It’s Been So Long!

5 April 2014

I originally started writing this post right around my birthday (back in mid February), but have been slacking ever since. Work has been fairly busy, and I have had little to no motivation to do anything productive on the weekends. Sorry about that…

Here is the short but sweet version of what has been happening since you last heard from me.

1. I was home in December/January for three weeks. I had an absolutely fantastic time catching up with friends and family. A special shout out and thanks to Brittney and Jason for picking me up from the airport and not only bringing me a winter jacket, but also for humoring my request for fresh cheese curds and Kwik Trip chocolate milk. Love you guys! Of course three weeks was not long enough to see everyone or spend enough time with the people I did see, for that matter. I will be home again in September, though, for Brittney and Jason’s wedding. You can email to make your appointment to hang out anytime before then J  But, seriously, I really did have a calendar with my “dates” on it, otherwise I never would have kept it straight. I also recruited my very talented friend, Korena, to help me scrapbook the entire past year. It was a long few days, and it's still not technically done (it's just at my dad's house all put together, but I still need to write on half of the pages. But it's better than nothing). 

2. Upon my return to Jakarta, I tucked in for Term 3 at work. Work consists of my attempting to learn and do my best with the 3^rd grade topics and improving upon my teaching of the same 4^th grade topics I taught last year. The exciting news is that one of my third grade math classes “lost” six of its lowest students, because the school hired a teacher for them to have a pull-out class. My time and energy with the 16 current students in that class seems so much better spent than what had been happening with the entire class in the first semester. It makes my day so much less stressful.

3. We had a long weekend for the Chinese New Year holiday. Kristina and I went diving in Padang Bai, Bali, and Nicole came to snorkel. We scheduled two days of diving, for a total of five dives. Our dive sites were Blue Lagoon, Nusa Penida, and the visibility was absolutely spectacular. The best part was drift diving, which we’re not even (technically) certified to do. Our first choice of a dive site was too rough of conditions, so we went to a different site, typically for advanced divers. Once we descended and swam around a little, we followed our guide into the current along the reef. We literally were pulled along in the current as we floated past the reef, no swimming required.

Motorbike Adventure  

Why yes we would like to jump off the top of the boat.

Keep Calm and Scuba Dive.

4. Nothing else major has happened, that I can think of right now. I’m just trying to enjoy my remaining time in Jakarta with my friends before we part ways in June. On that note, I just watched the entire season 9 of How I Met Your Mother on Thursday and Friday night, and that finale made me cry and really think about all of the great people I’ve met since I moved here.