School & Other Adventures

Bryan says:
I am teaching at Anderson Secondary School in Ang Mo Kio and Felicity is at St Margaret's Girls' School in Farrer Road. Secondary schools here cover the same as the Year 7 - 10 span as in Australia, with a (much) tougher workload for students. My school has both express, normal academic and technical streams. There are about 80 on the staff and approx 1200 students. There is another Aussie lady (Jan) on the staff who is my official buddy and Tom an expat New Zealander. I have found everyone to be friendly and supportive.

So far I have 3 English classes , two Sec 3 classes and a Sec 4 which I am sharing with Jan. Class sizes are big with approx 42 in each class. This week I will begin taking a Sec 3 Drama for a couple of weeks, while the regular teacher is doing a PD. I am also helping out with rehearsals for Speech day and next term I will begin a Drama Enrichment programme, as part of an elective programme for the Sec 2 students who do not have any timetabled Drama in their programme.


The school day over here begins at 7.20 with a whole school assembly where students and staff attend flag raising, sing the national anthem and take the pledge. This is followed by notices and sundry announcements, then its off to class. There are 14 x 30 minute periods, all of which run as doubles. Classes are all over by 2.10 and then students either study or attend co-curricular activities.


Second term started off busy as students are gearing up for exams. I have just written my first two exam papers for comprehension and composition (very exacting), as well as helping to put together a performance for speech night, which went off pretty well.


From Felicity
Howdy friends,
Here we are in perpetual summer. Yesterday there was a heavy thunderstorm that seemed to make the foundations shake with its roar. So I quickly put the air conditioner on and cooked a roast dinner. It’s a curious thing to be between cuisines as well as everything else. On the one hand you crave the familiar flavors and then you feel you need to add chili!!! The boys would prefer it if we cooked our usual fare at home, because we do eat out a lot more often than we ever did. It is sooo cheap. But, Bryan seems to have forgotten how to cook anything that isn’t Asian, so it’s up to me to keep the home fires burning so to speak.


Quite often we see a stall selling “western food” at a hawker centre, which is like a big food court. They tend to offer the most ghastly array of crap food known to mankind, served with gravy, chips and rice. Even the kids pass this one by in preference for something more authentic. We often enjoy the Indian and Malay food. We all have mini hawker centres at school instead of a single canteen. Jordan enjoys Terryaki chicken for lunch for just a couple of dollars. This is a vast improvement on the tuck shop. So as well as mastering an understanding of Singlish and the accents our students speak to us with, we are slowly adapting to the ways of Singapore life. Love to all. Please come visit and we will try chili crab together!


From Xavier
Hey all.
Arrived in Singapore safely, its bloody humid and my school is currently under going maintenance which means theirs no air con. I have met this one kid Aimen. He's from Brunei, we play soccer for the same team. He's pretty cool but loses it too quickly (my god I’m funny). My team is OK. We have so many French, many of which are dicks. There’s 1 Aussie called Ollie, he went to Haileybury so I told him we can't be friends. He hangs around with this ‘pom’ called Sam. He's gay. Any way after my long and grueling day at school its good to be able to beat up on a few kids. Jokes. Life in Singapore isn’t as bad as I’m making it out to be, just a little tough.
Cya 4 now Xave xx

From Jordy.

'4E isle H', the lady said elegantly.

'Thank you' mum said as she guided me to our seats.

'Cool! We got TV's.' I quickly sat down with mum, dad and Xave in the middle isle H. I guess by now you're wondering what the heck I am talking about. Well, if you haven't guessed already, I am on the plane towards my new home. SINGAPORE!!! Exciting as it may be, I am still very tired after the big event that happened last night. Some of you may know, but for those who don't, we had a family wedding and I didn't get home till 1.30 in the morning.

So, coming back to the story, I relaxed and pressed back into the seat and closed my eyes and that's where my dream begins. Now, I find myself standing and unwrapping things out of boxes in a strange place called Bishan Park Condo.

'WAKE UP!!!', mum screams as I try and lift my head out of my deep sleep. I turned my head only to find the sky dark and an abandoned street. I was confused until it hit me that school was now on the schedule. It was my first day. I can be anyone I want to be.

'Hey Amir, do you get this homework?, I asked.

'Uh... yep', my friend Amir said.

'Can I borrow your correction tape?' Tian Sen asked. (He is also another friend.)

'Sure thing I said happily. What ....huh...? How did I get this far in my dream, from unwrapping things in a strange place to talking to randoms that my mind tells me are my friends?

"Damn it! Someone must have hit the fast forward button.'

'What the heck are you talking about?' Berwyn questioned. (Berwyn is another friend.)
'Er, nothing.' I said, confused and disorientated.

I'll have to stop here or pause, as I have a bucket load of HARD homework to do. Here it doesn't seem like I have paused it seems like I have pressed down continually on fast forward. Every day goes as fast as it takes to click some fingers. But for now I keep dreaming and it goes on and on forever. I am missing you all extremely!

Bryan's Durian adventure
One of my 'great fun' adventures has been with the infamous Durian. I was in a supermarket and began chatting to a guy selling it in the fruit & veggie section in take away packs, 3 for $20. You can smell it when you first walk into the place. The smell is virtually the stuff of legend and folk tale, but honestly, I don't really mind it at all. When I confessed I had never tried it, he offered me three for twelve and, yep, I took it. How long can you live in Asia and not try Durian?

So the next installment was, as I was heading through the checkout and the lady on the cash register begins asking me all these apparently irrelevant and prying questions like: 'Are you driving a car' - to which I answer no - and - 'Are you taking bus?' 'What's it to you lady?? Yeah, I'm catching the bus.' 'OK, OK I pack it good for you. ' she says. And she begins putting the Durian inside one bag inside another bag inside another bag, explaining to me as she goes, that Durian is banned on public transport in Singapore! I suggest I'll just put it into my school bag and beging unzipping the bag, at which point the woman next in line who has been watching the circus of the ignorant Westerner buying the Durian, screams 'No! No! Stink out your bag. Must carry.' So off I go to smuggle my contraband Durain home on the bus, like a naughty school boy. A successful mission.

The most fun, however, was bringing the Durian home to Felicity and the boys and cracking open one of the packets on the dining room table after dinner. I really enjoyed that. I munched on the Durian and they fled, screaming (to the TV). They complained about the Durian for days, and of course they wouldn't go near it so that meant the three packets lasted for quite a while, as I was the only one eating it. Let me tell you that Durain actually goes well with mango on your cornflakes. Not that I could get anyone else to contemplate the concept. So, now that I have tried Durian and I have quite enjoyed it, I will be moving on to Durian icecream and other Durian deserts that I see long lines of Singaporeans queuing up for at various stalls around the place. And of course, bringing the odd pack or two home for the family to enjoy!!!