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
