Life Update

I know, I know. I haven’t blogged in a really long time. I’m sorry. It has been an interesting year, and I can never seem to figure out how to put what I want to say into words on a computer. December is just a few short days away. Where has 2017 gone? Every year seems to go faster.

This semester I have been teaching 7^th grade and one class of 8^th grade. I have had to get very creative in what we do in class because the new room they built for me is very small. It is hard to fit everyone in, and I don’t have much in the way of instruments. However, we have done several units which I think were interesting for the girls and not what they expected. To start off the year I have been trying to show the girls why their music class is relevant to them. In this culture music is sometimes considered haram and often not considered a subject that students should study.

My 7^th grade students have done units on music in film and musical theater. They are currently working on creating a play based off of a children’s book. Two of my classes chose Little Red Riding Hood, and two of my classes chose Goldilocks and the Three Bears. They are producing the entire thing. They wrote the script based off the book, they are creating the sets and bringing in the props, and they are acting it out. They seem to be having a lot of fun with it.

My 8^th grade students did a unit of the science of music and how sound is produced. That culminated in a homemade instrument project. I think this project might be my favorite music project I have ever done. It is fun to see the students’ creativity when creating instruments. Right now this class is doing a bucket drumming unit. Some of the girls seem to really love it. We are working on doing a drumming routine to Havana (which for those of you who haven’t heard of it is one of this summer’s big hits). I had not heard this song until the start of this unit and now I have it memorized, it is rather catchy.

I have been enjoying teacher vs. student volleyball again this year. Laura’s JV and Varsity volleyball teams have improved a great deal this year and it has been fun to watch them play. Sports in Kuwait is very different than in the states. When I was in school you would find a good portion of the student body and half of the town at games. In Kuwait, it is very rare for spectators to come to games. Often it would be the JV/V girls, myself, and sometimes one other teacher there supporting the team. That has taken some getting used to. This summer I took a coaching class with my friend Lindsey to obtain my coaching authorization. I am about to put that class to use as I have JV basketball tryouts on Tuesday. I have had the opportunity to get to know some of the girls I will have on the JV team thanks to teacher vs. student volleyball and helping Laura out with her teams once in a while. I will also be the U14 (7^th and 8^th grade) volleyball coach later on this school year.

I am very excited for May to get here. I will be taking a trip to Birmingham, U.K. to go to a Supernatural convention. Yes, Supernatural, as in the TV show. Last year I went to Comic Con in Dubai, this year I decided I am going to go meet some of my favorite actors and meet people I have become friends with online. The Supernatural Family (the fandom) is rather unique, and I am excited to get more into it. I have been talking to people who are also going to this event and we all cannot wait until it gets here. Only 156 more days (as of today Nov. 29) until the start of the convention! (Not that I’m counting or anything ;)).

Last year at this time I was busy preparing for my trip home to surprise everyone. Thanks again for your help with that surprise Jeni! This year, I will not be making a trip home for Christmas. I am trying to save money for the Supernatural convention and I will be cat sitting for a couple friends who are going home for the break. Thanksgiving day it hit me that this is the first Christmas I will have on my own. For 22 years I was with my parents for Christmas. In 2014 I was in Guyana with my Guyana family of Dan, Claire, the Roberts, Claire’s family, and all my Guyanese friends. The year I was student teaching I left for Guyana after the holidays so I was with my family. Last year I made the trip home. This year, I will be in Kuwait in a mostly empty apartment building with Nala. It’s weird to think about. Twenty-Six years in the making and I am having my first Christmas by myself. I will most certainly FaceTime with my family, as long as they are not in the church basement. I tried to FaceTime with them on Thanksgiving, but Mom did not have very good service so the connection was really bad. We will have to actually plan to talk this time.

Nala is doing well. She is as feisty as ever. I’m pretty sure she has more followers on Social Media then I do. How does that even happen? A friend talked to me last night and told me that Nala is her favorite Snap Cat. Nala seems awfully proud of that. She does get jealous though when I go spend time with Tucker (Nicole’s fur baby). He is the polar opposite of Nala and it is fun to spend some time with such a chill cat. I will be taking care of Tucker over the break, so if you follow any of my social media don’t worry if you think Nala has changed. She hasn’t she is still the ginger spit fire she has always been. The grey and white cat is Tucker who is just as photogenic as Nala is.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season full of family and friends. I hope to post a Christmas letter since I won’t be able to get one sent out. I love that I managed to do one while in Guyana, but never again. It would be nice to get in to doing that again. If I do it will be posted on this blog. Thank you all for your support as I continue to travel around the world experiencing new cultures and making new memories!

Version 2 of the xylophone a student created

Version one of the xylophone a student created

One student created a guitar

The door to my new classroom

The 7th Grade Team

Teacher vs. Student Volleyball (Laura was in Italy with the soccer team so we are missing her)

The varisty volleyball team huddle during a game vs. ACA (American Creative Academy)

Teacher vs. Student volleyball yesterday in the new gym!

This is Tucker, aka Old Man Cat. Nicole's cat.

Nala has really taken a liking to cuddling lately.

Share Your Weird with the World

 

Some of you may have seen my Facebook profile picture and cover photo, others my out of the box question status, and some may have seen interesting tweets. Are you confused about them? There is a good reason for that. I am participating in the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen (GISHWES). For one week my teammates from around the world and I are trying to complete random hunt items. Some are really out there while others focus on helping others. This hunt benefits the charity Random Acts. If you would like more information about GISHWES and a better explanation than I can give you go check out this YouTube video:

https://youtu.be/DIdkGWMyVBM

Reflections and Vocation

Looking back over my blog posts this year I have noticed that almost every single one starts with some sort of apology for taking so long to post, so this time I am not going to do that. My life has been hectic, crazy, and honestly, not a whole lot to write about.  I am not one of those people who will blog every single week, because 1. I don’t have that much to say about things on a weekly basis, and 2. I would not like it then. So if you were hoping to hear more about my life teaching internationally watch my Facebook account. You are more likely to see pictures or hear random funny things that happen on a day to day basis. Okay, enough of that, now let’s get to the actual post, yes?

Many time over the last three years of teaching internationally the questions ‘if you were not a (music) teacher what would you be’ has been brought up to me. Every time this happens I never know how to answer. I believe the first time I said I would teach FCS. I’m fairly certain every time this question comes up my answer has changed. This has led me to think about something that was talked about quite often during my college years, especially while I was at Waldorf, vocation.

I remember sitting in Steve Smith’s ethics class, 2^nd to last table in the back of the room isle seat near the door, the first time we had a class discussion about vocation and what it means. Every time the question is raised I think back to all of those class sessions where we discuss vocation and how to find it. Every time it is asked I think to myself, is this actually what I am going to do with the rest of my life? Honestly, I don’t know. This year has been really hard on me and has made me think about leaving teaching all together, but then I ask myself what I would do if I wasn’t teaching? As I sit at a desk in a computer lab (I no longer have a classroom, it has been demolished) every day since the students left I have been reflecting on my three years of teaching so far, but especially this year.

There have been lots of ups and downs throughout the year. The biggest low being when I almost didn’t back to Kuwait after the winter break. I had flown from Minneapolis to Chicago and ran to catch my plane. As I was sitting there in my seat and I received a text message from a very special person. What did the text say? I have no clue, he just likes to press buttons and click send, but that text had me standing up and grabbing my carry-on about to walk off the plane, rent a car, and drive back to Chicago. However, as I was picking up my bag the flight attendant came on saying that the cabin door had been closed and we were about to be pushing back from the gate. I stayed on the plane and returned to Kuwait. There have been a few times during the rest of the school year where I would wonder about what I would be doing had I actually walked off the plane.

For the most part I am glad I didn’t walk off.  Yes, the first semester was really rough for me and second semester had plenty of bumps along the way, but for the most part second semester was better.  I got to know other music teachers in Kuwait, joined a community choir, worked on and had students attend the Kuwait Music Festival, and enjoyed teaching classes more. Am I nervous about next year? Yes. Am I going to think about that over the summer? I sure hope not.

This summer is going to fly by for me. In less than 48 hours I will be boarding a plan to return to Iowa. I have lots of appointments set up, several road trips (not as many as I originally had hoped), a coaching class, weddings to attend, and working. I will be in the States for just over two months before I return to Kuwait to start my second year at AAG. I am hoping it will go a little better, we will just have to wait and see.

I promised I would get one last blog post up before I left Kuwait, so there you have it. Hope to see many of you sometime in the next two months! Oh, and by the way, it is currently 115 degrees at 10 am and I think it is beautiful. In other words, I will probably be wearing a sweatshirt when it is 70-80 degrees in Iowa this summer. :) 

Performances Galore!

I know it has been a little while since I last wrote, and I, not writing nearly as many blogs as I was in Guyana. My schedule is very different this year, and by the time I have some free time I don't have enough energy to write a good blog for all of you. I hope this post will make it up to you a little. Last week was crazy. I had two choir concerts and a two day music festival. This is the first time I have organized and ran a concert by myself. I must say, it is much easier when you have three brains working on concerts than just one. When I was in Guyana all the teachers worked together, created lists, and delegated jobs. Here it is just me, and I left things off of my lists that I should have remembered. It did not help that I had several curve balls thrown at me as we got closer to the concert including a last second venue change the day of the concert.

My 7th grade girls have been working on choir pieces for about a month and a half. They put on two concerts on March 14th. The first performance they did was for the 1st-4th grade students and staff. I thought this would be a great way to get the 4th grade students excited for middle school next year. The second concert was for the middle school staff and students. It is nerve racking to perform in front of your peers, but the girls did a really good job. These two concerts were back to back at the end of the day, but I was pleasantly surprised how well the girls kept their spirits up. I received many compliments from staff about the concerts. I even heard some from ECE staff who watched through their classroom windows and high school staff who only heard the echoes from the gym three stories down.

**Back story**
As many of you know I made a surprise trip home over the winter break. On my way back to Kuwait I had a layover in Qatar. The airline was running behind so we were late to start boarding. About the time I decided to stand up and start getting my stuff together to board a guy comes sprinting up to the gate. I asked him if he was on my flight, he said yes and he was running late from his last flight. I told him to not worry because we had not even started the boarding process yet. We got to talking and found out we were both music teachers in Kuwait. We talked a little about Emily Bell and a festival that they were currently planning. We exchanged emails and said that we would keep in contact because they would love to add another school to the festival.

**Back to now**
On March 17 and 18 I took seven 5th and 7th grade girls to participate in the Kuwait Music Festival held at American United School. The festival included beginning orchestra, band, and choir students. My girls all participated in the choir. The festival brought in UK based trumpet player, Paul Archibald. The girls found him fascinating and were very excited that he sat with them for lunch on Friday.

The choir was under the direction of AUS director, RJ Jensen, and myself. I have never seen co-directing (for one choir) in the way that we used it, but it was practical for ur group and I really enjoyed it. We both conducted all of the songs with RJ leading the sopranos and me leading the altos. We made the directing situation work and meshed very well. It got to the point that some of the kids asked if he and I were siblings, especially after they found out we were both from Iowa.

After a break on Friday night we had the Staged In Kuwait (SIK) Singers put on a performance for all of the students. This is the choir that I am a part of that rehearses once a week. My voice was really tired after singing all day and then putting on a short concert, but it was fun. We sang several songs that we have been working on since January and a few that the choir has sang in the past. After the concert we did a short Q and A with the students. One of the students asked if we were all professional musicians and we laughed. Rachel (our director) asked us to raise our hands if we made a living with music and three of us raised our hands, the students were really surprised. One of the students invited the choir to return to hear they would b putting on.

Saturday was a whirlwind day at the festival. We had a very short rehearsal time before we moved to the stage so the students could get used to the sound before the concert. After a quick sound check we had a break for lunch and for students to change into their festival t-shirts. Then It was time for the concert. The concert had all three beginning groups, plus a "professional" brass ensemble (mostly made of music teachers and advanced high school/college students), a world premiere of a trumpet trio fanfare, and a few solos by Paul. This was a great concert. We had a nearly full house and the student groups did an awesome job. I could not be more proud of the students for all of their hard work and their great performance. I already have girls asking if they can go again next year, and some of the girls that went want me to put together an international festival to go to. (I told them no to going internationally, but I would love to take students to KMF again next year.)

March is Music In Our Schools Month so it is appropriate that all these performances are happening at once, even if I did not originally plan it that way. On top of performances I had my 7th grade girls decorate banners that said why they like music or why music is important to them. Some of them are sweet, others are more typical as I expected. I have put all of the pendants up on the bulletin in my classroom and it is quite colorful! I'm also sent out a survey to the middle school staff about their involvement with music throughout their lives. I took what I received and created little biographies with them. I then put up a guess who game on the bulletin board up in the middle school hallway. It has been fun to see staff and students try to guess who is who.

We are now seeing the end of the school year coming quickly. There are many events coming up over the next month and few weeks before the end of the school year. My classes have now started a composition unit where they are using composition dice to write a song, GarageBand to create a song, and creating Fakebook profiles of composers that they choose. I'm excited to see the students get creative with this unit. At the end of the year we will do a very short (read one day per country) unit on music around the world. It's crazy to think that Sunday starts quarter four already!!

The choir and Mr. Jensen at the beginning of the festival

Waiting for the bus and the last couple girls on day two of the festival

Ready for the concert. One of the girls had to miss the second day due to an injury.

Emily Bell and I right before the concert. She played in the brass group.

Paul playing a solo. He has played for many movie scores including Shrek and Star Wars.

The adult brass group.

Emily conducting one of the band pieces. All of the music teachers conducted different songs with the groups that they brought students to participate in.

Finding Community

Something that I enjoyed while I was student teaching was being able to participate with the Waldorf band. While I was in Guyana I realized how much value I found in being in a performing ensemble. I missed it greatly. I love being a part of something where everyone enjoys doing the same thing, in this case it is creating music. It is one thing to be creating music with my students, but it is totally different when you are put into a community of people who are at, or near, the same level musically as you are.

Since I arrived in Kuwait I have felt a little lost. It is not the first time that I have come to a new country, but I really am on my own here. In Guyana there were three of us together who were lost. Emily, gave me the idea to look into a performance organization Staged in Kuwait. They have a group called SING which is a community choir. When Emily suggested I look into the group they were well on their way to completing their preparations for their Winter concert. I signed up to join them for the spring.

After returning to Kuwait from my trip back to the States I was able to join SING at their first rehearsal for the season. Let me say, I am absolutely in love with the group! After the first rehearsal I felt like this was a group I belonged to. My spirits were lifted, and I had felt the best that I have felt in my time in Kuwait. Mondays have quickly become my favorite day of the week (remember my work week starts on Sunday, so for most of you reading this think Tuesday for you). I get a good walk in as well as some me time on the bus going to and from rehearsal and get to sing some great music.

When I was a young college student at Wartburg College I was in the WCCB under the direction of Dr. Craig Hancock (Doc). Before rehearsals every day we would have a devo and get words of wisdom from a band member or from Doc. One day, Doc gave us a little devo that has stuck with me since that day. He was talking about why we are playing our instruments and creating music together. The thing that he said that stuck out to me was, “Everyday, in practice and in performance, think about who you are playing for. It can be for yourself, someone you love, or even someone you don’t know but might need encouragement.” That became a motto to me at every rehearsal and performance I have been a part of since. “Play for someone you love.” Well, lately I have had a long list of people that I have been singing for. Many of you in my life have been struggling with different things. I have been thinking of all of you while I am singing, and I hope you can feel love coming your way from the other side of the world. You could be living in my home, working at the duck pond, or just friends/acquaintances on Facebook, it doesn’t matter, I am singing for you.

I’m really glad that Emily suggested I look into this group. We will have a concert at the end of March that I am excited for already and we have only had two rehearsals. I hope that all of you have something in your life that brings you joy on a regular basis. It can really change your outlook on life/situations you are in.