Nearly November

Things continue to run smoothly for us in Brunei. Time is flying by and it certainly doesn’t seem like we are already 4 months into this adventure. The past couple of weeks have been rather busy for all of us.  Ethan had a trip to the Oil and Gas Discovery Centre (OGDC) with his year group. Jason went along as a parent helper on the bus and I am pretty sure he had an enjoyable time along with the children.

The boys had International Day at their school last Friday (19 October) where children dressed up to represent their heritage country or one they felt an affiliation with. It was a wonderful day with over 45 different cultures and countries represented by the students, truly an ‘International’ school, and so very special that our boys have had the opportunity to experience it. We watched performances from a variety of countries and the boys performed in the New Zealand waiata and Haka.

The boys are on a week long mid term break at the moment so have spent the week hanging out with Dad, swimming and having fun. On Wednesday Ethan came to school with me on the boat to be a ‘helper’. I must say he was a hit with the students but proved to be more of a distraction as they were much more interested in him than what I had to say. He had fun, as did the students who were all expecting his return the following day. My room was invaded by year 5 boys who proceeded to make paper guns with Ethan’s help and chase each other around the room.

It is end of year assessment time for me at school and I am juggling the same dilemmas experienced by teachers across the globe, trying to assess students individually whilst keeping the rest of the crowd subdued yet entertained for long enough to give each child their best shot at a decent assessment result. Thankfully I have completed 2 out of 3 of my year groups so just one to go. I am yet to get accustomed to working Monday – Thursday and Saturday. Having no consecutive days off makes it feel like less of a weekend.  This weekend is an exception to that, thankfully so I have had my first ‘long’ weekend as it is an Islamic holiday today (Saturday). We went on a day trip to Limbang, Malaysia yesterday (26 October) which was good fun. The roads in Malaysia are errr hmm worthy of BMX track status. My poor little car was nearly airborne a few times, the kids thought it was great fun, I thought I had been on more subtle roller coaster rides. 

Limbang is a smallish town with a town centre and not too much else. There were market stalls scattered around which we strolled through. Noah as charming as he is holding his nose passed some stalls. One fresh produce stall had live turtles, we didn’t have the heart to tell the boys they weren’t there as pets for sale. 

The boys always get the attention of locals nearly everywhere we go. A man grabbed Ethan’s hand as we were in customs, people always rub their heads and others will just walk up and touch their pale skin, they have become used to all the attention now. Jason however usually doesn’t get much interest, Limbang however trumped anything the boys have had to put up with. We went into a coffee shop for a cold drink and there was a table of old Chinese men who were very taken with Jason’s tattoo. They called him over to the table where one of the men grabbed his arm and caressed it and wouldn’t let it go. He wanted to see how far it went up so proceeded to pull Jason’s t-shirt up to get a better look. Jason’s expression during this whole experience was absolutely priceless. Meanwhile I sat watching from the table giggling at his obvious discomfort. One of the men asked if the tattoo could be taken off. The man still holding Jason’s arm kissed his elbow before releasing it. Jason felt violated for the rest of the day and I am pretty sure he still does.

 

We visited some volcanic mud pools which were up an extremely rough goat track suitable for 4WD more than my 1100cc Kia Picanto. The boys had a great time ‘swimming’ in the mud after one of the local teenagers showed us that it was safe to jump into the bubbling pond.

We stopped at a Chinese temple for a look around. The artwork on the exterior wall was an intricate mural of what can best be described as a gruesome torture scene to rival any Saw movies. The boys thought it was great, Ethan took photos of his favourite scenes.

Time to sign off and watch the Canterbury vs Auckland final.

Warning - pics below are pretty gruesome 

3 + Months in

3 + Months in 

Life is rolling by very quickly and each day we are becoming more comfortable and familiar with our surroundings. The boys are really enjoying their new school, the International School of Brunei (ISB). Their class sizes are reasonable with max of around 23 children per class and generally there are learning support teachers (teacher aides for New Zealanders) in each class to help with learning. Fees are not cheap, it is around $9000 a year per child - ouch! Most of which is subsidized by CfBT thank goodness. The school offers a big variety of after school clubs, they boys are both doing drama, we figured we would try and capitalize on the fact that regularly act like idiots. They are also doing Pencak Silat, a form of martial arts. Hopefully it will help them with co-ordination as it is certainly an art form when the professionals do it. 

Jas has been busy in the gym and keeping himself busy with exercise. There is a group of men who go 'jungle walking' a couple of days a week which he has joined. I can't say I am keen to disturb the creatures who live in the jungle, so I will leave those adventures to Jas. There is a large New Zealand expat community here and we have met a lot of them and get together to watch the rugby and eat chip and dip with refreshments. Jas has started rugby training for the season which starts in February. He has his first friendly game this Sunday.

 School is going really well for me, the children are becoming more confident in talking with me, they are very afraid to make mistakes (as are many adults) but as soon as they realise Teacher Trish doesn't laugh at them they are happy to try and tell me about their day/house/family.

My classroom is currently getting new windows which has meant about 2 weeks without windows in the room as these things take time. One day the workmen were in my room making a lot of noise so I decided to take the children outside for a game. Duck, duck, goose required the quickest demonstration and was the least likely to get lost in translation and although the children began the game with "Duck, duck, goat" they soon got it right and were having so much fun that the noise they made drew out two other classes from their rooms to join in the fun. Their faces were just gorgeous as they really couldn't contain their excitement.

Teachers day was new for me. Something New Zealand should aspire towards with a public holiday to recognise teachers. I was officially invited to join the celebration at the ICC where the Sultan himself joined the thousands of teachers for the celebration. One of my lovely colleagues gave me a shove through the crowd so that I was able to get this photo right next to the red carpet.

The day off school on the Monday was followed by a celebration at our school where the children performed singing and dancing items. The show was followed by "Makan" (the most important word, food) which the year 6 children hosted for the teachers.


After school the staff went to a restaurant for more makan and exchanged gifts which we had purchased with a $20+ budget for a surprise recipient. Rather difficult to shop for as it had to suit male or female. Eek! I purchased a toasted sandwich maker for my gift, yes I managed to find one in Brunei, hopefully the person who received my gift knew what it was when she took it home?! I'm sure demonstrations at school would be appreciated if no-one has seen one before. I am on a week break at the moment so I will find out on my return to school. I got a lovely glass bowl as my gift, which was perfect as it was one thing we did not dare ship over with fear of it breaking.

We have finally got our IC numbers (Identity Cards) which only took 4 hours of sitting in a room full of people to wait for our number to be called. Having an IC means we can get Brunei drivers licences. Thankfully the licence process only took 5 minutes once we had been turned away and sent across the motorway to get some photocopying done. Having an IC also means we can register for the internet which will be marvelous once the phone lines are connected for our subdivision... between 2 weeks and a year away. We have become able to embrace the quirkiness, this helps to deal with the frustration.

Thankfully in Brunei we have lots of time on our hands to spend with the kids and just hanging out, so waiting for things has become much more tolerable. That's all from us really, just trucking along nicely.

Our Tropical Island Getaway - Labuan

Labuan

Off the coast of Borneo lies a small Malaysian island called Labuan with a population of approx. 80,000. It is an hour and a half ferry ride from Brunei. We had heard about it from fellow expats who described it as a bit of a party island because of its duty free nature and close proximity to Brunei making it popular for the workers of Shell and other expats to let their hair down. We weren’t there for the party scene, but having access to cheap alcohol was a bonus.

We took the car on the ferry so that we could explore without needing to rely on taxis and/or courtesy coaches. The ferry ride over was smooth sailing with beautiful weather. When we arrived we drove to “The Chimney” which is probably Labuan’s biggest tourist attraction. It stands 106feet tall and remains a mystery as to why it was built. Locals believe it could have been to service the coal mines which were common in the 1800’s however there are no mines or shafts around the chimney, hence the mystery of the Chimney.

We stayed at the Palm Beach Resort and Spa. It certainly was an amazing location right on the beach with all the scenery you would expect of a tropical resort with palm trees and beach chairs. It even had a swim up bar to order CHEAP drinks from. Heinekens were around $2 NZ as was the coke and soft drink. The food was inexpensive also we were averaging $45 for the 4 of us to eat dinner each night. The boys lived in the pool and Jas and I spent time in and around the pool drinking beer. I managed to find time for  a manicure and pedicure at the spa of course.

Labuan has a rich war history, which would be most interesting to WWII enthusiasts. There are 2 monuments built to commemorate the atrocities of war.  We first visited the War Memorial Park which names Australian and English soldiers whose lives were lost protecting/reclaiming Borneo. We found the plot of the 1 New Zealand Soldier amongst the nearly 4000 plots at the park. We then visited the Peace Park, built by the Japanese express sympathy to lives lost during war. Next to Peace Park is Surrender Point which was built to mark where the Japanese surrendered control of Labuan to the Australian Army, which lead to the end of the war in the pacifc during WWII.

 

With Labuan’s 3 attractions visited, we had basically done all there was to do on the island! There is a big mall, which we explored and the boys went bowling to fill in our last day. We were planning to visit the bird park but it was closed, much to my disappointment (sarcasm). Those who know me well know I can not stand birds, the idea of being stuck in the 3 open air aviaries with over sized birds flapping about is my idea of hell on earth, such a shame it was closed.

 

The ride home on Friday after 3 nights in Labuan almost didn’t happen. We arrived at the Ferry ticketing booth an hour before our booked leaving time, however the ticket booth had no record of our booking having ever been made and the ferry was full for the day. It is about this time is when your blood begins to boil especially when you are holding the booking form and the email confirmation of your booking in your hand. Grrr. Making a scene is deemed a big no no in Malaysian and Bruneian culture so taking a breath and counting to 10 is the best way to deal with situations such as these. We were told to come back when boarding started and to wait and see if we could squeeze on. Thankfully we had taken my tiny car and were able to shoehorn it in next to a big truck. As nice as Labuan is, we were ready to come home and not really wanting to try and find another 24 hours of things to do. The ride home was rocky and left Noah feeling a little green but we got home safely, as did the car even with the tight squeeze against the truck.

 

Hopefully we are all rested for our return to school on Monday. The boys haven’t been to school since we left NZ so are a bit apprehensive about going. Pictures to come of their handsome uniforms. 

Two Months in – Finally getting things sorted

Two Months in – Finally getting things sorted

Selamat Datang! (Warm Greetings)

After patiently waiting for just about everything we are finally ticking things off the ‘to do’ list. Firstly we have purchased 2 cars from an expat couple who are upgrading to new cars. My car is a little blue bubble Kia Picanto and Jason’s a 7 seater people mover Kia Carens (diesel). Car buying here is a risky business with such a hot and humid weather climate, cars have tendencies to over heat, couple that with the fact locals do not service their vehicles and there is no “Warrant of Fitness” requirement, it seems buying second hand is a recipe for disaster. There is general consensus that if you buy from an expat you may have more luck as they are more likely to have maintained the vehicle. Fingers crossed. Both our vehicles are manuals, which locals generally can not drive so we can only hope that they have a good history of expat ownership. The previous owners have added us to their insurance on the vehicles so that we can legally drive them while we wait for work permit, identity cards and drivers licences to be processed. We continue to wait patiently for those. Petrol is cheap at 51c a litre and diesel for Jason’s car 38c a litre. It costs me $16 to fill the tank and Jason $13.

The next thing we have crossed off the list is finding a house. After looking at around 30 houses we found a place that I liked. Yes that ‘I’ liked. Jason had a different favourite. I won. Although it didn’t look like the building and completion would happen in time for us to move in, somehow the landlords and property manager managed to coax contractors into pulling finger and completing everything within a week, ready for us to move in by the 20^th. Otherwise we would have had to spend another month in Tungku (first apartment), which would have been painful.

It is a brand new semi-detached house which as been kitted out with most of our wish list furniture requirements, the boys are particularly happy with the 42inch 3D television. Funnily enough we now live in Mata Mata, a suburb just outside of city centre. It is convenient for Jason getting the boys to school 8km down the motorway and my school is 17km away, which isn’t too bad as my school is 11km up a coastal highway which only has two ends. My school is basically 20kms from anywhere in Bandar so my 17km commute is pretty good.

I am currently on a two week break from school and we are heading to Labuan on Tuesday 21^st August for 3 nights. It’s a small Malaysian duty free island so bound to be relaxing and probably good for an ale or two. We will take the car on the ferry to the island so we can drive around and explore while we are there. 

This morning we celebrated moving in with bacon and eggs for breakfast. Muslims do not eat pork and will not touch/handle anything containing pork or pork products so at the super market there is a non-halal sealed section behind a sliding glass door where you can buy bacon, pork, sausages, gelatine, ham and pineapple pizza. The people who work in the sealed section are non-muslim so it is okay for them to touch/serve the food. This way the checkout operator at the main door does not have to touch anything non-halal.

We have become accustomed to life in Brunei and I think we are doing a pretty good job of adapting to the culture and differences. We watched the Chiefs game with friends from 4 different countries, which was pretty neat. The boys have made friends with every kid they have met and have given up worrying about the amount of head rubs they receive everyone thinks these blonde ‘twins’ are so cute and need there heads patted.

The boys have enjoyed summer camp during the school break. They went quad biking as one of their activities. This pick of Ethan shows what happens when a tree branch helps you do a back flip off a quad bike. Pretty superficial but a great conversation starter. The boys with finally start school on the 27th after a GIANT break.

On another booze run to Malaysia we came across every house and shack adorned with flags in celebration of Hari Raya (big celebration to end Ramadan-fastin).

 The Toyato car dealership also goes 'all out' when it comes to decorating for Hari Raya.

 Brunei is full of the unexpected, many weird and wonderful things to encounter. These porcupine were out the back of a furniture store which sold regal style chinese lounge suites and flashy expensive things. They had a 4 month old porcupine with a collar and leash in the shop eating melon! As well as a squirrel in a cage?!

One month in... patience is a virtue.

One month in… patience is a virtue.

Well we are still here, much to the surprise of many I would guess! We have had moments where we would happily jump on a plane and head for home but so far we have resisted the temptation.

The boys have started summer camp (holiday programme) on Monday, Tuesdays and Wednesdays which is run by CfBT. They are enjoying hanging out with other kids and we are enjoying having someone else entertain them for a while. They start school at the end of August so it has been a monster of a break for them away from school.

School for me is going really well. The school day is shorter at the moment due to Ramadan (Muslim month of puasa (fasting)) school starts at 7.40 and finishes at 11.40. My three 1 hour lessons have become three 50 minute lessons. The children are very tired in class, as they are not allowed to eat or drink during sunlight hours, meaning they stay up late to eat and then get up early to eat. Because the majority of the population is Muslim the country slows down as most people are suffering the same tiredness and hunger. It is frowned upon to eat or drink in front of a Muslim during Ramadan so I need to be discrete whilst I sip away at my water between classes.

We are only permitted to stay in Brunei for 30 days at a time (while visa is processed), which means we have to leave the country and re-enter for a new 30-day social visit stamp in our passports. As we have a hire car at the moment and hire cars are not allowed over the border, so we had to park the car in Brunei and walk through customs/immigration, which is only set up for vehicle crossings. An interesting experience. The only good thing about the exercise is that there is booze shop within 50 metres of the Malaysian border where we purchased our maximum quota of spirits and beer, turned around and headed back to Brunei. Alcohol is pretty cheap, Smirnoff $12 Brunei a bottle (about $11.50 NZ).

Jas has been coping okay, this week he has been on a bit of a downer with boredom and monotonous driving me back and forward to school which is a 60km round trip times 2. No sooner has he dropped me off that he is coming to pick me up. I think we will need a couple of cars here as we are averaging 1000kms a week. Jas had a run at touch rugby last night with a bunch of expats. It was nice to meet people who can now look back and laugh at what it was like to be a ‘newbie’ in Brunei. We were invited to one couples home to watch the super 15 semi-finals this afternoon. A real novelty as we have been watching Malay TV for a month with the odd programme in English. We have been treated to ancient reruns of Aussie “the new inventors” and the odd “Bones” “CSI LA” in no particular order or specific series. All shows are censored with no kissing, bikinis, or reference to pre-marital shenanigans.

Eventually we will get astro (cable TV) but we ware unable to set up an account without an IC (identity card). To get an IC card I need my visa processed, to get visa processed, well I am guessing someone has started the process but I haven’t heard.

To buy a car we need a Brunei drivers licence, to get a drivers licence you need an IC card…

To set up the Internet you need a phone line, to set up a phone line you need an… IC card!

Whenever my visa is eventually processed and I can apply for my IC card, the IC card maker (only one in the country) is broken…. And has been for a couple of months.

It has taken a month to set up a joint bank account, well over a month because it is still being “processed”. The bankcards will be available a week after the bank account is opened whenever that may be. I am coping much better with the ‘patiently waiting’ than what Jas is. He has done nothing but wait for everything and everyone and is over it.

We are still in our temporary apartment, we were scheduled to move into our permanent housing last Saturday, however I text housing to check that we were all go for move on the Thursday and turns out there is going to be a 2-4 week delay in the maintenance being completed. We have decided to give up on that idea as 2-4 weeks is likely to end up 2-4 months of waiting. We have started looking at rentals, there are some really massive homes around, they call them the 'Dallas Palaces'. Hopefully we can find one that ticks all the boxes.

We have figured out that if something takes an hour back at home, it takes a month in Brunei. And the only way to deal with it is to stay calm, smile and carry on. Everything happens in good time here... Eventually.

Introduction to Teaching and School.

Introduction to Teaching and School.

At the moment I am in the process of completing the CfBT Orientation course which is a crash course into all things Brunei and being a junior school teacher of English. The programme I will be teaching is a prescriptive approach and very different to that of my NZ teaching responsibilities. Here, each day is already planned in a programme of learning with resources specifically set (though they all need to be made which appears to be the VERY time consuming part) but once they are made, they are ready for the following year – providing the programme doesn’t change.

Last Friday we were told which school we would be teaching at and that getting to my school would require a quick boat ride to work as it is across the river. We had been scheduled to make a school visit on Monday. I was freaking out about jumping on a dodgy boat to a strange “land” to meet a GB (Guru Besar – Malay for Principal/Head Master) who may or may not be expecting me and/or know what to do with me, so Jas, the boys and I did a dummy run Friday afternoon where we found my school and jumped on a dodgy boat and went for a ride around the surrounding “community” of water village.

Monday morning went much better than expected,. I was told there would be a Ministry boat that would come around 7am to pick up the teachers (for free) and take them across to school, we waited until about 7.10am and decided to jump on yet another dodgy boat and pay for the ride over -50c per person. Jas and the boys came over with me for moral support –more for the ride! When we arrived the children were assembling to raise the flag and do morning prayers until they caught sight of these strange looking whities. We caught their attention pretty quickly and they were pulling out all their best English to greet us. When the Ministry boat finally arrived the senior academic teacher was on board and showed me to my room. The GB hadn’t arrived so she left me to explore my room for a while until the GB sent for me.

I must say I was very impressed with my room and how extremely well resourced it is. I had heard plenty of horror stories about the condition and lack of teaching materials in some schools so I felt very blessed to be taking over from a CfBT teacher who was super organised and careful about looking after what was in the room.  The view out of the classroom door is fantastic with the water literally a stones throw away.

The staff seem nice, all with at least enough conversational English to ask me what my husband does for a job. “He is a house husband” doesn’t compute to Bruneians so “He works from home” generally makes do. Staff all seem laid back and go with the flow i.e. run on Brunei time. The GB warned me about the monkeys, I asked if he meant the child kind or real kind of monkey, he replied “We have lots of both”. 

I will be teaching 3 one hour classes a day which is made up of PRA(Kindy/Preschool) a year one and a year two class. Teaching across 3 levels is apparently difficult but necessary for smaller schools.  I start officially on Tuesday 17 July as it is public holiday Monday for His Majesty’s 66^th birthday.

After exploring my room and most of the school I left school at 11am (yes via yet another dodgy boat) and back to Jas patiently waiting for me on the other side of the river waiting to hear about my adventure.

Today (Tuesday 10 July) I have spent the ‘day’ observing another CfBT teacher. I had better clarify that school ‘day’ in Brunei is 7.30 -12.30 with just the 3 hours of teaching within that time J Of course there are stay backs and meetings etc but the school day is pretty sweet. I found my observation today very noisy but lots of fun, especially the PRA kids who are so cute you could just take one home.  They wear their traditional Muslim wear with their uniforms and look so sweet. The children again did their best to try and impress me with their “Hello Teacher” “I like chocolate and ice cream” “I am a girl” “I am 5 years old”. One little super star came up to me and said “Teacher your shoes …(pause) … Teacher your shoes… they are so….. spikey”. I burst out laughing and had to commend his English “Yes they are very pointy!” (Had my points on hanging out the bottom of my baju, all kids could see were ‘spikes’).

In Muslim culture to show respect, children take an elders right hand and in their hands, bow their head and place your hand on their forehead. This includes the teacher at the end of the school day. I found it very nice compared to the usual racing out the door the moment the bell rings. One little gem even held my hand against her forehead and told me I was very beautiful. I just about kidnapped her.