Settling In

While it seems quite odd to say it, we are now starting to feel like this is our home. The routines are becoming familiar, we are developing greater friendships, become more involved at school and in the community, and finally know our way around. In short, life is settling in.

This past week we had our first evening teaching at the local orphanage/crisis center. There are about 15 ASB teachers that are volunteering to teach some basic English and character-building lessons to around a total of 30 kids, ranging in age from 7-14. These kids are from families with parents involved in the sex industry or who have parents with HIV/AIDS. They have a lot of spunk but not a lot of social skills, which is understandable in every way. In addition to a short lesson on healthy habits like brushing teeth and learning to cough into your elbow, we spent a lot of time on appropriate ways to handle conflict. Pushing, shoving, and grabbing are all major issues here.

The group of ASB teachers is organized into four teams with each group going everyother Tuesday or Thursdays -- Rachel and I are in one of the Thursday groups. Although that is what we have committed to, I think that we will both go whenever possible as it is such rewarding work and a great stress reliever from the daily grind of life. In particular, the boys have latched on to the male teachers in the group. Even though we are putting forth minimal effort with just 30 kids, it feels fulfilling to be addressing the issue of mass poverty in our own little way.

What is so hard about life here is the contrasts. Literally one block down from the orphanage are the jewelry stores that supply gold in all shapes and sizes to the richest families in India. Diwali is approaching (the biggest Hindu holiday of the year) and the stores are all lit up like Christmas trees. It is really fun to walk through that area of the neighborhood at night because the brightly colored lights dance up and down the street with each jewelry store trying to out-do the next.

Rachel and the faculty dance troop have been hard at work this week in preparation for their dance at the Diwali assembly. She loves the challenging steps and has taken a lot of leadership in the group. They are seriously into it -- we'll have to get a video of the performance posted on the blog this weekend. I will be tapping my toe in the audience while wearing my newly purchased cotton-silk, all-black with gold thread embroidery, Indian suit.

These past few weeks have been nuts in the band room. We are 2/3 of the way through the October concerts -- 8th/High School went on Oct 6 and 6th gr went on Oct 13 while 7th grade performs this coming week. The jazz program is in full swing (Ha ha ha!) with regular rehearsals on Tuesday mornings from 7:00 to 7:50am. And, I finished coaching 9 middle school students as they submitted recordings for the Asian Middle Level Honor Band, which is held in Bangkok this year. Adding to that, quarter grades are due tomorrow -- mine are done -- with extended comments for each student (all 147 for me).

Rachel is beginning to plan the big Christmas tree lighting party at the Grand Hyatt. This included a fabulous lunch the other day at the hotel with the manager (a parent at our school) and a meal personally created by the chef, who hung out with them later. Needless to say, I was a bit jealous! She had parent-teacher conferences this past week and was able to meet many parents and have great conversations.

In travel news, we are attempting to single-handedly rescue the airline industry from the recession. We have a spring break trip booked to Seattle and Minneapolis. We'll be in Seattle April 1-4 and Minneapolis 4-8. And, we have moved ahead with our big Europe trip plan -- we've booked flights in and out of London from June 8 to July 25. We're on the move and excited to see more and more.

Bye for now, hope all is well back in the States, especially in Minneapolis where the Twins had a rough week.

Reid