Canadian International School - Singapore

I think most people know that I've returned to work part-time at CIS. That now means 4 members of our family of 5 now head to CIS everyday. Right now the journey to school sucks big-time. For 3 glorious months we lived just down the street from the school. It was literally a 7 minute walk. Then the school went and moved out of that old, run down campus and into the new campus. As a teacher it is pretty exciting stuff to get to teach in a new facility. As a parent it is pretty impressive to see your children get to use all the amazing facilities that the school has to offer. As much as I love the new facility, I wish that we were still just down the road.

Next year will bring even bigger changes. I've accepted a full-time position at the school. I will be teaching SK (Senior Kindergarten). It will be a big change, but I am really excited about it. In order to make the journey to and from school more manageable we will be looking to move within walking distance to the new school. I'm not excited to be moving places again but I'll be really happy with how much easier it will be for our family to get to and from school. The school is also located near the MRT line, which means will be close to a train station. There is a great water park beside the school, which we will get frequent use out of. The Chinese Gardens and Jurong Lake are nearby so we'll have an area for the kids to ride their bikes. It will be a positive change in all regards, except of course on our pocketbook. Rent in Singapore is ridiculous. The place we are living in now is a good deal... probably one of the best deals on the island. It's going to be a bit of a change having to fork out $1000+ extra a month on rent.

I've already started preparing myself for the workload demands of full-time teaching. One of the things I'm excited/dreading is the Weekly Update Newsletters. I've been meaning to write a blog post sharing the excellent communication method the school uses to keep parents informed of what is going on in their childs classroom. As parents Darrin and I love this. As teachers we respect the time and effort it takes to do it. I guess I'll know really soon just how much work it is!

Check out Tayven's update from last week. Something like this is sent out everyweek by all the classroom teachers. I know it's fuzzy and you can't really read it, but you should still be able to get a good idea of how great this is!

Koen is in ECE and that means he is only at school half-days. His update is sent as an email with picture attachments. Still very informative, but a bit more difficult to include on this blog. Here is a picture Ms. Jyoti did send in his last update. Look at that concentration!

This weekend we will be at the school on Saturday, participating in the Grand Opening Carnival. Should be fun times! Check out the school website if you're curious to see the school and what goes on there! Check out the gallery photos and you'll even spot Koen.

http://www.cis.edu.sg/

Sunday Morning Brunch

One of the things that continues to impress me about Singapore is the seemingly endless list of things to do with children. On Sunday we decided to venture out to one child friendly establishment. Our friends, Mike and Kendra, used to live in the condo complex right next to ours. Now they live quite a distance away. We decided that we could use a nice visit, and the kids a good play.

Rochester Playhouse/Seb's Bistro was the perfect place to meet. It's got a great outdoor eating area, a decent breakfast menu, and most importantly a fantastic space for kids to play. There is a charge for the kids, which on weekends is $7/hr for each child. The bonus was that this price doesn't just include access to a well-equipped air-conditioned space, it also gets you supervision by qualified staff.

Those of you with young children know that taking them out to eat usually means very little time for adult conversation at the table! We were actually able to sip on a latte and talk with Mike and Kendra while we watched the kids playing away inside the house. Genius!

Seb's Bistro

The outside play area. Pretty basic, but the trampoline was a hit!

Part of the play space inside Rochester Playhouse

There was even a magic show!

United Nations Week at CIS

It has been one hectic, busy, tiring week. It has also been one of the most amazing experiences I've had as both a teacher and a parent. Every year the school holds United Nations Week. It is full of activities, performances and celebrations. The purpose is to celebrate the divesity of culture in the school. I learned this week that CIS has students from 68 nations attending their Lakeside campus. This week gave all those students a chance to celebrate their nationality. I was busy at the school 3 morning this week, helping in the boys classrooms with different activities. Tuesday morning I visited Tayven's class to do a cultural craft with them. Canada=hockey (at least in my boys minds). My Mom and I spent an hour cutting out all the pieces for their hockey craft and the kids in Tayven's class were thrilled to colour and paste them together.

On Wednesday morning I was in helping Koen's class make their way around the food festival. I have never seen such an amazing display of food. The PTA organizes parent volunteers to put together a table for their country and prepare food to serve the entire school (staff, students, and parent volunteers). Each student is supposed to bring in a tupperware container and $2 donation. The money donated is put toward a community outreach program the school is involved in... it isn't for the food. I gorged myself on fresh quesidillas with homemade salsa from the Mexico table, delicious chicken bites from the Brazil table and maple syrup muffins from the Canada table. There was so much food that I could have easily filled my plate twice, if only my stomach had room. Not only was the food amazing but the presentation at some of the tables was nothing short of amazing. The Thailand table had elaborate fruit sculptures, other tables had traditional insturments and music playing. Many of the parent volunteers were dressed in their countries traditional clothing. It was nothing short of amazing.

On Friday morning I was back at the school to help with the Parade of Nations. The parade is the final activity of the week. The culmination of all the activities and a real chance for students and staff to stand up with pride in their nationality. When you're used to seeing all the students in their school uniforms it was pretty impressive to see them all dressed to represent their home country. We all loved dressing in our Canada gear, complete with coloured hair, tattoos, and hockey jerseys. There are often times where I worry a bit about what are kids are missing out on being away from Canada. While I sat and watched 68 nations proudly walk into the gym I couldn't have felt more lucky for what they are gaining being here.

Click the link for pictures (their halfway through the album)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151238939595538.797851.671565537&type=3&l=02c7e8fea7

Tourists in Singapore

Singapore is a pretty amazing city. There is a seemingly endless list of activities to do, places to eat, and things to see. With my parents here we've been trying to get out and see some of the tourist attractions. It is nice that we have Jane every Saturday night because it give us some adult time. We spent one evening riding the cable car. This was a pretty big accomplishment for my Mom, who doesn't like heights. The ride takes you from Mount Faber, down across Harbourfront and over to Sentosa Island. Instead of riding the full circle we exited at Harbourfront and met up with some friends for a very overpriced, and unsatisfying dinner. At least we were sitting on the boardwalk watching the fireworks and light show on Sentosa. The dinner might have been crap, but the company and surroundings were pretty spectacular.

The last tourist attraction we visited was just last weekend. We made our way to the Singapore Flyer, which is the world's largest observation wheel. It is a pretty impressive structure, with 28 capsules that can hold up to 28 people. We opted for the standard ride, but they do have some capsules set up for dining. My Mom was pretty nervous given her height fears, but the capsules and so sturdy and move so slowly that you don't even feel like you're moving. It provides an amazing view of the Singapore CBD and especially the impressive Marina Bay Sands Resort. We ended the night with a VERY satisfying dinner at O'Leary's Pub and gelato for dessert.

Click on the link for pictures
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151238939595538.797851.671565537&type=3&l=02c7e8fea7

First Getaway Without the Kiddies

It is no secret that we love to travel. We feel extremely lucky to get to be in a part of the world that affords us the opportunity to see so many amazing places. We feel fortunate to be able to experience so much as a family and we know that we are very lucky to have 3 kids that do so well on all our adventures. No matter how good your kids are, travelling with three young children is busy!

Long before my parents got to Singapore I'd asked my Mom if they'd be willing to watch the kids for a weekend, so Darrin and I could go away somewhere without the kids. Since I've had Tayven I've only even spent ONE night away from the kids and Darrin wasn't with me. Knowing that the kids would be with my parents was the only reason I could even stomach being away from them for TWO nights. We were able to book tickets to Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. We have been there before and thought it would be a good place to return to without the kids.

It was a great weekend. We wandered the market, lingered in restaurants, enjoyed and afternoon at the spa, and spent the morning reading on the rooftop pool deck. In short we did all the things that we don't get the opportunity to do together when the kids are with us. I didn't worry about the kids and apparently they didn't worry about us. They were happy to see us when we got home, but apparently they didn't even ask about us! I guess they were just to busy baking cookies, swimming, and playing away with Gramma and Pawka.

Click the link for some pictures
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151238926780538.797850.671565537&type=3&l=92a84ba5c3