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