I only took one day off. Sorry to disappoint all those commenters out there (you know who you are) who predicted I had swine flu.
Today is International Day at CDIS - so this afternoon all the school's families and guests from the neighborhood will be here to eat food, play games, watch some performances, and learn about the different cultures represented here at this school. It is a big event, and I am thoroughly impressed with how professional things look. I'll take some pictures.
The highlight for many of you will be video of Rachel doing a country line dance on stage. It seems she is finally accepting her Southern roots - so she's got her jeans and boots on, and she's ready to boogie.
-alan
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
No fun
Last night I got sick - fever and aches and pains. It was no fun and all. Thankfully, Rachel took good care of me, and I took the day off from school today to recover.
That makes this an even shorter week - we have Friday off from school for the Chinese May holiday.
Maybe I will upload some video later today from the lock-in - there are definitely some fun things to see!
-alan
That makes this an even shorter week - we have Friday off from school for the Chinese May holiday.
Maybe I will upload some video later today from the lock-in - there are definitely some fun things to see!
-alan
Friday, April 24, 2009
1 hour left...
We finished the movie, and I tried to get some sleep...only to be interrupted by kids asking to go to the bathroom (why they ask I don't know), kids talking about their video games, and kids in the cafeteria making lots of noise due to the sugar they were hyped up on.
The most unfortunate was waking up to the sound of vomit. Junk food and no sleep make a bad combo. This marks the 3rd weekend in a row of vomit-related fun. Why me?
Now they are performing some skits they made last night, to a very bleary-eyed audience. Average sleep was somewhere in the 0-3 hour range. I would say I got no more than 3-4 hours, but non-consecutively.
Time to go home and take a nap...
-alan
BTW, thanks Rachel and Zack for leaving early and letting me clean up the mess! :P
The most unfortunate was waking up to the sound of vomit. Junk food and no sleep make a bad combo. This marks the 3rd weekend in a row of vomit-related fun. Why me?
Now they are performing some skits they made last night, to a very bleary-eyed audience. Average sleep was somewhere in the 0-3 hour range. I would say I got no more than 3-4 hours, but non-consecutively.
Time to go home and take a nap...
-alan
BTW, thanks Rachel and Zack for leaving early and letting me clean up the mess! :P
Getting late...
It is hour 11 of the lock-in. After many hours of sports and 2 futile games of capture the flag, it is now after 2am and things are settling down. I still don't think anyone is asleep, though.
The kids played 2 games of capture the flag, which lasted a total of 2.5 hours. Both games were a draw. In both games, the kids knew where the opponents' flag was, but made no real effort to get it. Both played a defensive game and so nobody mustered enough of a charge to get the flag. From our perspective, it was quite frustrating.
In all, the kids seem to be having fun. I would call it a success - and considering they are leaving fairly early in the morning, I cannot imagine what could go wrong. (let's not jinx it, though!)
-alan
The kids played 2 games of capture the flag, which lasted a total of 2.5 hours. Both games were a draw. In both games, the kids knew where the opponents' flag was, but made no real effort to get it. Both played a defensive game and so nobody mustered enough of a charge to get the flag. From our perspective, it was quite frustrating.
In all, the kids seem to be having fun. I would call it a success - and considering they are leaving fairly early in the morning, I cannot imagine what could go wrong. (let's not jinx it, though!)
-alan
It begins....
It is 5pm. We are two hours into the Middle School Lock-in. The kids in my room are playing "Yank 'em," which is a variation on musical chairs which involves lots of boys flinging girls, and vice versa. They are having fun!
Only 16 hours to go!
-alan
Only 16 hours to go!
-alan
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Busy weekend ahead, but still wasting time...
We have been looking in the past few days at other MUN conferences around China and beyond. A little too much of my time has been spent plugging seemingly random letters (MYMUN, SHAMUN, BEIMUN, etc.) into google, and hoping that I will come across another inexpensive conference that we had yet to hear about. Our hopes are to expand MUN at the school, and get some more opporunities for the better students to showcase their talents at more conferences.
So MUN fever struck. We need to think now about whether to register for some more selective conferences next year, which requires us to think ahead more than I would like. So, we'll meet with our students this week and see how committed they really are.
That being said, there are really more pressing matters to deal with. A month from now, we will be with the entire middle school on a trip that still requires a decent amount of planning.
And this weekend, there is a middle school lock-in, high school dance, bridal shower, solo and ensemble festival, and orphanage trip all scheduled for a 32 hour period on Friday and Saturday. While Rachel would probably do them all if she could, I'm not sure how much we will be able to squeeze in!
-alan
So MUN fever struck. We need to think now about whether to register for some more selective conferences next year, which requires us to think ahead more than I would like. So, we'll meet with our students this week and see how committed they really are.
That being said, there are really more pressing matters to deal with. A month from now, we will be with the entire middle school on a trip that still requires a decent amount of planning.
And this weekend, there is a middle school lock-in, high school dance, bridal shower, solo and ensemble festival, and orphanage trip all scheduled for a 32 hour period on Friday and Saturday. While Rachel would probably do them all if she could, I'm not sure how much we will be able to squeeze in!
-alan
Sunday, April 19, 2009
MUNiSC - a success!
Reflecting back on MUNiSC (Model United Nations - International Schools of China), Rachel and I have a lot of positive things to say.
1) All of our students spoke at the conference (and it is not easy - you need to be persistent and raise your placard OVER and OVER again in the larger committees, and hope that you will be called on. One student raised his placard 10+ times in a row, but had to have all the surrounding countries send notes to the chair begging her to recognize him before he actually was called upon.) But given those difficulties, most were able to give multiple speeches.
2) Almost all of them loved the conference experience and would like to do it again next year.
3) The MUN program at the host school in Qingdao is amazing - and gave us good ideas for how to grow the MUN program at our own school. We are already thinking about starting an elective class, fund raising to attend more conferences, sending kids overseas, and all kinds of crazy ideas of what we can do with this in the future.
On a non-MUN but still travel-related note:
4) Give Rachel dramamine before any and all flights and/or bus rides in the future. There was some PV (projectile vomit) on the very bumpy flights home that resulted in soiled pants, animal-like cries, and loads of embarrassment (having to sit with the students for 30+ minutes during the approach for landing).
So now, after spring break and this trip for MUN, it is back to semi-normal life. This week, there is a middle school lock-in, put on by the student government. Let's hope this one goes well too!
-alan
1) All of our students spoke at the conference (and it is not easy - you need to be persistent and raise your placard OVER and OVER again in the larger committees, and hope that you will be called on. One student raised his placard 10+ times in a row, but had to have all the surrounding countries send notes to the chair begging her to recognize him before he actually was called upon.) But given those difficulties, most were able to give multiple speeches.
2) Almost all of them loved the conference experience and would like to do it again next year.
3) The MUN program at the host school in Qingdao is amazing - and gave us good ideas for how to grow the MUN program at our own school. We are already thinking about starting an elective class, fund raising to attend more conferences, sending kids overseas, and all kinds of crazy ideas of what we can do with this in the future.
On a non-MUN but still travel-related note:
4) Give Rachel dramamine before any and all flights and/or bus rides in the future. There was some PV (projectile vomit) on the very bumpy flights home that resulted in soiled pants, animal-like cries, and loads of embarrassment (having to sit with the students for 30+ minutes during the approach for landing).
So now, after spring break and this trip for MUN, it is back to semi-normal life. This week, there is a middle school lock-in, put on by the student government. Let's hope this one goes well too!
-alan
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