Christmas Party at the Chamberlain's

Every year, Scott and Dunja host a Christmas party. Everyone brings something to eat or drink, and the Chamberlain's provide Santa Clause, Christmas music, and fun. When they first hosted the party, there were only a few kids....well, over the years, the attendance has grown. Yesterday, there were over 50 kids. It was really good....Thank you, Scott and Dunja.

Kayla was not too happy about sitting on Santa's lap, as you can see from the photo above, but she had a good time.

Happy Birthday Pam

Today is Pam's birthday. Happy Birthday, Pam!! We are thinking of you way out here in Indonesia.

It's Friday

It has been a long week, and I am looking forward to just kicking back this weekend. I especially enjoy NOT having to get up at 5:30 in the morning.

During UN Day at JIS last week, I took a panoramic photo of the flag bearers. I arranged all the kids in almost a complete circle around me equidistant from my tripod, and then took 38 vertical RAW shots which I stiched together using Photoshop. The result is fantastic. I am having it printed today at 2 feet high by 20 feet long!! Yes, that's right, TWENTY feet. It is going to take over four hours to make the print. It will be hung in the high school office...very cool.

Butch Makes His Move

Congratulations to Butch, who just moments ago, was announced as the new Vice Principal at Pattimura Elementary School. He will start his new position next school year.

His status on the "Jamie" trip is now questionable as we are all pondering whether or not to take an administrator with us or not. The committee will need to convene to make decisions....he may just be assigned different duties (administrative duties) on the trip. If it IS decided that he can go, his status as Vice Principal will have no bearing on the trip...he will still be known as the young kid sister, Dorothy.

Advent Calendar

Kayla has a nice, new Advent calendar that was made by Sandy Craig. Thank you very much. As you can see, Kayla gets very excited every night to hang a new ornament on the calendar. It is awesome.

By the way, if you are wondering about Kayla's choice in clothes...well, for some reason, she wanted to wear her bathing suit over her clothes...maybe she is trying to start a new trend...Kayla is a "style setter"

Towel Head

What is it about women's innate ability to wrap a towel around their heads without it falling off? Not that I need to wrap a towel around my bald head, but I couldn't do that wrap thing if it meant my life. Kayla, on the other hand, is of that species. She sees mom do it once, and like magic, she puts her head down, twirls the towel, and then in one fluid motion, moves her head swiftly back with the towel flopping into position to form the perfect "towel head"....unreal. Then of course, she wants to pose for a photo.

I taught my last Photoshop class of the semester today, and all the students (teachers) had a show and tell presentation of the projects they have been working on all semester. There was some really good stuff...made me proud as their instructor. I now have my Monday and Tuesday afternoons free...It won't last long though...softball season is quickly approaching. I have told Butch and the school that I will teach Photoshop next semester....one class for professional development, and one class for the newly formed JIS Academy that Butch is the head. The JIS Academy will operate as a night school for parents wanting to take art classes, computer classes, etc.

A Nice Surprise Today

I couldn't sleep last night as I kept thinking of the book I was reading. I got to thinking about old friends that I had lost contact with, and was wondering what they were doing now. I had a little time on my hands this morning as all three of my Pre-calc classes were taking a test. As the kids struggled on the test (I always know I have a good test when I hear several sighs throughout the morning), I surfed the net looking for old friends. Unlucky for me, most of my good friends have common names such as Mike Williams, Tom Jones, John Fielder, etc...doing a search for those guys is not easy. But, I had a good friend in Hawaii named Joe Safirstein....now there can't be many of those around. I googled him, and BINGO....Dr. Joe Safirstein, orthodontist, popped up on my screen with a photo. It was him. I sent a message via his website, and 10 minutes later, I get an email from him.

Joe and I taught SCUBA together at the Hyatt Regency Kauai. We had many good times together, lots of laughs, and talked about our future a great deal. I saw him a couple of times after leaving Hawaii, but we went our seperate ways and eventually lost touch after many years. The last time I saw Joe was in Gainesville to watch a Gator game....so long ago, I can't remember the year....I think 1993. Anyway, he checked out my blog and my photos on Pbase.com, and then we were able to ichat from MAC to MAC from my new iMAC in my classroom. We could only do text chatting.....gotta figure out how to get the video to work. Dad and I tried some time ago, and it didn't work, and it didn't work today either.

Anyway, it was really great catching up with Joe...he has a good life in Oregon with his TWO dental offices. He says he can now go to the Hyatt in Hawaii as a pampered guest instead of serving them....I guess we have made it....our dreams came true.

Chance For National Championship

I got up early to sign-on to watch the SEC Championship game against Arkansas via the internet. It was a great game. Since USC lost to UCLA, the Gators now have the chance to play Ohio State for the National Championship. I sure hope they don't match Ohio State up against Michigan.....they already played a few weeks ago. I need this chance to prove to my Big 10 rival here at school who the better conference is....the SEC or the BIG 10. We all know the answer to that question...the SEC, of course. More news to follow....

UN Day at JIS

The day started badly. I was awaken at 4:00 in the morning with loud thunder and a downpour of rain. I was thinking, "Man, it has been so nice for so long, and then UN Day comes along, and it pours rain."

Well, it was still raining when I went to work. Luckily, the rain cleared, and it was pretty dry for most of the day, so I was able to get photos of the students wearing their national dress. The photos above are a sample. It really is a great day at school. The moms of different countries set up booths all around campus, and we all get to gorge ourselves with Indian food, hot dogs from the American booth, Thai food, Dutch food, Canadian food, Italian, spanish,...and the list goes on and on....then, in the afternoon, the kids put on a show that amazes me every year. Dancing, singing, and music from all the different nationality groups. This truly is a great school to work....and it is full of such talented, nice kids.

Rainy Day

The rain has finally arrived, but now I don't want it. UN Day at school is on Friday. It is my busiest photo day of the year. I sure hope we have nice sunny weather.

Yesterday, I made a trip to the embassy to get new pages for Kayla's passport. For some reason, both Tika and I had to go, we had to present Kayla's birth certificate, and both had to sign the government form. The entire process, driving to the embassy, getting the pages, and driving back took over four hours. Argggggh!! The traffic in this city is a nightmare.

Our driver took the "frog" (our VW bug) into the shop today to get the huge scratch painted over on the driver's side wheel well. When I was at Satu Lagi last Friday, some idiot tried to squeeze between my car and a wall, and left a huge scratch. Uncharacteristic for Jakarta drivers, the guy actually found me in Satu Lagi to tell me that he had done wrong. I was shocked....usually people just take off after hitting another car. He was very appologetic, and offered to pay for all the damages....which he did....another shock. His excuse was that he had just finished playing 36 holes of golf. Ok, he is forgiven....maybe he will take me out for a round of golf later...ahaa haaa...

Turkey Overload Recovery

It is now Tuesday, and I am still recovering for all the turkey I ate over the weekend. I think I may have gained 20 pounds. On Sunday, a group of close friends all celebrated Thanksgiving with all of our kids. We splashed around in the pool, danced to 70's disco music, and of course, we gorged ourselves with great food. The hit of the night was Sue's oreo pie....mmmm.....could have eaten the entire pie plate if it weren't for Butch who had at least 6 pieces. Somehow, Jurrien was able to fit us all onto one couch with his camera on a small tripod, and run to sit in the middle before the camera fired. Good job, Jurrien.

How 'Bout Dem Gators

There is a new teacher at JIS who went to Florida State. At our big thanksgiving dinner last night, we were throwing insults back n' forth before the game. I wasn't able to stay up until 1:00 in the morning to watch the game on the internet. However, the first thing I did this morning was check the scores. YES!! I am not sure what the bowl picture will be...guess we need to wait to find out if USC loses to Notre Dame or not...as I write this, USC is ahead at half-time. I have never routed for Notre Dame before, but it sure would be nice if they could pull out a win on this game....if so, the Gators could have a chance at the national championship. I would sure like to silence the Big 10 fans here at school...they are just as obnoxious as us SEC fans.

Sorry, no pictures from the big feast yesterday. I left my camera in the car, and Tika didn't arrive until after dark. But.....Greg, Dave and I cooked THREE big birds in the hot oil while sipping beers. The only thing missing was a big TV with football. We have another turkey dinner tonight with our close friends. I will be sure to get photos there.