The Post About Nothing

Man, I suck at posting this week.  Or maybe we're just boring lately because I have nothing to write about.  Our amazing cruise to Moon Island was postponed due to bad weather.  Dubai weather is pretty predictable - sunny and hot.  It's rained about 3 times since we've been here, and I'm counting the times it sprinkled for 7 seconds.  For some reason, it decided it was a good idea to storm on the one amazing day we have planned.  The Coast Guard predicted 10 foot swells, and I don't know about you, but cruising out into the middle of nowhere for 5 hours in 10 foot swells doesn't sound like my idea of relaxing fun.  We said no thanks and rescheduled for the end of April.  I was kind of bummed out at first, but the thought of going on the cruise got me through like 3 weeks of work, so this will help me get through the post-Spring Break slump.  It's like two cruises in one!

I feel like that's my whole life in Dubai - trying to look forward to something fun.  You may have picked up on the fact that I've been a bit homesick... I think I'm getting less homesick, but I can't tell.  Maybe I'm just getting better at being homesick.  Either way, it's definitely easier when we're planning something fun.  The main reason we moved here was to have more opportunities to travel.  Casey's already been everywhere in the world, but I didn't even have a passport until my 29th birthday.  It was actually Casey's birthday present to me :) and thank God for that.  We haven't really gotten to do as much traveling as we wanted because of Casey's schedule, but he finally has vacation time coming up and we're so, so excited to start planning our summer vacation.  My childhood dream is finally coming true, and I foresee weeks of mountain twirling, clean air sniffing and pure elation coming our way.  Cannot wait!

See, boring.  I have nothing to write about besides what we're going to do someday.  

 The most exciting thing that's happened to me this week is that my gym FINALLY opened!!!  That's super exciting!  I've been on a workout strike since February because I was tired of driving 20 minutes to work out when I purposely joined a gym across the marina from me.  It's probably the nicest gym I've ever seen besides my sister's gym in Mansfield, so I guess it was worth the wait.  I'm going to be a work out maniac now.  I can see the muscles already!

1.5 more school days 'til Spring Break! :)

St. Patty's Day Lame-O

 What do you call someone who drove all the way down to Satwa (a long way) to buy green tulle for a St. Patty's Day tutu (because the Wacky Wednesday tutu wasn't enough), spent an hour making the tutu, borrowed a shirt from her awesome friend and STILL didn't have enough St. Patty's Day spirit to join her friends at the Irish Villiage?  Lame-O, that's what.  

Kiss me, I'm Irish-ish

I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but I just wasn't feeling it yesterday.  I preferred lying around in my pjs all day pigging out on delicious things like pizza and ice cream while I watched the Barefoot Contessa work her magic.  Sometimes you just need a day like that.

I think my problem is that I'm really a homebody trying to pretend that I'm not.  In Dubai, there's always something fun to do and I don't want to be the only one left out.  I'm having a hard time finding balance between friends, schoolwork, being an awesome wife and not letting my friends at home forget about me.  I have two solutions so far: 

1. I need to plan a lazy weekend every few weeks so I can indulge in bad TV and sheer laziness.
2. I'm buying a crock pot today.  How dorky is that?  Does anyone under the age of 45 actually own a crock pot?  I pinned a sweet website that shows you how to prep all of your meals, freeze them and throw them in the crock pot before you go to work.  Casey's skeptical.  We bought a crock pot in Denver and literally never opened the box.  I'm determined to prove him wrong this time.  I'll let you know how it goes :)

I think it's actually a good thing that I used this weekend as my lazy weekend because next weekend, this is happening

(cruise and camping on Moon Island - eeeee!)

and then the NEXT weekend, this is happening

(Seychelles - best thing about Dubai is it's close to this place!)

and then the NEXT NEXT weekend, this is happening

(sunset camel ride with my DAD!)

And after all of that fun, I'm predicting another lazy weekend with Ben and Jerry's and my pjs :)

Counting Down the Days 'til Spring Break

While my friends in Texas are enjoying their first real day of Spring Break, the teacher folks here in Dubai are just trying to pass the time 'til ours... only 2.5 more weeks to go...

The best way to pass the time is to stay busy, so Nicole very awesomely arranged a surfing lesson for Jordan and me in Al Ain on Friday.  Al Ain is a neighboring emirate known for its beautiful gardens and natural oases.  There's not a whole lot going on in Al Ain, but it does have a sweet wave pool called Wadi Adventure. 

http://www.wadiadventure.ae/

 

Nicole, Sam and Kelly are old surfing pros, so they watched while we had our lesson.  Surfing is something I've been wanting to try for a long time, but the ocean scares me.  Like what if I get my arm bitten off by a ravenous shark?  Or get pummeled into the sand by a giant wave and lose all of my hair like Casey?  And let's not forget the time Nicole got a jellyfish sting on her hooha.  None of those things sound fun to me.

The wave pool was the perfect safe place to try surfing for the first time.  It was basically just a lot of paddling out and popping up on the board, promptly followed by awkward falls into the water and a giggle.  We both stood a few times, which I considered a huge victory, and decided we're definitely going back to try it again.

Me, Jordan, Roberto the instructor

 

Me trying desperately to stand!

 

Jordan totally surfing!!

Nicole, Sam and Kelly surfed after our lesson, and it was amazing to watch them.  They make it look so easy, and Sam can do all sorts of fancy turns and tricks.  I was in awe of the way his feet stuck to the board.  Mine just seemed to want to jump off.

  

Nicole kicking that wave's ass!

Sam

Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Kelly because we were surfing at the same time :-/

We left exhausted and full of bruises, but it was worth it.

Saturday Casey and I ventured out to Miracle Garden, the "most beautiful and largest natural garden in the world" (you know Dubai loves superlatives).  With the title like that, we were expecting something grander than it was.  It turns out that there's nothing miraculous about it, and it was actually kind of disappointing.  Half the flowers were dying, but it was fun to be amongst pretty colors and green grass again for a little while.

This man is everywhere.

 

 

And last but not least, I finally cut my hair!  I've been growing it out for Locks of Love but decided I'm not ready to cut it to my chin yet, so I did a half cut, will grow it out again and then I'll cut it for good.  It feels so so short after my long rat tail, but it's really not that short.

 New hair photo shoot!  I think it needs more blonde, don't you?

Wacky Wednesday!

One of the best things about being a teacher is celebrating fun holidays and dressing like a fool, and Wacky Wednesday was the perfect opportunity to do just that!  My school had a contest for best Dr. Seuss costume, and with amazing hair like this...

how could we lose?

What did we win?  50 dirhams each, about 13.5 US dollars, enough to buy tulle for two tutus :)

We had so much fun celebrating the genius of Dr. Seuss and doing fun book activities all day.  Here are some of my favorite pics...

Silly things.

Shout out to the amazing mom who got our shirts printed and found blue hairspray at the last minute!  I went to school on Wednesday with my hair in braids thinking we weren't doing blue hair because we couldn't find it.  This amazing mom is going to have a son in 3rd grade next year, so you better believe I already claimed her!

Jumping pictures, theme of Dubai.

Kelly, Rachael, Jamie, Jordan, Naomi

 

Kelly and Nicole, wacky any day of the week.

Cutest little girls ever!  

Their mom MADE these dresses - designed them, sewed them, painted them!  Freaking amazing.  The girl in the background with the tall hat won the contest for grades 2 - 5.  Cute, cute.

Wacky Wednesday is the coolest!

Al Maya Island

After two lame-o weekends in a row (one planned, one thrust upon me by the plague), it was time to have some fun.  Nicole planned a girlie day of surf lesson fun, but one of the pipes at the pool broke and we had to reschedule for next weekend, so we planned an impromptu trip to Al Maya Island in Abu Dhabi instead.  

The island is about a ten minute boat ride from the shore, and once you're there, you feel like you're in Mexico.  I've never actually been to Mexico, but I imagine it's very similar to Al Maya Island... Beautiful beaches, sand volleyball, jet skis, a swim-up pool bar and a dj.  What else could you possibly need?  

Amy, Jordan, Nicole, me :)

 Amy's first trip to a swim-up bar!

 

A little piece of Mexico in the Middle East.

Just smoking a little sheesha in the sand, no big deal.

Our favorite new pose.  I'm going to work on my tan before spring break, don't you worry.

I think we all know that Dubai has been an emotional roller coaster for me.  I find I'm happiest when I'm busy because I don't have time to think about being homesick.  I foresee many more weekends at Al Maya Island in the next year and a half.  We're adding this to our list of awesome places to take future visitors.  Dad, are you ready?!

Grade 3B

Teachers tend to go overboard bragging on their students and talking about how amazing they are.  I really try not to do that here because it's boring and I don't want to turn one of our 7 blog readers away, but I'd just like to take a moment to declare to the world that I have the number one best class in the history of the world ever (besides my 2nd class at Corey - they're perfect).  

We started with a wee 11 students in August and have slowly grown to 16.  

Here are our class demographics:

2 students from the USA
1 from the USA/England

1 from Turkey

1 from Czech Republic

1 from Poland

1 from Saudi Arabia

1 from Algeria

1 from Egypt

1 from England/India

1 from Brunei

1 from Lebanon

3 from Korea

1 who has lived in Paris, Holland, Kazakhstan, Texas and now Dubai - sheesh.

 We have native English speakers, ELL students who speak fluent English, ELL students who are getting better at English every day and ELL students who speak no English.  Their reading levels range from kindergarten to the end of fifth grade, so I obviously have to differentiate the shit out of their work.  One student read 3 of the 4 Lightning Thief books in 10 days while another is reading books with one sentence on a page.  In typical classrooms, students start to realize who's ahead and who's behind, and the kids who struggle are usually made fun of.  It's definitely my least favorite part of teaching. 

But not my class!  The best thing about my class this year is that they don't do any of that.  They are THE sweetest class ever.  Ever.  They encourage each other, support each other, and really go out of their way to take care of each other.  They hold hands as they're walking to lunch.  They squeal and hug after a long weekend.  They make sweet notes for each other, and my favorite thing is they have become masters at taking care of new students who don't speak English.  They guide them through the halls with their hands around their shoulders.  They play with them at recess, even though they can't communicate with words.  They repeat my directions really slowly with hand signals and show them what to do.  It's pretty amazing to watch.  

Last week I was absent two days in a row, thanks to my annual February sickness, and the substitute left me the most glowing report.  She loved them so much she took pictures of them on her iPad and sent them to me with a sweet email that said how very lucky I am to have such a great class.  She also left a little note about each of the kids.  My favorite one said, "Seyeon is an absolute star in every way."  It's absolutely true.

All of my kids are stars and I'm super lucky to have them.  I always love my students but this group is extra special.  Maybe it's because of the small class that we've had so much time to bond, or maybe it's just because they're amazing students, but I think they will forever be one of my favorite groups of kids.

I wish I had a picture to show you, but they're all at school.  Maybe I'll sneak one up at work tomorrow so you can see their amazingness for yourself. :)