Matter of Weeks

Greetings everyone. To my multitide of blog fans (my parents and maybe 2 other souls), I sincerely apologize. My excuse would normally be that I was really busy (I was). But I honestly didn't think anything NEW was happening. It's the same old stuff: work work work, enjoying my short free times, the students are well, still pains and still love to scream and run around in their underwear, still have plenty of problems with this school, but the faculty and staff are hanging in there. My classes are going well, we just had Track and Field Day, and I have 2 weeks of classes left.

It's crazy. Yesterday I planned out my entire Geometry class (circles!!) and I will plan out the rest of my other classes today. It's funny, because while I'm planning, I am telling myself that I need more classes to finish what I need to teach! It's just insane that it's all coming to an end.

May 12th I have the debate. The team is working hard this year, but now that Track and Field is over, we will really start preparing a lot more. The proposition is about the FSM having an office of a Special (Independent) Prosecutor. It's very interesting, and I am actually learning a good amount
about this. So at least I have that to keep working on.

But other than that, this is basically it. my 2 years are up. And I'm trying not to think about it that much. Sure, when I go online and talk with people at home, that's all they bring up, and I bring it up as well, but as soon as I step away from the computer, it's back to reality and continuing my lesson planning, grading, sweating (it's really hot here, incase you forgot) and just getting through one day at a time.

I will be home sometime in mid-June. Again, just writing that is nuts, but knowing that it will be a reality very soon is something.

So that's really it right now. People ask me how I'm feeling, and at this point I say "Excited." I mean, we're all so exhausted that I AM ready to be finished with classes and these students. However, we all know that after 2
weeks, I will become more nervous, sad, depressed, who knows. But right now the feeling is not that bad. I'll let you know in a few weeks.

Oh, by the way, Campbell sent me a 40 gigabyte external hard drive for me to bring home all of the pictures and videos I want (it took 3 months to get here, but it got here). This thing is soooo big I can probably erase all of the computers at this school and back them up. This thing can also fly and make espressos. Just kidding. Point is you will all see plenty of quality pictures when I get home.

Take care and see you all soon!

The Past Two Years in Numbers

It's been a long time, everyone, but I'm still here.

I'm in the middle of Easter Break right now. This has been a break all of us have been looking forward to since January. Thank goodness for this break.

But the thing on my mind is the fact that I have 2 months left. It's crazy to think about. But I am resting up in order to reenergize myself, so the last 5 weeks of teaching are worthwhile.

There are new pictures uploaded as well. Enjoy those. And enjoy this blog by numbers.

Also, I can finally say with sincerity: "See you all soon."


Number of times I taught class with footwear: 0

Number of smelly teenage boys that sleep in the dorm right below me: 80

Number of inches my hair grew out to: 6-7

Number of waterfalls hiked to: 3 (4 if you count the Twin Waterfalls as 2)

Number of tiny kids who didn’t speak English I befriended (Let’s do the math: each village/small lagoon island has anywhere from 5-20 little kids, times the number of villages/small lagoon islands I’ve been to. Of course, this does not even count Pohnpei and the dozens of kids in Majuro…): A LOT

Number of new languages I can say "hello" in: 7 (6 of them you probably never heard of before)

Number of feet (depth) that I swam above in the ocean: probably a few
hundred; visibility only went down to 60 feet.

Number of times I experienced below 65 degree weather in the past two years: (not counting the super market in Guam) 0

Number of times to eat strawberries, steak, gorgonzola cheese, bagels, pesto sauce, fresh (insert ANYTHING): 0

Number of students taught: around 150

Number of subjects I had to "master" in order to "teach": 5

Number of times I wore shoes in the past year (starting from this August): 0

Number of satellites viewed in one hour: over 8, then stopped counting.

Number of times it snowed: 3 (just kidding)

Number of sports related to badminton I have mastered: 1

Number of glasses I had to go through: 4

Number of permanent scars (so far): 2

Number of Japanese and Indonesian items of clothing I now own: 3 and 1, respectively, so 4

Number of centimeters of my current (and thickest) zorries (sandles): .9 – 1.2 cm (some parts are worn down)

Number of nights to sleep on the hard floor or hard surface: Probably over 20

Number of days without any power (island power or school generator): record, during last year’s final exams, around 3

Number of days Chuuk had 24-hour power: Well, it began in the middle of this February, but last week we had 3 days without any island power, so about 60. (Of course, there were a few days in those 60 where island power went out for an hour/6 hours/12 hours, then continued generating long lasting power)

Number of times to see the president of the FSM / times we hung out with the president: 3 / 2

Pwa pwa pwi pwi pwe pwe
(The Happy, Friendly Turtle)