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Back in Business!

It has been months since my computer broke on my way back from Thimphu. Now I have a new one and, at long last, access to The Internet: the blog is back! I have about a dozen entries ready to post...

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How I Spent My Summer Vacation

There are two weeks' vacation in the middle of the Bhutanese school year and because Tashiyangtse is the most beautiful place in the world, I had lots of BCF visitors!We went on a three day hike to the...

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Around the Solar System in Twelve Hats

Although my official responsibility is the Maths Club I like to sneak over to the Science Club whenever I can. When I recieved by mail the most wonderful birthday gift of Canadian construction paper,...

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Sports, Sports, Sports!

I think one of the biggest surprises for Canadian teachers coming to Bhutan is how important sports are in this country. Here, children's athletic progress is tracked and celebrated as much as their...

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Madam Kendra: Quiz Mistress

Anyone who knows me, knows I love trivia. To my great delight, I got to create the board and frame the questions for the 2011 Interhouse Quiz Bowl:Our biggest goal in planning the game was variety. The...

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THE ROYAL WEDDING

His Majesty Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuk and Jetsun Pema are married! The grand celebrations in Punakha and Thimphu were of course televised on BBS and reported around the world...... but in my...

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The Sad Tale of Pakora the Cat

This is Pakora the food:It is made of chopped green onions lathered with a gooey batter and then fried:This is Pakora the Cat:I had a LOT of mice eating all of clothes and food so I dreamt of getting a...

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Blessed Rainy Day

In Bhutan, the official end of the monsoon is celebrated as Blessed Rainy Day. The only responsibility people have on that day is to take a bath to clease the year's sins. The rest of the time is spent...

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Making Sense of the Senses

When the teaching assignments were auctioned off at the beginning of the school year, I was too passive to get what I most desired: a science class. Although, I hung out with the Science Club as much...

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Attention: Entomologists

What is this beautiful bug with whom I spent a pleasant hour?

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The Pleasure of Escher

I can now say I've done the Tessellation Sensation Poster Project with grade five students on both sides of the planet! Bhutanese students enjoy it just as much as Nova Scotian ones:

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Missing 7-C on a Sick Day

I've had a rough bout of dysentery and vomiting the past couple of days so, instead of being at school now, I'm home with the curtains drawn. I'm trying to hide from the vicious sun that is so hateful...

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Happy Diwali!

With Halloween only a few days away, I was thinking, "Boo hoo! I'm missing another Canadian holiday. I won't see any trick-or-treaters this year."It turns out Bhutan has a rather analogous tradition!...

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Dzongkha labney gi denlu, charno baynung. Di gotchee mo?

Title Translation: Please help me learn Dzongkha, friend. What is this called?To learn Dzongkha, use the above phrase to get strangers to teach you many nouns. Put these on a poster in your living...

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Folks from Down Home

Winter has come to Yangtse. The mountains have turned from stone to snow:And the black-necked cranes are returning...Yesterday, Madam Sonam and I were circumnavigating Chorten Cora. On the first time...

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Cyclostyling in Style!

Compared to Canada, exams in Bhutan are high-stakes, high-security, and highly time-consuming. Teaching of new material is suspended in favour of review a full month before exams begin. At that time,...

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Examining the Exam

It is time to find out if a year's worth of inspirational speeches, multiplication games, and extra help classes have been worth it. It is time to discover if lasting learning has taken place. Today my...

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Examining the Exam, part 2: thank Que mambam

I have corrected the rest of my Class V maths exam and tabulated the results. I expect that when many of you in Canada see the bar graph below, you will be horrified because 29 students did not attain...

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My Friend Marten

Strolling on the back road this evening my path was crossed by a fast-scurrying creature that hid in the bushes before I could get a good look. Before my inner naturalist could cry, though, I noticed...

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A Perfect Picnic and a Polka-dot Pig

I absolutely love being a teacher but there might be one thing I love more: not being the teacher. I love that because the school year has finished for my Class V's I can kick back and relax with them,...

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TYLSS Video Montage 2011

I was elated when in my previous entry, after months of failed attempts, I was able to post a movie. I now seem to have repeated that success with the end-of-year music video I made for my students! I...

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♪ Where everybody knows your name and they're always glad you came ♪

If I could offer two and only two words of advice to all future Western teachers in Bhutan they would be "paying guest". A paying guest loyalty arrangement is when you pay a fixed reduced rate to eat...

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The Road to Christmas is Lined with Poinsettias

And monkeys!And BCFer's! Just happened to run into the boss lady on a roadside in Sengor:This entry is coming to you from the Paro airport. I will soon take off for Canada via Bangkok and Beijing. Here...

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Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jigs

I have completed my epic journey from Yangtse to Mongar to Bumthang to Thimphu to Paro to Bangkok to Beijing to Toronto to Halifax to Home Sweet Heatherton. Here are scenes from my favourite airport,...

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From High Altitude Teaching to High Latitude Teaching

After two restful months playing Scrabble with my family, I have accepted a new teaching position in Fox Lake, AB. You will be able to follow this next step of my teaching career on this new blog.

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