A Start

I did it! I whiddled down my photo collect to just over 600 photos and I edited them all in less than a week! I'm so impressed with myself...Eric doesn't seem too impressed, but that's okay. Now if only I had the energy to tell the story! It's not going to happen tonight, I'm sorry to say, but I can show you a few more pictures in the meantime...it's a start.

The narcileptic student in my group...this child can fall asleep anywhere: standing up in the bus, during a thunderstorm, at the zoo, on any type of boat...

Sing dollars...very pretty...more funny money!

A couple of signs we saw in the bathroom in a mall in Singapore...

they must have problems with that?!?...and of course, when paying 20 cents to use the bathroom (and employing the attendant who watches you drop the coins in) you must always put the coins in yourself! You most certainly shouldn't hand it to the attendant to put it in (part of her job is to prevent people from taking pictures of this sign as well, it appears. I honestly didn't know it was against her "rules" when I took it!).

More to come soon, but for now let me say that is was so nice being in a country where English was the first language again! It's amazing how at-home I felt even though I was so very far away from home! 

Week 13: Details

I've got nothing. I'm exhausted. There are so many pictures of this week and so very many details I could include, but I've got nothing. World's 2nd longest week. Right now, I'm caught up on my p52, submitted my grades, and that's about all I care about.

Day 83: In spite of the fact that is was really hot in Indonesia, it was difficult to find good light because we had a lot of clouds. In the evenings, I would go on the lookout for it, and this is what I found between cabins one evening.

Day 84: On our last morning at Telunas, I caught this picture of the sunrise reflecting over the water. I like that it's framed by the straw from the roof of the cabin and the rail of the deck.

Day 85: We got up really early Sunday morning to fly back to Korea. Eric's mom left Seoul just moments after we arrived back.

Day 86: The stuffed animals that I brought the kids back from the zoo have magnetic feet, so they enjoy having them climb up and down the refrigerator. It's the little things!

Day 87: The next day, I got a shot of the detail on the giraffe. I picked them up at the zoo in Singapore.

Day 88: Cade wanted to show me the injury he had on his knee and insisted I take a picture of it...turns out it fits the prompt pretty well!

Day 89: I realized tonight that Cade is finally starting to dress himself. He got his pajamas on all by himself this evening. He was very proud!

I think my favorite is the first picture of the light between the cabins. I tried hard to capture the details of Telunas Resort (as you will see as I continue to post hundreds of pictures!), but it was hard to capture just how beautiful it really is!

If you'd like to see others' work on Project 52, check out the links:

www.styleberryblog.com

Week 12: Hunger

Alright. In spite of the fact that I still have a million things to do. (Not literally, but you know how it feels!) And even though I have thousands of pictures to edit from the trip. (Yes, literally.) One of my priorities is to get caught up on my p365. You have no idea how much it stressed me out when I realized that I wouldn't be able to keep up with it while I was gone. I s'pose I could have brought my laptop along, but it would have been pretty anti-climactic (not to mention breaking all of the rules) and I really didn't have much time for it, anyway. So, here I am editing pictures and putting together my Week 12 when I should be doing report cards, unpacking my suitcase (all I've done is dump the sweat-drenched clothes in the laundry), and any number of other things. Oh well. It will all still be here in an hour!

Day 76: One of my students while we were waiting at the gate to board the flight to Singapore. It was a rare, quiet moment for her (when she wasn't complaining about how hungry she was!) and I am happy to have caught the moment.

Day 77: A turtle at the Singapore Zoo--my first natural habitat zoo--he was right on the edge of the sidewalk looking for something to eat!

Day 78: I took this one from the dock alongside the ferry terminal. We got off the ferry from Singapore and got on small, wooden boats like these in Batam, Indonesia and then headed to Telunas Resort on Sugi Island in Indonesia.

Day 79: We were craving some cool, refreshing water after a 5K hike in the Indonesian jungle in 90 degree heat and humidity! The rock, waterfall, and (black) water were very inviting!

Day 80: We were hungry for adventure on our 2nd day in Indonesia doing the low ropes course!

Day 81: Our students spent a lot of time playing with the Indonesian kids when they weren't working on building the wall. They all had a great time!

Day 82: These kids really had a hunger for learning. We taught classes in the afternoon after they got out of school, and they all volunteered to come back. Not only that, but they stood in the windows (like this little boy) and in the doorways trying to listen to our English lessons. They were so sweet and so happy!

What an awesome week we had! I think the last one of the little boy in the window is my favorite. They were all so funny because they wanted their picture taken, but they wanted to play and run away, too, so it was a challenge to find one standing still once I lifted my camera to my face. He was really excited once he figured out that I would show him all of the pictures that I took of him!

Where to begin?

The sunset at Telunas Beach ~ Riau Islands ~ Indonesia

The reality of the situation is that I really have no idea where to begin telling the story. So much has happened in the last two weeks that I am overwhelmed at simply the thought of starting the task. I took thousands of pictures on my trip, and I did accomplish Step 1: Import. Phew! Long story short: I knew I had a ton of pictures and I needed to organize them (a little) upon import, so I finally did a little research and managed to at least put keywords on them in Lightroom. That's a step. Now, for the editing and the writing. I'm hoping to at least pick one for each day, so that I can get caught up on my project 365, but it could take me months to get through the rest of my pictures at the rate I've been going!

boats in the lagoon at Singapore Zoo

Here's the update on school: After recovering from the drama of yesterday where I walked into my classroom and discovered it to be cleaned out by the former teacher, I am feeling a little more steady today. Yesterday afternoon, I talked to our human resources director and me reassured me that no one expected me to work full time through the end of the year regardless of another's breach of contract. I was finally able to talk to my building principal this afternoon and it looks like I will continue teaching just my morning English classes for the remainder of the year, allowing me to go back to part time, and preventing my students from having three different English teachers in the course of nine months. I think it will be best for everyone, but I still have to make it through another month of full time work.

boats at the ferry terminal in Batam, Indonesia

My First Day Back

Well, I am utterly exhausted. I finally got home at about 6:00 last night, emptied my suitcase, took a warm shower (It is freezing in Seoul!!!! Not literally, but it was a big jump from 90 degrees to 40 degrees in just a few hours!), and then went to bed. I got up this morning, went to school, walked into my classroom and discovered that the teacher whose maternity leave I had been covering had completely cleaned out her room! She had taken every last personal item from the room, giving me the clear indication that she won't be coming back. I recovered from my shock and tears enough to teach my morning classes and even managed to (just barely) get through the classes that she hadn't left me any plans for in the afternoon.

Tonight, I am going to try to relax, get over the stress, and go to bed early. I know you're anxious to hear about the trip and see pictures, but I need to wait until I've recovered a bit more. I've included a couple of the shots from my phone. Above, is a building in downtown Singapore that I took from the bus. Below is the prawns we had for dinner on our last night in Singapore before heading back to Seoul. For now, I just wanted to update you that I am home and so happy to see my family!