Jai Hind!

Today, August 15 2009, marks the 62nd celebration of India as an independent state. We gathered at the school this morning to take part in the traditional flag raising ceremony. Due to Independence Day being in the middle of August and therefore monsoons, we got rained out and had the festivities in our auditorium. Things were a bit cramped but worked out nicely. We had a guest speaker and a traditional song before the student who has been at school the longest unfurled the flag and we all stood at attention while singing Jana Gana Mana, the national anthem. I have a few photos from the day but I didn't realise that my battery was so low and it died on me without a spare. An interesting note, today is also South Korea's independence day. Due the large numbers of Korean students at the school there was the singing of the Korean national anthem along with a traditional dance.

The Indian music students performing a traditional song along with some staff.

And so, the school year has begun. We just finished our first eight day cycle. So far, I am enjoying myself. It really feels like a majority of the staff has not let the drama of last year get in their way. That's good because I feel like we're focusing on what we all came here for, the kids. Teaching seems a bit easier this year. Probably has something to do with the fact that I'm not planning quite so much since I have all of my notes from last year. Now I'm just trying to organise things into a coherent curriculum that I can pass on should I leave Woodstock when my contract runs out and that I can use elsewhere. My application for the DOD schools has finally been completed and approved. I'll begin looking elsewhere as well. I'd like to stay international for a while and gain a large scope of culture and experiences from across the globe. More updates regarding that as they arise.

On a completely different note, I went into the bazaar last night. I've gotten around to organising a weekly get together at one of the local watering holes and decided to go in a bit early. I had a few errands to run. Stuff like paying for my new lab coat (which looks pretty stellar), shopping for an external hard drive, and going to the local book store. See, last year Mike got me hooked on comics again. Sure, I have picked up a few over the years but nothing quite like this now. Anywho, I went to the local bookstore and began by looking for some Kurt Vonnegut. I picked Breakfast of Champions from the school library and so far am really enjoying it. Anywho, I was going to pick up a few books by him when I started just browsing. Let's just say that I got distracted and ended up picking up two comic books and two Roald Dahl books. Oh well, at least I'm reading.

That's all for now. Here's a couple of random pictures.