New Life, New Country, New Job

It has been a very long time since I last posted to this blog.  Years and years.  There is so much to catch you all up on, that is if you are still reading.

The long and the short of it is that my time in Bangladesh only last 2 academic years.  A multitude of reasons from safety, stress, professional growth and so on contributed to my looking for the next posting.  And after what seemed like a whirlwind of interviews and conversations, I took the job in the place that I'd never heard of knew least about: Ulm, Germany. 

I've been in Ulm, working as the social/emotional and university guidance counsellor for the past 2 academic years now and I'm very happy to say that I've signed on for a third year that hopefully turns into a fourth and fifth.  Going from Singapore to Bangladesh to Germany has been quite the ride and I've ever so grateful for all of it.  I've learned more about who I really am in the past five years than I thought was possible.  And, here in Germany, my creative self is starting to wake up again. I've recently gotten back into my art, to crocheting, and to writing.  It feels good to open that part of myself again when I felt afraid or too busy for such a long time.

Watch this space as I update you on all we have missed for the last few years.  I do want to share Bangladesh with all of you as it's such a special place to me for so many more reasons than why I felt like I had to leave it.  I also want to share my new romance with my new home.  To say I'm smitten with Germany would be an understatement.  I'm also thrilled to have had some wonderful travel opportunities as well as professional developments. 

See you soon with more!!

Japanese? In Dhaka?!

Yes, you read that right.  One of the other newbies and I had thought to get our meal from our favourite bakery (and I was out of the DELICIOUS granola they make) but it was closed.  So, off we went in search of a restaurant.  Our poor driver (Ashraf) had NO idea where the restaurant was and even resorted to shouting out the window for directions to a Japanese restaurant.

How did we know where to even look?  Thankfully my friend had the skinny on a great site for locating the best foods in the city (I love people who already source that stuff out for me).  So if you are ever in Dhaka (if you are ever in Dhaka... hahaha), make sure to check out Dhaka Snob when looking for something really delicious to fill your tummy.

Tonight, we went to a place in Gulshan 2 called Izumi.  In the middle of the chaos that is Dhaka:

we saw this:

This was actually from the inside but it was simply too pretty not to include.

The entrance

Looking to the left when entering

The entrance of Izumi

While we were instantly charmed by the entrance and the decor, we were even more impressed with the delicious food we ate (and we ate too much of it)!!

The beautiful, simple table setting.  The chopstick holder was made to look like edamame.

Baskets lined the ceiling.

Your standard soy container

The salmon sashimi and avocado salad (crazy good)

The vegetable tempura

About half of the kaarage (there was so much of it!!)

The tempura tuna and avocado roll

Sorry for the tilted picture, but this was our free miso soup at the end of the meal. 

Really and truly (and not just because I've had enough curry already), Izumi was one of the most pleasurable meals I've had.  The food was fresh and delicious.  Even the ginger was hand cut and pickled.  YUMMERS in my tummers is all I really have to say, that and I can't wait to go back!

When Fairytales Come True

When I was a little girl, I wanted to sleep in a princess bed. You know, the ones with the fancy curtains and gauzy netting all around. It didn't need to be pink (in fact, I hated pink back then) or gold or even very fancy, but it needed to have the pretty gauzy curtains. I held on to the romance of that childhood fantasy for years, right into my 30s. And now, as I'm about to turn 40, the fairytale bed has become my reality... Sort of:

But the romance of the bed is lost to the function of the gauze. It's there to keep the dengue filled Mosquitos from biting me in the wee hours of the dawn and making me sick. So, while I now have part of my childhood fairytale, there is none of the romance.  However, I'm more grateful for the practicality of the gauzy curtains than the romance or fantasy. So, thank you Dhaka for teaching me that practicality is a good thing! 

Driving SItes

Bangladesh is a colourful place with lots to look at when the monsoon rains aren't rearing their ugly heads.  I won't say that Dhaka is a beautiful city but there sure is beauty to be found there, as well as the quirky, and downright dangerous.

The other day driving home from school we saw monkeys on the road, cows grazing in a small paddock next to apartment buildings under construction as well as just on the road in general.  We also saw street dogs and cats as well as the odd goat along the roadside.  The most amazing site had to be the commuter train with people sitting on the top, on the outside!!!  What?!  Unfortunately, it was dark and my camera phone was buried in my purse.  I tried not to make that same mistake today as I rode to and from school.  Here are a few shots:

A type of rickshaw.  Apparently several students will come to school this way.

I was trying to get those big bales behind the man, they were on the back of a bicycle!!!

Beautiful sari'd ladies in the street this morning. 

The buses, people ride on top of these too!

An amusement park close to the school.  Don't worry, Mom, I have no intention of testing out those rides.

Colour Overload

So I've just been in Dhaka a few days and I've let the colours get me down rather than bring me up. Not the beautiful colours of the saris, or the amazing rickshaws:

Not even the bright colours in school (which I love), but the colours in my new place. They aren't my style and I've certainly obsessed about how much they aren't my style. I've let in get in the way of how gloriously big my new flat is and how nice it is to have a neighbour. I've let the colours I dislike rule some of my conversations with people I really like. And while I'd still like to paint over them, maybe my lesson to take away is that I choose how they make me feel. So I need to choose better, it's part of the process of living overseas.

Wall paper in the dining space

Corridor and dining/living room

Master bedroom

First Impressions: Dhaka

Always rushing to get in line to go nowhere fast. This is my first impression of Dhaka, at least at the airport. Once outside, your senses are assaulted with beeping horns and people chattering and rain falling. There isn't much to see in a monsoon but I did see lots of lush green trees everywhere. 

The heat doesn't seem too oppressive but that might be the three years in Singapore talking. The people are friendly and very interesting in getting to know who you are and what you are doing, which is as welcome a change as are their open, smiling faces.

No photos yet as I'm still jetlagged and stuck indoors with all the rain!

Hello Again

It's been nearly 3 years since I last produced a blog entry. Ever since I left Turkey behind and started my Singapore life, I put my blogs to the side and stopped writing. It wasn't as though Singapore wasn't interesting but somehow in my mind I felt it was too "vanilla" to be interesting to others. I also struggled my first year here with a debilitating back injury that ended up costing me over $10,000 in treatments etc, so it was fair to say that my feelings about Singapore ranged around bitter at best. 

But now as I prepare to leave, I deeply regret how little I shared of this adventure in my life. So over the summer holidays I'll be doing a bit of a catch-up series of the trips I've taken, the experiences I've had, and the people who've impacted my life.

So stay tuned!

Career Changes and Challenges

We've all changed careers a million times... in our heads at least.  I know I have.  When I was a little girl I was pretty convinced that I would be a successful singer and that I'd marry the young version of Elvis (he was already dead by then but you can't argue with the logic of a 4 year-old).  I stuck to my singing dreams until my grade 1 teacher praised my drawing and then I knew for sure I'd be an artist. After a while I realised that I could do both really and was contented with that.  As I got older I switched careers multiple more times from nurse to chef to flight attendant to psychologist.  Being a psychologist was my teen dream.  I loved learning about the inner workings of our brains and the causes for behaviours.  It was fascinating to me.  I shifted the dream slightly to child psychologist after my first few experiences in working with young children beyond simply babysitting.  Finally, during my final year of high school there was a click in my brain that gave me direction (and lots of encouragement from those in the business), I taught a child how to do something and saw that Ah-Ha moment happen and my life was forever changed.  I KNEW that I'd be a teacher, without a shadow of a doubt.  So I chose my university for it's renown in producing good educators, I struggled through my first year of general studies and applied for the education faculty.  I was denied and my hopes and dreams felt like they had been shattered.  I went back to school of course and focused on my love and passion for history, taking history courses and a few pre-requisites for teaching on the off chance that I could get in on the second try.  I applied again and wept with joy when my acceptance letter came that summer.  I don't think I realised how badly I wanted this career.  I entered the education faculty my third year and was laden with extra courses for having missed the second year.  I busted my butt and was happy to do it, I was going to be a teacher!
And a teacher is just what I am.  A teacher and a coach and I love what I do.  I am passionate about my students and offering them the best possible chance for success both in academics and in life in general. I'm often asked by my young charges if I have children of my own and my ready answer is that I don't need my own children because I get to love and help the children I work with all day.  I've seen thousands of children pass through my classrooms (I've taught Pre-K all the way to Grade 12 across a ridiculous number of subjects) and sports teams and I've loved them all (yes, even those that fought, swore, disrespected themselves, their peers and me, and we generally a challenge).  I feel like I'm changing the world with each one of them.  I look at those I taught in their high school years who are now parents, doctors, lawyers, business owners, accountants, members of the military service (this list could go on forever), and I'm proud and honoured that I got to be a part of their formative years.  Teaching is a blessing and I'm ready to move on.
WHAT?!?!
Yes... you read that correctly.  I love what I do but I'm ready for the next step in the work.  Many of your minds jumped to the word administrator or principal, didn't it?  Well, while that's a good next step for some, it's not for me.  It's not my dream to run a school or mentor teachers in that way.  My dream is to help kids who struggle.  My heart breaks for the little boy who can't control his anger and is being ostracised by his peers because of it, or the little girl who doesn't understand how not to be aggressive in her relationships with her peers.  I want to help the child whose self-esteem is plummeting and they're struggling to find a way to believe in themselves again.  I want to help the popular kid understand that the pressures they deal with that others don't see are real and that it's okay to struggle.  In short, I want to be a counsellor for children. All teachers do a level of this work but with the ever changing demands on the teaching profession, they simply don't have the time or the training to do it as effectively as they might like but a school counsellor does and that's what I want to do.  I've nurtured this dream of mine for several year but never felt ready to take the big step of asking for it or getting the training to start the wheels in motion, until yesterday.
Yesterday I applied to take courses for a diploma in professional counselling (I need to start small because finances are always an issue... my issue anyway, saving is not my thing really).  I feel like it's the right step for me.  I've also used the great site of www.coursera.org to register for some awesome and free psychology and behaviour development courses.  I even started my first coursera course today.  I'm taking one about behaviours in the classroom, how to assess and modify them to best suit the needs of the student.  I've just completed one lecture and I love it.  
So while teaching has been incredibly good to and for me, I'm ready to step it up a notch.  I'm not sure when or if I'll find a job as a full time counsellor (not next year for sure as I've already signed on to stay one more year at my current school in Singapore), but I'm taking the risk and the step towards a career change and I'm EXCITED!!

Basketball Coaching... Who Knew?

Volleyball has always been my sport.  It's been my sport since grade 4 when Mr. Jacobs recruited me to the team he had in elementary school because in PE class he noticed that I could serve over the net from behind the line already.  It's been my sport ever since it made me feel successful and part of a team.  I've loved lots of sports as a spectator though: ice hockey (you have to specify when you have international readers), soccer (futbol for you international folks), gymnastics, martial arts and the list could go on but as an athlete (yes, even with all my chub I still know the athlete that dwells within) volleyball has always been first.  I've learned to love playing soccer and basketball, even running (or shuffling in my case).  But as a coach I've always had the most success and comfort with MY sport: volleyball.  So last year when I came to my new school and asked to coach MY sport, I was shocked to learn that MY sport wasn't played or coached at my new school, but that I could coach the youngest team of Boys Basketball.  Because I love what coaching does that teaching in a classroom can't, I said yes and so it began.  That first season was mostly a mess.  I didn't really have a great grasp on what I was doing and being injured in my back sure didn't help.  I survived the season but the boys grasped little of the game and struggled with their skill development (they loved the sport and our time together so that made all the difference), I didn't feel like a success but the guys who coached the older boys were happy with what I had been doing.  They asked me to help with the next age level up (Under 14s - Junior Varsity) and I agreed as it would be a good chance for me to learn.  The tryouts went well and the coach made great selections.  The team looked great and then the coach dropped out, leaving me to coach.  I wasn't ready but the U19 (Varsity) coach stepped in and I kept my spot as an assistant coach. *phew* I learned a ton that season, I learned about plays, defense, offense, player positions and the like.  And I learned what it was like to win a gold as a coach. It was stressful and wonderful.
Fast forward to this current school year and now I'm the head coach for the U19 and the U14 teams.  The U19 boys let me feel like I knew what I was doing (the reality is that they are an incredibly talented group of boys with a heart for the sport and for each other) and we took gold again, with only 1 defeat for the entire season.  I was on top of the world!  Now I'm in the midst of the U14 season and I've challenged my boys to step up a division (there are 4 divisions ranging from top schools in sport to the smaller schools that are just figuring it out and we are competing in the second division even though we are just a small school) and they are answering with heart and hard work.  I don't know if a third gold is in our future but I know basketball is fast becoming MY sport... well, it's tied for first anyway.

A Long Overdue Update

It's been a very long time since I last posted on here.  Well over a year ago.  I'm ashamed to say that I have no excuse for not posting earlier.  I've had good things to write about and will be posting about each individually but here is the basic breakdown:

*coaching took prominence in my life and 2 gold medals later, I'm feeling satisfied with where it's taking me.

*back injuries are forever (especially when you don't lose the weight that you should) and I'm finding ways to heal

*UFit is changing my life slowly but surely (UFit is a fitness group here in Singapore that specializes in group bootcamps as well as personal training sessions)

*Travel is back: Australia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Boracay, Cambodia, and bumming around my great city in between travels.

*Career changes are on the horizon.

And I'm staying in Singapore for another year.  Please come back to reading my blog and posts and I promise to be more faithful as a writer.  Each of the points above will be a post in it's own right very soon!

CNY Singapore Style

Welcome to the year of the snake.  I'm not sure what that will mean but I hope it's one of prosperity, joy, health and happiness for everyone.
This isn't my first time in an Asian country so I thought I knew what to expect come this time of year, but it's totally different here in Singapore.  In Korea, it was a time for offering tables to the ancestors, visiting ancestral homes, bowing to your elders, getting money and eating yourself silly (doesn't sound too different from lots of westren holidays I know, minus the bowing and offering tables).  I loved it in Korea but that was because after 8 years of living there, I understood it (as much as a foreigner not living in a Korean home or family can understand it I guess).  I thought it would be pretty much the same in Singapore but from what I gather, it is and it isn't.

Sure, you still make offerings, you still visit family homes and you still eat lots but the young'uns aren't required to bow to their elders in order to receive their hongbao (little red envelopes with money), instead they simply needed to show up with an offering of mandarin oranges (please understand that this is my first Chinese New Year here and I'm sure I'm making sweeping and over simplified generalizations.... but this is my impression from what I've gathered by asking questions and just keeping my eyes open).  There also seems to be much more of an element of celebration to the New Year here.  Each day for the past 4 days, there have been trucks with drums and gongs and other instruments driving around the streets making music and just general noise for a few hours each day.

Then there are the fireworks that take place downtown and the parades and ceremonies in Chinatown.  I didn't get to see that part, I wisely avoided the overly crowded streets and went home.  There is a lot more decoration and colour here as well during this time of year, everyone is dressed up in lucky colours and celebrating with joy and glee.  Here are a few shots of the quieter streets today in Chinatown: