered to give up several (3) of my prep periods today to teach the seniors a "cooking in college" lesson. We made spaghetti with home made marinara and meatballs as well as these Orange Cheesecake Brownies (they deserve their own link because they were so very good).

I had a blast, it was funny to see who was comfortable in the kitchen - the boys who just dove in, mixing up the meatballs with their hands, there was another who I had to teach how to wash a dish (seriously). There was one girl who was all about the baking (me at a young age, I'm sure) and the others who just sat around watching.

It was a really nice day over all.

And it inspired me... I came home and made a lemon cake.

Coming soon, senior celebration night and graduation and the after-party that teachers are invited to at the Hard Rock. Stay tuned.

Baltic Sunset

2010-05-25T07:12:00.001+04:00

Baltic Sunset
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

Just got back from chaperoning girls tennis in Riga. It was beautiful! We were about 500 meters from the beach. I walked for an hour every morning. Graduation is coming this weekend, the year is flying by.

Not sure if I'm ready for all of this to be over.

Southern France in Pictures - Week 1

2010-05-01T06:53:00.005+04:00

This is Mazamet, the town we based out of on our extended spring break holiday. The first day we were there, there was a flower show.

Here are my parents. Mom bought dried lavender, that's what's in the bag.

After that, we went to Carcasonne

The next day to Castres

It was Monday, so everything was closed including the Goya museum, but we got to see the gardens:

But since it was all closed we headed to Minerve (where we loved and bought 6 bottles of the 4 euro wine!)

Then we had a day or two of chilling in Mazamet. We played cards and the neighborhood cats hung out.

Albi with it's incredible cathedral:

Full of delicately carved limestone:

And then back to Mazamet, home of a giant preying mantis.

More photos on flickr.

Karaoke!

2010-05-01T06:23:00.002+04:00

You know how normally when you watch karaoke, there are people on stage and as you watch you end up in a shudder, muscles twitching as you struggle for control. Attempting to contain your facial expression (an impossible feat for me) while the person on stage desperately tries to be Whitney Houston. But then there is a person who gets up an knocks your socks off. One who makes the whole crowd go silent, then start tapping their feet and with an occasional "Yeah!" whistle or finger snap.

Bree is in the second category of people. We were in Mazamet. I know you've never heard of it. It's a small French town, near Castres and Carcassonne (more than just a board game, people!) There are 3 pubs in town and the one closest to our B&B, La Paix, has Sunday night karaoke. Bree started with "Hush" by Bjork and well, everyone hushed and listened to her belt it out. I don't know why I was taking photos instead of videoing!

But here she is singing:

Hit the Ground Running

2010-04-29T18:34:00.002+04:00

Bree and I got out Friday night, landing in Moscow at 2 a.m. (technically Saturday). After far too few hours of sleep, I was headed to school at 8 a.m. for IB revision sessions. Then Saturday night was prom - James Bond Themed!

Prom was once again held at the US Ambassador's "house." The ball room seats around 150, so I use the word house lightly. There's a picture of him with his family and the Obama's in the foyer. But when it's full of students, it's hard to imagine dignitaries there. The dresses this year were the best I've seen - mostly long, very classy and classic. I wish I had some more pictures of them, but I felt a bit rude and voyeuristic taking them.

Here are the prom king and queen though, my students in grade 10 and in grade 12.

These two were my students in grades 10 and 11.

And these girls, well, one has been in my advisory for 10th and 12th grades, and both of them were heavily involved in and traveled with Thai Challenge this year. Further, they supported my Buffy then Angel addictions and love Joss Wheadon as much as I do.

As always, more photos on flickr.

Sunday was the International Fair. This offered great food but it was SNOW/HAILING and there were waaaayyy to many people for my comfort level. The great thing about the international fair is that they were all speaking languages other than English and Russian!

Sunday night was book club - The Eyre Affair - I LOVE this book. Unfortunately I was the only one...

Then back to a "normal" schedule, except that before break, I agreed to dance in the talent show. I'd forgotten just how much rehearsal time goes into creating a good dance. Mr. A was a huge help with the choreography and yesterday I got up on stage and did a 2 minute solo to All That Jazz - the Bebe Neuwirth version (see her dancing it here).

It's been 12 years since I've been on stage. I'd forgotten how nerve wracking it is to be under the bright lights, not able to see the audience. And since I'd only learned the steps the night before, I forgot half of them. Shockingly, at the end of the night I earned an audience vote to move on to the finals tomorrow night! I'll try to get some photos.

I never thought I'd say this

2010-04-20T21:55:00.003+04:00

But I'm ready to go back to Moscow.

We're stuck in Southern France due to the volcanic ash debacle. We're going on our 11th day, of what was supposed to be 7. Thankfully our hosts are AMAZING. Come stay here at Mazamet Central ()

And really this spot, their house, it's all ideal. We've been able to go to Carcassonne (where they filmed Robin Hood Prince of Thieves), Castres and other amazing French towns. The wine (cheap and delicious), the cheese (stinky and delicious), but it's really difficult to send lesson plans from here.

So I'm ready to go home. Meanwhile, I'll go have another pain au chocolat.

Things I want to write about

2010-04-13T00:54:00.002+04:00

Reminders for myself of at least 4/5 posts I want to compose:

More about Cappadocia

More about A's visit

Perhaps a birthday/goals for the new year post

About my current trip to Southern France

Have I traveled too much?

Playing with St. Basil's

2010-04-09T22:44:00.001+04:00

Playing with St. Basil's
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

I have things to write about, awesome things I've been doing and have done. But the motivation isn't here at the moment. Instead, I"ll tell you that my dear friend A was just here. She and I have been friends for 13 years. We had fun playing tourist in Moscow. I hope she and her squeeze will come to see me in Amsterdam too :) Her she is holding up part of St Basil's. One of my favorite photos from her time here.

Cappadocia

2010-04-03T14:54:00.001+04:00

IMG_1445
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

I've got some Cappadocia photos up. There's not mine as I forgot my camera!! (Can you believe it? So ridiculous!) However, this gives an impression. It was stunning all the time. It all looked like this, well not true, there were red hills and mountains and many more Fairy Caves. There's more to write, just not today.

Cappadocia - Central Turkey

2010-03-23T19:33:00.002+03:00

I'm in central Turkey for Discovery Week with a great group of 16 students. Seriously, best group I've ever traveled with. We did 8 km of hiking yesterday and 15 km of biking today with almost no complaints. And the scenery is stunning, no, stunning is too mild of a word. Breathtaking. I've biked through many spectacular sights - papaya orchards in Thailand, hill country of Laos - but this beats it.

I'll add pictures when I've got a faster internet connection.

In the meantime, I highly recommend looking this region up and planning a trip. It's awesome.

Tom's Shaggy Bread Recipe

2010-03-15T18:27:00.001+03:00

I typed it up for Zombie Girl so figured I'd post it too:

Here's the bread recipe:

Ingredients:
Medium/Large Loaf
2/3 c water
1/1.25 c starter
1/1.5 T Kosher salt
1/1.5 c whole-wheat flour
5/~7 c unbleached flour

Plus
For savory bread:
1T/1.5 T dill seed
.25/.4 c chopped fresh dill
1/1.5T whole grain mustard
1 small/1 medium onion, grated

For sweet
.75/1 c brown sugar
.75/1 c chopped dried fruit
.75/1 c chopped nuts
.5/1 T spice of your choice
(We used dried figs, walnuts and nutmeg, though less than a tablespoon)

Mix water and starter (if making savory also mix in dills and mustard). Stir in whole-wheat flour (if making savory, also stir in onion). Stir in 1 cup flour. Stir in salt (delayed so it doesn't kill the yeast in the starter). Add remaining flour 1 cup at a time to form a shaggy, moist batter which just begins to clean the bowl (pull away bringing all surrounding dough with it). (If making savory, stir in ingredients while still quite shaggy).

Cover and allow to sit overnight in a cool place (refrigerator is ok).

In morning, tip out dough onto floured surface using a spoon dipped in flour. "Knead" lightly 5 to 6 times. Form into shape of pan. Line a similarly shaped proofing pan with 2 pieces of "cross-wise" parchment (crossed to make lifting dough out easier) sprayed with oil. Scoop dough and place inside.

Cover and allow to rest in a warm place approximately 4 hours.

0.5 hours preheat oven and pan that you'll bake bread in to 500F.

Remove pan from oven, score the top of the dough and transfer, parchment and all, into preheated pan. Cover and return to oven. Lower temperature to 425. Bake covered, 0.5 hours. Remove lid, continue to bake for 35 - 50 minutes or until internal temperature is 208 - 210F. If browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil.

Allow to stand 5 minutes in vessel. Remove and allow to cool on a wire rack for 1 hour (if you can manage) before slicing.

Shaggy Bread

2010-03-07T09:33:00.004+03:00

One of my co-workers had me over to see how he makes bread yesterday. This guy rocks. He brings in some sort of breakfast treat EVERY Monday. It's a great way to start a Monday. It's often a huge loaf of bread that he's made.

He uses a sour-dough starter and it's a no-knead, over-night slow rise. The only difficulty is having the starter. I used to have one going in Vancouver and I think I'll start one again in Amsterdam. In the meantime, I might get some of his because it really was easy. You proof it in a vessel that's a similar shape to the baking pan and proof it on parchment. Then just lift the whole thing into the pre-heated pan when you're ready to bake it.

But all of this I've seen and done before. The best part was getting to see Tom and his wife's collection of Polish pottery. I'm inspired. I'm already planning to rent a car for my October break and drive to Poland. Anyone want to join me?

Here's the bread plus some pottery:

Women's Day

2010-03-07T09:27:00.003+03:00

Monday is International Women's Day. It's still unclear to me whether it's celebrated anywhere other than Russia. However, the folks at Nat's work definitely honor it. She came home with 3 bouquets of flowers. So as I sit here, I'm surrounded by tulips. It's lovely. And my orchid seems to be celebrating also, because another (4th!) bloom just opened.

New Career?

2010-03-03T21:28:00.002+03:00

Student: "Hey, Ms. S, did you ever do drama? Or have you considered a new career in drama?"

Me: "Huh?"

Student: "Well, because then you could yell, and make all those weird faces, and people wouldn't think you were so strange."

What city is this?

2010-03-02T20:19:00.001+03:00

Remember how before I left Moscow there was 30+ cm of snow and it was cold? Well, when we arrived there was hardly any snow left and it was only (only, she says) -4. Today it's right around 0 and snow and icicles continue to fall off of roofs. Maybe spring is coming...

More about the boat trip

2010-03-01T21:10:00.002+03:00

One of K&M's colleagues organized a boat trip as her parents were in town also. So K&M signed us all up. It was a private boat tour, just our group of 10. We were picked up in mini-vans with air con and off we went. Being a Saturday and a holiday weekend, traffic was light and it only took us about an hour to get out of the city. I took several photos from the van:

A rickshaw parking lot:

A guy walking down the street with a huge vessel on his head:

And proof that it's not like a kilt:

Then we arrived. As we made it before our boat, we had time to look out over (and smell... it was horrific) the water. This guy was sitting on a bunch of jute before it's been made into rope:

As mentioned below, a crowd gathered. Definitely not threatening, just curious. One of the girls that K&M work with was loving it - acting like she was a movie star as they are staring and photographing us. Me, as mentioned below, not comfortable at all. Hence, I've only got the one photo of them.

We were on the boat for about 10 minutes before stopping in a village where they weave the silk sarris.

I took a lot of pictures holding my camera in my hand, with my hands down at my sides. I got lucky with a few:

And here I am with K&M:

I went to bed at 8:30 last night. Tonight I've made it until 9:45. Right back into the routine.

The Staring

2010-03-01T05:43:00.001+03:00

Dhaka Boat Trip
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

This is one example of the staring. We took a boat trip. And this is as we're leaving. You can see the others walking away up hill, they'd seen enough. In that crowd there's actually 4 women! More later. Time to return to work!

So Tired It Hurts

2010-02-28T07:53:00.002+03:00

Well, I thought I hated flying with Russians more than any other culture. That may have changed last night. I was surrounded by people (read men) coughing, spitting up phlegm, putting their arms on me and being flatulent. And the flight was put into a holding pattern in the air above Muscat. Which means my 5 hour flight turned into a 6.5 hour flight. Which, in turn, meant I didn't get to my airport hotel (I canceled on the B&B, thankfully!) until 2:45. Wake-up call at 7:10. I couldn't figure out how to get hot water out of the shower. Blah. Blech. And eeewwwwwww.

I'm now at the airport waiting to board surrounded by, yep, Russians. I might actually be a bit happy about this. When I got to the seat I'm sitting in, a man was holding 3 seats and told me I couldn't have the empty seat. I'm so tired it took a while to process and I sat down. He shrugged. When his wife showed up, he says to her, "She doesn't speak Russian. She didn't know not to sit there." Ha! No, it's just that I didn't really think you needed 4 seats for 2 people!

A day in Dhaka

2010-02-26T10:49:00.002+03:00

K & M took me around today. Once every 3 weeks their school provides them a driver for a weekend morning and today (Friday, a weekend day here) happened to be that day. Lucky us.

So first we went to the grocery store, always exciting for me! Then off to the outskirts of Dhaka where their school is. Their school sits on reclaimed land. "Reclaimed from what?" you ask. The swamp. So we drove out to have a look around. Here it is:

Rice fields, but the raised part, yep, rice fields that have been filled in.

Here's K & M in the same area:

Don't ask.

From there we headed off to the fair trade expat stores. Items made in Bangladesh where the money actually goes back to the people who have made it. Shocking! I went a bit crazy and bought a table cloth with 4 place mats, plus another set of 8 place mats with napkins, a shirt/pants/scarf set for 4,400 takka, approximately $60.

Downstairs I bought 3 more scarves as gifts for a whopping $12.

We then left and headed off to have some lunch at Mr. Bakery. Next off we headed to the Folk Art center where, in my continued shopping craziness, I bought 2 bed spreads for $30. This however, a good investment. I run so hot when I sleep, I need the lightest possible covering. Why bother with the covering? Well, more than you want to know I'm sure, I love to sleep fully under covers, like up to my chin covered.

This afternoon we're off on a boat ride. From what I saw of the lake yesterday, I'm not so excited about this. Hopefully the river is flowing...

Moscow Interlude

2010-02-26T10:48:00.001+03:00

Winter 2010
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

Remember how I kept talking about all the snow. I took a few pictures before I left. Those of you who've been to see me, this is the path behind my building. That fence that you can barely see comes up to my knees or just above.

Women working

2010-02-26T10:38:00.002+03:00

Women working
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

Here's a view of Dhaka, right down the street from K & M's school. Thus far, I've been quite reluctant to take pictures. Each time I pull out my camera, I feel a bit vulgar. So this was taken from the car today. They have no stone here, so to create aggregate for building, first they make bricks and then break them up. Strange process.

Dhaka - first thoughts

2010-02-24T17:28:00.002+03:00

It's a lot like India so far. More mosquitoes than I was expecting, but the rest of it - crowds, loads of men, the honking, it's all familiar. We went out for Vietnamese food tonight, that was great. Tomorrow, I'm off for massage while they work and maybe down to a market as well if I get so motivated.

Oh and the b&b in Dubai only charged me for 1 night! Sweet deal!

Rough Start to Dubai

2010-02-23T15:04:00.002+03:00

Well, it was rough getting here because apparently when I printed off the map (which was sent to me via PowerPoint, what the hell, make a pdf!), it cut off the header with the night attendants cell phone. And so when the cab and I arrived to what we thought was the correct address - and numerically it should have been - it was completely dark and there were no numbers on the house. We drove up and down the street. I called the one number I did have, to get an answering machine repeatedly.

My cab driver was great, he didn't just abandon me on a dark street in the middle of Dubai. Instead he drove me back to the airport. We stopped at 3 hotels, 2 of them full and the third being the "Moscow Hotel" I just refused. Finally at 1:30 (that's a.m. and you know me, not being one with the night), I said, "Just take me back to the airport." As we were approaching terminal 3, my cell phone rings. Night attendant says, "When are you arriving?" Me: "Are you fucking kidding me??" So the cabbie turns back around. We figure out the place is not where it's indicated on the map and apparently here #76 comes BEFORE #86, oh, ~of course!~

I pay my outrageous cab fare, at this point we'd been driving around the city for well over an hour and I guess given that, it wasn't all that outrageous - only around $60. I settle into my huge, gorgeous room, but am so keyed up (read FURIOUS) that I can't sleep. So I read until about 3, then slept until 7:30. Still annoyed. Then I came outside to breakfast. Recounted my tale to the other guests and suddenly it didn't matter anymore. The place I'm staying is everything I wanted it to be. It's quiet, the bed is comfy, the pool is delightful - I've been sitting next to it reading and working (yes, just a bit), all day. This is exactly what I wanted.

Now, off to read more. I head to Dhaka around 7 tomorrow morning.

Spoke too soon... of course

2010-02-20T17:51:00.003+03:00

Warmest it got was -10 today, not so bad except that it's windy out. Really windy - I keep seeing large chunks of snow flying by the balcony from other balconies!My orchid doesn't seem to mind though. It's still got 3 flowers - this from it's second blooming in December and it looks like there is at least 1 if not 2 more on the way!

Being the first day of February break, I treated myself to a therapeutic 2 hour (!!) massage - you know in addition to my Wednesday relaxing massages. Contrasting those, this one hurt like hell. The stocky, Russian man massaging me was sweaty at the end. I've never had such a deep tissue massage. But, I'll happily say, "Thank you sir, may I have another." I like my massages to hurt. I followed that up with a mani/pedi. Been a long time since I've had a mani - probably Karla's wedding was the last time and that was back in 2006!

Now I'm working (obviously) on next week's grad assignments so I have little to do over break. That and during the pedi I marked my 3 extended essays. Check that off the list! Now if I can finish the rest of my "to be graded stack" tomorrow, I'll have nothing to do except read the books I just downloaded. Ah, what heaven that would be. I'm really into the Irish fairy tale series based in the Sevenwaters Forest having just finished the trilogy and downloaded the 4th (surprise!) book that Mary turned me onto. I've also been reading some other fantasy in the form of Kushiel's Dart which was a staff recommendation from my favorite Asheville book store, Malaprops.

Right, so back to that preemptive homework strike!

Not Since December 7th

2010-02-19T22:08:00.002+03:00

It hasn't been above freezing since December 7th. That's a long time for it to be cold. For several weeks it was really cold. Today though, it's only -6 (22F), down right balmy. It's also snowing. I learned tonight that snow can drizzle. It can; it is; I walked in it. It was delightful - you don't end up damp from it until you're inside and at that point, you just take off the clothes covered in snow. Easy peasy. And so much snow (it's snowed at least 4 inches in the past 6 hours), means less cars, less people and shiny white. It's actually quite pleasant.

It's also easy for me to say that because on Monday I'll be in Dubai where the low is 18 C (64 F) and the high will be 28C (80F). Then of course off to Dhaka where it's even muggier, errr, warmer.

Helsinki - Weekend Wrap Up

2010-02-14T17:52:00.003+03:00

I've been in Helsinki for the math competition. Two of our individuals won 2nd and 3rd place, a freshman boy and a sophomore new to the school this year. Both great students who really deserved it! Our two senior teams won 2nd and 3rd in the team competition, plus won of the boys won 3rd place for the individual round.

The best part was our strongest student, who has won the past three years and earned a perfect score last year, withdrew himself to give others a chance and instead coached the senior teams. I'm really proud of him.

I'm not so proud of some of the behavior and was down right embarrassed several times, but that was the only part of the group. The remainder were great to travel with and be with.

And Helsinki is great, very small, easy to get around (though paying for a metro ride is difficult to figure out) and the beer pubs. Oh dear lord, such a vast amount of good beer on tap and in bottles. It was so wonderful. I had a smocked bock that tasted like beer dreaming about bacon - and these are the things my dreams are made of. If only they weren't 7 euros each!

Great Chinese Circus Swan Lake

2010-02-14T17:01:00.001+03:00

At about 1:55 this starts to get really, really cool.

Dhaka is far away

2010-02-09T21:09:00.003+03:00

Like I said, I'm headed to Dhaka soon. The library ordered a book on Bangladesh for me so I could do some reading. I hadn't realized until I looked at the map on the back just how far away it is. Look:

View Dhaka in a larger map

You've got Moscow up above Kazakhstan. That's Dubai down below Iran and then Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, is sandwiched between India and Burma.

How is it I'm headed off to a place when I didn't even realize how far away it is? Well, I'm going to see K & M. So I didn't really consider the distance. I just knew that the flight times were awful if I tried to do it in one fell swoop. Hence the stop-over in Dubai.

Like I said, it'll be interesting... Geography lesson over.

At peace?

2010-02-09T06:38:00.001+03:00

Diane's remains were located. I hope that this will allow the family to have some sort of closure and allow them to grieve honestly.

Upcoming Travels

2010-02-06T14:56:00.003+03:00

Yep, only a week back and already it's time to be thinking about upcoming trips. I can think about it now that I'm done thinking about where to move/live/teach next!

Next Thursday I head off to Helsinki with 13 students and 1 other teacher for the CEESA math tournament. We have two very strong junior teams. Our notoriously strong senior team is a bit weaker as the strongest student (who has DESTROYED the competition for the past three years) withdrew himself and has been coaching. Then another student had his wallet stolen including his identity card and thus, may not be joining us. Regardless, it's Helsinki, I've only been to the airport and I'm excited to be going.

Then a week later, I head to Dhaka via Dubai. "Where?" you ask? Dubai is the man-made, should not exist, I know I'm going to hate it, city in United Arab Emirates - think all expats, loads of money and ski slopes in the desert. I'm only staying over night because otherwise, the flight times to Dhaka are awful. Dhaka is in Bangladesh. Near India. I'm going to visit K & M, good friends who left Moscow last year. I doubt I'd have gone other wise and I'm sure it'll be interesting.

March will take me to the Cappadocia region of Turkey - the central part. I, along with 2 other teachers, take a group of 16 students for a week of adventure. Horse back riding, hiking, biking, cooking and pottery making.

The day after I get back Amanda comes to Moscow, my only visitor of the year!

In April, Bree and I will meet my parents in Southern France. Just saying it causes a sigh of pleasure.

Then I think in May, I'll head to Amsterdam for a long weekend to begin looking at housing! PEOPLE, I'M MOVING TO AMSTERDAM!

My life does not suck.

Returning from London

2010-02-06T14:42:00.002+03:00

We all know I travel... a lot. I'm a good traveler for the most part, though I can get annoyed in airport lines with people who don't travel as much, not their fault, I know, but still. I've gotten more zen about it recently, really!

I don't pay much attention to flights while I'm on them. I book early, reserve my seat up front, normally a window on shorter flights, aisle on longer flights. I've started carrying my water bottle and have the flight attendants fill it on their first pass through, so that I have water for most of the flight - plus I'm not adding to the many plastic glasses that are used and disposed of.

All this is neither here nor there though, with this story. This story is about my return from London. Remember, the Bone Tired, crazy stressful, deciding the next several years of my life weekend?

I was reading a book, mostly ignoring the women next to me. It's clear skies for most of the flight, though we're heading into night, so soon it doesn't matter. However, I notice as we approach Moscow, that we're above dense clouds. As we get ready for landing, we head into the clouds and it's a bit turbulent. I tend not to mind this, though am a bit more aware as we're on Aeroflot - remember the company with drunk pilots?

We break through the clouds and now I can see the snow covered runway. Landing gear is down and we're close to touching down. Suddenly, the engines rev and the plane is pointing steeply back up into the air. We're back into the clouds, landing gear is raised. We're back in turbulent air for about 10 minutes before anything is said. Apparently it's snowy and icy down there. We circle before trying again. Pilot doesn't even get near the runway this time before pulling up again. It's nerve wracking. I'm not near the people I'm flying with. The Russian woman next to me says, "No worry. Aeroflot good company. Drivers good." Right.

Eventually the pilot comes on and says that they've closed the airport that we're supposed to land in and instead we're heading to one of the other 4 Moscow airports. At this point, I was thinking that they might take us to St. Pete, so still landing in Moscow was a bit frightening. We made it though (obviously) and while frightened in air, once on the ground again, my mind was already skipping ahead to the pain it was going to be getting home from this further airport. Thankfully, the ladies I was traveling with invited me to share their cab (I love my boss!).

What happened to the other half of the flight, headed for Beijing, most of whom spoke no English or Russian, I can't imagine. But I'm sure it wasn't easy as this country isn't really known for their customer service...

It's been decided

2010-02-02T22:16:00.001+03:00

Off I go to ....

...

International School of Amsterdam!

Too sleepy to write more. It was a long weekend.

Bone Tired

2010-01-31T11:59:00.002+03:00

I had eight interviews yesterday:

Atlanta (ssh, don't tell my parents)
San Francisco
Hanoi
Antwerp
Amsterdam
Budapest
Buenos Aires
El Salvador

I received 2 firm offers (Buda and Hanoi) and 4 schools asking me not to sign any contracts before talking to them. El Salvador won't be hiring until at least Wednesday and Atlanta is really looking for someone who will teach both middle school and high school, my only real rejection.

It's hard to have your game face on from 9 - 6. But in the end I am myself. I was honest with the schools about what I'm looking for and I feel like they were honest with me.

Today I have 3 more follow-up interviews plus the presentations from the other schools. My mother is, of course, desperate for me to go to SF or Amsterdam. My father wants me to be happy and said that he is happy to visit Argentina. I would love to eat Vietnamese food every day, but don't think I want to live in Asia.

Off I go to the SF presentation!

15 minutes until Cattle Call

2010-01-30T11:43:00.002+03:00

15 minutes until sign-ups for interviews begin. When I arrived yesterday for sign-ins my folder over-flowith with invitations. Of those, I rejected 70%. The ones I kept:

Luxembourg
Hanoi (knew about)
Budapest (knew about)
Madrid
Argentina
El Salvador

Considered but Rejected:
Tokyo
Manilla

Rejected:
Egypt (2 schools)
Turkey (2 schools)
China
Bahrain

Before I go to the ones I kept, first I'll be heading to Zug (Switzerland) and Amsterdam to try and get an interview.

I actually interviewed with both Budapest and Hanoi yesterday. Both went great. I'm still not sure I want to live in Asia, but everyone I've spoken to talks about how great the city is, how easy it is to get into the country. And Mickey, there's LOADS of hiking/trekking in Vietnam, lots of mountains!

It's starting to happen!

2010-01-26T05:34:00.002+03:00

First off, still no word on Diane. She continues to be mixed into my thoughts, daily. Very tragic situation for hundreds of thousands of people.

However, in the midst of those thoughts are my own preparations for Friday when I leave for the job fair. Honestly, I had assumed that at this point I would have already had a job. However, I've only had one interview with a school in Cape Cod. Part of leaving Moscow is in search of a better quality of life, one that I think Cape Cod could provide. At the same time though, I wonder if I'm really ready to move back to America. Probably not...

And then this morning, I check my email and have 2 (TWO!) invitations to interview before the fair, one with the UN school in Hanoi, Vietnam and another with Budapest. So it is finally starting to happen, just later than I thought it would...

At this point Switzerland is my number one, but I'm open to possibilities. Any votes?

Diane Berry

2010-01-20T16:50:00.002+03:00

I went to college with Diane. We played frisbee together for at least 2 years. We haven't been in contact since that time, but I have memories of her standing in the sun, always with a smile. She had a quiet, peaceful way about her.

She worked for the CDC out of Atlanta and was in Haiti working on an AIDS relief project.

It's still unclear whether she survived the earth quake or not.

And her family, their pain, her pain are on my mind.

Mixed in with a bunch of other stuff.

Olympics Video Available to International Viewers

2010-01-12T18:52:00.002+03:00

I tried watching a preview of US Figure Skating (yes, I like figure skating, it all dates back to my first viewing of the Cutting Edge. No wait, maybe I like the Cutting Edge because I like figure skating) tonight. However, the video isn't available to international viewers. These are a few suggestions of videos that are available:

* Davis and White: Mid-Western Values

* Steve Holcomb on his Park City Roots

* Chad Hedrick: Why I love Texas

This is for their international viewers. Is the mid-west recruiting?

NYE with Amanda

2010-01-10T22:31:00.001+03:00

NYE with Amanda
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

I had a really lovely 3 week vacation and am now back in Moscow. School picks up again tomorrow. I've beat the jet lag (I hope) and am ready to see my student - and to get back into an exercise routine!

Shabu Shabu!

2009-12-19T22:48:00.002+03:00

I was invited over to a parent's house this evening. She's Japanese, he's American, I've taught their son for 3 years now and tonight I was invited over for dinner. The son should have been on his way to America. However, due to the snow storm hitting the NE, he was there as well. No matter.

It was a wonderful meal of shabu shabu (meat cooked in boiling broth), then with the left over broth rice and egg was added to make a porridge (sounds better than gruel and way more delicious than gruel sounds also, want not, waste not, right?) all with sake, lots and lots of sake. Then we adjourned to the couch and the student adjourned upstairs and the evening continued with wine. It was great. Of course, now I'm wondering if I'm going to make my flight.

You see, Delt4 has canceled their direct Moscow-Atlanta flight, so I have to connect through JFK. And as we all know, my luck runs either really hot or (especially when coming from Moscow) really cold with air travel. A and I are supposed to arrive within an hour of each other. I really hope it all works out!

PS - I'm really, really annoyed with 1tunes. All the music I purchased under my old AOL screen name on my Mac Mini won't play on my MacBook. The customer service woman I've been working with for TWO days seems to be useless. Give me the music that I paid for, jerk holes.

3 more days

2009-12-16T21:57:00.006+03:00

Still really, really cold. The windows on the bus have been frozen (from the inside!) for the past 2 nights driving home.

It's seriously f*cking cold.

However, in 3 more days I get to go to my parents for Christmas vacation. Here's what that'll be like:

Except that we'll get to insert my friend A! Yep, I've got a friend coming from California for a visit. In talking to my parents recently:

Mom: "Now who's A again? Is he the one that you went to visit Aunt Cathy with in his van?"

Me: "Yep, on our way to Death Valley"

Mom: "Oh, right, the hippie." (I have no idea where she got this from except maybe my Aunt thought we were strange for going to Death Valley to sit in the hot springs in the middle of the summer... note: she was right, it was a bad idea)

Me: "Um, mom, you know I'm a hippie too, right?"

Mom: "I prefer to think of you as 'bohemian'"

Me: [involuntary shudder]

Minus 24 is cold

2009-12-15T06:47:00.001+03:00

I know, I know it seems obvious. But really -10 is managable. However, I've discovered that I can't figure out how to layer to keep my thighs warm when it's below minus 20.

Play Write

2009-12-13T20:10:00.002+03:00

Every year for the last assembly of December, there has been a Pantomime in which the teachers perform a mostly improve play where each character is based on a senior. It's always been written by a staff member who left last year.

The Student Council took up the slack... supposedly. However, it's a busy time of year, one student dropped the ball and it didn't get written. However, this is one of my favorite things of the year and I really wanted it to happen. As such, I spent all day writing it.

It's based on A Christmas Carol and I hope it will be funny but not offensive. I'll try to get it recorded.

In other news, it's gotten cold, but not horrendously so. And I've been watching season 5 of Angel obsessively. I like it much better than season 4.

Oh, and I got an A in my class (missed an A+ by 1%). It really does make a difference when you like your classes or are freakishly good at writing papers that you don't really care about.

Winter Wonderland!

2009-12-08T21:35:00.003+03:00

It's finally snowed here. I watched it snow all afternoon and then went and took the first shuttle home. It only took me an hour. The people who left later, it took them from 2 to 6 (SIX) hours! But it's beautiful. This was taken by Nat from our apartment windows today.

Executive Thriller

2009-12-06T10:15:00.001+03:00

Executive Thriller
Originally uploaded by Traveling Em

Remember when I told you that the Student Council was creating dances to Thriller? Well, I didn't get a video of the final production, but here's a rehearsal. This video is of the executives. Head over to flickr to see the other grades!

More Music

2009-12-06T10:06:00.003+03:00

Even though I've yet to write about them, I've been getting out and going to a few concerts recently. On the day before Thanksgiving, 6 of us went to see the Harlem Gospel Choir. I was really hoping for a few hours of gospel, but the fine print was that it was gospel plus a MJ tribute. Now, I really like MJ songs, but a gospel choir has no business singing "The kid is not my son!" At least they didn't do any crotch grabbing.

Our favorite part: "When I say Jesus, you say Christ."
Choir: "JESUS"
Bree and I: "Christ"
The rest of the audience: Silence punctuated by crickets.

This past Tuesday (I just want you to note the above was on a Wednesday and then I went out on another week night! Wild and crazy, that's me), was the Moscow Oratory Society's annual concert. They always do a medley of carols and then part of Handel's Messiah. I really enjoy this every year. This year especially as they were in a church and there is really nothing better than a huge cathedral filled by choir music. The only downside was that it's a church in the middle of renovation. As such, the enjoyment of the music was detracted by the smell of paint fumes and the huge outdoor flood lights on the second floor. You can see what I mean in the video:

Ludovico Einaudi

2009-11-30T21:52:00.003+03:00

I can't stop listening to the music this guy has written. Before today, I hadn't really considered "contemporary classical" as a genre. However, I gave my students a quiz and had my favorite classical radio station on. When I heard this song, I wrote down the artist and title: Einaudi - Two Sunsets. I've been listening to many more on You Tube and tomorrow will buy ever album. I'm addicted. Have a listen:

What is that?

2009-11-28T15:42:00.003+03:00

It's already gotten to the point that seeing the sun leads to questions like the above. We've been having 10 days stretches with no sun, but Friday it was out and was bright enough that for about 10 minutes I could have the lights off in my classroom.

No new job prospects, though I've started considering Latin America, tentatively. Better climate than most of W. Europe, you know? Any suggestions, besides me coming back to America? I'm still not ready for that.

And now a reminder of blue skies from this summer at Storm King Art Center:

Crockpot Catastrophe

2009-11-21T20:32:00.004+03:00

Tonight was our 3rd annual Thanksgiving potluck. For the 3rd year in a row, I brought stuffing, because there is nothing I love more on Thanksgiving than stuffing. At least I tried to bring stuffing. I made a big ol' crockpot full. And then carried said crockpot over wearing oven mitts because it was hot, dammit. However, oven mitts lack grip. And as I walked in the building entrance, in slow motion, the crockpot fell out of my hands and shattered. Stuffing everywhere.

At least it made the entrance way smell good...

Editted to add: Finding a replacement insert is looking to be far more difficult than I'd anticipated. Meh.

Successful StuCo Event #57

2009-11-20T21:27:00.002+03:00

I never wanted to be a Student Council adviser. But one was needed last year and my principal asked me if I was interested. So I gave it a whirl. And while I didn't really enjoy it all that much, when this year's executive team was elected, I decided to stick with it another year. And I'm so glad I did.

Earlier I mentioned how they all made up their own 30 second dances to Thriller. The Halloween assembly was awesome and the student body got really into it. This week we had another spirit assembly where the activity was drawing.

Yep, 4 kids per grade level up on stage drawing. Sounds a bit like watching paint dry, right? But nope, they were given Edward Munch's The Scream divided into fourths.

The first person had both hands. The second person only one hand. The third, no hands. The fourth no hands and blind folded. It was hilarious and the crowd was TOTALLY into it.

Tonight, we had our first Homecoming dance. 150 out of 380 kids showed. This is AMAZING. Our record for students attendance was 70. Yep, I love my job.

But just so you know, I still don't feel the need to stay next year.

Let it snow!

2009-11-17T21:19:00.003+03:00

Winter is coming late this year! Mind you, I'm not really complaining, but I'm happier with snow than I am with rain and the snow is finally beginning. Temperatures are still hovering right around freezing, so things are a bit slushy still, but the trees were coated with white this morning as was the football field and it was really just beautiful.