The Visa Numbers are Ready

August 27 and heard today the visa numbers has been released and, if nothing else goes wrong, we should be there by September 7. Alhumdullilah.

This photo was taken on a windy day this past May in Seattle.

Michele, my sub at school, is running from her 5th grade class to my 6th grade and algebra classes and then onto 2nd graders. She deserves lots of chocolate.

I have completed my 2 weeks of lesson plans and will learn more about Blackboard.

Tomorrow Westerly.

School Starts Today

August 23, 2008
It is 7:20am and I just got up and the first day of school is already over. I wonder how many students arrived today? Were they all smiles? Were they nervous and anxious like I would have been if I was there to greet them?

What are their names? What did they do over the summer?

It is sunny in Stonington and I have been sitting in the library wondering what to do with the Algebra class. I will keep wondering.

Found a website to listen and practice Arabic. I stopped at Dhal.

Time to switch gears and work on illustrations.

August 13, and still waiting

The contract for school starts August 16 and here it is August 13, 2008, and I am still sitting in Stonington, CT with no idea when I will be leaving. Boxes are sealed and bags are packed.

Today photos arrived of the villas where we will be living. They are furnished and seem spacious. There are swimming pools calling out my name. Can’t wait to start decorating the place and calling it home.

In the meantime, per the principal’s request, I am writing lesson plans to send to the school in case we, the new teachers, are not there when school starts. To be on the safe side, they said to prepare plans for the first two weeks of school. Right now it looks like we will get there in time for the September 10 day break starting September 23.

August 6, 2008 Waiting for the Visa

August 6, 2008 and still no visa. The last message from the school was Aug 1 saying to be patient and, inshallah, the visas could be done around Aug 10. This visa process is a bottleneck because the rest of the logistical arrangements, like booking flights and shipping boxes, hinges on getting the visa. I can already see the writing on the wall, school starts with the students Aug 23 and we, the new 18 teachers, will arrive Aug 22 at midnight.
To prepare for this upcoming maelstrom, I have my ten boxes for shipping packed, sealed, weighed and measured with documented inventory with values. I am standing at shipping 160 pounds. I don’t really have to ship any of these things but then again I don’t really have anywhere to store these things and I could use these things to set up my villa. Not ready to totally let go of everything yet.
I called the shipping company making whatever prearrangements I can and they are even in the dark with the school. This is their first time working with the school so I am not surprised but I have faith it will all work out.
The checked luggage is also waiting on the sidelines and is getting a little heavier than I expected. Turns out the shipped boxes cannot contain liquids so my 24oz bottle of Vermont maple syrup and bottles of contact solution has to go with my books, music CDs, movie DVDs, and photos. All this adds up to heavy. But, will it be more than 23kg heavy, the allotted maximum weight for a checked bag? Guess it is time to get the scale out again and weigh them to avoid a repacking scramble at the airport.
Besides playing the packing game to pass the time, I have done what I can with start of school prep. I have my introduction letter to the students, classroom procedures, supply list philosophy and checklist, book sign out, grading policy, and words to live by like Simplify, Cooperation, and Think. My grading / lesson plan book is ready to enter names and daily lessons. Based on the student stats from October 2006 (the website needs a bit updating), roughly, here is the breakdown of students:
25% American
10% Egyptians
10% Saudi
9% Lebanese
8% Canadian
7% Korean
36% other 20 nationalities
Number per grade based on October 2006 data. I assume there will be more than this.
49 6th graders
54 7th graders
48 8th graders
Another thing I will do today to pass the time is to get two wisdom teeth pulled.