05.28.2009 Greetings,
A kite, orange, with a streaming white tail high
in blue sky above old city
near dark green hills leading to mountains,
Yes, this particular kite's long string
is held by a young girl. She is happy. She is free flying her kite
loving its color, feeling the pull, the tension in her small hand
as the wind holds her kite.
She plays it out letting it flow.
Metta.
05.27.2009 Greetings,
We begin the final "test" portion for G4 kids today. Speaking. They have five topics.
They present in groups of three and the audience asks them questions, follow-up questions and curious questions about unique proteins found in the venom of Komodo dragons.
1. What is a rain forest? Why are they important?
2. Name some jobs people do in Indonesia.
3. Imagine you are a tourist. What would you like to know about a place?
4. You are planning a vacation to a new place this summer. What do you need to know? Talk about five ideas.
5. How can you learn about the past, about history?
6. Random bonus questions, like:
"Talk about the coolest thing you did in school this year."
"How does making a mind map help your intellect and creative instinct?"
"What is the difference between a fact and an opinion?"
"Explain your values on friendship."
"Is imagination more important than knowledge?"
Metta.
05.25.2009 Greetings,
How was your weekend?
Wonderful thanks. Played two hours of doubles on Saturday morning and gave some teamwork suggestions to the other players. Attack the net. The team that controls the net wins 85% of the points. Laugh and lob.
Went swimming in the olympic size pool. Cool underwater blue field of liquid.
Rode the Cosmic bike over to see Heni the queen of orchids at the nursery. She has many new flowers.
Enjoyed a 1.5 hour deep tissue massage on Sunday in the Balinese relaxation zone. Jumped in the pool.
Watered the amazing back garden and studied, with profound reverence, a large yellow, red, black and green spider finding a cool drop of liquid on a green leaf. It then scurried back to it's position in the center. Patience.
Metta.
indonesia in living on the edge 05.21.2009 Greetings,
Tomorrow is the Big day. Grade 4 kiddies take their end of the year sale unit test. The focus is on reading comprehension, listening and language arts. The speaking opportunity is next week. Everything must go!
It covers the final two chapters - history, time lines, bar graphs, maps, giraffes, gaffs, staffs and laughs.
Language Arts Essay Questions
Instructions. Read the questions. Answer the questions using complete sentences.
1. Why do you think it might be good to know your street address? Please explain.
2. When might you need a map? Can you tell why.
1. It's probably a good idea to know my street address inside the heavily fortified gated community on the old banana plantation because that's where older moronic perverse pedantic people take care of me. Actually two of them, the ones who connived me during a lustful interlude ten years ago leave early to make money. They take me shopping on weekends to reduce their abandonment guilt.
The other two - a comedy team from Vegas - do all the heavy lifting: washing, cleaning, cooking and rearranging antimatter. They pack my lucky lunch and tons of textbooks in a rolling suitcase, drive me to school in a black shiny SUV - the place surrounded by bamboo pavilions - and leave me alone to play with my catatonic friends and yell at high decibels.
I love noise and confusion and yelling. It's the only way to get people to pay attention to me!
2. The map is not the territory.
I hope I pass this test. My parents promised me a fantastic new toy if my score is higher than a bird can fly.
Metta.
education, indonesia in education, indonesia, living on the edge 05.16.2009 Greetings,
Grade 4 kids, all 89.5 recently went "camping" on a teamwork development life skills program for two nights and three daze.
As in participating in a tightly controlled, scripted program under the direct, immediate supervision of 10 teachers armed with cell phones; watchers and minders. No parents, drivers or maids to do ALL the simple daily work.
Here are the highlights. No one died.
a) a four-hour walk through villages, planting rice in mud, harvesting yams, identifying trees, plants and feeling the reality of heat, mud, water, and narrow wet slippery trails under a broiling sun.
b) how to put up and take down a tent.
c) how to tie a variety of knots and use a compass.
d) how to prepare basic, simple cooking materials and deep fry delicious foods like banana pancakes, tempe, and tofu over a smelly kerosene stove without suffering 3rd degree burns from hot bubbling oil.
e) coping, surviving, laughing, screaming teamwork perspectives while crawling up a steep muddy wet obstacle course and staying connected to the person in front of them.
f) some even learned how to develop a greater sense of independence and teamwork attitudes.
How to accept personal responsibility versus being lazy and avoiding responsibility; a deeply ingrained cultural attitude.
All the meals were catered. Trucked in from a nearby restaurant. A real struggle.
As one of many little campers standing in line with a pile of fried rice on their plastic cartoon plate said, "I WANT MORE!"
"Don't be greedy. Next."
Some people are never satisfied with what little they have. So it goes.
Hear about the amazing adventure hear. MK 72 more...
Metta.
