New school and stuff

First week at school!!! The kids, or ‘learners’ as we are encouraged to call them, are lovely, very very cute and extremely quiet but luckily I do have some crazy characters so I won’t get bored! I have 21 now, the biggest class in the school (how is that fair?!) but I’m not complaining (much – I would have preferred a number which had more factors but there you go). They are very polite and call me Miss Jenny, which gets me every time as I try to work out whom they are addressing.

It’s so funny as we’re really cold in our classroom because of the lush air conditioning, but step outside for even a second (the building has open corridors, so no roofs and sometimes only 3 walls) and you get a nice sweat on – luckily staffroom etc are quite close to my room so I avoid the beetroot look most of the time. I don’t actually know how the kids run around at playtime – but they do somehow! Most of them support Man U, Liverpool or Barcelona – the really well known teams basically; no local teams for them to support so we’ll let them off. They love a kick-around on the boggy (and I mean boggy) school field.

Most of the children are Malaysian (and there are Malay Malaysians (mostly Muslim), Indian Malaysians (Hindu) or Chinese Malaysians (Christian or Buddhist)) or some Korean, and there are a few Americans, English, Australian etc. It’s great, the majority speak fantastic English (unfortunately in American accents), as well as Bahasa Malay, Mandarin, Korean and/or loads of others. Many of them have lived in different countries for long periods of time as they come from families of diplomats or businessmen.

First lunchtime duty was interesting – half an hour out in the sun with no shade = a very sweaty Miss Jenny. For that reason I will dread Wednesday’s forever more! Everyone is expected to lead an after school club and I opted for photography (as it's indoors mostly) but then the head of PE asked me to lead Secondary Netball...! I agreed, but only if my Photography club proves too unpopular to run as they are supposed to be on the same day. As you can imagine I am canvassing for support for my photography club so as to save myself from more outdoor exposure! Hopefully I will get a lot of kids and escape!

Anyway school was great this week, but it will take a lot of getting used to as the kids are different - they don't seem to get my (ahem) humour. As you all know, I was hilarious in Bristol, but it seems I'm not funny in Malaysia...booo! There is literally one kid who laughs at everything I say, whilst everyone else just stares at me as if I'm mad!

The staff are lush and great fun - we went to a champagne brunch at the weekend, a first (but definitely not a last) for me. We do a lot of socialising, got water-skiing on Putrajaya lake coming up and also a possible staff trip to Borneo to stay in the Jungle with the Orang-Utans. Also made some friends from the bigger international school in KL who live in the same Condo as me. They're all lovely and we have enjoyed a good few meals out etc (eating out is extremely cheap)!

Loads of time off school here - today is Malaysia Day, then next week is a 4 day one and I have the whole of the following week off for Hari Raya (end of Ramadam and the most important festival in the Muslim Calendar). Me and my Garden (the name of the other school) friends all planned a holiday for Hari Raya hols - booked it and everything - then when discussing our impending trip we realised that our school had arranged for their holidays to be in different weeks so I couldn't go - they're off next week!! Hideous. You'd have thought we would maybe check these things but apparrently not. So I'm probably planning a diving trip on my lonesome for Hari Raya but I'm not too fussed about that - desperate to see a bit of Malaysia!

Anyway better go, I get the feeling I'm rambling.

Hopefully will get internet access at home soon and will also get pics of my apartment up here.

Thanks for all your lovely messages!

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Blog that I wrote ages ago but have only just posted.

I wrote this blog after my second week in the hotel but have only just managed to post it as I only have internet at school at the mo and try to spend as little time as possible there! Got a day off today (31st) as it's the Malaysian Day of Independence - borrowing my friend Jill's dongle to get back on track with the old blog.

I’m finally out of the hotel and into my lush new apartment!! It’s beautiful but expensive. I have to keep telling myself that the equivalent in London would cost an awful lot more! There's a lush swimming pool, tennis courts, table tennis room, sauna and gym (as you can probably guess, I have only frequented the pool so far). Lots of my new friends live here as well so it's a very sociable place to be. I’ll put some pictures up here when I have some and when I know how, and then I won’t have to explain it all.

Something much more amusing to talk about is the fact that Malaysia’s Biggest Loser was being filmed at our hotel last week!! During Ramadam which seems a bit harsh!! It was quite funny being sat at the pool when suddenly loads of large kids come rushing over to swim a few laps followed by an angry personal trainer shouting at the top of his voice and an entire film crew – I beat a hasty exit before said trainer started on me as well.

Also of interest is the first proper thunderstorm I’ve witnessed. In fact I think all the other ‘storms’ I’ve ever seen in England have been fake, warm-up storms. I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s like someone has just turned on an almighty tap onto full power and the plumbing’s gone bad. And the lightening is IMMENSE. Brolly’s are useless in these situations I’ve discovered, as the rain practically demolishes them and you get completely soaked anyway. The weirdest thing is it’s even hotter when it does rain, so storms don’t have that clearing the air effect that they do in our more temperate climes.

Starting school on Monday!!! Will let you all know how it goes! xxxxxx

Week 1 done!

Well it's been a crazy week! There's lots to talk about; first impressions, school, flat hunting, making friends! It's pretty late and I have to work 9 - 5 at school tomorrow (unheard of in teaching! ;-) so may keep this short, but so far so good, I'm loving it, not had a hint of homesickness yet (but I know I will at some point and probably the things I will miss will be a) PG tips with proper milk b) being able to walk outside without turning into a shining red beacon c) my friends and family (obviously!).

So I arrived on Sunday afternoon after a pretty good flight (watched Iron Man 2, Toy Story and Date Night) and it turned out that the people in front of me on the flight were also teachers, one of them in my school and two from our partner school, which is WAY bigger than ours. Got picked up by the head of primary and the principal and taken to the hotel which is very very nice, met some other new teachers as well which was cool. The school is lovely, very big but not many kids yet as it's only 2 years old. They're currently building a boarding school which is quite exciting, maybe an opportunity for getting involved in that in the future. Everyone at school very nice indeed, all up for a laugh and in the same boat so we can get to know the place together.

Our hotel is quite far out of KL and we've been at school every day so haven't actually managed to see much of KL so far but I have been briefly to the Petronas Towers Shopping Mall looking for a cheap mobile - it's HUGE and TERRIFYING if you don't like shopping!! And I must admit I went in, found the relevant shop, made a purchase and legged it - I'll go back again soon and do the touristy thing tho! Also explored Bangsar (an amazing place full of modern and old shops, restaurants and all sorts), Chinatown (again, great markets and eateries, and this crazy place where you pay to put your feet in a pool which has these fish that EAT the DEAD SKIN from your FEET!!!! Singularly the most hideous yet hilarious experience ever) and a place called Petaling Jaya (lots of restaurants but not much else). I've been out a few times and most importantly met loads of people from our partner school which is great for my socialising and potential future holidays. SO much more to see and can't wait til I move to Mont Kiara next Saturday to be closer to the centre (have an apartment but more on that next time).

The people here are lovely, there are a mix of Malays, Chinese, Indians, Philipinos and Expats from all over the place and everyone seems to get on with their own lives, despite the many different religions. I'm sure there are underlying tensions but as a whole everyone seems very tolerant of differences and it really is a melting pot. Everyone speaks English and the other common languages are Bahasa Malay and Mandarin. Not sure if I'm going to learn one, I know I should but...how difficult!! Things happen a lot slower over here, for example a drink can take about half an hour to arrive in some places, but it's all part of the laid back attitude and it's definitely something I'm going to have to get used to!

Weather: it's hot, there's no denying that. VERY hot. After 5 minutes outside about 80% of people will be sweating. I guess you do feel constantly dirty and minging but actually it's a lot more manageable than I expected, and after the cold aircon in every building it can be a relief to come outside and feel hot. The temperature doesn't seem to change that much whether the sun is shining, it's overcast or raining, but I did get sunburn today despite being in what I thought was the shade the whole time (!). A record even for me.

Things happening next:
1. a week of 9-5 inset days on curriculum, planning and preparation, and meeting all the existing staff.
2. moving into my lush new (and hideously expensive) apartment.
3. a few more formal parties.
4. a few more informal parties.
5. more explorations (desperate to go to the Aquarium or Zoo).

Thanks for reading see you next time!!

Jen xxxxxxxxxxx