First year down

So, I've made it through my first year teaching. As Cindy would say, I can now throw my skirt over my head and go "woohoo!" I'm not against wearing a skirt... I just don't have one to flip over my head is all.

Anywho...

I'll take some time tomorrow and try to do a little reflecting on this past year. I'll just say right now that it had lots of ups and downs but overall I really did enjoy myself a lot. Enough that I'm considering the possibility of one more year at Woodstock past my original two-year contract.

I have a few good reasons for staying on:





And a few for coming back home:






Here's a few pics of my seniors. For as much crap as they gave me and as much as I complained about them, they really did teach me a lot about teaching.




Vacation is going well thus far. I'm done with planes, trains and automobiles for a while. The food is good. Family is even better. I'll post another update this evening with some of the videos I've been wanting to post from the year.

Opening a bag of chips in India

The title says it all. You wouldn't think it would be all that difficult to open a bag of chips would you? Well, little do you know that India is a tough place to live in. Even the bags of chips put up some front to make things more difficult for you.

Bag o' chips. For those of you who don't know, you can't eat the actual bag of chips. First you must open it, peel away the outer shell to get at the chippy goodness within. Think of it as the peel of an apple or rind of a melon that protects to stuff inside and keeps it tasty.

Oh, and what's this? I've always found it fascinating that here in India the energy in a food is measured in kilocalories (that's 1000 calories for you non-metric friendly folks). Now, to be honest, there is no difference between a kilocalorie here and a Calorie back home. For those of you who didn't pay attention in chemistry class during calorimetry, 1 kilocalorie = 1000 calories and 1 Calorie = 1000 calories. It's all in that capital C. Why they did it I can't rightly say, but I like to think that there were a couple of chemists back in the day who liked to screw with people's heads (more so than usual).

Anywho, I digress. Let's check out this bag o' chips.

Holy poop! I've seen plenty of bags of chips in my day but none of them were ever as puffed out as this one. Obviously, some bacteria has gotten into my bag o' chips and is producing gas that is puffing up the bag. That... or CHEMISTRY! You may recall that I live in Mussoorie, 'the queen of the hills.' You may also recall that I'm about 6000ft above sea level. The air is certainly a little thin up here and the pressure sure is less (it's like a weight being lifted off your shoulders (not really)). So, let's take a look, this bag was manufactured in Punjab which is about 1200ft above sea level. The bag is sealed in Punjab and makes it's way up to Mussoorie where the pressure is lower. This means there are less gas molecules pushing on the outside of the bag. However, there is still the same amount of molecules inside pushing out. The difference in pressure causes the bag to swell up. The same can be seen in reverse if you boil a little bit of water in a soda can and quickly invert the can in a tub of cold water. Go ahead and try it to see what happens, I'll wait.











Wasn't that cool?

Oh bag o' chips, who knew you were so chock full of chemistry?

Again, I've digressed... onto opening the bag.

It can be quite tricky if you've never done it before at such high elevations. I suggest thoroughly inspecting the bag and getting to know every nook and cranny.

Now, your first instinct might be 'Heck, I've opened bas of chips before. Grab either side and pull.' Right, remember all that extra pressure inside? Do that and it gets released in a fury of potato passion and what you've really done is create a potato claymore. If you prefer to eat your chips rather than have them embedded in your torso I suggest doing it another way.

'How about crushing the bag then?' You might say. No, that's just stupid. Don't do that either.

Instead, firmly grasp the top of the bag with the thumb and first finger of both hands. Simultaneously, pull one hand back towards you and push the other forward, away from you.

Don't be a weenie, just do it.

They are very strong bags here in India.

Success! The bag has been ripped slightly to release the gas inside. Now the crunchy loveliness inside can be had.

Continue to peel the bag until the hole is large enough for you hands to fit inside.

Ta. Da.

You know, that was actually quite easy.

Enjoy your chips. I know you're jealous that I'm eating them and you're not. MMMMMMM tastes SOOO good.

More Apologies

Seems that I offended some parties with my last post. You see, it turns out that the way it was written it sounded like I hiked to Flag Hill all by my lonesome. That, however, is completely not the case. I actually went with a friend who works down at dorms. Her name is Priya and she's pretty cool. We had fun trying to find the bloody top of the hill and climbing straight up.




And in case any one thought I was lying:

Sorry

I seem to be updating my blog about as often as Abe Lincoln celebrates new birthdays. I sincerely apologize for the lack of decent updates. I don't really have much of an excuse besides the fact that I have just been plain lazy. It's turning towards the end of the semester. MY grade twelves have finished their curriculum and took the AP test yesterday. My tens have not finished and have their IGCSE exam papers starting tomorrow with an alternative to the practical. They're freaking out but I think that they should be alright. I'm in dire need of a day off but know it will not come. Just about the only motivation I'm finding anymore is that in just a little more than a month I shall be surrounded by adoring young women all under the age of three.

Well, let me split this up into three pieces. First, my trip over quarter break with Tim (one of the dorm parents) and sixteen ninth, tenth, and eleventh graders. We spent the extended weekend in and around Haridwar, one of the holy cities here in northern India. Being a holy city it is also entirely veg, something we didn't tell the boys until dinner the first night we got there. We spent one afternoon in northern India's premier water park, Fun Valley. Honestly, when we first drove past it I thought it was abandoned. The boys enjoyed it though. I spent most of the day hiding from the sun and sipping on cool drinks. After all of that we spent one night on the edge of Rajaji National Park in a private camp run by a man who was trying to minimize his footprint. The boys' immediate reaction was 'Where's the plug for my laptop‽' (God, I love the interrobang). They didn't warm up to it as much as Tim and I did (tea first thing in the morning brought to your porch is a great way to wake up). We went on safari and saw some wildlife. Supposedly, there are tigers in the park but they are quite elusive. The best we got was elephants from a large distance. Not the most exciting of safaris but I was pleased.

Pilgrims at the Ganga (Ganges).

Scariest roller coaster ever. It went in a tiny circle and nearly jumped the track at each curve.

Waiting for our guides to come back and confirm that the elephants that were fighting have left.

Oh Tim... let this be a lesson to never eat around a game of ping pong.

Safari

Elephants, I promise.

For some reason I was fascinated by the termite mounds more than anything else.

The lodge with no power.

Tea on the veranda? Don't mind if I do.

A few weekends ago was the mela. Basically, it's big festival with lots of food, vendors, and live entertainment. The grade tens set up a stall for henna tattoos and face painting. I graciously offered up my body to be a billboard. I got some strange looks and even a spot on tv. I'm a legend. So, what did the kids think of my new fashion?

'Uhhhh......'

'Mr Chawaal, you're crazy!'

This past weekend I finally made it up Flag Hill. It's literally a five minute walk from my house and I've just never gone. It's named such because the Tibetans in the area climb up there to hang their prayer flags. They're supposed to find the highest point possible so I guess this works for them. Well, I found the turn off pretty easily but lost the trail immediately due to the fact that 1) I've never been there before and 2) we've been having forest fires and the hill had been charred pretty well. So, the trail ran out and there was some backtracking, some finding a new trail and losing it again and, finally, some good ol' chud climbing (hey, it's supposed to be the highest place so when in doubt, climb up). Eventually, the mysterious place was found and many pictures were taken. I followed the trail that I found up there back down and came to find that it actually begins right next to the road. Some boy scout I am.

tWait, wait, wait. Why do they call it 'Flag Hill?'

Forest fire in the distance. A little over a week ago there was one on the trail behind my house not more than 50 metres away. About a week before that there was one right up to the road that is just below my house. Obviously the fire smells my manliness and doesn't dare creep any closer. I'm a regular Smokey the Bear. More like I wrestled him and sent him home crying to mama bear and I became the forest's new jeans wearing, ranger hat toting, pic-a-nic basket stealing, no shirt spokesperson.

A nice place for a picnic no?

Close ups of the flags.

Notice the char.

And thus, my faithful audience, another chapter winds to a close. What will be next for your handsome young host? Who knows? Maybe I'll be playing French songs on the accordion while a coworker sings or I'll wrestle sharks. Mayhaps I'll even clone Sandra Bullock, fit her with cybernetic implants and send her forward in time to create the first terminators who then be sent backwards in time to give me the knowledge and the know how to clone and add cybernetics (notice how I didn't say anything about teaching me time travel???). The future (or is it the past?) holds the answer.


How the hell did I make it through this post without referencing chemistry once?

By the numbers

It's 10 o'clock on Monday night and I can't be bothered to post pictures and whatnot in order to regale you with. I don't feel like working on anything and my brain just feels blah. So,

1- The number of new nieces I have recently acquired in the past week. The poor thing's been nicknamed 'Izzy-Butt' for a few months now. Her life's gonna be hell for sure.

2- Months until I get to meet aforementioned niece. Hopefully she is out of the gooey pink alien stage by then.

3- Inches of solid paper I need to grade and input into the gradebook.

78- The number of kids I have approximately 3 weeks to prepare for a buttload of external exams. (I'm thinking that a buttload should be assigned a number so it can be quantified. Something like how a dozen is 12 or a mole is 6.022 x 10^23 of something. Just a thought.)

3-4 - The number of comics from Mike's latest shipment that I manage to read per day. (Thanks for keeping me a nerd.)

0- Number of new, bad chemistry jokes I've managed to find lately. We were doing functional groups in AP chem today and I told one of the girls to name the following: Bunny - O - Bunny. She didn't get it. It took a few minutes before someone shouted out "Ether Bunny!" There were a few chuckles, more groans, and one girl pipes up to say (in all seriousness), "No! It should be Dibunny Ether!" Then I just got a bunch of complaints for a stupid joke. Sometimes I think I'm teaching soulless robots with no senses of humor. *sigh*

10 - The grade that still appreciate a good, lame chemistry joke. A proton walks into a pub and sits down promptly at the bar and orders a double whiskey, straight, no ice. The bartender obliges and notices the dark rings around the protons eyes. His clothes are shabby, as if they haven't been changed in days, his face is lined with worry and strain. He smells of booze and may have even soiled himself. With pity the bartender asks him what's the matter. After drawing in a long breath and exhaling a woeful sigh the proton replies, "Well, it all started a few days ago when I lost my electron..." The bartender, in a moment of exasperation and surprise, interrupts the proton, "Whoa, whoa, whoa that's pretty heavy stuff buddy! An electron?! Are you sure?!" "Yeah," says the proton, "I'm positive."






Ba dum dum

Two muffins are in an oven. One exclaims, "Boy, it sure is getting hot in here." To which the other replies, "Ah! A talking muffin!"

The final quarter started this week. I'm exhausted already. Definitely needed a longer break. Oh well, I have a new box of comics thanks to Mike and it makes for some nice relaxation.

We had parent teacher conferences on Tuesday. It's probably the one day all semester I dread the most. The parents of good students are easy to talk to. Just tell them the kid is doing great and is a wonderful student to have and they'll go merrily on their way. It's figuring out how to tactfully tell some parents that their children are little twerps that puts me on edge. I made it through the day without any parents screaming at me so I'll count it as a success. At lunch I was sitting with the parents of one of my advisees and was chatting with the father. He eventually asked me where I was from and I said 'Four hours from Chicago' like I usually do. He then asked what state and I of course replied 'Illinois.' He then proceeded to tell me that he did his undergrad work in Illinois. It was some little hole of a town named Jacksonville. He went to Mac many moons ago and we were able to bond over the little about the town that he still remembered. I think Woodstock has made more odd connections like this than I can shake a bag of chips at (and believe me, I'm a good chip bag shaker).

In other news, I finally heard back from the jamboree selection committee today. I have been accepted to work in the international hosting division. What exactly, I don't know yet. There are three subdivisions so I can either be doing activities, grunt work (picking int'ls up at the airport etc.), or a sort of commissioner. I'm sure I'll find out in due time. I'm just really excited b/c I love working with international people and this jamboree is during the 100th year of BSA so it's being really hyped up. Dad's going too but he's doing some shooting sports stuff so I doubt we'll see much of each other.

3 quarters down

For as much crap as I gave Becky for not updating her blog I suppose I should at least try to do the same for you, my adoring audience.

Currently, we are in the final week of the third quarter. Break starts on Thursday after a shortened schedule. I am going to Haridwar and Rajaji with one of the dorm parents. We're taking a group of boys with us to get them away for a few days. He's planned it so I really don't know what we're doing or anything so it should be fun. I'll be sure and take lots of pictures to share. We'll be coming back on Easter.

Speaking of Easter, we had our Easter chapel this past Sunday. We had it early so that people could be gone on their break and not have to come back to school early. I was lucky enough to be selected as a dancer for a portion of it. It mainly consisted of me walking up to the stage with a third grader, twirling a ribbon, marching in a circle, doing the twist and walking back. There was also an interpretive dance about Ezekiel and the Dry Bones which was pretty cool. The accordion also made it's all-school debut (though not played by your most handsome and charming of authors).

So that's that. Things are hectic with getting grades done but it should be over and done with Wednesday.

Oh, almost forgot, I'm working on a thermit reaction to show my grade tens. If I end up not posting for a Becky-length you can assume the worst and I've done what all great chemists do.... dissolve into solution.




And so I'll leave you with these. A friend of mine was emailing them to me to try and stump me to no avail. See if you can work them out. No cheating. Answers when and if I return:


1
Zona, the nutty professor, gathered the class one day for an experiment. Zona began, "I have in my hands a rock and a piece of wood. I am going to place them in this beaker of mysterious liquid, and you may observe what happens." Surprisingly, the rock floated and the wood sank! He turned to the class and said, "My question is: What is this mysterious liquid in the beaker?"

[This one creeped me out because I actually had a weird instructor for Organic Lab I named Zona.]

2
Which of the following atomic elements does not belong in the following list?

Carbon, Neon, Silicon, Phosphorus, Iodine, Xenon

Florence Flask was preparing for a night at the opera when all of a sudden she exclaimed,

"Erlenmeyer! My Joules! Someone has stolen my Joules!"

To which her husband replied,

"Calm down my dear, do not overreact. I'm sure we will find a solution!"