We have just enjoyed a long weekend so decided to head to the zoo. Rach was keen to see the animals and I was keen to try out my new birthday present camera.
The Zoo is a very polished tourist experience and rather humane for a Zoo. Lots of the animals are wandering or climbing around without fences. The monkeys were all free to roam around, with I guess some well thought out strategies to keep them from straying too far. The orang-utans where handing out on this island where you could walk through on board walk.
Its taken us nearly a year and think we have finally done most of the local attractions. We need some more long weekends to explore a little further towards Indonesia or Malaysia. Lots of friends headed off to resorts over the weekend, and to nice beaches a couple of hours north in Malaysia.
It is now exactly a year since we moved out of our place in Claremont Grove and began our shift. How a year flies by.
Showing posts with label singapore. Show all posts
Showing posts with label singapore. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Teaching with laptops
Since moving to Singapore, Rach and I have both been teaching in a full laptop environment. Each kid in our Grade 9 and Grade 11 classes have laptops which are linked to the wireless network. The laptops have sure altered the way we both teach. Rachel is now a convert to you tube and enjoys finding geeky videos for Geography. I now use a variety of blogs and school ICT stuff to make the learning a bit more interesting.
For both of us it has been an excellent opportunity for developing our craft as teachers and will be a nice string to our CV's when we eventually move on. I have recently presented a bit of research on the effectiveness of laptops. The conference was for all of the Singapore schools and it was a great chance to network, and to also begin the path towards maybe beginning my masters.
For both of us it has been an excellent opportunity for developing our craft as teachers and will be a nice string to our CV's when we eventually move on. I have recently presented a bit of research on the effectiveness of laptops. The conference was for all of the Singapore schools and it was a great chance to network, and to also begin the path towards maybe beginning my masters.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Formula One Night Race
Along with a mate from school, I headed along to the Formula One last night. Friday was the cheapest of the three nights so we grabbed tickets. At $38 for a walk-about ticket it was a bargain. For the same privilege, a walkabout ticket on race night is $128. A seat in a stand begins at $300 up to $1,200 per seat along pit lane.
The atmosphere was electric and the city spectacular under lights. The 5km night circuit loops around an area called Marina Bay which contains numerous attractions such as the Esplanade theaters, the Singapore Flyer and the grandiose Fullerton Hotel. We happily walked around during the first practise session and found plenty of good spots to watch the cars rush past. The bridge across the harbour was a good place to see the cars hit 300km/hour and then brake for a 90 degree corner. In between practise sessions everyone congregated in the central Padang cricket ground for live music and waited for the late session to begin.
The highlight of the late session was a crash by a Renault driver in the same spot as the now infamous accident when Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on team orders to help Fernando Alonso, another Renualt driver win the 2008 race. An unexpected part of the race for me was the live music running throughout the weekend. Friday night was headlined by Katy Perry, who incidentally didn't turn up to the stage. We could figure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps she was stuck in a bar kissing a girl or trying to find a F1 boyfriend. On Saturday night, Travis is playing.
I didn't have my camera, as Rachel took it back to NZ, so have borrowed a few pics from Flikr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimiraikkonen/
The atmosphere was electric and the city spectacular under lights. The 5km night circuit loops around an area called Marina Bay which contains numerous attractions such as the Esplanade theaters, the Singapore Flyer and the grandiose Fullerton Hotel. We happily walked around during the first practise session and found plenty of good spots to watch the cars rush past. The bridge across the harbour was a good place to see the cars hit 300km/hour and then brake for a 90 degree corner. In between practise sessions everyone congregated in the central Padang cricket ground for live music and waited for the late session to begin.
The highlight of the late session was a crash by a Renault driver in the same spot as the now infamous accident when Nelson Piquet Jr crashed on team orders to help Fernando Alonso, another Renualt driver win the 2008 race. An unexpected part of the race for me was the live music running throughout the weekend. Friday night was headlined by Katy Perry, who incidentally didn't turn up to the stage. We could figure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Perhaps she was stuck in a bar kissing a girl or trying to find a F1 boyfriend. On Saturday night, Travis is playing.
I didn't have my camera, as Rachel took it back to NZ, so have borrowed a few pics from Flikr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimiraikkonen/
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Back to the coalface
Holidays seem like a long forgotten memory now. We have been back in Singapore for nearly two months, and are well back into the swing of teaching and living on the equator.
Our local MRT/Subway station, about 5min walk.
The school year runs from August to June in most international schools, so August represents a fresh start with a new group of student to remember. This year it took me about four weeks until I could confidently remember all of the students names. I still have trouble remembered the names such as Jong In, Sang Hoon, Sang Mo, Hye Jin, Hoang Duy. After a while, I can put a face to a name but my brain is still in a western mindset. Give me a list of Jessica, Emma, Jane and Emily and it would take a week. I am teaching Economics, Humanities and Business Management this year. Humanities is my first junior class overseas. They are about 5th form, the remainder of my classes are 6th or 7th form NZ equilvients.
Other than school we have caught up with lots of people. An orienteering mate Darren was in town running a competition called the Hillary Challenge for Singapore schools. Was great to catch up and see a bit of outdoors stuff. The Minstry of Education in Singapore contracts the NZ Outdoor Pursuits Centre and Darren to run the competion. It is limited to local schools, otherwise the international schools would have a large presence.
I also competing in my first race in Singapore. It was a 5km race around the Formula One circuit which was closed to traffic. I managed a cheeky win, from a field of 4000 people. Pity none of them could really run, as it was a great course andfully closed to all traffic. I ran 16.45 which is slow by NZ standards but somehow fast by Singapore standards. I am always looking for a few more races to enter. I keep missing the cut offs for the big races. The Standard and Chartered Marathon/Half Marathon has closed entries at their limit of 50,000 competiors. Need to plan ahead when the races are so popular and not scheduled until Dec ! guttered
Our local MRT/Subway station, about 5min walk.The school year runs from August to June in most international schools, so August represents a fresh start with a new group of student to remember. This year it took me about four weeks until I could confidently remember all of the students names. I still have trouble remembered the names such as Jong In, Sang Hoon, Sang Mo, Hye Jin, Hoang Duy. After a while, I can put a face to a name but my brain is still in a western mindset. Give me a list of Jessica, Emma, Jane and Emily and it would take a week. I am teaching Economics, Humanities and Business Management this year. Humanities is my first junior class overseas. They are about 5th form, the remainder of my classes are 6th or 7th form NZ equilvients.
Other than school we have caught up with lots of people. An orienteering mate Darren was in town running a competition called the Hillary Challenge for Singapore schools. Was great to catch up and see a bit of outdoors stuff. The Minstry of Education in Singapore contracts the NZ Outdoor Pursuits Centre and Darren to run the competion. It is limited to local schools, otherwise the international schools would have a large presence.
I also competing in my first race in Singapore. It was a 5km race around the Formula One circuit which was closed to traffic. I managed a cheeky win, from a field of 4000 people. Pity none of them could really run, as it was a great course andfully closed to all traffic. I ran 16.45 which is slow by NZ standards but somehow fast by Singapore standards. I am always looking for a few more races to enter. I keep missing the cut offs for the big races. The Standard and Chartered Marathon/Half Marathon has closed entries at their limit of 50,000 competiors. Need to plan ahead when the races are so popular and not scheduled until Dec ! guttered
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
International Schools
We have been thinking a lot about the contrast between teaching back home in NZ and our new environment in the ‘international’ schools system.
Our school ISS, (International School of Singapore) tends to be classified like many other schools in Singapore as international, because it offers a curriculum that is foreign to the local Singapore national curriculum and that it draws students from a range of nationalities. Our school offers a curriculum called the International Baccalaureate, which includes a Diploma programme in the last two years. Students study six subjects for two years and sit one final exam in May. This is the largest contrast from the NZ system, which I perceived as too heavily focused and potentially driven by external examinations and assessment specifications. The curriculum is global in nature and prescribed by a group that originated in France in the 1970’s from memory. The benefit of the International Baccalaureate is that students can easily change schools and fit into new classes with ease. This is important for some of the transient students who follow their parent’s careers around the world. One Malaysian student arrived in my class in January. He was born in Malaysia but has since travelled the world, and arrived at our school from Stockholm in Sweden last year. He still had the same Economics textbook I use and slotted into class with ease.
Other bigger schools in Singapore such as United World College of South Asia (UWC) offer the British IGSE and A Levels, the Australian School of Singapore offers the New South Wales Curriculum, and is beginning to introduce the International Baccalaureate over the next couple of years. The size of schools here are far larger than most in NZ and perhaps something more similar to the US system. UWC has around 2700, and the Australian School is about 3000. Tanglin Trust, The American School and Overseas Family School all have over 2000 students, from Grade 1 – Grade 13. Our school has around 700 students and is perhaps slightly smaller than our old schools Queen Margaret and St Mary’s College in Wellington.
Our school is a very multicultural place with students from around forty different countries and staff from nearly every continent. This is a large and significant point of difference from the other, so called international schools in Singapore. The Canadian School is nearly exclusively for Canadian nationals and the American passport holders gain priority but not guaranteed access to the American School. I think most of our student’s parents value the multicultural aspects of our school. If you life in a foreign country, wouldn’t you like your sons or daughters to mix with students from other nations? It seems that many foreigners spend their lives in the expat enclaves of Singapore’s condominiums.
The pressure on quality education here is amazing. All of the big schools, UWC, OFS and the American School have long waiting lists, despite the recession. Maybe the scene will be different in 2010 but at the moment, the Straits Times still publishes articles deploring people who pay the SDG $250,000 for a guaranteed place at any of these schools. For around $80,000 you will get a place on the waiting list.
The education of people, is perhaps Singapore’s most important process. The county has no natural resources and still imports water from Malaysia and yet it can place itself among the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. The change for Rach and me has been fun so far. We have probably learnt and gleaned more experience than we would have in New Zealand in another 5 years at our old jobs. In a while we will look forward to coming home and working in New Zealand schools but at the moment change is as good as a holiday.
Our school ISS, (International School of Singapore) tends to be classified like many other schools in Singapore as international, because it offers a curriculum that is foreign to the local Singapore national curriculum and that it draws students from a range of nationalities. Our school offers a curriculum called the International Baccalaureate, which includes a Diploma programme in the last two years. Students study six subjects for two years and sit one final exam in May. This is the largest contrast from the NZ system, which I perceived as too heavily focused and potentially driven by external examinations and assessment specifications. The curriculum is global in nature and prescribed by a group that originated in France in the 1970’s from memory. The benefit of the International Baccalaureate is that students can easily change schools and fit into new classes with ease. This is important for some of the transient students who follow their parent’s careers around the world. One Malaysian student arrived in my class in January. He was born in Malaysia but has since travelled the world, and arrived at our school from Stockholm in Sweden last year. He still had the same Economics textbook I use and slotted into class with ease.
Other bigger schools in Singapore such as United World College of South Asia (UWC) offer the British IGSE and A Levels, the Australian School of Singapore offers the New South Wales Curriculum, and is beginning to introduce the International Baccalaureate over the next couple of years. The size of schools here are far larger than most in NZ and perhaps something more similar to the US system. UWC has around 2700, and the Australian School is about 3000. Tanglin Trust, The American School and Overseas Family School all have over 2000 students, from Grade 1 – Grade 13. Our school has around 700 students and is perhaps slightly smaller than our old schools Queen Margaret and St Mary’s College in Wellington.
Our school is a very multicultural place with students from around forty different countries and staff from nearly every continent. This is a large and significant point of difference from the other, so called international schools in Singapore. The Canadian School is nearly exclusively for Canadian nationals and the American passport holders gain priority but not guaranteed access to the American School. I think most of our student’s parents value the multicultural aspects of our school. If you life in a foreign country, wouldn’t you like your sons or daughters to mix with students from other nations? It seems that many foreigners spend their lives in the expat enclaves of Singapore’s condominiums.
The pressure on quality education here is amazing. All of the big schools, UWC, OFS and the American School have long waiting lists, despite the recession. Maybe the scene will be different in 2010 but at the moment, the Straits Times still publishes articles deploring people who pay the SDG $250,000 for a guaranteed place at any of these schools. For around $80,000 you will get a place on the waiting list.
The education of people, is perhaps Singapore’s most important process. The county has no natural resources and still imports water from Malaysia and yet it can place itself among the top 20 wealthiest nations in the world. The change for Rach and me has been fun so far. We have probably learnt and gleaned more experience than we would have in New Zealand in another 5 years at our old jobs. In a while we will look forward to coming home and working in New Zealand schools but at the moment change is as good as a holiday.
Friday, February 6, 2009
A day in the life of Rachel in Singapore
Andrew told me that people may find this interesting. I may have to jazz it up a bit to make it so. Here goes.... Every day the alarm goes off at 5.45. We then go and hang in our own bathrooms. How fantastic is it that we have a boy and a girls bathroom. Andrew then makes me my breakfast which is usually pancakes with seasonal fruit or eggs benny with freshly squeezed orange juice. Yeah right! We leave the house at 6.30 then we walk through a big housing complex to catch the bus. The bus is an experience in its self. Most of the people on the bus are asleep. I don't mean resting their eyes, they are full on out to it. We often wonder how they know when to get off??? I love the bus because it has TV. So in the 15 mins it takes us to get to school I am up to date with the worlds news.
The bus drops us right to the bottom gate of the school. Note that I said bottom, we then have to climb the mountain of stairs to get up to school. It is so steep that Andew has decided to give up running because he thinks that that is enough exercise for the day. Ok so I may have exaggerated that a little. But it is fun watching the students climb the stairs everyday. Lets just say there are not many over weight students at ISS. Apart from the ones that Taxi all the way to the top gate of the school. I am in my office by 7. My office is pretty cool because it has like a McDonalds drive through window. Every morning most staff stop by and chat. I guess I am the counsellor so I am just doing my job.
School starts at 8 so that is when Andrew gets really busy teaching and stuff. I just sit waiting in my office waiting for people to come see me. I wish. I am really busy now I am doing all sorts of crazy stuff. In fact this week I signed a 2 year contract to stay with ISS. I am going to be the new Special educational needs teacher. I will start that role in August. Andrew is thrilled because I think that he thought i was serious when I said I was giving up teaching to work in starbucks after my 6 month contract ended. I am currently teaching two classes. The students are really great. I even have a kiwi boy from Napier in my Grade 10 Geography class, so I have at least one student that laughs at my jokes. The next highlight of the day is 3pm when the school day ends. Mon and tues we have staff meetings, Wed I go to Yoga, Thurs I am taking a hip/hop dance class and Fri we go to the Bali Hawker center for a few beers.
The bus drops us right to the bottom gate of the school. Note that I said bottom, we then have to climb the mountain of stairs to get up to school. It is so steep that Andew has decided to give up running because he thinks that that is enough exercise for the day. Ok so I may have exaggerated that a little. But it is fun watching the students climb the stairs everyday. Lets just say there are not many over weight students at ISS. Apart from the ones that Taxi all the way to the top gate of the school. I am in my office by 7. My office is pretty cool because it has like a McDonalds drive through window. Every morning most staff stop by and chat. I guess I am the counsellor so I am just doing my job.
School starts at 8 so that is when Andrew gets really busy teaching and stuff. I just sit waiting in my office waiting for people to come see me. I wish. I am really busy now I am doing all sorts of crazy stuff. In fact this week I signed a 2 year contract to stay with ISS. I am going to be the new Special educational needs teacher. I will start that role in August. Andrew is thrilled because I think that he thought i was serious when I said I was giving up teaching to work in starbucks after my 6 month contract ended. I am currently teaching two classes. The students are really great. I even have a kiwi boy from Napier in my Grade 10 Geography class, so I have at least one student that laughs at my jokes. The next highlight of the day is 3pm when the school day ends. Mon and tues we have staff meetings, Wed I go to Yoga, Thurs I am taking a hip/hop dance class and Fri we go to the Bali Hawker center for a few beers.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
When it rains
After a month of living in Singapore it finally decides to rain. The anticipation of a large thunderstorm had been building for weeks. Colleagues from all corners were willing to share their stories about the wicked torrential monsoon rains. We had even seen the umbrella vending machines lying in waiting.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manuel69/ - CC Commons
The actual rain storm wasn't quite so exciting but it was still interesting watching people behave in the rain. I was half way through running home on an urban bash through the roads and overpasses. It began with a few heavy drops and then eventually rose to a crescendo. The massive metre deep road side ditches, which are a danger for any tired runner were full of gushing water. A mass of umbrellas appear from peoples bags, as some kind of insurance policy. The workers stand beside the road waiting for the buses which unleash a depressing splash as they dive through the roadside puddles to wet a bus stop of innocent bystanders. The rain seems to soak the life away from people wandering the street, heads down, trudging off with wet pants and shirts. I was pretty happy running along at least the rain dropped the temperature a bit.
The rain for Singapore is like the wind of Wellington or the smog of Santiago. Just an element of a city which makes it just a little bit quirky.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/manuel69/ - CC CommonsThe actual rain storm wasn't quite so exciting but it was still interesting watching people behave in the rain. I was half way through running home on an urban bash through the roads and overpasses. It began with a few heavy drops and then eventually rose to a crescendo. The massive metre deep road side ditches, which are a danger for any tired runner were full of gushing water. A mass of umbrellas appear from peoples bags, as some kind of insurance policy. The workers stand beside the road waiting for the buses which unleash a depressing splash as they dive through the roadside puddles to wet a bus stop of innocent bystanders. The rain seems to soak the life away from people wandering the street, heads down, trudging off with wet pants and shirts. I was pretty happy running along at least the rain dropped the temperature a bit.
The rain for Singapore is like the wind of Wellington or the smog of Santiago. Just an element of a city which makes it just a little bit quirky.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Settling into Sinagpore
Two weeks into our overseas sojourn and things are starting to settle down a touch. Back towards something that resembled what our life was like back in Wellington.
We are back living in another apartment which is a lifestyle that we became accustomed to and enjoyed in Wellington; close to the waterfront and Courtney Place. On our first day in Singapore we signed a lease for a brand new 9th floor apartment on the fringe of the CBD proper. We are within walking distance of two MRT stations (Outram and Tangor Pagar) and close to a bus stop which can whisk us off to work. The transport is everything you would imagine, efficient, cheap and always busy.
Work is going well and we are both back at the coal face teaching content which is similar to New Zealand. We both need try hard to make things relevant to the students and stop prattling on about New Zealand. Approx 75% of students are from Asian descent with lots of cool Korean and Japanese students, not too dissimilar to what we expected.
The remainder of Singapore is a hold for a little bit, we have ventured out a few times into the city, Orchard Road, to the new waterfront and into our local mall. So much to explore, but we are glad we have a few years to suss out the island. I have enjoyed running most days late in the afternoon and it is still the best way to explore a new place. Rach has been in the complex gym after work most days enjoying the air conditioning.
It has been funny thinking of what people pointed out before we arrived and I think we should attempt to clear up a two misconceptions from our naive kiwi viewpoint.
Amazing Food - food is ok and very interesting but the price of staples is as high as the sky scrappers. We turned away from buying mince beef at $38 Singapore Dollars a kg. The Hawker Stall experience is interesting but hard. Rach is a bit turned off by the smell and I struggle to find something simple enough for my meat and three vege upbringing.
The Heat - Yip is definitely gets a little hot outside but the only people working without the air con are the armies of Indian construction workers. You can go 10 meters with out seeing an air conditioner attached to the wall. The weather is very mild at the moment according to the locals from school. We will wait to see what June and August brings. I have been running in the afternoons in 27 - 32 degrees with out too much trouble.
Life someone new is a pretty good tonic for both of us at the moment, would be nice to import some friends to share a BBQ and some cheap beer but otherwise life is great.
We are back living in another apartment which is a lifestyle that we became accustomed to and enjoyed in Wellington; close to the waterfront and Courtney Place. On our first day in Singapore we signed a lease for a brand new 9th floor apartment on the fringe of the CBD proper. We are within walking distance of two MRT stations (Outram and Tangor Pagar) and close to a bus stop which can whisk us off to work. The transport is everything you would imagine, efficient, cheap and always busy.
Work is going well and we are both back at the coal face teaching content which is similar to New Zealand. We both need try hard to make things relevant to the students and stop prattling on about New Zealand. Approx 75% of students are from Asian descent with lots of cool Korean and Japanese students, not too dissimilar to what we expected.
The remainder of Singapore is a hold for a little bit, we have ventured out a few times into the city, Orchard Road, to the new waterfront and into our local mall. So much to explore, but we are glad we have a few years to suss out the island. I have enjoyed running most days late in the afternoon and it is still the best way to explore a new place. Rach has been in the complex gym after work most days enjoying the air conditioning.
It has been funny thinking of what people pointed out before we arrived and I think we should attempt to clear up a two misconceptions from our naive kiwi viewpoint.
Amazing Food - food is ok and very interesting but the price of staples is as high as the sky scrappers. We turned away from buying mince beef at $38 Singapore Dollars a kg. The Hawker Stall experience is interesting but hard. Rach is a bit turned off by the smell and I struggle to find something simple enough for my meat and three vege upbringing.
The Heat - Yip is definitely gets a little hot outside but the only people working without the air con are the armies of Indian construction workers. You can go 10 meters with out seeing an air conditioner attached to the wall. The weather is very mild at the moment according to the locals from school. We will wait to see what June and August brings. I have been running in the afternoons in 27 - 32 degrees with out too much trouble.
Life someone new is a pretty good tonic for both of us at the moment, would be nice to import some friends to share a BBQ and some cheap beer but otherwise life is great.
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