Same blog, new post

Mike, just so you know -- I told you the internet was spotty in my apartment and I only got to update the title. Here's the rest of the story...

Merhaba!

Oh! what a time it has been. I have been in Istanbul for two weeks! Let’s not get into that just yet. I still have some final housekeeping issues to take care of before delving into the details of my newest adopted home.

Let us rewind if you will to a time not long ago when I was still in the foothills of the Himalayas. The end of the year wrapped up much as I expected it would. I was eager to move on, put certain things behind me and take on new ones. It was certainly difficult to see my grade 12s graduate and move on towards college but more than anything I was proud of each one of them for their respective accomplishments.

Here are some photos of one of my AP classes in the lab. They are synthesising acetyl salicylic acid and testing the resulting crystals for purity. For those of you not hip to the wicked chemistry lingo that’s regular old aspirin. The equipment used in the analysis is the Vernier brand of probes and software. If there was one thing I could have brought with me from WS it would have been this. I love the ability to set up various probes and test the temperature, pH, absorbance or whatever and to collect data and even graph it in real time. The best thing about it though is the fact that the data can be manipulated within the programme itself or transferred to Excel and played with there.

Mixing the chemicals...

The reaction is a success!

Filtering the product...

Aspirin

Analysing the product for purity.

Crunching the numbers

So hard...

I also have some random photos taken in the last few weeks of WS.

A mural I started in one of my friends' homes. Never finished it...

My advisees made me a great poster (and hefty cake) as a thank you for three years.

The class of '011 - Luminesence

A creepy sign by the graveyard at the top of the hill...

Two of my best friends from WS. Getting through the last year really would have been rough without them.

Raji. I also would never have gotten through it without her to wash my clothes and dishes. She said it best when she said she was my, "Indian mama."

Summer vacation was a good time to relax and get myself prepared physically and mentally for Istanbul. I spent most of my time relaxing at home reading or painting bathrooms. I got to make the rounds and see most of the friends and family. It was really good to catch up with some of my college pals who have also been teaching chemistry. We got together for the day and just chatted about the schools we’ve been in, the curricula and everything else that goes on with education. I also tried on a $400 pair of shoes. Had I the money I might have bought them they were that comfortable. Alas, I just spent the last three years in India making meager scrapings by American standards and had to pass.

That does bring me to one point that had been poking my head all summer long. First, a little background. I flew into Chicago and stayed with Becky up there for the night before going on down to dad’s. J’ville was undergoing some heavy rains and ended up with flash flooding which contaminated the water supply and damaged the pumps. Well, that put us on a boil order and limited water usage. It lasted for a good four weeks or so and the entire time there was something in the newspaper from people complaining about having to buy bottled water or limit their usage. The thing that bothered me was that none of them seemed to appreciate their situation. If I were to throw out a conservative estimate I would say that roughly 85% of the world’s population does not have access to clean, running water to the standard that the US enjoys. Heck I’d say even well below that standard. I think that as Americans we feel entitled to things like clean water when really it is a huge luxury for a lot of the world. Now, I don’t really blame anyone for feeling quite that way. Clean water has been something that most Americans have had for all their lives and it certainly seems like one of those certain unalienable rights set forth in the Constitution. I do, however, ask us all to look at the bigger picture. I think of the row of tents set up below the hospital in Landour. Entire families were huddled under tarpulines no bigger than 20 square feet. They dug through the trash to find reusable items or bottles to sell or set up a small blacksmithing get up to scrape by. While I am sure you can find poverty like that in the States I doubt you will find it as readily and as in your face as you do in other parts of the world. All I’m saying is that when we run into inconveniences like a month long boil order we should take a minute to appreciate the fact that we can get clean water in the first place and remember those people who are truly less fortunate than us.

[Steps down from soapbox]

One of the other best parts of the summer was convincing everyone to play a big game of Trivial Pursuit (using Iron Chef board pieces no less). Now, this was made even more awesome by the fact that we baked real pies. So, when you answered your pie question correctly you not only got your plastic piece but also a piece of real pie (corresponding to the proper colour of course).

Blue – Blueberry Custard

Yellow – Peach Custard

Green – Keylime

Pink – Rhubarb Custard

Brown – Chocolate Silk

Orange – Pumpkin

I don’t think I really need to say that we all felt a little sick afterwards. I still claim the title because even though JJ and I only had two pieces of pie and Chunk and Tori had three we didn’t quit playing after taking a pie break.

OK OK I’ll stop with all that and get on to Istanbul.

I’ll just sum it up by saying that so far everything has been amazing. Everyone I am working with is really great and looks like they are wanting to work to make the school better. My apartment is small but I still don’t have enough stuff to fill it up and it is literally right next door to the school. Also, it’s on a big hill so I’ll still get all the exercise I need walking around. It is definitely in one of the more affluent areas of the city as evidenced by the Bentley and Ferrari dealerships. I am excited to get started. Things have been a little overwhelming but I’m wrapping my head around how things work and am settling OK.

I have 8 classes and five preps plus a homeroom. I’m doing 7& 8 physics, 7, 9 & IB-1 chemistry. The thing about it too is that I’m working towards three levels of external tests. The Checkpoint exam will encompass the 7&8 chem/phys, the 9^th chem. will do the IGCSE in 10^th grade and the IB-1 class will take the IB exam in 12^th. It’s a little hectic and nervewracking but everyone seems super eager to help me figure things out and transition well into the new job. I found out too that it’s a brand new position (actually, I think I was told that in the interview but I don’t remember for sure).

I have gotten a little chance to get out and see the city. I haven’t done much of the cultural stuff yet (I will have the week after next off and plan to do some then) but I have gone out to check out some of the shopping centres and nightlife. Last weekend there was a school dinner that turned into karaoke and later into dancing at some clubs. The next night we had a boat trip up the Bosphorus with some more dancing. I think I am going to be enjoying myself far more in Istanbul.

Drinking the milk of the lion.

Turkish coffee in the park.

Me flipping some intestines for good eatin'

Sunset on the Bosphorus.

The view from the top of the hill at Ulus Park.

Also, did you notice the change in the blog’s title? I thought it would be easier to just rename the bloody thing rather than send out a new link to everyone. So there you go, (Turkey on Rice)^-1 . It fits perfectly. You get the food joke with the rice and turkey (obvious enough, no?) and you get the nerdy maths joke with the ^-1. See, a fraction like 2/3 (2 upon 3) can be inversed by raising it to the -1 power to give the reciprocal (3/2). So, now “Turkey on Rice” becomes “Rice on Turkey” and goes from a delectable dish of bird on grain to devilishly handsome and witty young man reporting on his new home. Also, the picture in the title is the Bosphorus Bridge which is only about a 15min walk from my apartment.

OK, that's enough for now. I'll post again at a later time when the internet connection is a bit better.

Last Post

Three years has come to an end. I just had my final staff meetings this morning. My house is even more bare and empty than normal. I leave for the states in two days time. Things are somewhat bittersweet but it is beyond time to move on.

Most of the folks who read this already know how difficult this year has been for me and I don't think I would have made it through without some fantastic friends both here and abroad. I did what I came to do -- I saw my kids graduate and I sat there watching like a proud parent as each of my nine advisees received their diploma and especially when one of them got up to give her valedictorian speech. Those kids alone made all of the hardships and difficulties worth it here.

So, this is my final post to this blog. Do not fret, however, because I will surely have a new one set up for my adventures in Istanbul. I'll post a link when I come up with a clever title for that blog. Suggestions are welcome.

Until then I'll leave you with the corny line I wrote in the kids' yearbooks:

"Go where your heart takes you and never look back."



--James

An update on the situation

Of course, it's been so long since my previous update that I forgot blogger uploads pictures in reverse order. I'm too lazy to reorder all of them so let's just do this reverse chronologically. The majority of this post has to do with the seniors graduating in just a few days. My advisees are seniors so I've got a little of the mother hen letting the babes out of the nest syndrome going on here. Let's just get on with the pictures and I'll wax philosophically later.

The advisor group together for the last time (during advisor group anyway). I have to give credit where it's due here. Notice that each kid holds an animal. Well, I had been considering some sort of gift to give the kids when they leave. Buying gifts in Mussoorie sucks because a lot of the shops sell a lot of the same things and once you've been in one you've seen all the others. So when I was visiting the cousins in Malaysia this winter Jess really wanted me to make stuffed toys with her and the girls. I've been out of it for a while but she motivated me enough to do it and I was inspired to make one for each of my kids when I got back to India in February.

M with her "cuddle"-fish. The others were remarking how the tentacles remind them of her hair. I told them she was mysterious and intelligent like the cuttlefish. And, like the cuttlefish can change colours (see pics below) M takes on various different roles in and out of school.

N receiving her long-legged fox. She's sly and clever much like the animal. Little does she know though that the legs are made from a pair of underpants gifted to me this Christmas.

D with her bear. A quiet, studious and fashionable bear (I mean c'mon, it's wearing argyle).

A with his striped tiger. A noble creature able to blend in and fade into the background but when it stands out it can really take your breath away. A has been seen around school three days after the fact still carrying the tiger to each class.

True to form J shows up ten minutes late to the meeting to get his sloth.

Which of my advisees is calloused, scaly and mean but still manages to be undeniably cuddly? T of course.

B was very perplexed by the event in general and especially by the fact that I made him a bunny wearing skinny pants and suspenders.

Other N got a cowboy frog inspired by her rowdy and rambunctious personality. Little did I know that she would choose to go to Nevada in the coming months.

Easily the most obvious animal. M got a panda wearing a pink dress. There is little I can say to describe M to you if you don't already know her. Suffice to say that she is a personable, caring and wonderful person. A panda in a pink dress suits her perfectly.

The kids were very confused as to why there was a bunch of animals on my desk that morning until Other N counted out 9 of the toys and 9 of them. I teach for those kinds of "A-ha!" moments.

On to some other close ups:

Rawr!

T's t-rex.

The colour-changing process.

With graduation looming on us the class flag was unveiled on Saturday at a special tea. The class name 'Luminescence' is on the bottom and the class animal, the phoenix, is in the foreground. It looks a little wrinkled only because the whole thing was quilted in a sort of fiery pattern.

From my last advisor night. I told the kids to get dressed up and meet me for dinner. I did not tell them where we were going and I ended up taking them to one of the more posh places in town where you (usuallly) don't run into other Woodstockers, Kasmanda Palace. I say 'usually' because it was the school chaplain and his wife's anniversary the same day. I remarked when we saw them leave for dinner that it would be embarrassing if we ended up in the same place. Lo and behold that when we stepped into the dining room there they were and I certainly got red (how unlike me). It was fine though. We went out onto the terrace and they got our group buffet rate.

I also did a reprise of my chemistry lab with the wee ones. Less explosive than last time I had more hands on activities for the kids this time. We made slime, oobleck and watched a few science videos. Fun was had by all.

And so thus my time at Woodstock is slowly winding to an end. My AP kids took their exam and I'm fairly certain a majority of them will do well on them. Since I still have them for a few weeks I've decided to do labs and I think I may now be regretting it. An entire day of labs is more stressful, I dare say, than being locked in a cage with a bear on rollerskates (wait, am I on rollerskates or the bear?). Now do that for a whole week. Let's just say that I think some of these kids are more suitable for online simulations and thought experiments. I can only deal with so much broken glass on a daily basis.

So yeah, don't expect me to get emotional about leaving. I'll miss the kids and I've learned a lot of things in my time here but it is time for me to personally and professionally move on to new things but I will not forget where it was I got my start.

A quick update

I realise that it has been a very long time since I have updated the blog. I would say that it's been because nothing new is happening but that's a lie. Really, there's just been a lot of stuff going on that I'm still working through. Let's give a quick rundown on the major things from the past few months:

Winter break was fabu. I traveled to Malaysia to visit cousins. Kuala Lumpur is a wonderful city as is the remainder of the country (what I saw of it anyway). I stayed with Mark and Jessica for the majority of the time. There was plenty of reading, eating, snoozing, swimming, toy-making, and school-searching. Here are the three toys I made whilst there.

Guillermo the Spanish Clown.

Harvey the Beatnik Lizard.

Lester the Lion.

Pretty cool huh?

Well, after about a month in the tropics being lazy I traveled to Kathmandu for a week. It was quite cold there but we made fun. I met a lot of really cool people there and really had a blast.

After I came back to Mussoorie I had a phone interview with the MEF International School - Istanbul. A few days later they offered me a job teaching science to 7-10 graders which I gladly accepted. Istanbul has been a place I have wanted to go to for years and it was at the top of my list of places to go. I'll be teaching IGCSE chemistry and physics which will be a nice change of pace from the AP curriculum I've been doing.

As part of my going to Turkey I had to get a medical check-up. Everything was pretty standard but I wanted to go ahead and talk to the doctor about my blood pressure. It's been high for as long as I can remember. The doc back home just told me to keep ignoring it but I figured that now was probably my best shot. The doc here was definitely concerned about it especially since there's a family history. My bloodwork and ECG (EKG) came back fine so they think it's just genetics. I've been put on some meds and it seems like it's slowly coming down into a good range.

I think that covers the major stuff. I'm pushing the kids harder than ever to prepare them for the AP exam. They complain and moan about how difficult things are (especially the tests) but if it's anything like that past two years they'll thank me after the exam and say it was actually easier than what I had been giving them in class. My advisor group is graduating this year. Remember, these were the kids I decided to stay on one more year for. It's amazing how much they grow up in just three years. They really are great kids and I know that I have been spoiled teaching them. At least I'm not going back to the states to teach. The public school systems were in a state as it was without all the hoopla that's been going on recently. Yikes. At this rate, I'm not sure when I'll ever be able to go back.

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.