About Saint John County, NB

Yesterday, we had a Professional Development (PD) at our school to incorporate a PYP program, which is the Elementary school version of an IB program or International Baccalaureate program, that most of us think of at a high school level.

I originally saw this video in Saint John, New Brunwick a year ago. I've seen a few up-to-date versions of it, exactly twice, while I'm working here in Beijing, China at the Canadian International School of Beijing. My class alone has 18 students from 11 countries! A very international group of students, whose parents are looking for the best education possible.

Seeing a few versions, makes me feel like the U.S., Canada & Europe are sleeping right through and not really making the changes we needed to get done the last 30 years for our kids, adults, future jobs, education, local industries, etc, etc, etc......

Check this video out, it's shocking world statistics:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBwT_09boxE

I think fighting over who's got the Senate or House of Reps or Parliament should be put aside and realistically, analyze our future if we don't educate, feed, clothe or take care of our own countries and their offsprings. Apparently, India & China are doing something right! And we are left holding the empty bag without any goodies inside.

We need to seriously re-evaluate our education system, our government's priorities and our future within our own countries. If your schools, states, provinces, etc. are not doing their job well, FIRE THEM!!! Start with a new perspective and really take care of our own future.

Financial manipulation will always exist and I think one world currency is inevitable, but it's just getting all the countries together on this.

What's your thoughts on this? Let me know, since I love to hear other people's opinions on this....

It’s National Day here in China today! This is the anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949. This morning I was up early, still 11 hrs difference ahead from New Brunswick, Canada and got dressed to try to find the Starbucks’ the VP & ESL Teacher took me to before. As I was approaching the Solano Mall, I realized I was still in a different country. The western style Solano Mall gates to the mall area were closed.

I came back to my original route and passed it to find a bakery. I found this wonderful German bakery and got a “latte”. Drinking it, I realized it didn’t have espresso, but plain morning coffee with lots of milk. “Too funny!” Going back to my school’s gates I met a few teachers waiting outside the gates for a bus that would take them to the Great Wall of China. They had booked it a few weeks ago, so I couldn’t attend, but I bookmarked it for a future trip next week for the national week off.

These are the colorful apartments for the teachers & staff!

Had my “Chinese Physical” this morning, even though, I had a physical from my physician before I was issued the “temporary VISA”. The school’s HR dept. rep. took me with a school’s driver for communication reasons. The driver & HR person picked me up at 9:30 a.m. and took me to a very plain looking building 1 hour away (even though we were still in Beijing, due to traffic). I was given a card & told to go to each room: blood test, x-ray, EKG, eye exam & hearing test. They checked my ears with a mirror (I have no idea why?). I was done in 30 mins.

When I got back from the 1 hr drive, I took a taxi to the Beijing IKEA. All teachers & staff are issued a small binder booklet that has local facilities for transportation, embassies, restaurants & cafes, hotels, shopping, and tourist destinations. Everything is written in English, with translation in Mandarin, so you can show it to the taxi driver, so they know where to take you. IKEA in Beijing is HUGE. It took me a few hours to see what they had. I found pillows to go with my “orange & lavender” L shaped module couch, duvet cover for my plain white bed and candles and light fixtures to give my apartment some color. Now, with some modifications, I can live here for the next 9 months!

We have plenty of storage for a smaller 1 bedroom!

There is only a hot plate, like a university/college dormitory!

We all have to "hang dry" our clothes, so fabric softner is a must!

They do have Western style bathrooms with showers, for my friends who had some concerns on it!

It's now very comfortable & I'll be adding some Chinese photos from my travels in the future!

Yes, I'm watching CNN International News & I love this motto for living in new areas of the world!

Front view through my apartment window! Elementary school of CIS-Beijing is lower brick building.

Left side view through my apartment window.

Right side view of Middle/High School of CIS-Beijing.

Augh! My electrical plugs don’t work here? I’ve got a headache this morning. I couldn’t dry my hair or straighten it either. Worse yet, I couldn’t grind any of my dark roasted coffee beans and I’m meeting my new students today????

I woke up early, this sunny Friday, Sept 24th, since my body didn’t know what time it was and my clock radio didn’t work here either. I was ready for the long productive day! I met the ESOL/ESL teacher who had taken over for me, until my Chinese VISA permitted me to come to Beijing. Gayle Trembley is AWESOME!!! She really cares for the kids’ literacy and reminded me of my 1^st grade teacher Mrs. Levy at Bethpage Elementary in Long Island, NY who also helped me overcome my fear of English. I was a former ESOL/ESL student, only knowing Italian, even though I was born in NYC, after living in Italy for 5 years after birth, due to my parent’s jobs traveling. This is where I got my travel bug!

I finally met my 18 students today! They are from the following 11 countries: Philippines, China (with Permanent Residency from 2 other countries), South Korea, U.S.A., United Kingdom, Taiwan, Canada, Russia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia & Italy. The students are from affluent families from the business & embassy communities. The kids are smart, very polite & sponges on learning!

Who said school badges aren’t important? I received mine today, after going to IT and receiving another MacBook for my teaching assignment. Now, I have two, my 19” laptop that I brought with me from Canada and theirs a 14” model. Receiving the school badge gets me into every part of the CISB (Canadian International School of Beijing), from Preschool Montessori – 12^th Grade IB, Art Room, Dance Studio, Music Room, all the gyms, Teacher’s Work-out Room and the Olympic Pool. To leave the school grounds, you must have the school badge on you, since the school is a gated community, and you can’t get back in or out without it. (This reminds me of Cheech & Chong’s movie).

My principal, Jill Jolieane, took me shopping at Carrefour Supermarket (the Chinese Wal-Mart equivalent) where I bought lots of essential items & food. Couldn’t find the adapters for my electronic devices!

Finally, she took me to a fabulous Tai restaurant on Lucky Street, walking distance from the International School. YEAH!!!

Who am I and what time is it? Air Canada fed us 3 times, had dinner 1^st, Cup of Noodles 2^nd with chopsticks and with breakfast as the last meal, even though we landed at 3:55 p.m. Thursday, Beijing time or 4:55 a.m. in Saint John’s Atlantic time zone. Two FULL planes later, It’s been 17 hours and I’m finally in Beijing, China! I think this was a longer trip than Hawaii, even though we took the North Pole route from Toronto to Beijing.

I was greeted by the owner’s chauffer with my 3 huge suitcases, my Macbook Pro case (that has all of my tech devices; camera, video camera, ipod, and all chargers) & my messenger’s bag (my girl bag) after Chinese customs at the Dragon Wall with a sign saying CISB and my name below. He drove me to my new residence & school and was greeted by the VP & ESL teacher of the Canadian International School of Beijing. Asked me how I was doing and then took me for a walk to a Western Mall around the corner behind the school. After all the meals I had eaten, they took me to a Saudi Arabian restaurant, with a great environment and colorful Middle Eastern décor. I had a delicious dish of lamb with mushroom and curried rice and my 1^st Arabian dark roasted coffee, which had Sage so strong in it that the other people in my table could smell it. New experience for sure!

After dinner, I was taken to the Western style grocery store, where I picked up some groceries to survive the next few days. Since I brought enough dark roasted coffee (from Canada) for 6 months and a grinder, the only appliance I bought at the grocery store, was a small coffee pot (the display, since there weren’t any others left) to be able to get up the next day. The VP expected me to attend the next day, so I could be programmed into their system and also meet the children.

BTW: After leaving the grocery store, they showed me a Starbucks and I knew it would be okay to live in Beijing, China for 9 months!

I accepted an international job early last month and I’m currently waiting for the “GREEN” light for my Chinese “Working” Visa, coming from the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, ON.

I began this morning, with 2 high school kids coming to my backyard, 2 hrs late, to take all of my construction items to their ½ ton dump truck. This included: 1970’s plywood cabinets, old gyprock from sides of kitchen, laundry room & roof, 2 floorings, Laminate Pergo & vinyl underneath it. I currently have a skeleton of a kitchen, since I’m in the middle of remodeling my kitchen, where the only thing left is a small island bar sink & dishwasher. Everything else is in my living room in boxes, hallways and my stairways. All my important stuff I can find; my microwave is on a box, my toaster is on the floor & my coffee pot is on the stairway!

I've seen many blogs lately that still aren't "branded" yet! Today, I'd like to teach the ActiveRain members who would like to learn to create a FREE header and make it their own! I'll also be giving you info on creating your own branded background for your ActiveRain blog. This should only take a few minutes to master!!!

I love to create, so today, I’ve updated my blog header. I used a program called: Header Spot, which has 682 free header images in various photo sizes. To make it your own for your ActiveRain blog you must have your header photo, preferably at or no larger than 960X130, or your image won’t show correctly:

http://www.headerspot.com/

Here's the header I chose, which is shorter than 960 wide, but is 130 high:

You can make it your own by uploading your header to Picnik, which is a free photo editing program and adding the text of your choice or special effects to it.

http://www.picnik.com

Here's my header with my new title that I added:

I’ve added another photo of Beijing for my background. This can be done after your login to your ActiveRain. Look to your upper right side for:

“My Home”

Then, look at your upper left side of the page (below your name & location) for & click “Customize”:

“ActiveRain (Customize)”

You can download your photo at “New Background Image” for your background by clicking “Browse”. Your photo will look it’s best if it’s 300X300, but many other agents use other sizes.

Now, if you want to add a new background image (sides of your blog). Here is where you can download your new background photo by going to:

New Background Image (Browse)

Here's the background photo of Beijing I chose:

Also, here is where you can download your new new Header image, that you created up above by going to:

New Header Image (Browse)

Here's the new Header photo I chose:

** If you want to change your menu, page, or menu text or header background, these are the areas where you can change them. I highly recommend playing with these until you feel comfortable with your results. Many agents have the menu text and menu background the same color, so you can’t see their text, it all becomes one, so be careful here. Also your header background should probably match your header somehow so it transitions better!

VERY IMPORTANT:

When you are done adjusting all of your Customized ActiveRain Blog, then click once to see if your photos downloaded correctly:

“Save Changes”

If you view your header and all of it shows up clearly & you like your results, then click again:

“Save Changes”

You will get an acknowledgement at the top of your page that says:

"Your blog has been customized"

***** (If you don’t click it twice it won’t show up as a change).

Finally, go view your blog to see the results of your work and enjoy it!