And So It Begins.....
Well, Erin & I have been here for a little over a week now, so I thought I'd get started on this blog. We figured this may be one of the best ways to keep in touch with folks, as far as updates in our lives, then maybe we can send less mass emails and more personal ones.
So, here goes... The flight over was long, but it wasn't bad. We had a layover in LA, where we met Erin's aunt & cousins and went out for lunch. We hopped aboard Singapore Airlines and took off. I must say, if you ever get the chance to fly Singapore Air, TAKE IT! It's the nicest airline I've ever been on. The food was good, the stewardesses (yes stewardesses, not flight attendants) were very friendly, there was a large variety of entertaining programs and movies on our little video monitors, it was a decent flight. We had an hour stopover in Tokyo. We got off the plane, but didn't see much in the little area of the terminal where we were. There was a little gift shop/snack store, but since we didn't have any yen, we couldn't purchace any squid snacks.
After that, we left for Singapore. We stayed there for a night in a really nice hotel. Singapore is a really nice city. Very very clean. No spitting, no gum chewing, no littering, all sorts of rules that all come with heavy fines. In the afternoon we wandered around the city. Went into a little shopping center where we were accosted by every shopkeeper there, who wanted us to buy something. We ended up getting silk kimonos. Not because we wanted them, but because the little shopkeeper wouldn't let us leave until we bought them. She even grabbed my arm and took me to the ATM to get money to purchase them. It wasn't as scary as it sounds, more annoying. We basically bought them just so she would leave us alone. We bargained the price down to 68 Singapore dollars, so roughly $45 USD.
We flew out that evening and arrived in Jakarta where we were met by Kale, Katie & Sally. Sally is the expat coordinator and this cute little Kiwi (that is, a New Zealander) who is one of the nicest people on earth. We left the airport and headed to Bukit Sentul and to our new home for two years. A nice, three story, four bedroom house.
Now, after a week, we're almost completely settled in and have just finished our new arrival orientation and a faculty retreat. Next week; faculty meetings! Hooray! I'll be teaching english, drama and religion to students in the Middle Years Program, which is grades 7 - 10. Erin will be teaching english and a humanities class (geography, social studies, world history, etc.) to the same grades. The school is really nice. In the center of the school is a big open-air courtyard which looks like a rainforest. There are all sorts of tropical trees and plants growing and a huge Koi pond. It's really pretty. I hope we can take some pictures soon to post so you can see it all.
So that's the abridged version of our lives up to date, more or less. More will be coming, so just check back once in a while to see what we've added.
Take care everyone!
So, here goes... The flight over was long, but it wasn't bad. We had a layover in LA, where we met Erin's aunt & cousins and went out for lunch. We hopped aboard Singapore Airlines and took off. I must say, if you ever get the chance to fly Singapore Air, TAKE IT! It's the nicest airline I've ever been on. The food was good, the stewardesses (yes stewardesses, not flight attendants) were very friendly, there was a large variety of entertaining programs and movies on our little video monitors, it was a decent flight. We had an hour stopover in Tokyo. We got off the plane, but didn't see much in the little area of the terminal where we were. There was a little gift shop/snack store, but since we didn't have any yen, we couldn't purchace any squid snacks.
After that, we left for Singapore. We stayed there for a night in a really nice hotel. Singapore is a really nice city. Very very clean. No spitting, no gum chewing, no littering, all sorts of rules that all come with heavy fines. In the afternoon we wandered around the city. Went into a little shopping center where we were accosted by every shopkeeper there, who wanted us to buy something. We ended up getting silk kimonos. Not because we wanted them, but because the little shopkeeper wouldn't let us leave until we bought them. She even grabbed my arm and took me to the ATM to get money to purchase them. It wasn't as scary as it sounds, more annoying. We basically bought them just so she would leave us alone. We bargained the price down to 68 Singapore dollars, so roughly $45 USD.
We flew out that evening and arrived in Jakarta where we were met by Kale, Katie & Sally. Sally is the expat coordinator and this cute little Kiwi (that is, a New Zealander) who is one of the nicest people on earth. We left the airport and headed to Bukit Sentul and to our new home for two years. A nice, three story, four bedroom house.
Now, after a week, we're almost completely settled in and have just finished our new arrival orientation and a faculty retreat. Next week; faculty meetings! Hooray! I'll be teaching english, drama and religion to students in the Middle Years Program, which is grades 7 - 10. Erin will be teaching english and a humanities class (geography, social studies, world history, etc.) to the same grades. The school is really nice. In the center of the school is a big open-air courtyard which looks like a rainforest. There are all sorts of tropical trees and plants growing and a huge Koi pond. It's really pretty. I hope we can take some pictures soon to post so you can see it all.
So that's the abridged version of our lives up to date, more or less. More will be coming, so just check back once in a while to see what we've added.
Take care everyone!
posted by Travis @ 11:00 AM
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