Former Expat Teacher Acclimating to the American Way!

i dont know if I was on the radio today but... I WON SOMETHING! Ive never won anything from the radio so I was excited! Its to a bar/restaurant in Dubai with food and drinks so it should be fun! I cant wait!!!! Now I just have to find something to wear,lol.

you have to make a decision about what is ok to buy here and what you should send for. For instance, if its something I should just learn to live without, I dont bother. If Im home visiting, I make a decision about whether I should bring it back. Like poultry seasoning (for a proper southern,savory dressing aka stuffing). I brought enough to last me until my next trip home. Other things, like shampoo or some hair products. I really couldnt bring enough to last as those things are heavy so I make do with what is here.Luckily, my kind of hair is resilient to the water so Im not having much problems aside from dryness which coconut water seems to be helping with. Anyway. One thing I made sure to bring enough of was bras. And I had so many that it wasnt necessary to get some last year. But now? Now its about the time to figure something out. And if youre a lady, you know when you need to throw that bra out,lol. Its definitely about that time. And, yes, I could look here but Im not on ...

or should I say enunciation.... conversation at work with the Arabic teacher: me: We are having a party (pronounced the lazy, American way- pardy) on Thursday her:Pardy??? me:yeah, pardy, hefla? (wondering why she doesnt know the word party her:shu (what is) parody? something something something in Arabic and then "parTy. lol. Basically she was saying she knew the word parTy when enunciated correctly. I laughed and apologized for my sloppy English. My Arabic teacher is funny among other things, all of which Ive mentioned before.ugh, I sure hope they keep her or Im going to be soooooo saaaaaaad!

You hear it all the time here. " I dont know one person who ..." " Everyone I know says/did/feels ..." and then people take it and run. it.gets.on.my.last.nerve. As teachers and (hopefully) intelligent adults, I would hope one doesnt possibly think their small circle of people is an adequate sample that proves your theory to be correct. Every time I read it, it makes me cringe. And thats not to say that what someone is saying is not true except for the fact that their statement usually doesnt include the prospect of their statement not holding as much weight as they would like to think. This includes comments like- " 65% of the teachers left from the last group ." Is that because " everyone you know " left? And none of this is to negate the fact that some people are very unhappy and that some of the things said are, in fact, true.  Just dont make statements as if they are certified gold when you dont have real numbers (and...

Though I have something important to do before bedtime, I cant let this day pass without talking about how horrible it became once I left the house in route to the mall for what I thought would be a pretty good day with the crew. yeah, I have a crew,lololol. But I digress... After it was all over C said we should have known when it all started at PJ's when they did not have pepperoni for the pizza. They also didnt have spinach alfredo for the chicken florentine pizza (which I think is their best pizza but dont take my word for it). We then left there to find something to eat before we ventured into the theatre for some laughs (or so we thought). The other C and I recommended a place for C to eat because they had something good on the menu.What they gave her, though, was not at all what we had gotten when ordering the same thing from another restaurant of the same name. They basically gave her a can of tomatoes and a piece of toast. yeah. Next, we go to the movie to see T...

I had a wonderful first week back at school. The kids slid right back in to routine and loved the new items in centers.They have rolled right back into it and watching them makes me wish I had more teaching time for them to take advantage of the centers. I do still miss my kids from last year though.They were all huggy/kissy and we were very close.These kids just have different personalities but its all good. Tomorrow is kids park zoo and Im sure itll be fun. Im sure itll be summer time before I know it!

I just read a post about late night drilling...well, not too late but late for parents who send their children to bed at appropriate times. And now there is drilling in my house...and I am sorry. After two years I finally took my curtains to be hemmed and put up. They said two days but called me around 830 and said they were coming to bring them.I said ok while trying to process the fact that I was getting same day service (which is virtually unheard of here!) but I should have asked them to wait til tomorrow. My bad. Now Im tired and want to be in bed.They are in the bedroom putting them up now and it is currently 946...my plan was to be in bed at 830!!!!!!!!!!!!! omg, Im going to be soooo tired in the morning. Im sure, though, that I will appreciate them once they are up which will hopefully be soon. Now, if I could only find some pillows that compliment the color pattern that I desire. I wont hold my breath on that one.