Bus stop outside neighborhood
Bus and super sweet helper woman. She lifts Ry's big backpack a little while Ry climbs in
Elementary campus. My eye is always on the lookout & those are garden hoses, not snakes
Ry's classroom
Al's building. Open-air between classes, art class-painted columns
School pool shared with adjacent golf course. A lot of golf here
Exactly one week after arriving in Thailand, the girls began 2nd and 6th grades at the International School Eastern Seaboard (ISE). School had begun Aug 18 and that is the reason the girls & I came over before Rob, so they wouldn't miss any more than necessary while he wrapped up work in Holland. Kind of strange packing lunches & doing homework from a hotel room the first few days before we were in the house, but all part of the adventure.
ISE is an American curriculum school with 375 students in grades pre-K through 12. With the exception of language classes, all teachers are native English speakers and pretty evenly mixed from USA, Canada, Britain, and Australia. The kid recipe is about 15% American, 15% European, 30% Thai, and the balance some highly motivated other Asians... Korean, Indian, Singaporean, Chinese, and Japanese. There are several other international schools in the area with British curriculum, but their demographics are primarily Western. We like the Asian flavor at ISE.
Bus picks up our girls outside neighborhood at 7:25am, school runs 7:55am-3pm, home by 3:25. All classrooms & indoor spaces are air conditioned. Outdoor gymnasium has only fresh breeze, if they're lucky. Surprisingly, not too many complaints yet about the consistent 90+ degree, high humidity days, but the bus ride home is hot & Ry isn't as excited about gym days as she used to be (they haven't had class in the pool yet... that should change her tune). Ry eats lunch at the indoor canteen, Al has choice of inside or out under a sun awning. Her Asian friends like to eat out, Europeans in, and she goes between the two depending on the day. They killed a snake a month or two ago next to the outside tables. Girls bring a lunch maybe two or three times/week, and pick canteen food when the menu suits their fancy. Rotations of Italian pasta, Indian curry, Chinese noodles, paella, burgers/dogs, and always a sandwich and Thai noodle option as well. This canteen has been pretty good to them. The girls are amused by what their friends bring in their lunches from home. Ry was recently offered sushi by a friend, but declined.
Riley's 2nd grade teacher was born & raised in Greece, and fluently speaks 5 languages. There is also a full-time Thai teaching assistant in her classroom. 2 other Americans in her class of 18, but she's the only one with blonde hair. Her best friends are from Brazil, France, US and Thailand. Jump rope is the hot (literally) recess activity of choice for girls. A French girl was jumping and counting in French when Ry started counting along in French on her first day of school. The girl was shocked and now will only talk to Ry in French, "like we're BFFs," says Ry kind of rolling her eyes and kind of smiling & proud. "It works my brain." She has lost a lot of her French, but still has her accent. She studies Thai twice a week. Signs posted all over school read, "SPEAK ONLY ENGLISH," but native English speakers are encouraged to venture into other tongues. Ry is looking forward to a Circus class offered after school, as many of her friends can ride unicycles at recess & Ry wants to hop on. I must re-read our health insurance policy.
Allie is a middle schooler! Grades 6-7-8 are set up like home with students changing classes/teachers every 90 minutes. There are 2 sections of 6th grade, 12-16 students in most classes, Math is still her favorite. First field trip is next month, 2 nights hiking a national park, playing in waterfalls, being little Thoreaus with pen & paper. ISE has an IB program in the secondary school. Al was thinking to do IB at West Ottawa when its program gets running, so perhaps there will be some continuity for her upon return stateside. No beginner Thai class at school for Allie, so it's Spanish now and trying Japanese next term.
Allie's girlfriends are from Korea, India, Danish twins, Sarah from the States, and about 5 Thais. The Danes, Sarah and Al are called the Blondies. First sleepover this Friday night at the Danish house. Al is enjoying being queen bee of the 10-12 person swim team. We're working on being humble and turning her aquatic gifts into leadership opportunities. Practice just twice a week, and total yardage isn't much more than her warm up length back in Holland. Perfectly fits her work less/play more mantra. First swim meet at the end of this month, maybe another one or two during the year, and then a huge meet in May in Vietnam. Her coach was happy she arrived so they can now field a girls relay.
I began twice a week volunteering of English reading comprehension with a sweetheart of a 5th grade German boy. Hope to spend good time in the girls' libraries, as well. And looking forward to starting a twice/week yoga class for parents. I hear it's the real deal & hope I have the chops. Can't do that until our house gets put back together. Stuck home today with no running water & both bathrooms look like puzzle pieces & now the air con in our bedroom as well because it was leaving puddles all over the floor & I'm still desiring my oven to work soon cuz I'm craving carrot cake & the workers keep telling me things in Thai & we're playing some fun charades. Namaste...
ISE is an American curriculum school with 375 students in grades pre-K through 12. With the exception of language classes, all teachers are native English speakers and pretty evenly mixed from USA, Canada, Britain, and Australia. The kid recipe is about 15% American, 15% European, 30% Thai, and the balance some highly motivated other Asians... Korean, Indian, Singaporean, Chinese, and Japanese. There are several other international schools in the area with British curriculum, but their demographics are primarily Western. We like the Asian flavor at ISE.
Bus picks up our girls outside neighborhood at 7:25am, school runs 7:55am-3pm, home by 3:25. All classrooms & indoor spaces are air conditioned. Outdoor gymnasium has only fresh breeze, if they're lucky. Surprisingly, not too many complaints yet about the consistent 90+ degree, high humidity days, but the bus ride home is hot & Ry isn't as excited about gym days as she used to be (they haven't had class in the pool yet... that should change her tune). Ry eats lunch at the indoor canteen, Al has choice of inside or out under a sun awning. Her Asian friends like to eat out, Europeans in, and she goes between the two depending on the day. They killed a snake a month or two ago next to the outside tables. Girls bring a lunch maybe two or three times/week, and pick canteen food when the menu suits their fancy. Rotations of Italian pasta, Indian curry, Chinese noodles, paella, burgers/dogs, and always a sandwich and Thai noodle option as well. This canteen has been pretty good to them. The girls are amused by what their friends bring in their lunches from home. Ry was recently offered sushi by a friend, but declined.
Riley's 2nd grade teacher was born & raised in Greece, and fluently speaks 5 languages. There is also a full-time Thai teaching assistant in her classroom. 2 other Americans in her class of 18, but she's the only one with blonde hair. Her best friends are from Brazil, France, US and Thailand. Jump rope is the hot (literally) recess activity of choice for girls. A French girl was jumping and counting in French when Ry started counting along in French on her first day of school. The girl was shocked and now will only talk to Ry in French, "like we're BFFs," says Ry kind of rolling her eyes and kind of smiling & proud. "It works my brain." She has lost a lot of her French, but still has her accent. She studies Thai twice a week. Signs posted all over school read, "SPEAK ONLY ENGLISH," but native English speakers are encouraged to venture into other tongues. Ry is looking forward to a Circus class offered after school, as many of her friends can ride unicycles at recess & Ry wants to hop on. I must re-read our health insurance policy.
Allie is a middle schooler! Grades 6-7-8 are set up like home with students changing classes/teachers every 90 minutes. There are 2 sections of 6th grade, 12-16 students in most classes, Math is still her favorite. First field trip is next month, 2 nights hiking a national park, playing in waterfalls, being little Thoreaus with pen & paper. ISE has an IB program in the secondary school. Al was thinking to do IB at West Ottawa when its program gets running, so perhaps there will be some continuity for her upon return stateside. No beginner Thai class at school for Allie, so it's Spanish now and trying Japanese next term.
Allie's girlfriends are from Korea, India, Danish twins, Sarah from the States, and about 5 Thais. The Danes, Sarah and Al are called the Blondies. First sleepover this Friday night at the Danish house. Al is enjoying being queen bee of the 10-12 person swim team. We're working on being humble and turning her aquatic gifts into leadership opportunities. Practice just twice a week, and total yardage isn't much more than her warm up length back in Holland. Perfectly fits her work less/play more mantra. First swim meet at the end of this month, maybe another one or two during the year, and then a huge meet in May in Vietnam. Her coach was happy she arrived so they can now field a girls relay.
I began twice a week volunteering of English reading comprehension with a sweetheart of a 5th grade German boy. Hope to spend good time in the girls' libraries, as well. And looking forward to starting a twice/week yoga class for parents. I hear it's the real deal & hope I have the chops. Can't do that until our house gets put back together. Stuck home today with no running water & both bathrooms look like puzzle pieces & now the air con in our bedroom as well because it was leaving puddles all over the floor & I'm still desiring my oven to work soon cuz I'm craving carrot cake & the workers keep telling me things in Thai & we're playing some fun charades. Namaste...
