Share Your World - Friday 19th May 2017

Time for another round of Share Your World. The original posts are much earlier in the week, but I'm thinking Friday evening is a good time for me to do this, so here are this week's questions with my answers.

How many languages do you you speak?

One, English, but I can speak enough Khmer to get me around and navigate shopping in the markets. I wish I had more, but time for language study hasn't been high on my list of priorities unfortunately. Teaching, planning, preparing, marking and studying have a way of eating up your time.

What are you reading, watching, listening to, eating?

Reading: Kicking Eternity by Ann Lee Miller (a Kindle freebie)

Watching: Nothing - the TV is almost never on

Listening to: The sounds of fans whirring - it's been another hot humid tropical day

Eating: Fresh pineapple - deliciously sweet!

What was the last photo you took with your phone?

My main phone doesn't have a camera, and the only photos I have taken on my mini-tablet/phone were evidence of a student's violent behaviour taken a number of months ago. Thankfully that doesn't happen very often. On my pocket camera that lives in my handbag the last photos were of my students constructing boats entirely out of recycled materials. They did a great job.

What is your favourite time of day?

Bedtime, when I put the air-conditioning on and take my Kindle and do a little reading before sleeping. I've also been enjoying walking time in the late afternoons early evenings lately.

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Well first of all I'm grateful we had a four day weekend last weekend, during which I snuck in some pampering. Love that I had a manicure & pedicure, plus hair wash (complete with scalp massage) for just $10 on Tuesday afternoon. An occasional treat. Secondly, I'm also grateful for e-mail and prompt and helpful responses from AustSwim about license renewal and professional development. Finally I'm grateful for a visit from a professional librarian who was able to make some really helpful suggestions for designing a new elementary library.

What I'm looking forward to in the coming week is having my report cards finished, and getting to work on the nuts and bolts of the design of our new elementary library.

Share Your World - Friday 12th May 2017

A couple of Facebook/Blogging friends have started doing this, and I thought it might be a fun way for you to get to know me a little better, and if you like to join in by answering the same questions in the comments that would let me know you too. Whether I'll be able to keep up with the weekly posts or not I'm not sure, but I'm going to give it a go. Each week a new set of questions are posted on the originating bloggers page. Anyway, enjoy!

When you’re alone at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

Here in Cambodia I go barefoot, but when I'm in Australia (since it's usually winter) I prefer slippers or slipper socks. Having lived in Cambodia for 10 years I've pretty much adapted to the cultural practice of leaving outside shoes at the door.

What was your favourite food when you were a child?

Hmmm. That's a long time ago. I think Roast Dinner figured pretty highly, especially with Lemon Delicious (or Little Pud as Mum's family called it) for desert.

Are you a listener or talker?

Both. I do my best to be an active listener, and I enjoy a good chat. I've learned to speak confidently in public speaking situations. The more I think about it (which I'm not supposed to do in this post), as a teacher I'm probably a talker!

Favourite thing to (pick one):  Photograph?  Write? Or Cook?

Photograph - I love getting the camera out and capture the beauty of God's creation. 

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

This last week I was very grateful for my midweek holiday on Wednesday, and I'm really looking forward to my four day weekend. I'm also looking forward to having my report cards finished and proofread by the end of next week!

If you are interested in joining this blogging challenge, just copy and paste the above questions into a new post and answer them. Then put the link for your post here: Share Your World

Dear Miss Karen

Recently, among the writing choices I offered my students, was for them to write a letter to me. It could be about anything they liked. One of my students wrote a huge list of questions, and since they were mostly fairly basic facts that anyone who knows me well might know I thought it might be fun if wrote an answer to her letter here and then shared it with the class.Something I've learned is that children are often fascinated by their teachers, and it really doesn't hurt to let them get to know a bit about who you really are.

First of all, her letter:

Dear Miss Karen,
What do you like to eat? Do you have a pet in your house? Have you ever been to Canada before? What country do you like most? Do you have brothers or sisters? What colour do you like most? What book do you like most? What movie do you like most? What do you like to wear? When is your birthday? How many friends do you have? Can you eat kimchi? Where is your house? Do you like to wear glasses? How many cousins do you have? Have you ever taught grade 12 before? Who do you believe? Did you have a nice Winter break? Do you like to read books? Do you like to watch a movie? Did you ever go to Korea before?

At that point I think she was told to stop writing as it was time for Khmer class. So here is my answer to her letter. Enjoy!

Dear Student,

Thank you for your letter. What a lot of questions you have. Let me try and answer some of them.

I like to eat all different kinds of food. My favourite meal in Australia is Roast Lamb with baked potatoes and sweet potatoes, broccoli, carrots, and lots of mint sauce gravy. For dessert, I like apple crumble with custard. Here in Cambodia I like sweet and sour tofu from Ms S, ginger chicken, and lots of other things. I have tried kimchi, but I don't really like it. I do like kimbap though. 

I have never been to Canada, but I would like to one day. I think I'd find it very cold. I have never been to Korea either. Maybe I will go there one day, since it is quite close to Cambodia. My winter break was very quiet, with no students, and I enjoyed going to Bangkok. I have to say that I like Australia best of all, because that is my home country, where I was born. I have a house there, in a city called Toowoomba. Sometime I might show you on Google Maps where it is.

I have one sister who is married, seventeen cousins and many friends. My family mostly live in Australia, with a few in New Zealand. Some of my friends live in Australia, some in Cambodia, and others in different places around the world. I don't have a pet in my house, but I used to have a dog. One of the families I stay with in Australia has a dog that I love. 

My favourite colour is blue, but I like lots of colours. My birthday is in January. I like wearing glasses, but only because they make it possible for me to see well. Without my glasses, I wouldn't be able to read, write, play on the computer, ride my moto, or drive a car.
I love books!!! I love reading them, and I have quite a collection of books. My favourite series is The Chalet School series by Elinor M. Brent-Dyer, and I also love The Abbey Girls books by Elsie J. Oxenham. These are books I read when I was growing up, and I still love reading them. I also like reading mysteries, especially Christian ones. The best book I have ever read and will ever read is The Bible, because it helps me to know God, and how He wants me to live. You might guess from this that I believe in Jesus. The movie I like the most is "The Sound of Music". I like to wear clothes that are comfortable and that cover my body in a way that is respectful. Mostly I like to wear clothes that have lots of cotton in them.
Next time you write to me, I'd like you to answer your own questions so that I can get to know you better too!
From Miss Karen