Mine's the BEST!

To know me is to know that my standards are exponentially high and as a teacher, you hear the refrains of, “You’re the best teacher in the world…” or “You’re my favorite teacher” quite regularly. So it is not lightly that I say, “My son has the best 2nd grade teacher in the world.” I know this as an indisputable fact because she is not just Xavier’s teacher, she’s also my colleague. Teaching with this woman has truly been, and will probably remain, the highlight of my career. As both a professional and a mother, I couldn’t be luckier.

I started this blog last Friday night after coming home and reflecting on our awesome 2nd grade Expo (which you can read more about later), but I needed to finish writing it today. I needed to finish writing it after she passed along a piece of free-writing Xavier wrote about a favorite memory.

Though the spelling has been improved, the wording has not. Here is Xavier’s story about his favorite memory to the ocean:

The wind blew gently against our faces. The waves were as still as a silk blanket. Joy of children fill my ears. Suddenly, screams interrupted the joy. The waves crash down on shore like lightening bolts. The wind blows hard against our faces. A storm fills the beach. People get in cars and go home. Suddenly, everything is still. I dipped my feet in. The water was crystal blue. For the rest of the day, I splashed in the waves.

-Xavier (age 7), 27 January 2011

 Where did this kid come from? Where did all of this brilliance come from? See, I’m not blowin’ smoke. It’s true. All of it. She’s amazing. And I know, I know, Rob and I have a lot to do with it—I mean, we’re no dummies. But these stories and his development in 2nd grade confirms that Indonesia was a good move for us!

Now, onto our PYP Expo! Last Friday, Maureen and I watched our students as they toured their parents around our PYP Expo. The Expo was a culmination of our last two units of inquiry in which the students, in a nutshell, investigated how things evolve from seed to plant to table.

Here are some of the highlights:

The kids are turning vegetables into bread by following my grandmother's recipe for Zucchini Bread and Carrot Bread. These breads became bitings for their parents at the Expo.

 







Our Invent-A-Garden where students used their knowledge of plants and their adaptations to invent a plant which they then created through paper mache.

Our ongoing PYP Unit wall where we show student learning (from pre-assessment to summative) throughout the unit. Thank God for assistants!

 

Xavier and his partner doing their choral reading of "The Great Kapok Tree."

 

Two girls show their moms how the roots and stem of celery pull the water up to the leaves. Other students were conducting a chocolate taste test. Which is better? Indonesian, Japanese, or Belgian (yup, we all know who won!) and showing their parents food's journey from farm to table.

Here, a student explains the food distribution chain (from farm to factory to market) while another student is showing off the brochure he made in technology about his invented plant.

Here, Xavier shows off our Grade 2 garden--look how much our rice has grown. 3 more weeks and we can harvest.

 
A student and his parents take food items out of a basket, find out where they are distributed from, and then brainstorm whether or not we should be buying locally or globally.

 

Here, a student is showing her mom the stomates of a leaf while explaining their importance to humans (they take in the carbon dioxide and give off oxygen). Another student shows her mom a math problem after going shopping in our classroom store (basically a part of our store room turned into a mini-market) using Indonesian Rupiah. Students had to show their adding and subtracting skills (to the 100,000) to demonstrate what they could buy. Can you believe they are only in 2nd grade?!?!

Every place has its pitfalls and Surabaya is not exempt. But here is proof that we have chosen the best place for our kids and why I can say, “My son has the best 2nd grade teacher in the world.” 

Lovely Lombok

Clearly, we didn't know what to expect from Lombok. I've been to Hawaii more times than I can count so I guess my idea of Lombok was based on that--huge, deep white sand beaches, tourists at every corner, and hotels so high they touch the sky. But boy oh boy, was I wrong! After a brief 40-minute flight, we landed at Lombok's International Airport (think Kenya's Wilson Airport only with Bali-esque style buildings) and began to toss out our pre-conceived notions.

Moments after claiming our bag and catching a taxi, we were on our way to our beach hotel. Though the island of Lombok is different than the island of Java in many ways: size, population, clean air, etc... one thing wasn't different--the crazy Indonesian driving. We sped through the small streets going far too fast, dodging mopeds, delivery trucks, chickens, and horse-pulled carts. I think the only change was the number of animals that were added into the mix.

When we got to our small villa on Windy Beach we realized that we were certainly not there for the room! The villa was fine, but the views and ambiance were priceless! 30 steps from the ocean, we couldn't get away from it. Every night we fell asleep to the lulling pattern of the crashing waves and woke up to the same peace every morning. Unfortunately, the rainy season brought treacherous waves to our part of Windy Beach so putting our suits on and kicking around the waves was the extent of our beach experience at the hotel.

Day 2 we were bound for snorkeling at a private island called Gili Nanggu. This is where the difference between our expectations and our reality became very clear. Some of the beaches had tan/gray sand while others had gray/black sand. Because of the variant colors of the sand, snorkeling was a bit of a challenge. Some of the darker colored fish blend in with the dark coral and the dark sand. That said, our snorkeling experience was amazing. It took awhile for the kids (read: Anouk) to downsize the gear and pick the most essential snorkeling pieces necessary (mask ONLY!) and feel comfortable enough to explore without being a monkey on our backs, but once the kids found their groove... snorkeling was easy. One of Anouk's most memorable experiences was coming across a live bright blue starfish who had washed ashore. She picked up the starfish, asked to be photographed, and then took it back out to the reef for safety.

The island of Nanggu has a small hotel (sans hot water and electricity) and a restaurant. We had a late lunch and by the time we returned for one last afternoon snorkel, the 15 or so other visitors to the islands had gone. The only boat at the dock was ours, and we had the warm waters to ourselves one last time. It was an amazing experience and has the kids ferociously excited about snorkeling in the Azores this summer!

Instead of spending our pre-last day resting and relaxing by the pool or ocean, I insisted on taking the fam on a tour of the island. On our drive to the south beach, we were mesmerized by the sheer number and incredible beauty of rice paddies. Xavier was particularly impressed as he and his classmates got to plant in a rice paddy at school (in our grade 2 garden) and on a field trip this year. Our first stop of the day was to Mayura Water Palace. The Water Temple is the temple of the former King of Lombok and Hindus pilgrimage there on Christmas Eve every year. Though it was built in 1744, much of the temple has been rebuilt as it was the sight of a bloody battle between the Balinese and the Dutch in 1894.

On our tour, we stopped at pottery village [Mental note for next time: don't listen to the driver and take candy to the kids--crayons, pencils, and paper would have been a far smarter gift! The minute the bag of candy was opened, the kids from the village flocked to Xavi and Anouk to the point where we were REALLY uncomfortable and couldn't wait to get out of there.] and a weaving village. We watched young girls weave on traditional Lombok looms as they tried to explain the steps in their art. We were gently forced to dress in traditional weavings as if we were to attend a wedding. Only Rob rejected the offer... I think he just wanted to get back to our pool. Before we left though... I got to pick out my Christmas present-- a gorgeous, silk intensely colored wall hanging.  It adorns a special place in our front hall.

After hours of touring the countryside, the kids were done. So we made our last stop at Kuta beach on Lombok's south shore. We realized quickly that this is where we want to come back next time. Kuta is more along the lines of what we expected--warm turquoise water, light tan sand, and sheer cliffs in every direction. The tranquility of the villages and beaches of Kuta will soon be changing. The villagers will become less reliant on the seaweed and tobacco harvesting industry and more-focused on tourism as the new international airport is being built just 20 minutes away. The peace is coming to an end in Kuta, but for us... it truly was a heavenly stay and we hope to visit there once more before the school year ends.

To see more pictures of lovely Lombok... click here.

Now... time to have more fun with Grandma and Grandpa.

It's beginning to feel a...

little like Christmas. The holiday decorations around Surabaya are a bit over-the-top. I mean, how do you make an equatorial city with no winter give off the Christmas feel? Oh, OK, you decorate the palm trees in Christmas lights and you just thank God for the rainy season!

Our school environment has done a great job ringing in the Christmas holiday. My class was decked out with a Christmas tree, lights, stockings, and kids clad in Santa hats or reindeer headbands. The last week of before the break was inundated with holiday festivities. There were staff parties, cookie decorating get-togethers, Secret Santa, the Elementary Christmas concert, morning caroling by the Koi pond at school, and a holiday assembly.

Here are some photos and videos of our past week.

We'll write more upon our return from Lombok!

Merry Christmas


Xavier reading at the assembly...  (click to see on YouTube)

Anouk's ballet dance... (click to see on YouTube)

The Rainstorm Commeth (click to see on YouTube)

Caroling at the Koi Pond (click to see on YouTube)

Pretty Salma

Our budding actress makes her debut in an African version of "Little Red Riding Hood". The play is called "Pretty Salma" and is the culmination of the Kindergarten's unit on storytelling. Anouk plays Pretty Salma, a little girl who gets tricked by a sly dog after shopping for her grandmother. Listen for the cackling in the background--Xavier was DEFINITELY present!

Mea Culpa

Forgive me family for I have sinned. It's been 50 days since my last blog. No, I didn't shake off the side of an island in some great earthquake or wash away in a great tsunami or even evaporate in a cloud of ash as a volcano spewed around me. My life is not that interesting and thank God my family and I were not affected.

That is not my excuse family.

I must claim over-worked, over-committed, and over-scheduled as my only defense. It feels as if the only moments I have taken out for myself were the mandatory 1-hour-a-week to watch "Project Runway" and the late night hours I would steal away to voraciously read the Hunger Games trilogy. No trips to Bali, no pedicures and massages, no parties, and absolutely NO R&R!

So here I am, at 9:05 p.m. waiting outside in a rockin’ reception room (listening to the Bangles sing “Eternal Flame”) as Rob bravely sits in the dentist’s chair. I just finished editing some papers and putting the finishing touches on my report cards when a great feeling of embarrassment and good ole Catholic guilt came over me. There’s so much to share…

Xavier’s 7th birthday celebration went off without a hitch. His favorite moment was blowing out the candles on a jungle-themed cake that the “Cake Boss” would be hard pressed to whip up in 24 hours (and for only $50);

Rob and Xavi went on a 3 day field trip with the 6th graders to a rural farm community where Xavier had the time of his life despite embarrassing his Papa by stockpiling bread at every meal;

My teaching partner and I took our grade 2 students on a field trip to a local orphanage after discussing how we are all responsible for creating a safe and happy environment for our community. Reliving my student’s generosity (of food, clothes, and toys) and the awe that they had when the realized the conditions that the orphans live in still chokes me up;

The inside of our palace, I mean house, was painted, the shipment arrived, and we (read: Rob) unpacked 68 boxes in 24 hours;

The school fair was remarkable, the likes of which we have not participated in since Kenya! The food was fabulous, the exhibitors were amazing, the games were fantastic, the entertainment was phenomenal (especially Anouk singing “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” on stage), and the weather was FREAKIN’ HOT!!!!!

I went on a walk through old Surabaya and learned about the old shipping port, the Dutch influence, the old architecture, inadevertantly participated in a Buddhist funeral, walked through the fish market, and rode in my first becak (like a rikshaw).
 
After writing a story about how he couldn’t hear, Xavier received a CT-Scan which led us to a diagnosis of: infected sinus’ and a treatment of: no icy cold drinks;

Anouk is having a rough go. She found out that her boyfriend’s family will be moving to Australia at the end of the year, the librarian won’t let her check out chapter books (we fixed this one), and Mele, the dog, loves Xavier more than her;

Halloween… enough said!

And... though we never got to see a game, the Giants won!

So despite the fact that I’m exhausted and sitting at the dentist’s office at a 9:30 p.m., things feel like their starting to settle down a bit. I’ve got my driver’s license in hand and actually know where I’m going when I zoom around the city. We have hired a nanny to keep watch on the kids (and the house lady who lets the kids walk all over her) and are finding a groove.

I promise things will be better and the next message will be about some great adventure.

I am off to start on my 30 Hail Mary’s now!

Food, glorious food!

Boring...3 on a moped.

September is here, time for me to make my annual contribution to our blog. I know, once a year is pretty pathetic but I’m trying to be exclusive, kind of like a Ferrari, just better looking. So what to write about? The trips we have taken in our new car, the elusive quest to see a family of 6 on a moped, or maybe the crazy bugs we have found in our house this week. All good topics, but very Toyota, I need a Ferrari topic. It came to me as I was cleaning up the charcoal from the barbeque that was knocked over by one of the neighborhood cats: Food, glorious food! So here it is: the good, the bad and the ugly.

The Good

Our housekeeper/cook.

Our housekeeper: we really lucked out with her, our little old lady may not be a spring chicken but boy does she know how to cook! We have been spoiled with home cooked meals every day: chicken soup, fresh samosas, noodles, rice, you name it, all followed by freshly cut fruit of course. Unfortunately she’s not around on the weekends so we have to fend for ourselves (I know, life’s rough over here). Lucky for us there are places in the mall that have food-for-money exchange programs and what’s even more amazing is that it costs about 150,000 rupiah to feed a family of four. That translates to about $16, including the tip.

The Bad

BBQ- in :)  Beer-out :(

Our housekeeper: she cooks a great meal and what do you do with good food … you eat it, and if you’re anything like me, you eat too much of it. And what happens when you eat too much of it … you get bigger, and we all know I don’t need to get any bigger; Anouk yes, Papa no. So that is why on Monday I am starting the first annual my-housekeeper-makes-really-good-food-but-I-have-no-self-control-and-it-goes-straight-to-my-hips diet. Can you fire someone for cooking delicious food?

The Ugly

Disgusting durian.

Our housekeeper: just kidding, she’s cute as a button. I just have to say, I don’t usually look at a button and think “wow, that is one cute button”, I would have gone with “cute as a baby tiger”, but that’s just me. Anyway, there are plenty of foods here that fall under the ugly category. There’s durian, the fruit that stinks to high heaven. The smell hits you as soon as you walk into a store that sells it and there’s really no way to describe it. There are the black eggs that are for sale in the supermarket but we’re just too scared to buy.

Awesome... 100 year old eggs.

And then there are the potato chips, oh the potato chips. My theory is that the big-wigs at the top potato chip manufacturers made a bet to see who could come up with the craziest flavor and actually get people to eat it. My two personal favorites are prawn (the chips are actually pink) and salmon teriyaki, clearly two flavors that should not come as potato chips. But it’s working, just like big oil can double gas prices in the summer, so can big potato chip get you to eat the most obnoxiously flavored potato chips, at least they got me to eat them.

So there you have it, job finished. Time to sit back, open a bottle of Bintang, grab some snacks and watch some soccer. Oh how I love thee, pre-diet days! Until next year.
Rob

Another interesting day in Southeast Asia

Xavier has been thrilled about his impending birthday. Prior to the big day he had planned every event that we would participate in (especially since he has to wait 2 weeks until his friends-only birthday party). So when we arrived at Cartoon Kingdom for an hour of jungle fun, we thought things were off to a good start. Once the kids were justifiably dripping of sweat and exhaustion, we decided make our way to activity #2-- Dr. Fish.

Dr. Fish is one of those figures-it-originated-in-Southeast-Asia-activities that is not only common here, but also a must-experience while visiting. Found at the Supermal just minutes from the house, Dr. Fish is a boutique at the mall where you can pay $3 bucks for 15 minutes of incredibly weird fun. Cut into the floor are huge bathtubs filled with reddish log sucker fish. They offer a fish pedicure and nibble off dry, dead, skin from your feet and legs by sucking. Crazy! Putting our feet inside was a bit of a shock for the kids and I. Passers by froze in their paths as we (read: Angela) screamed with a mixture of excitement, fear, and exhilaration. The feeling is nearly inexplicable. A slight feeling of pins and needles as the fish swarm around your feet and suck away. Rob was thrilled with the feeling and, after a few minutes, the kids were relaxed and enjoyed the experience immensely. After our 15 minutes of fish reflexology, we dried our feet and walked away rejuvenated. Our feet looked fresh and felt clean--what a difficult day in Southeast Asia.

The afternoon was broken up by some brief shopping at the hardware and grocery store--the smell of durian lingering like a repulsive cloud over my head--thank God I'm not pregnant or I'd never survive in a grocery store here! Xavier quite enjoyed picking out his birthday present as mama spent some quality time negotiating paint colors. We spent the hottest part of the day at home in air conditioned loveliness reading, playing, and Skype-ing loved ones.

At night, we made our way back to the Supermal where Xavier wanted a dinner of pizza and ice cream. Pizza Hut pizza is a very exciting find here. Light and bubbly crust tasting similar to Brooklyn-style pizza is going to make it hard to give up bread again. Yummo! On our way home from the mall, we were on a quest for our frogs on the grass and bats flying through the trees. As we approached our house, we were planning our bath-books-bed routine but the large dark shadow scurrying along the outside wall of our house startled us. I tried to, coyly, ask Rob if that's what a rat. He told me it was and as we got closer to the house I was praying that the rat wouldn't make it's way up our gate and into our garden, but, of course, it did! Once noticed, Anouk immediately (and on cue) began crying. We tried to convince Anouk that his name was Ratatouille and he was a nice rat, but she put us in our place. While keeping one eye on the front wall of our garden to watch for the moving shadow, we unlocked the door of the house. Xavier ran in to unlock the garage door and release our foot-long guard dog who we thought would be desperate for a bathroom break (and who would chase the unwelcome visitor away). But like the lame little puppy that she is, she stood on the porch wagging her tail, totally oblivious of the task we had for her.

Once we were all safely in the house, we began to put away all of our bags of shopping and prepare for bedtime. I went into the kitchen to put the scissors away and freaked out when I turned on the light--a 2-inch long cockroach type bug was chillin' by the stove. I screamed bloody murder and ran out to the living room. Anouk, still crying over the rat freaked at the assumption that there was a rat in our kitchen. I spelled out my findings to Rob and told the kids not to go in there, which, in-turn prompted Xavier to walk right into the kitchen to see what all the hubbub was about. Tossing a towel on the bug, Rob trapped the creature and then pounced like an attacking lion. He came out into the living room to tell me that he hadn't heard a crunch but he thought he got it. He and Xavier went in to check the trap and were pleased to see the cockroachy thing was smashed to smithereens.


After that brief encounter, we all walked upstairs to get the babes (particularly our tiny tearful girl) ready for bed. I jumped in the shower to wash the day's adventure and humidity off me when Rob told me, in no uncertain terms, to not look on the bed. Of course, I freaked out again. Apparently, a millipede had founds its way onto my side of the bed. As I learned this information I screamed at the kids and warned them to evacuate their beds so we could do a bed-check. After our brave and fearless papa pulled off one sheet at a time, our timid family was hysterical with laughter (except Anouk who was hysterical with tears) at the peculiar turn our evening had made. After bed-checks, Xavier decided to keep his sister safe by letting her sleep in his bed.


Rob and I decided to conclude our crazy evening with a good movie, some popcorn, and a double gin and tonic. As I got the movie ready, Rob tossed the popcorn in the microwave. As the microwave pulled the amperage it needed to pop the corn, the circuits blew and we lost power again. With the freaky rat lurking somewhere outside, Rob braved the fuse box out in the garden. What would I do without him?


Xavier's 7th birthday was another interesting day in Southeast Asia and not one soon forgotten!

We’re not in Kansas anymore…

8 of 10 on the first day!

The first week of school was a bit of a blur. The kids are great, Rob’s classes are amazing, the students are engaged (though for me, they’re 2nd graders, so they’re only engaged for about 10 minutes at a time), and the schedule is doable. Thank God it’s over! We both hate the first week—filler activities, pre-assessments, forgetting names, missing yard duties, and everything that comes with first week jitters. But anyway it’s behind us and we ALL made it!

The weekend was great. Friday night, we ditched out on the First Friday party to celebrate Rob’s birthday at a Dutch restaurant at the Supermal (yes, it should be spelled with 2 “ll’s”, but it’s not!). On our walk home we were nearly scared out of our shorts as we noticed the leaves on the grass moving. After stopping and trying to figure things out, we noticed that the leaves were actually toads out for their evening meal. This motivated the kids to come home and watch “The Princess and the Frog” before bedtime. The frogs have become a great incentive tool as we persuade the kids to walk back up the hill to the Supermal to shop.

Saturday was spent as most Saturdays are spent—errands. We’ve decided, though, that errands are REALLY difficult when: your mobile phones aren’t charged and don’t have credit, you don’t have a car, and you don’t speak Bahasa Indonesian (the local language). First, the phones. Urgh. We bought pay-as-you-go cards because the money is supposed to last a long time and they are really easy to find. Unfortunately, we had been receiving the occasional text messages in Bahasa. No biggie. Except… we must have inadvertently responded to one and now we’ve been bombarded with text messages that has depleted our credit.

250,000 Rp. = $25

Second, we don’t have a car, a driver, or a driver’s license. This is not a big deal except it has limited our range of travel and exploration to the areas we can get to on foot or places that we already know. The first time I got in a car, I hadn’t figured out the exchange rate yet so when the driver told us that we owed him 15,000 Rp. I nearly flipped my lid. But then I realized that it was only about $1.50 and that was after a 10 minute drive. Not bad.

But there’s another problem about not having a car—we end up schlepping a lot of stuff around! After a wonderfully exciting 5 hours at the Supermal, Rob and I decided to reward the kids with the things they had been asking for since Grandma and Grandpa left—bean bags! OK, fine, we can handle bean bags. At the “Bean Bag” store, we noticed that the small, cute, soft and cuddly bean bags were like 1,300,000 Rp. Yes, I said 1 MILLION, 3 HUNDRED THOUSAND Rupiah (though that’s only about $130.00) and the gigantic, easy-to-wash, and not-so-cute bean bags were only 700,000 ($70.00). So, we got 2 mammoth, colossal, and I mean freakin’ HUGE bean bags. At the register, it occurred to Rob and I that they would never fit in a taxi. So, we decided to hoof-it home! Yup, through the packed Supermal, the crazy gringos slogged their big ass “Santa” bean bags. Through the mall, and the traffic, passed the frogs (that we NEEDED to watch), passed the laughing guards who protect our complex, and into our home. We need a car!

The third rather big challenge here is we don’t speak Bahasa Indonesian. All we can say is “thank you” and between the four of us, can probably count to 5. This is OK as we’ve done a great job getting around with broken English, charades, and a lot of business cards. We’ve been able to order dinner, price out a new car, buy a couch, and grocery shop all without knowing more than the cordial Indonesian head bow and “thank you.”

Our lack of Bahasa came to a head after a rather exciting day at school on Monday. Let me detour here for a minute and tell you about the crazy day we had. Tuesday is Indonesian Independence Day and the way the school celebrates is by getting the local and expat staff together in the gym for the “Merdeka” games. “Merdeka” is the Bahasa word for freedom so it’s a great way to commemorate their freedom from the Dutch. In any case, the gym is packed with people all decked out in their red and white clothes to play silly games like: balance the rice basket on your head, tug-of-war, and cross-dressing soccer. It was a hoot to watch and next year we’ll be prepared with tennis shoes and gym shorts. At the end of the event, winners are given huge bags of food and everyone walks away with a goody bag—an SIS tote bag with a traditional Ramadhan dinner. Awesome. But the kids had no idea we’d be going to the “Merdeka” games. I had forgotten about the games when I had promised the kids a trip to the pool. Oops. So, to make up for my tactical error, Rob and I decided to take them to McDonald’s for dinner.

Bubur Ayam Soup?

We need to learn Bahasa. Except for the things we ordered by picture: Xavier and my cheeseburgers, Anouk’s spaghetti, and Rob’s Big Mac, we had no idea what we were getting. The ketchup is substituted with chili sauce, most meals are offered without French fries but with rice, noodle soup and fried chicken drumsticks are on the value meal, and napkins are a commodity. It was definitely a night to remember. Our Indonesian cultural experience ended with a long walk home past the frogs as we counted the bats we saw flying overhead. We read our Indonesian fairytales for kids and called it a night.

The way Google celebrated the day

Happy Independence Day Indonesia! It’s been quite a ride already.

FYI—we are all a “Twitter” as our mobile twitter account is all hooked up. You can follow us on a more regular basis by logging on—http://twitter.com/teach4Travel.

The Eagle Has Landed

Entrance of the school

It's just after 4 am and I can hear the faint chant of a nearby mosque from my bedroom. Excitement and sadness is welling up inside me because today my parents leave and I get to meet my students for the first time. It’s orientation day for students at Surabaya International School so my kids are stoked that they get to meet their new teachers and see their classrooms. But today is bittersweet because our amazing support is outta here! Grandma and Grandpa have been awesome as we hit the ground running here in Surabaya. From day 1, Rob and I have participated in loads of shopping sprees, orientation (read: networking) meetings, and lavish lunches in gorgeous, historic hotels or enchanting garden settings and we haven’t worried about the kids once!

Front of the house

WOW! This was the first word uttered from my mouth when we arrived and I think I've repeated it about 1,000 times since we've been here. We have arrived in an amazing world full of green, beauty, buzz, energy, and excitement. It's a city of contrasts, big skyscrapers and 50-floor apartment buildings interspersed with intimate canals and bustling neighborhoods. The landscape reminds us of Kenya everywhere we turn.

Welcome flowers

The dining and living area

The day we arrived was an oddity. A downpour hit Surabaya, the likes of which haven’t been seen in over 50 years. Though we’re on the southern hemisphere and it is winter season, it doesn’t typically rain in the winter, so the rain caused all sorts of havoc (read: traffic). When we finally pulled up to our house we realized that the pictures we had been sent didn’t really tell the whole story. The house is gigantic. The entry way (which was decorated with a gorgeous flower arrangement), living room, and dining room area (which meld together into a great room of sorts) are about the size of our Kuwait apartment…and we haven’t even gotten to the rest of the joint. There is a spacious spare bedroom/office downstairs, an arched staircase that leads upstairs to a landing that will serve as the kids play area and TV room. From there, stem our three bedrooms. Xavier has the smallest of the three rooms but he opted for that one because he wanted a Queen-size bed. Anouk picked a slightly bigger bedroom with a balcony that overlooks the back garden, while Rob and I moved ourselves into our gigantic Master bedroom with en suite. Our balcony overlooks the front garden and, on a clear day, to the volcanoes in the distance. The biggest problem with the house is the size—the ceilings are so high, the rooms are so big, and everything is so lavish that it makes all the furniture look puny. Xavier and Anouk LOVE their new house and are thrilled with their bedrooms. They think we live in a castle.

The Koi pond

The front sign

Day 2 brought the family (not just Rob and I) to school. The kids walked into the foyer of the school, clad in antique Indonesian furniture, art, and fresh flowers from the school’s gardens with gaping mouths. They both sort of squealed with excitement especially when they walked out to the hallway and stopped at the koi pond to get a view of the school’s local pets. A few strides past the pond, they were outside playing on the swings and slides and really enjoying their new playground. The kids are THRILLED with their new school. And as parents, Rob and I couldn’t be happier. The classrooms are nearly twice the size of our rooms in Kuwait and for me… I will only have 10 students. I have cabinets stacked with books and the storage room (between both classrooms contains everything our heart could desire, plus an entire guided reading room just for grade 2). It’s an amazing contrast that excites me both personally and professionally! And then there was the library!!! Who doesn't love an amazing library? The kids took a tour of the library with grandma and were amazed at how many books they can read. It is surely a sight to be seen!

A view of 1/2 the library

Life is good for us here! But it became even better on Sunday after an enchanting brunch at the Shangri-La hotel. My new Principal, Robbie, and his son Harry James, took our family on a brief tour of the Pakuwon Golf Club just minutes from our house. After a brief look around, it was a no-duh that we needed to become members, so we signed up! (For those of you who visited the Corniche with us in Kuwait…it puts that place to shame!) Monday found Rob and I at school trying to get things ready for the year but found the kids at the pool with my parents (and their new pal, Harry James) for nearly 8 hours. By the time we arrived home that afternoon, the kids were three shades darker than we left them that morning and they were zombie-like in front of the TV. So… the grown-ups left the kids with Noryeti, the house lady the school hired to start off our time here, and we went to a wonderful dinner in the clouds (literally). At 6 pm, we arrived at a rooftop restaurant with glass walls and no ceiling. The cool, evening breeze washed over us as we ordered up a few beers and glasses of wine. As we raised our glass to toast, our Superintendent, Larry repeated a phrase that we’ve heard about a dozen times since our arrival, “Well, here’s to another hard day in Southeast Asia.”

The Shangri-La Hotel

I apologize for not writing more than this, but we are currently in a house with no internet and when we are at school, with internet, we are more focused on working and preparing for our start on Monday.

Give us a couple weeks to get in the groove and we should be able to send emails, Skype, or talk on the phone. Until then… we hope all is well and if you think I’m exaggerating—my parents will be home by Monday, so you can ask them yourselves!

We are happy and we feel really blessed to start another “hard” day in Southeast Asia!