01.04.12
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:47 am by admin
We planned a Boracay trip for the first 4 days of our December break for our friend Bela’s 23rd birthday. She works with Ryan in the PE department and last year she was a student services support teacher in Sarah’s classroom. In total, we had about 10 people who came to hang out in Bora that weekend. Lots of fun! We had originally planned to go to Egypt - but then all the craziness never subsided. Riots, shooting, burning, and political unrest didn’t really get Ryan into the mood for travel. SO we waited and waited. Then we thought about Kenya. I pushed for it because I am a travel nut but mostly because our friend Cami was going to be there; but we decided to try and save some money instead of splurging on another big trip. We have plans of children through adoption, a real house or property in the states, and the 2014 World Cup on our brain… so we need to start being a little more practical with our travel decisions. Ugh. I think we all know how I feel about that.
But Boracay is Boracay… and probably the most amazing place in the world for us… so I will settle with 4 days in December in Boracay and leave Kenya and Egypt for another year…
On the boat to Boracay! Funny and frustrating story... We bought tickets to fly in to Caticlan (the closest airport to Boracay) but our flight was cancelled. Not uncommon. Flights to Boracay are commonly delayed or cancelled. Annoying, yes. A lot of people were yelling and swearing at the attendants who made the announcement. Ryan and I have learned that Filipinos respond so much better to soft voices and smiles than loud and pissed off voices. So I stood to the side of the desk where everyone was surrounding the poor girls and guys working for the airline. A girl was trying to escape the crowd and I grabbed her and started with Tagalog and then asked her politely and calmly what was happening and how to get on a different flight. She explained that because of the air traffic, we couldn't fly out - but our entire flight was going to be put on a different flight. They were upgrading the aircraft of a flight that was leaving 2 hours after ours so we would all still get to Boracay that night. The flight we were put on was going to a completely different airport though. Kalibo is the other airport and it is a 1 1/2 hour - 2 hour van ride away from the boat ride that gets you to Boracay Island. So... hearing that we would fly out that night was great. But Kalibo, really?!!! I was pissed. I hate that van ride. Lucky for Ryan, we had Erin and Tony with us. So I couldn't pull out my full on bratty self. It was their first time to Boracay so I had to keep a super smiley and positive face.
Tony and Erin. Tony teaches at Brent and Erin is his long term girlfriend that moved here and is trying to find a job in retail.
We made it to Boracay before 10pm. Too late for the sunset, but never too late for dinner and drinks. Boracay nightlife never ends. So regardless of our delay, we still had a fun night out with friends.
Our go-to place. It is in station 1 and right on the beach. Their rooms are more affordable than the others in this area, they have a pool, are beachfront, and we are ok with the basic accommodations.
Hanging out in our beachside cabana. We had all our gear up there - including our new favorite game, Rumikub.
beautiful beach. this is what the beach at station 1 looks like... clean, big, and no vendors!
We spent one afternoon with Erin, Tony, Bela, and Blake on the beach near our hotel. The girls chatted while the boys played with Ryan's 'real' football.
Ryan, Blake, and Tony running in.
As we were laying out, a random band of children came out of nowhere! So great! So Filipino!
Getting close to sunset and on our way to the Ambasador for dinner. Las Brisas is next to some of the best resorts on the beach - Ambassador is pretty high class and the rooms go for about 250 a night (at least). We usually don't pay more than 100 a night. So that is EXPENSIVE! I'm sure in places like Hawaii or Mexico or any other popular destination $250 would be normal. But not for us!
Our table was so great - on the beach so I could play with the sand on my feet and so we had perfect people and sunset watching capabilities.
Right in front of our table was a baby puppy, wandering around and trying to find a playmate. A nasty kid who obviously had terrible parenting (yes, I am condemning his parents) was trying to scare the poor thing. So I jumped up and made the kid feel stupid and I started to play with the puppy. A lot of people looked at me weird, but I didn't care. No animal deserves to be treated like that. I couldn't take him home, but at least the guards, hotel workers, and that nasty kid and his family saw how animals SHOULD be treated.
On our last day, we took one of the plastic lounge chairs out to the beach and sat in the waves while the sun set. It was so cool! I wish we had a picture of both of us on it!
Bye Bora! We got in a van that was going to take us to Kalibo. The vans are right at the jetty port, but they don't leave until they are full. I bought a whole row so that they wouldn't crowd a bunch of people into our seat. If we have to ride in a stinky van for almost 2 hours, I want to be able to spread out! We've been lucky to be the first ones on the van the last couple times we've had to go to Kalibo, so we've gotten the front row (more feet room). Each seat costs about 3 USD. So buying the seat next to us is really no big deal and totally worth it.
Boracay was super fun. We celebrated Bela’s birthday, got some sun, bonded with new friends, and soaked up the Bora awesomeness we all love! Until next time! (February!)
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Posted in Uncategorized at 6:12 am by admin
Another kitty. Yes. It happened.
Baby Charlie. I went to get my hair done by my Canadian hair master, Robert, in Manila. His shop is on a dirty street corner between Rockwell (nice shopping mall and condos) and Burgos (red light district). I found him through recommendations of other teachers. Anyway - he found Charlie on his walk to the shop that morning. He was alone and starving. So he and his partner had been feeding Charlie, but left him outside all day. He was hiding and sleeping in a small bush outside the shop. As I was getting my hair done I could see him struggling to walk, getting bullied by big nasty street cats, etc. I couldn't handle it. As I was leaving and waiting for Ryan to pick me up, Robert and Allen were outside with me setting up a cardboard box for Charlie. They had told me they were going to be leaving in the next couple days for 2 months. So the little Charlie would probably get eaten by a bigger street animal. AH! Robert picked him up and asked if I wanted to hold him... If Ryan had been on time, I would have already been half way home by this point. But he had me waiting over 20 minutes! So I blame Ryan for me ever having touched the kitten. Well. I held him. He crawled in to my big green puma bag. And the rest is history. Charlie slept the entire way home and I made it about 15 minutes before I told Ryan that I had a surprise for him. Haha. I had no idea what we were going to do - but I knew I couldn't walk away from a baby that needed us. Ryan's first reaction was awesome. He goes, "RACH! What are we going to do with SIX cats?! Ok... let me see him." And he grabbed my bag (while he was driving) and insisted on getting a look at the baby. : )
He has had a lot to eat and a lot of attention. His white and black fur has totally grown so much softer and whiter. It is amazing what a difference food will have on a body. He loves to be in small spaces. He actually climbed in to Ryan's pocket and slept there for hours! It is really funny, because every one of our babies has done this same thing!
He has gotten so big in the 3 weeks we've had him! Look at that belly! He loves being close to us and snuggling.
Bing brought her son, Zarion "Sam", to work and he loved playing with Charlie!
He loves playing with the ornaments on our tree and every time we can't find him, it turns out that he is sleeping under the tree!
And yes, we have been trying to find him a home… but things are different here. People that are willing to take in animals are hard to come by. We tried to leave him with the vet and with PAWS (sort of like a Humane Society) but they run on donations and don’t even have enough food for the animals they have. Sad. So we still have him. I kick myself for taking him home, but - how could I live with myself if I turned my back on an animal that I knew was going to starve or be killed without me? What kind of person would I be - and could I live with that person?
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:40 am by admin
Ryan did GOOD! He bought tickets to The Sound of Music and surprised me with an AWESOME date night! I grew up singing along with this movie and when I was in Austria during college, I did a Sound of Music tour (by myself with random women). I think it is one of the best musicals ever! I love the music, the story, and the history! Ryan hadn’t seen it before he met me… the poor boy. And now I don’t think he holds the same undying love for it as me, but the important thing is that he is willing to sit through it (awake or asleep, it doesn’t matter) with me. We knew it was coming to the Philippines and Resort World is where it would be played. Resort World is the big new casino near the Cebu Pacific airport (NAIA Terminal 3). It has lots and lots of shopping, food, gambling, a movie theatre, and performance stage. We got all dressed up and had a great time at the show. I thought it would be weird to see a Filipino Von Trap family, but they did such a good job - that it didn’t matter at all! I was SO happy the entire time!
All dressed up and off to the show!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:27 am by admin
We lost two kiddos at the end of this semester. Being at an international school means that we have a lot of movement. Kids come and go because of their parents’ work all the time. I will get new kids every January and February. And I lose kids every December. It is always sad, but that’s the way it goes here. We said goodbye to a fun Australian boy to a move for his father’s job in Abu Dhabi and an adorable Korean girl to a move back to Korea. We had a really fun first semester.
Team Hunter! Gathered around our tree and all of the books and other presents!
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Posted in Uncategorized at 5:20 am by admin
During December, life is crazy at Brent. We have performances, productions, concerts, parties, etc out the yin yang. It is nuts. All good. But nuts. On one crazy morning before a string of Lower School Christmas Production performances, Sarah and I were allowing our students to change into their costumes in our rooms. Girls in Sarah’s room, boys in mine. As I was re-entering the classroom, a kid was going out and the big, heavy metal door smashed my toe, bad. I felt it and was so scared to look down. There was blood instantly and a throbbing pain half way up my leg and my stomach was turning. I refused to get too close or make a scene (pride). So I hobbled back in the room to calm my kids’ nerves before the production. But they noticed the blood and came swarming around me. A kid asked what happened (well, a lot of them were freaking out and asking what happened) and my first, quick response was, “_____ bit me.” HAHAHA. He is my adorable Indian boy that I joke around with a lot. He heard me say it and everyone started repeating my story. Within a couple seconds, he made his way to the front of the crowd of kids and said wide-eyed, “Ms. Hunter! Did I bite you?!” He was so worried! I wanted to cry it was the cutest thing ever! I hugged him and let him know I was joking. I got all the kids in their seats with their journals and I had them write a journal entry with the prompt “I saw the blood on Ms. Hunter’s toe…” It was SO perfect. I sat in the front of the room, blood still dripping onto my sandal, while they wrote about the dramatic event. I had several of them share out loud and they were all SO hilarious! Some of them blamed the same student I did, and others put some really clever twists and turns into this crazy “who done it’ mystery. We all had such great laughs! It was an awesome bonding experience for all of us. And - my students were super gentle with me all day. They were mostly disappointed that I couldn’t play soccer at recess.
3 hours later, after the performance and my first time without students, I hobbled down to Ryan’s office and had him clean up my foot. I could have gone to our clinic, but I was too afraid that they would try something weird and I am NOT good with blood and guts. Ryan cleaned my toe, my sandal and sent me on my way. I kept a bandage on it for 2 weeks before I finally went to get a pedicure. Jess (one of my girls at our village spa) totally took care of me. She cut off the nail and now she paints over the naked toe to make it look like I’m not missing a nail.
To this day - none of them really know what happened. I stuck to my story and they all came up with their own explanations.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:58 am by admin
I have always had a Christmas tree in my classroom - and I love watching my students set it up and decorate it. I tell the kids to bring in ornaments, ribbon, and anything else they want to decorate our tree. Every year is different - some years it is naked and others it is totally full. Throughout the end of November and beginning of December, a lot of presents start accumulating under the tree - some for me from the kids and other teachers, some that I have wrapped for other teachers and the staff here, and BOOKS! We do a Book Exchange where we play with similar game rules to a White Elephant Gift Exchange. Every kid and teacher will bring in a wrapped book (used or new) and place it under our tree. During the last week of school before the December break, we play a fun Book Exchange game where everyone ends up with a book and it is a super fun time! I have the kids pull numbers out of a hat and that determines the order for picking books. Number one goes first and can pick any wrapped book under the tree. They open it in front of everyone and it is so suspenseful and dramatic. Haha. Every kid after has the option to ’steal’ a book from another classmate or pick a wrapped book under the tree. There are always popular books that everyone wants and books that no one wants. I stress BIG TIME that someone wrapped these books thinking that someone in their class would enjoy it. So put downs are NOT ALLOWED whatsoever and this is all for fun. If they don’t like their book, they are not allowed to show it. When a classmate is looking to steal a book, they are allowed to offer it out and be funny about it - but it has to be done in a way that won’t hurt the ‘givers’ feelings. The givers are totally anonymous because we don’t label the books. It works out really well and I’ve never had any issues with disappointment about the books or put downs - but it has to be established ahead of time that if Ms. Hunter thinks you’re being unkind - you will sit outside while we have a fun Book Exchange inside the classroom. It should be noted as well, that I play too and if I spot a book that could be ‘unwanted’ then I generally ’steal’ it and act like it is the coolest thing ever.
Two of my wonderful little boys, setting up the tree. Upside down of course. Hahaha! They were so determined, but it just wasn't working out for them. Later, my girls came in and fluffed it up. The boys, once they had it right side up, had no idea that the branches needed to be adjusted. So cute.
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Posted in Uncategorized at 4:35 am by admin
This has been a very strange year for weather. It has been really cold and cloudy. We were in Boracay for half of our November break (notice, I did not blog about that trip) and it rained almost the entire time! I was a major grouch; I’m lucky Ryan can make lemonade with lemons, because I sure can’t! Anyway, Ryan can explain the weather patterns and why this has been such a lame weather year. All I care about is that the sun finally came back!
We spent many weekends and Fridays after school (because we can leave earlier than usual on Fridays) at the 'big pool' during November and December. This pool is located in the other village right next to us with the mansions. This is the village where Pacquiao lives. No one is ever at this pool and we usually have it all to ourselves, with the exception of my friend Sarah or another random Brent teacher. It is a huge pool. We never used it before because we had our own Brentville pool. But when we got back to school this year, maintenance was remodeling the pool house. So the pool was closed.
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01.03.12
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:27 am by admin
Sarah loves to throw theme parties. This year, she hosted the Fairy Tale Party in November. Ryan and I had gotten the Queen of Hearts, The Mad Hatter, and Prince Charming made for Halloween. So we got to wear our costumes a lot in just a few weeks. The party was hilarious and fun!
Sarah "Tink" and Rach "Queenie"
Ryan "Prince Charming" and Yumi "Cheshire Kitty"
Props!
Fun games! Kiss the frog! I won... no big deal. : )
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Posted in Uncategorized at 3:18 am by admin
- Last time we were in Hong Kong we wanted to take a day trip to Macau (it is only an hour ferry ride away) but we were so in love with HK that we didn’t venture out. This time, we definitely knew we had to get there - especially since we had already bought the Starbucks cup! We try to be very strict about our Sbux cup rule.
A bit of info about Macau…
Both Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China. Macau was a Portuguese colony and actually it was the first and last European settlement in China. It was really cool to walk around and see the Portuguese influences in language and architecture. In 1999 there was a handover of Macau and one of the stipulations was that Macau would remain with a high degree of autonomy until at least 2049, 50 years after the handover. Interesting, right? The economy of Macau is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism; people over here call it the Vegas of Asia. Haha. So we definitely wanted to check it out!
The ferries are comfortable, fast, and totally efficient. We showed up at the terminal, bought a ticket, passed through immigration and were on the boat in less than 10 minutes. Pretty sweet deal. We played cards the entire way.
We landed at #21 and walked part of the Grand Prix route to the waterfront and fisherman's wharf on the map. That whole area is really cool and has shops, restaurants, and when we were there a red carpet (see below) for a yacht show. They also have a big (but fake, of course) Roman Coloseum.
Soaking up my time on the red carpet.
Coloseum! Are we in Rome?!
Walking deeper into the town and towards the casinos. It felt like a really crazy mix between China and Portugal! Farmacia with Chinese lettering next to it!
We found the Wynn! It was beautiful on the inside! When we walked through I felt like we were in Vegas!
They even had a cool water show in this pool! It played to music! You can see other casinos lined up behind us.
Senado Square is a really cool area to walk to. It has a bunch of winding streets with newer and older stores... a great mix of traditional vs modern. At the end of the square is the old ruins of St. Paul's Basilica that stands behind us.
Next to the ruins, you can walk up to this old fortress. You have views of the entire surrounding area. Cannons line the roof. In the middle of the roof, people were practicing sword fighting! I am sure there is a special significance and name for it - but I'm just ignorant.
On our walk, Ryan said to me, "Rach, I think that family is Filipino." I smiled and as we turned a corner, we realized we were walking through some sort of Filipino area!
The Macau Grand Prix was held just before we came! How cool! We kept running into the course (still set up) as we walked around the windy streets.
Beautiful old buildings.
Macau was really neat to see. We were obviously only there for a few hours and didn’t do nearly enough. But we were tired from so much walking, and to be honest - I really wanted to get back to have dinner on Kowloon. But Macau was great. I’m sure the nightlife is insane!
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12.29.11
Posted in Uncategorized at 8:53 am by admin
We planned our Halloween Hong Kong trip a year before, during our last visit to HK! We love the feel of the city, the mass transpo and how easy it is to get around, the food, the shopping, the weather… gosh… we should try to live here!
So cold once we arrived! This is on the tram in the airport taking us to baggage claim.
Behind us is Hong Kong. We are on the Kowloon promenade. My hair is WILD!
Star Ferry takes passengers on a 5 minute ride to and from HK to Kowloon. It is cheap, easy, and so fun!
On the Star Ferry, leaving HK and headed to Kowloon for a walk, Starbucks on the promenade and then Temple Street Market for shopping and dinner.
My favorite Starbucks that I have been to, ever. Honestly, we have been to a lot of Starbucks. This one, on the Kowloon Promenade, overlooking the HK skyline and harbor is pretty amazing! We have sat out in the sun on the deck or on the upper deck in the shade. No matter where you are the drinks are great and the view even better!
DUMBO! I always get the control panel! We fly sky high the entire time!
We had a great time in Hong Kong. Hopefully we will have another excuse to get back there sooner rather than later!
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