Happy Thanksgiving

On each grain is written the name
of the eater.
The giver is the one.
The giver is the creator.

Sometimes, just to feel productive I make an origami box. It only takes a few minutes but then I can add it to the list of boxes I know. My schedule is kaput. But then again I didn't know this energy-sucking malaise would hit me at exactly the time when the Waldorf Community wanted me "back in the saddle" again.

Camp is going to kick my butt.
That is, if the ladies in my Waldorf support group don't, (I have promised to host a workshop on Waldorf Education focusing on math and a NUMBER of other things).

!!!

A lot of activity on the homefront. A few more "campers" have registered, which makes the group more lively. So far, the girls outnumber the boys 2-1. I guess since it is a "Craft" camp, more girls would come. But is that it? Hmmmm.

I took some pictures today of my walk between home and the train station. It is a walk I enjoy, even when it is so hot I am using an umbrella for protection. I think it is because I like alleyways and canals. Singapore is full of these sort of hidden passageways. Where the laundry hangs and the foreign domestic workers cook and things are not all sterile and the ladies gossip tho' I know not what they say. But I know they do because our helper M tells me.

Picture 1: Alleyway off Swan Lake Avenue on the way to Bedock station.
Picture 2: The reason I wait in the public restroom for the ONE non-squatter toilet.
Picture 3: Our convenience store.
Picture 4: Our take-away.
Picture 5: No car in the driveway.

Waldorf Camp

My camp is up and running as I now have enough campers registered for everyone to get paid, (me, an assistant and space rental).

What with the useless medication (that only makes me tired) and the flu, I have been utterly without purpose this last week. Sorry.

Interesting stuff to read (watch) about H1N1 though. If you want to read Teresa Forcades presentation.

Or watch her on Youtube:

flu.
bla.

Tonite I am excited about going to this talk at the Waldorf School that is in my neighborhood!


Waldorf Steiner Education Association Singapore
Presents:

Connecting With Your Destiny
A Talk by Hans van Forenstein Mulder

Hans van Florenstein Mulder
Hans was born in Sumatra. He served as General Secretary of the Anthroposophical Society in New Zealand from 1992- 2006. He and his wife Ineke were involved in founding the first Waldorf High School in New Zealand. Hans was also director of the one-year diploma course in biodynamic agriculture at Taruna. Since 2006, he has been assisting the Executive Council at the Goetheanum in Dornach to foster the life of the General Anthroposophical Society and the School of Spiritual Science in Asia.

I think the joke is on me.

Last week I started researching post-graduate school and online courses. There are many universities (like UMASS) that are offering degrees online. I started to get excited about this. Being productive. Improving myself!

This week I was persuaded to step back into the Waldorf community and agree to offer some time. My friend RR has offered to co-teach a two day morning program for 2 to 3 year olds with me. And after attending a very intense Anthroposophic mother's support group I believe I will be busy next year starting a 1st grade and supplementing main stream curriculum.

So much for career advancement.

Booty and I took the train into the city with Mr.D and stayed on the train when he got off to go to work. In order for Booty to be able to sit safely I kindly requested a young gentleman to get up (after waiting for him to offer for 5 minutes) out of the seat reserved for disabled, elderly and people with young children. We got off the train at Jurong East, a short walk to the Singapore Science Center. I had been told a number of times from one of the dads at our Friday playgroup that this was one his 2 year old twins' favorite places to go.

We weren't impressed.

Most of our time was spent pushing buttons.
But alot of the interactive exhibits were broken. And could not be physically reached by a 2 year old, (and mine is TALL). And this is besides the point. Nothing was appropriate for toddlers. No musical stairs. No spaceship to play in.

Not that the elementary school classrooms visiting today were truly taking advantage of the fine knowledge and demonstrations of science all around them. What we saw was a lot of students chasing each other through hallways or unthinkingly hitting buttons or levers without reading the explanations.

When we walked in I asked the ladies taking tickets what exhibits were good for young children. They looked at each other as if I asked them to recite the quadratic equation.And declined to answer.

How about nothing, ladies? Would that about sum it up?

It started to pour when we were leaving the building and there were about 6 large groups of children sprawled at the entranceway, completely blocking it. No-one seemed to notice nor move when they saw us with the stroller. We had to turn around and go out into the rain and back in to find a spot near the taxi stand.

At the entranceway before you pay your admission fee there is a huge T-Rex that grumbles and moves his head and eyes. Booty wanted to "ride it" and continued to ask me if we could go see the dinosaur while we were inside the Science Center.

When we left the building 2 hours later and walked past T-Rex again she was so excited and wanted to get all up in his face as if this was what she had been waiting all day to see.

Once we were back home we opened the 'brella and stood in the rain.
"Very unhygenic!"

Finished.

PONYO
Today is review day and I haven't thought too hard about the movie I am going to review but it is a movie I was waiting to see for a long time.

Ponyo on the cliff by the sea

Written and Directed by Hayao Miyazaki out of studio Ghibli

A beautiful film, no surprise there but how beautiful? Not to be believed until you see it. A lot of water scenes and a number of fabulous storm scenes. Imagine a young girl with red hair running and jumping on top of huge fish/waves in the middle of a storm while you are trying to escape the storm in a small car, driving on a coastal road. This is where the tension of the movie exists most- before Ponyo meets Sosuke as a human.

Sosuke is a confident boy who befriends a fish with a human-like face. He calls her Ponyo and loses her when her sorcerer father reclaims her to the sea. When she escapes again chaos ensues.

The end of the movie was sort of anti-climatic but this is probably because so much of the movie is a wonder. One has to come down from the high at some point.

Prehistoric fish. A sea goddess.A town under water. The moon falling to earth. Millions of tiny ponyo-sisters shooting up like un-falling stars.

wow.

Here is the trailer.

Five campers so far

Five Waldorf campers have signed up so far:

Two 8 year old boys
A 7 year old boy
A 5 year old boy and
A 5 year old girl

We cannot have camp unless two more children enroll. I have had many requests from parents to stretch the age limits (5-8) but I feel that this gap is quite big enough.

I remember when I was teaching how rewarding the work with the children was and how challenging the work with the parents. This is still true. I still seem to be easily caught off guard by their seemingly "silly" questions and requests. I know this is one of my tests in this life. To breathe and work toward understanding how I can help the parents of my students.

Poop and pee

We have had a little backsliding on the potty "training".
And I am not sure if it is because the Booty is feeling insecure or because our housekeeper/nanny MB is not paying attention or being as diligent as me. This week each day she came home from the playground she didn't make it to the bathroom. One time she even pooped her pants, which she has never done before.
What was troubling was that when I surprised the two of them (Booty and MB) on the playground MB was busy texting and Booty was soaked. When we arrived home she had two more accidents before we made it to the bathroom. It seemed as tho' she was holding it in. But I don't know. She can get distracted and forget to go. This is why I always make it a habit to have her go periodically.
Also, she is only 2 and a half. What should I expect?

Finally, (wagging fingers) bought a baby monitor and used it last night. The girl's bed returns to its room.

Saw the movies Munich and Hamlet(2000) last week.
I was very taken with Munich but felt a bit overwhelmed by the lack of focus. The film is based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by Canadian journalist George Jonas, which in turn was based on the story of Yuval Aviv, who claims to have been a Mossad agent.It would have been very cool if Spielberg had taken a little more time with the "terroritsts" that were the targets. The performances however, were wonderful. Weird sex scene tho' after Eric Bana's character goes home. It was a bit confusing. He didn't witness the Munich Olympic killings and yet this seemed like a flashback. I liked the last scene. As if G.Rush's character is saying, "We may both be extremist Jews who would risk our lives for our country but you aren't fit to break bread with. Anyway it was just business. See ya!" Cold!

Hamlet(2000) was pretty poor. The acting left a lot to be wanting. Ethan Hawke's Hamlet was abysmal and the high tech angle did not work. Just bad.

My afternoon sleepiness (due to medication I am taking) persists. But I have made some progress with the standing doll. What should I name her?

Massive!

Singapore harbor is kind of menacing but cool. It gives me the goosebumps to see all these huge ships so close. I have always had a thing with big ships. My first real movie at the theater was The Poseidon Adventure and it made an impression on me and my older brother. That and Jaws.

Yesterday after an appointment at Mt. Elizabeth's Medical Center I walked across Orchard Road (Singapore's Michigan Avenue) to Takashimaya, an upscale mall. When I say upscale I mean it. Singapore's malls are the most luxurious and modern in all the world. Can I say that? Not really, but I just did and would be surprised to find an equal number of posh indoor shopping arenas. Anyway, I found an excellent art store, ART FRIEND. This was wonderful for me specifically because I had been looking for some origami paper and here it was, along with other much needed supplies.

Here is what my flyer says:

Do you ever wonder if your child needs to “do” more and “think” less? Or compete less and work as a team member more?

Here is a chance for them to experience a different kind of camp at the Waldorf Steiner School in Singapore.

5 days of hands on activities like wool felting, painting, crafts, drama, speech, cooperative games, music, treasure hunts and more!

This Steiner Camp is for children 5-8 years old
December 14- December 18, 2009
830-1pm
Early Bird special **$250.00 if you register your child before November 15
Registration is $280.00 after November 15
Camp size is limited to 12 with a minimum of 7 children
Location: 72 Elite Park Avenue

The camp will be run by *my name here*, an experienced Waldorf teacher from the United States. ** has taught Waldorf education as a 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grade teacher and has lead Waldorf camp for children aged 6-9. She has handwork experience (knitting, crotcheting, dollmaking, felting, weaving, sewing etc.) and specializes in form drawing, drama, music and the manual arts .** hopes that Waldorf education will “sing” in Singapore and perhaps you will join her in making this joyful wish come true.

One of Booty's rituals in Bintan was feeding the KOI. The concierge was very kind and always gave us fish food.

"You have to let me work Dada!"
Give some body a job and she will be content. Tho' there are times...
"I'm helping you mama!!!" When actually, um, she isn't. She is just dumping the bowl of eggs and creating a mess.
"Oh wow!" I have trained myself to say, "You really want to do it."
"How about we clean this up and try again?"
"Do over!" She cries. Just like I do when I make a mistake, or yell. We go back and try it again.

And then the negotiations.
"If you finish your egg you can have more toast."
"If you eat your breakfast you can have more juice."

I have begun to notice the number of negotiations that go down every day. And now I am calling a memorandum. She is only 2. And not a lawyer or mediator. Yet.
Using less words. And more gestures.

Instead of reading to the girl every naptime and pre-bedtime I have been telling stories with her wooden animals. It is absolutely magic. After a couple of weeks of doing this she is more independent in the morning when she wakes up, often re-telling the story with the animals herself. Or when I am taking a shower or busy on the phone. And most of the time she prefers told stories to books. In my stories there is always a song. And she digs this.

Took a high speed ferry to Bintan, Indonesia last tuesday.
When we arrived we noticed there was a good deal of construction underway, especially under our room so they moved us.
To the Floral Suite!
A much better set up. An extra bathroom and lots more room!
Things we loved: The miniature komodo dragons making appearances now and then, (especially in the pool). They call them Biyawak (pronounced Bee-a-wah).
The clean sand and sea.
The Japanese and Italian restaurant in the resort.
Breakfast gratis.
Spa and oceanside massage.
Weather :)
Service very friendly.

What we didn't like:
Shopping was as poor as it gets. No local stuff. All overpriced and every shop has identical items.
Indian food was very bad.
Construction went on non-stop.
Service was very slow.
There wasn't a lot "to do".
No good coffee. Sweets and snacks were not in abundance, (snack shop was severely lacking all around).
Food $$$$$$$$$$$$

I posted a review of the resort on the TripAdvisor site.

Sewed up some sheets and a pillow case for the mattress in Booty's room. And I sure have my work cut out for me. I am using some of this fabric to make some items I would like to sell later, perhaps some travel rolls, bean bags, blankets, party banners ... I will be posting pictures as I make them so stay tuned.