Ten on Tuesday

So I had said I would post a more detailed blog post over quarter break. Well, I have about 2.25 hours left to do that. I was reading through Maggie's blog and realised I hadn't done a Ten on Tuesday (or some derivative thereof) for quite a while. I'll see what I can come up with:

1 - This was by far the longest monsoon since I've been here. Heck, several locals say it's been the longest, rainiest monsoon in 30-40 years. It finally let up about two weeks ago or so but was just torrents of rain until then. It hailed yesterday but I wouldn't put much into that.

2 - This quarter I got the Woodstock Outdoor Club started. We're refraining from calling it Scouting any time soon because there's a lot of red tape regarding the issue. There's been a healthy amount of interest from the kids and we're thinking of expanding it down to some of the lower grades soon. Our first campout was about a month ago and, of course, it rained like the dickens. The kids didn't set their tents up correctly and got wet but we had a back up and they had a warm, dry night. I was cozy and warm all night long. Overall, I think the kids really had a great time and, to me, that's what matters. The main thing that's hindering any progress to the club is scheduling. We haven't met since the campout because we meet on Friday nights and since then we've had the Staff Talent Show and now it's quarter break. Wish us luck in the coming quarter.

3 - I made tacos with a friend last night. God, I love tacos. They were so good and really hit the spot that we're thinking of making it a weekly occurrence. Since dad visited last year and brought, literally, an entire box of seasoning I think we can do it.

4 - Winter plans are still somewhat up in the air. I am for sure going to Kuala Lumpur to visit some cousins. I'll be there for Christmas and probably well into January. I'm looking into visiting Thailand too but need to look into places to stay/people to go with. I have some friends in Bangkok I could almost surely crash with for a week or so but let's also see how much it's going to be to fly there. There are plenty of things to do and see in Malaysia so I may just travel around there.

5 - Speaking of those cousins, they really want me to move to KL next year to teach and stay with them. I talk with them almost nightly and I tell ya, KL sounds more and more like some place I'd like to be. I'm keeping my options open though. As one of my colleagues told me, I'm the perfect candidate. I'm young, no dependents, 3 years of experience international and science. I would still really love to go to Europe or Turkey (or just about anywhere really) so I'm not committing to anywhere just yet.

6 - So, if that last point wasn't blunt enough for you let me just flat out say that this will be my last year at Woodstock. I've unofficially told my head of department and will officially submit my letter this week. It's nothing to do with the school really. Just time for me to move on. I've learned a lot here (and still am learning every day) but there's a big toll for coming to a relatively secluded area and cloistered environment.

7 - I just want to say that I have some super friends both here and across the water. The past few weeks have been particularly rough for me but they've been there to help me talk through things and try to understand things better. I just hope they know that I appreciate everything they've done.

8 - I love hot TANG.

9 - I love the weather right now. It's crisp and cool. Perfect for going out for a walk in a sweater and cap. Honestly, I think autumn has become my favourite season. Summer is nice and warm but more often than not, wherever I am it's ungodly hot and humid. Spring is good too because everything is new and you get the whole rejuvenated/twitterpated vibe going on but it feels like things have lost the edge that autumn has. I'd say winter would be the second best for me. Again, it's cold and crisp but also perfect for lighting a fire. Nothing says cozy like lighting the fire, putting on Bing and lighting some candles to watch them burn. Throw in some hot cocoa with some Baileys (*nudge* *nudge* *wink* *wink*) and you have a contender that easily could tip the scales in its own favour.

10 - Do you think Mick Jagger realises "Cherry Red" is a colour not a flavour? He's right though, you don't always get what you want but sometimes you get what you need.

I guess it really does work

So, today I had gone up to school for lunch like I typically do. While eating I took off my glasses, also like I typically do. Happily I sat as I ate my chicken burgers and rice and daal when one of my colleagues came in. I was sitting at a table along with one of the junior school teachers finishing up my meal when he (the one that came in) walked up to see what was on the menu. He said hello to the other teacher and called her by name but merely said hello to me. He looked at me quizzically and asked if we had met before and I said yes (in fact, we had several conversations of relatively decent length). I told him my name and said I was from the senior school. He proceeded to ask if I was working in Hostel (the boys' dorm) and I told him no, I teach chemistry. I could see that he was painfully confused. One could see that he knew the chemistry teacher but was certain I was not he. I started getting a little embarrassed and reached for my glass or water when suddenly it hit me. Rather than picking up my glass I picked up my glasses and put them on. His entire expression suddenly changed. You can tell he felt a little silly for not recognising me but we had a good laugh about it.


I guess it really does work as a good enough disguise for Superman/Clark Kent.


In other news, I know that I've not been very good about updating at all lately. Let's just say that it has been a hectic and stressful first quarter. Cripes... The first quarter is almost finished (one more week) ! It has been busy (mostly in a good way) and I'll be sure to put up a full report this coming weekend. Between now and then I need to plan what I'm teaching this week, finish grading, and write comments for each of my 60+ students. After Friday I'm free until Wednesday. Nothing but relaxing for me. There has been talk of some hot-tubbing, movie watching, letter of recommendation writing, comic reading, story plotting, and tacos. God, I love tacos. I'm also hoping to get to a little bit of work on some comics. I have a few ideas I've been tossing around so it might be nice to just put thought to paper and see what comes up. I'll be sure and post it here if I come up with anything good.

2010 National Jamboree

The International Hosting Staff.

All of the leaders at their social.

Myself and one of the other staffers hanging with the leaders from Hong Kong.

Of course you would expect the Scottish to bring some bagpipes.

Me with my Canadian leaders.

There's always a good fireworks show.

Mike Rowe addresses the scouts about being clean but not afraid to get dirty.

Seas of scouts.

The Bhutanese scouts had me over for dinner one night. Here I am with their leaders and another staff member from scuba.

I met up with Jeff, my former college roommate. He and I met at the jamboree back in 2001.

One of the exhibits had oobleck set up. It's a mixture of cornstarch and water that becomes a non-Newtonian fluid. Apply a force to it and it becomes like a solid. You can actually run on it if you take short, choppy steps.

Jeff's brother David and I were working together and met this fellow, Marty, one night. Marty's from New York and helped us do our laundry.

I had dinner with this gentleman, Dan, one night. He's from Chicago and had some pretty sweet badges that we swapped for. I don't mind the swapping if I get to chat and meet the person I'm doing the deal with.

International scouts together after the flag raising ceremony.

Scottish and Saudi Arabian scouts.

Australian Scouts

Teaching Chemistry merit badge.

Pioneering.

OK, so it was a bit more difficult getting the blog updated whilst out scouting. AT&T was one of the sponsors so there was excellent reception for cell phones and wi-fi. I just didn't really have the time to sit down and write a blog post. Let me explain why.

I pushed my arrival date early by two days so that I could get on to the army base at the same time as dad. It just so happened that I was the first person
from my staff (except for one guy, I think) to arrive. I was lost. I got dad all settled in and when I went back to my barracks to set up my things I met my boss. He was a real nice guy and as we got to chatting I found out that he is originally from U.P. (Uttar Pradesh) the state that Uttarakhand was split from a few years ago. He actually grew up in the states and made his Eagle there. Currently, he lives in Kuala Lumpur so I chatted to him about the cousins I have moving there shortly.

Well, the first few days were set up so there was a lot of heavy lifting, Wal-Mart/Lowes runs, and sitting in ridiculous Virginia humidity. The rest of the team started arriving and I was surprised to find that the majority of the staff members were younger than I. It was something to do about wanting to show off a more youthful face of scouting to the rest of the world. I think we achieved that quite well. The majority of staff was from the US but there were four scouts from Mexico and one from Canada as well. We had about 400 international participants come in from about 27 different countries including Canada, Austria, Australia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Ecuador, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Barbados, Thailand, Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden, Egypt, Korea, England, Scotland, Wales, Trinidad & Tobago, Ireland, Brazil and one or two others that escape me at the moment.

When the jamboree actually began we started making trips out to the airports to pick up the patrols of internationals. I was tasked with picking up eight Bhutanese boys and two of their leaders. It was the first time out of the country for all but one of the leaders. Needless to say that all of them were very excited to be there. I had to get them all taken care of. Passports and flight information checked out, medicals taken care of, etc. I dropped them off to their troop and let them start to mingle. For the remainder of the jamboree my job was to check up twice a day on the Hong Kong scouts and a patrol from Canada. There was a hitch to this however. The only way to guarantee that I could catch them would be to get them in camp. That meant I had to get to their camps before 9.00 in the morning. Now, remember, the national jamboree is one of if not THE biggest scouting events in the world. It beats out the world jamboree by about 23,000 people. We're talking 50,000 participants plus about 10,000 guests a day. You need A LOT of space for that many people.

So my Canadians were up in camp 18 and my Hong Kong guys in 13. I'm down there at the bottom in the Longstreet Barracks. Each morning I got up at 5.30, showered and had breakfast by 7.00 so that I could jump on my bike and head off. The bikes we had were a bit of a mixed blessing. It was great being able to move around quickly and see my scouts but the bikes themselves left quite a bit to be desired. See, they gave us 1950s Schwinn-style street bikes. Single speed, backward break, the whole bit. Now, I don't know how many of you out there have ever been to Virginia but it certainly isn't flat. The first few days one just had to suck it up and walk the bike up a hill. By the end of it though I was able to get up most hills but my thighs were stiff and let's just say the seat could've been better padded.

So during the day there was a bit of down time so we got to go out and see the jamboree. I met up with dad a few times and we saw the sights. There was a lot of exhibits from the army, national guard, religions, sea scouts, the national park service, etc. The scouts were supposed to go around and visit these places (and things like BMX, shotguns, rappelling, fishing) and get stamps. If they get the right number of stamps for each station, then they get badges.



Speaking of badges... that's probably one thing about the jamboree that I disliked the most. Some kids only want to swap badges. Leaders can be even worse. When I brought the Bhutanese guys for their medical checkups we got bombarded by some scouts from South Carolina and they didn't even ask names or anything like that. The first thing out of their mouths was, "Do you got any patches?" I was excited to swap badges myself before I got out there but after witnessing countless scenes like that just on the first day I was turned off from it. I eventually went out the last day or so and got some sweet badges (the Dr McNinja ones I mentioned in an earlier post and a cool Captain America one) but although my intention was to obtain the badges I did make an effort to talk with whoever I was with and make more of a personal connection. The councils just encourage the madness though. Several put out multiple badges so that there can be more trading. It's cool and I don't necessarily not like the idea but for some people it takes over what the jamboree is about.

We had two arena shows where everyone attended. Being surrounded by 50,000 people is an odd feeling. Getting that many people there on time takes some planning too. Some of the troops further away had to start mobilizing about 4 hours or so before the show started. Sitting in the sun for that long can't be pleasant. Luckily I was able to go in when I wanted and so long as you can find a seat you're good to sit there. The shows were a lot more fun than the one's when I attended back in 2001. The speakers were good and the entertainment was bands that people (not me though) had actually heard of. One of my favourite parts to the shows was Mike Rowe of Discovery Channel's 'Dirty Jobs' fame. He is an Eagle Scout and came to share some thoughts with the kids. Overall it was a lot of fun. Working in International Hosting though I and several of my coworkers got rather red-faced at how pro-American the shows were. I understand that it is the national jamboree and all but even if I hadn't worked I.H. I would still feel uncomfortable with how in your face they were about it. It just felt cheesy if nothing else. Several of the international scouts and leaders approached me about it and felt it could have certainly had more of a 'scouting brotherhood' sort of feel to it rather than being like a week-long fourth of July.

Did I mention Sgt. Slaughter was there? Awesome!

We can fit about 30,000 more people in here...

Mobilising for the arena show.

All in all it was a great time and I am really glad that I went for the 100th year anniversary. It just so happens that the world jamboree is next summer in Sweden. Anyone want to help me get there? I'm not too proud to ask for donations. Needless to say, I have once again been bitten by the scouting bug. I am in talks with staff members to get something set up at Woodstock. We have some problems to deal with though. The biggest one is interest. I've really got to work on making it sound exciting for the kids. Other than that I have to do something about what programme to follow. I can't have Indian kids joining an American overseas troop and taking numbers away from their groups but I think I've got it figured out after talking with the head of the overseas programme for BSA. Hopefully, between the years of scouting experience we have here we can pull together to get something set up.

The only real complaint I have about the jamboree has to deal with the lack of recycling. One would think that with the Outdoor Code that scouts follow the BSA would have set up recycling. In some of the arena shows you can see packages of bottled water. Now imagine all of those plastic bottles in the hands of teenage boys. The morning after the evening show I biked by the area and it was trashed and where were all of those bottles going to go? I just think that the BSA could have been a bit more 'conservation minded' when considering things like that or all of the lunches being wrapped up in layers of plastic bags or all of the packaging at the trading posts that got strewn about.

Anywho, I'm back at Woodstock now and have made it successfully through a week of teaching. I was jet lagged for a few days but I think I'm over it now. It's good to see the kids again. Tomorrow is independence day so I'll have to make another post soon with all of the pictures and stories from that.

Summertime

What can I say--I'm neglectful. It's better that it's my blog that I ignore for five weeks and not a dog or my bills. Anywho, I'm already off topic.

Summer has been good and restful for the most part. I flew in to Tucson to see brother Mike and his family. I think everything hit me at once there. The dryness, the dehydration, the beef, the jet-lag, the fatigue of the end of the school year. It put me down for a few days. Luckily my only responsibilities for the week were to read comic books, play with my niece, and sleep. It was a good week.

Mike and I then flew to Chicago where the rest of the clan met up at Becky's and we had mom's recipe chicken and dumplings and some good ol' peach custard pie. The remainder of my time has been spent lounging around the old stomping grounds, meeting up with old friends (went to my first tractor pull), and having to deal with a week's worth of my goddaughter's temper tantrums. One really should not ask for more.

Dad and I have since taken a trip out to North Carolina to see some more family before he and I head off towards Washington DC to go to the Boy Scout Jamboree. Dad is working the air rifles and I am working as international hosting. I'm not entirely sure as to what all my job will entail but I will find out soon enough when dad and I get there in a few hours. So while my colleagues are gathering again for another fun filled staff retreat before school starts I get to waltz around in the Virginia summer heat in a scout uniform making sure that the international kids behave themselves (which from past personal experience--they won't). I'll be back in India soon enough though. My flight leaves the day after I leave the jamboree and the day after I get back I get to teach! Oh please let jet-lag be merciful as I come back.

I should have internet access when I am at the jamboree so hopefully I will get around to putting up a few updates. Of course I'm sure that there are a few people who are thinking NERD! But seriously, when you can get these is the place really that bad?

The end is in sight

I must admit that I am feeling that I am just plain terrible at this whole keeping updated on the blog thing. My old line used be that at least I was posting more often than Becky but now that she's started her new one-a-day blog that's just not something I can rely on anymore.

So, this end of the year has been hectic. Seniors graduated not too long ago. It was nice to be able to get rid of them early but they were getting idle towards the end and I was certainly ready to be rid of them. Graduation itself was interesting. During the baccalaureate service the students wore traditional dress which ranged from lederhosen to kilts to sombreros to loincloths. I would have snapped some pictures but would have just ended up feeling dirty. The graduation ceremony was nice. The guest speaker was very good and had a nice message in his speech. The most surreal part of the day was the 'wailing wall.' The seniors all line up on the ramp coming down from the high school and everyone greets them as they go down. There was a lot of tears. Literally, one student left a big wet spot on my shoulder from the weeping. One boy was full-on, open-mouthed wailing sobbing. When you think about it all it makes sense. Some of these kids have been here for 7 years or more. This isn't school they're leaving, it's home. These students and teachers are family (did I just slyly leave out dorm staff implying they're not family?, oh subconscious). I even found it somewhat moving. It just makes me wonder how I'm going to handle things next year when it's kids I actually like.

In other news, we're well into finals week. I've proctored (or as they prefer here, invigilated) two exams and have another tomorrow. It's so boring because all you can do there is sit/stand and watch them work. It gets to the point where you welcome questions to clarify something or, as one colleague put it today, you hope they start cheating just so you have something to do. My exam is tomorrow so I'll have 55 papers to mark before Monday evening. Piece o' cake right? Let's hope so. Beyond that there's a few meetings and some down time. In about a week's time I'll be heading to Delhi and then off on a plane to the States.

Hopefully I can keep my head until then. Wish me luck.

What did I see tonight?

Sorry for the bad pictures. I was washing dishes this evening when I looked out and saw this. I watched him/her for bit before realising I should get my camera! It was twilight, my flash was off and I was shooting through the screen. I'm just glad they came out as well as they did.

A few points for Sunday night

I realise that it has been over a month since my last post. Again, I apologise but surely you have all come to expect such things. I'm exhausted so I figure that a list will be the easiest way to do this:

1. The semester/year is wrapping up. I finished going over new material with my AP kids a week ago and should be finishing up with my IGCSE kids this week. The seniors are busy taking APs and internal exams and the grade tens will soon be in and out of class sporadically as their exams start.

2. Three (or four?) weeks ago was JSB (Junior Senior Banquet). Basically, it's Woodstock's version of prom. The 11th grade had to decorate the auditorium according to the theme (Masquerade) so being the good advisor that I am I helped set things up and get it all ready. Also, being an 11th grade advisor meant that I actually got to attend this year (not that I really had much of a choice, I also had to chaperon). Here's a picture of me with some friends:


3. Last weekend was the annual Jazz Jam. Again, the 11th grade was in charge of setting things up and then serving as were the advisors. I can't really complain too much. It DID give me an excuse to wear my bow tie again and really was quite a bit of fun.

4. Next weekend is the annual Mela. The 11th grade is selling ice cream in shifts so at least it will only be for half an hour and there will be the remainder of the time to check out the remainder of things.

5. I'm finally getting into using my Mac. As I use it more and more I find that I like it more and more too. I'm sure that I'll get plenty of time to work with it over the summer as I visit my family of Mac users.

6. Going along with the Mac, I will also (hopefully) be working on my pet projects this summer. I have purchased a comic drawing/publishing programme and am in the midst of putting together some scripts etc. Mayhaps I'll post a page or two if I find them satisfactory. I dropped $150 on books from Amazon and one of them is a book to help with the programme. Hopefully it works. As it is right now, I'm having difficulty even figuring out how to get the colour to change. Zoinks!

7. I really enjoy teaching chemistry. I especially enjoy the introductory classes because I feel I can be far more informal with the kids and make up stories and what not in order to help them visualise the material better. The only problem is that I tend to use sarcasm and a lot of the time I have to stop and explain the jokes to the ESL kids. Recently, I was discussing how substitution reactions work in organic chemistry. I decided that it really is like a soap opera. Someone's always dieing/coming back from the dead, getting brainwashed, or involved in some wicked love triangle. You see, C and H are happily married and have been for years so the writers decide to shake things up. They introduce a new character, the Chlorine Radical. She's gorgeous, sexy, witty, and is properly concave and convex in all the right places. She just happens to work at the same law firm as C and you know the drill. Late nights working on a make or break case. Ordering out, talking, laughing, the peck on the cheek, the full on mouth to mouth kiss. Well, being a substitution, the H gets replaced by Cl. Honestly, it's not as good written out like this. Maybe I should just try taping my lectures and then I can just edit to the good parts and just put them up.

8. Cindy, my step-mother, has officially obtained her doctorate degree. Hard work does pay off eh? Well done and congrats to her.

9. Today is Mother's Day. I found out about it about an hour or so ago. I'm out of touch with that sort of stuff. I made it back to the States on Father's Day last year and didn't even know it until I overheard some guy talking about it on the phone in the airport. Here's to the moms.

10. I'll be back stateside again this summer. I am making pretty much a full west to east tour. First I'll fly in to Tucson and see Mike and his family for about a week. I'm sure it will be full of beef, farts, nieces and comic books. I then will drive back to Illinois, hopefully with a stop in Colorado to see Jon since I was only to make it in two dimensions to his wedding two months ago.

But I'll be dammed if I still wasn't the life of the party. Extremely popular with the ladies in the 35-55 range.

I plan to then spend a few weeks at home in Illinois with friends and family. Don't worry Becky, I will be making a trip up to see you guys. After that I'll be making a trip out to North Carolina to see more family. The big, exciting part though is going to Washington DC area for the National Scout Jamboree. See, it's the 100th anniversary of scouting in the US so it's kind of a big deal. Dad and I are both on staff (he's doing shooting sports stuff and I'm working the international hosting stuff). I'm pretty excited to be doing it.

11. I have decided to let my hair grow out. Not in a crazy manner mind you, but enough that I can at least comb it and put a part in it. The thing is, though, that for some reason when I part it the front tends to flip up a bit. Now, I noticed it and immediately it reminded me of one of my favourite comic book characters. I wasn't going to say anything about it until a student pointed it out to me too. At least it shows I'm not crazy. Right?! Anywho, you decide.

Me, with my most emo look. (Doesn't yellow just scream emo to you?) I had to do it this way so that the flip would be evident.

And the comic book character in question. Tintin. You tell me, do I have my Halloween costume figured out for this year?

Quarter Break

So, it's been quite a while since my most recent update. For that I truly and most sincerely apologize. One must understand, however, just how crazy life gets here. Life during the spring semester just becomes obnoxious. The seniors checked out in November so there's no hope in teaching them anything (as evidenced by my most recent test in AP chem). AP and IGCSE exams are looming upon us. Come May I'm not entirely sure what I'll be doing at all. My seniors take their exams and then they're gone. At any given time my tenth graders can be out of class taking an exam leaving me with anywhere from zero, to two, to twenty three students at any given class time. It makes planning ahead all but impossible. Add to that a lung infection and a curriculum overhaul for moving from a three to two school model. Oh let's also not forget about being an eleventh grade advisor and having to help out with JSB (prom), JazzJam, and mela. Life's hectic. Gimme a break if I don't post for weeks at a time.

Anywho, what's been going on since my last post? Let me see if I can recollect everything. It's all a blur really. I seem to remember lots of grading, being sick, and some badminton. Probably the highlight of the past few weeks was last weekends staff talent show. Much like last year there was lots of songs, dancing, cross dressing and some fabu emceeing. I helped our finance director, Ben, to emcee the show. We didn't have any time to get together before hand and plan what we were going to say so it was mostly improvised. The people I talked to said they really liked it and that we did a good job. All those years of campfires has paid off I guess. We had a fashion show to start things off. It was really fun to see some of the staff members get all dressed up and strut their stuff. I think the best was Chophels in their traditional Tibetan garb. There were also a few bands that rocked the house. My HOD (Head of Dept) told a continuation of his story for the wee kids that he did last year. There was a Flashdance done by some of the men on staff that literally brought the house down. By far it was the best act (and I only got to see it from the side). I took part in a skit called "3 Woodstock Alums" based on an old Monty Python skit. One of my fellow science teachers took it upon herself to rewrite the script down to three people and tool in a bunch of Woodstock references. The kids really enjoyed it when we talked about having urine dripping on our beds in the dorms back in those days. (Yes, that really happened to a kid. Gotta love temporary dorms.) The show ended, as it usually does, with a big Bollywood dance number. The kids love this stuff. My dance was something about I'm totally smitten with the girl and she's a flower and I'm a bumble bee. She asks me if I like her (or something like that) and I get all embarrassed and say 'no no.' I freeze up as I put my arm on her shoulder and my buddy Nassir has to come out and tell me to just ask her to marry me. I was told I was very cute in my dancing. Aww shucks.

The Chophels in their Tibetan garb with Ms M.

The staff Bollywood dance.

Flashdance!

Our opening bit. Big heads on little bodies is just adorable. (Family: Would a Maggie joke be inappropriate here?)

Rockin' out Woodstock style.

"You lived in a shoebox?! Luxury!"

Bantering. Really, the bow tie makes it work.

Oh, the weekend before that was the opening for Hostel, the boys' dorm. They completely renovated the place and have really made it look amazing. I think I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves on this one.







Lastly, my buddy Jon (all the way back from fourth grade) got married the same time as I was doing the talent show. I had really hoped I'd be able to get to go and partake but being so close to the end of the quarter and how crazy travel would be I just couldn't do it. So, what's the next best option? Why life-sized cardboard cutouts of course. Apparently I even got to dance a bit with one of the bride's aunts. I tell ya, it's the ol' Rice-Charm. Wish I could have been there for real-real and not just for play-play. Congrats to the both of you.

The two most handsomest groomsmen ever.

Even in two dimensions I am still the life of the party.

Thanks to Karan, Casey, Cookie, and other anonymous people I borrowed pictures from for this post. Let me see if I can't upload the Bollywood dance in another post. In the meantime, enjoy whatcha got.