The Family Gathers

We Skype chatted with family last night, and are preparing for his arrival on Friday.  The youngest one here was definitely flirting with her uncle, and managed to get pretty buzzed up as she showed off for him.  By mid month we will all be staying over at his new home on the island.  Mr. generosity will be there having beds delivered to the house as we all gather (including his new wife), in Vancouver and travel over to view the property.  The last time we were all together was over 5 years ago.  Good thing people have babies. That was the occasion for our last family gathering. The adventuresome diver came home to meet his new nephew at that time. Now, it appears the reason for the gathering is his own marriage and ownership of property.  Whatever the reason, you can be sure I am a happy lady to have both my children in the same country at the same time.

My school work - good grief!  I have written to everyone at the university to get some answers, assistance, or some kind of direction.  I finally got a response to a question asking if I was on the right track or way off course. I sent an example of what I thought was correct.  Answer: you are on track.  (full stop, end of message)  That does not make me feel any better.  I think I will grab Jenn today and run this stuff by her brilliant brain to see if she can figure out why I am on track, and how I can stay there.  I only have a few more days to get three courses first assignments done and uploaded to the system.  This is not how I like to work. But I have done it to myself, so now must deal with the outcome.  Drat.

Halloween fast approaching - both goblins have promised Uncle Ry that they will save him a chocolate or two from their loot bags.  We have a mouse that squeaks and a superhero Batman that will be representing out household this year.  The mouse practices her sounds regularly and tends to forget that a mouse does not roar, frequently raising her little paws in a claw-like pose, dashing through the house roaring.  (photos to come)

Studies and what to do

As much as I enjoy doing research, quantitative research is not my favourite.  I have an entire class in that area this term.  I am the ONLY enrolled student in that class.  It is not an elective.  It is a core course.  There is no forum for discussion. There is no professor assigned.  I hate it.

Finally wrote my Dear John letter - I am sure the dean (whose name is John) cringes when he sees new mail in the inbox from me.  But no choice.  I needed some assistance. And considering the fact that every other student gets tutorials on every subject every second weekend, I am not asking for a great deal.  We will see what comes of the question.  He did reply speedily, with a name of some person to offer as a tutor.  I wrote.  But now wait to see if they can read, speak, or understand English, and hopefully have a Skype account.  If no Skype, it can be a slow process, or a sleepless one for me if I have to hover around the internet on their schedule waiting for some responses.

I never did get a response as to why I am the only student enrolled in that course, and appear to be the only one EVER enrolled in it.  Maybe I need to do some quantitative research in this area and see if I am simply being tested on something that has nothing to do with the degree, or that it really is not a core course and no one in their right mind would take it.  For now, I muddle along, unhappily.

studies continue - frustration does too

I managed to get all courses finally on my student page, fees paid, and into the material in order to catch up on the delay caused by the move.  What really bugs me is the fact that nothing seems to work on the site, and when it does, there is incomplete information available to do a task. Egad!

Right after I paid my fees, the whole university site shut down. For a few days. This was not the first time this happened to me.  I recall the first time, my buddy who was always laughing at me for taking this in the first place, and telling me to quit throwing my money away on something that will disappear.  Not sure why it shuts down.  But it does, so I try to always download as much as I think I need in case it happens when I need something from the site.  A few days later it was up again, but I noticed that there was a due date for the first assignment for models of instruction - but no assignment posted.  No facilitator name to write to.  I noticed a past semester prof in the forum discussions, so wrote to him. That was brilliant.  He never replied.  So, back to registrar, dean, president, and any other address I could find and finally got a reply from someone only listed as 'staff' who attempted as they always do - to make it appear like I overlooked something.  Thanked her and said yes, it is indeed posted there NOW, that I asked the question.  However, it is so loosey goosey that I have to write again.  No parameters of how long an essay and nowhere to upload it.  Only useful information was to 'submit a hard copy to the facilitator of the course'. But then, who is the facilitator, and what is the mailing address? You can be sure I will not be buying a flight to Malaysia to deliver a few pieces of paper worth 20% of a final mark. So, back to e-mail and taking a few deep breaths to get past this latest hurdle.  I cut and pasted the outline of the assignment, so that I need not be told once again that I misread something that I did not misread or miss.  Hard copy my foot!

I see there are still some readers

I had an amusing conversation the other day.  One of my daughter's friends announced that she and her family were going to a Malay restaurant for dinner that day. Maybe she was demonstrating her international palate.  I was a bit surprised - Malay food is not really something that would be considered restaurant fare over here.  My daughter clarified, and said the Malay restaurants here are more along the line of Thai food.  Talking further, I asked her what she liked in Malay food.  Oh, the nasi goreng is my favourite, was the reply.  Once I composed myself, I did respond - nasi goreng is fried rice.  If a native to Canada has ever been to a Chinese restaurant, fried rice is not a new thing.  And not really Malay.  I think the Chinese have that one sewn up (done a very good job as well) and have had it for many decades or centuries.  So, I am guessing we really do not have Malay restaurants here, but I could be interested in a Thai one - with banana leaf chicken or som tum.

I also amuse myself with greetings.  I never spent time out after dark, so the only greeting I used with any frequency was Selamat Pagi (good morning). Infrequently, I went to the night market - so mastered Selamat Malam. I was walking the dog the other night, saw an older Chinese woman and greeted her with Selamat Pagi.  She must have thought I was nutty.

for now... selamat tinggal

Teach My Child.....

Abraham Lincoln wrote these words to his son's teacher. I cannot think of a better letter written, or a better message for any parent to consider.

Letter to a Teacher

Maple Leaves that fall in fall

A tree ablaze with red leaves just waiting to fall off the tree is a typical sight in October here.

How is that for a BLUE sky?

Here are the leaves that have fallen - interesting how red they are on the ground, and orange they appear on the tree.

Using My Brain - in a different way

From a job that required me to think for myself, think how the learners think, and then guide them to something new, I discover I am just doing the same job with a different set of students.  The students right now are the grandchildren.  They keep one on one's toes.  Their mother has gone off to Florida for some work related meeting.  I am the get them ready and out the door - then reverse at the end of the day - person.  It is exhausting.  They are clever little people who have built a strong set of resources that they bounce off their mom.  I dont want that, I dont like that, I 'whatever' has stopped. Old Nana does not buy the routine. One rule with Nana.  No crying allowed, unless there is physical injury.  Which really means - no crying allowed, because anyone who has ever been a parent knows that when a child is really injured, they never cry.  Use your words is not a sentence I will accept easily.  Say what you need comes to mind.  Then we can negotiate if Nana considers the issue negotiable.  Whining is not allowed.  Big brother, who taught the younger one how to whine happened to notice how unattractive it sounded.  A good lesson for both. And that little 2 year old knows exactly what Nana means when she says whining is not attractive.  She immediately reframes the sentence in an affirmative manner - no wimpy sounds uttered.  What a clever girl!  Today was the best.  Miss 2 year old is very ready for potty training, but no one seems to be picking up on that.  We were outside waiting for the friend who was arranged to take her to the play school, and suddenly with little arms outstretched in a disbelief posture  I was advised ' there is poop in my pants'.  Right, some poop rascal just arrived and tossed it into her pants when she was not looking.  Back into the house we went, changed the pants  and were still ready for the chariot driver.

It is very obvious to me why God gave small children to young parents. It would have been a very mean trick to have changed that rule and given we oldies the little people.   I am looking forward to returning to my studies which begin next week. I have a month and a half to catch up on three courses, so no dallying around for me. Hit the keyboard is what I need to do to get my first assignments done on time.

Not the Tropics - But we do have blossoms

I actually tried to grow one of these in Malaysia. Not a good idea.  When I got home after work, it was wilted and draped neatly clinging to the flower pot as if it were a decal.  These need lots of moisture - which the tropics offers, but a lot less heat.

One Week

I have been home for one week and am beginning to feel human again. There is nothing much better than going to bed with a cool room that is not artificially cooled, and being wakened by the sweet voice of a cherub squealing "Hi Nana - I come down?"  Of course I say yes, and those little feet speed to my bedside to grin at me and plant a warm kiss right on my mouth. Her brother  usually comes along, but I have to admit - there is nothing more precious than a two year old and their babbling enthusiasm of life demonstrated with the chatter that spills out the minute they open their eyes for a new day. She was priceless one morning. I had slept in one of my traditional batik sleep dresses that clearly overwhelmed her. Eyes like saucers, the only words that escaped her mouth like a thought instead of a word - beautiful gown.  She is so observant, like all little people. I slept in another batik and although it was nothing like the pattern of the silk blanket I had made for her, the essence of the batik was there and she knew it.  Her interpretation.  Nana's blankie!

Great news. The diver is heading home in a few weeks too. Life cannot get much better than this, at least not for this old bird.  

Now I Know I Live Here Again

I went to the mall today and bought a sim card for my phone. That clearly tells me that I am here to stay - because I also tossed out the sim card from Malaysia that had several ringgits of use still available on it.

I seem to be the resident of this country with no real fixed address.   I have one address on my driver license, another for my income tax, health care, cc bills and whatnot, and another for parcels being mailed to me from SE Asia.  I would have used the billing address for my phone today but their system could not understand how to key in a direction for the street.

Now - time for a nap.  Kids soon home from school and Nana has to recharge her energy for that and Taco Tuesday.