GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS! $$$$

I found out that I was kicked out of my hotel about 1hr ago and was not going to be extended. I am expected to be out by tomorrow. I then began to search and call people for suggestions and answers concerning questions I had with my missing furniture allowance. I found Mohammad Al Kaaf and came to realize HE HAD MY FURNITURE MONEY!!!! I got my check and now I have money to buy furniture and appliances. I will need an air-matress for a few days until everything arrives, but I feel rich for a little bit haha. I was planning on going to the Iran vs. Brazil Friendly Soccer match tonight with their all-stars and still hope to. However, I need to do some shopping tonight ASAP so hopefully I can fill my apartment with the needed items ASAP :) Be praying everything falls into place. This is exciting news though! Thank You Lord! I will be furnitureless for a few days but I will manage :) I dont know yet how I will get to school everyday yet...but God has a plan :). I may taxi to the hotel and ride the shuttle with them...who knows! Again...be praying and I will post pictures as I fill the apartment. Hope all is well back home. Love you all.

Love on your family and friends!!! Take advantage of the time you have with them!!

*pictures consist of just a few memories that bring a smile to my face looking back on...believe me when I say "there is more where these came from! :)" I wanted to share a few with everyone and there will probably be more to come with nothing new happening for a little bit.

It is October 5, 2010 and I am in a bit of a slump. I have fallen into a routine of going to school, teaching some amazing kids, but then coming back to the hotel wondering what I should do next. It is still too early in the morning your time to try and give my Cassie a good morning wakeup call. I usually try to find somewhere to eat. I am sick and tired and tired and sick of being in the hotel without being able to cook my own food and being forced to eat out. I have had my apartment keys for over a week but am waiting on my furniture allowance. Once I receive that, I will be able to purchase my appliances and furniture to move in. I will then have full access to the internet hopefully and be able to start skyping and catching up with everyone on facebook.

I have been very lonely lately. I truly miss home and miss family, friends and the love of my life. I truly thought I was ready for a move like this, a move where I would be alone, but preparing for my future and family one day. I never thought the alone/down time would be this hard. December cannot come soon enough when I get to see one very important girl. I wish everyone could rotate and I could have a visitor each month, believe me, if I had some more of this oil money, I would fly you over. I am seeking the Lord and am putting in a lot of effort to spend time with him. I have yet to find a church and am in need of that time with God as well. I miss Sundays with Cassie and my family. Going to church then going to my parents for some good home cooking and family time was always a highlight of my week. It was time where Cass and I finally got time to spend with each other and were not tied down to teaching, golf, volleyball or softball. We were free from our weekly obligations and able to build more memories together with my family. Memories that I will never forget. Memories I look forward to re-visiting someday.

Memories seem to go through my head a lot these days. It is all I have to hold on to until I get to create more memories when December comes. I feel like once I get into my apartment and have internet access to be able to keep in touch with everyone more often; it will help the time go by faster. This is an amazing city but I am too far away to do it on my own. I need someone else to experience it with. The access to the rest of the world you get from this city is amazing, in terms of travel and I do not want to travel alone. I know in the grand scheme of things, this is what I need to be doing and know that this is a great opportunity for me to jump start my career and bank account, but the money cannot cover the loneliness. I don’t know for sure if I will be back another year, let alone the two more I am expected to be…that decision is still to be decided with the help of a special someone. Teamwork is much needed in order to make a decision like that and I am willing to go either way.

That is what a relationship is all about, love/passion and compromise. She has her passions and I have mine, but when it all comes down to it...we just want to be together. We want to be near each other and not forced to be apart. She made a point a couple weeks ago of that she at times almost feels like she is single again and at first it hurt me to hear that and still does hurt me to even write it. However, the truth is...she is right. Being this far apart from each other takes its toll on a person. Deep down you know you have a boyfriend/girlfriend and know that you are madly in love with them, but you don't get the privilege of seeing them, talking to them, holding them, etc whenever you want to and that gets old. It can tend to become the norm and you get so caught up being busy in what you are doing (school, sports, career, whatever) and you can forget what it feels like to hold the person you love or kiss the person you love. Believe me though Cassie...I have not forgotten and will never forget that feeling. It has been almost 3 years together and there is nothing that will take that feeling away from me. The butterflies I get when I write you or get to hear your voice are the feelings I look forward to feeling each day. Your hugs and our times of just laying on the couch with my arms around you are times I will never forget, nor do I ever want to forget them. I know I will be happy again when I am with her in the grand scheme of things and know that that time is near, but in the sort term vision I have been stuck in, it makes things difficult and emotionally heartbreaking. I know this is a bit mushy and I am sorry, but I feel everyone needs to know this and it can be taken to heart by everyone!

I have the most amazing family and girlfriend in the world and they are all helping me get through this with much needed talks of support and comfort. I cannot thank them enough for all they do and the encouragement they give me while I am here. I know it is hard on them and they have expressed that, but they have each other to talk to, to hold, to hug, to see and that is HUGE. Don’t let anyone ever tell you it will be easy going alone for a long period of time. It won’t be easy. At least for me it hasn’t! Give you family, friends and loved ones the support and recognition they deserve and show them how much you love them. We tend to take for granted the time we get when we get it every single day and have access to it whenever we want. But believe me, when the time comes where that easy access is gone, it is tough, sad and hard. To be honest, we never know when that time will come either. Take advantage of the time you have with your loved ones, they deserve the time they want with you, just as you deserve every minute you want with them.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter are going to be hard being away from family. I am used to spending Thanksgiving with my family. I am used to spending Christmas with my family and as of recently, the Bishop/Altman family as well (they have made me feel like family since the beginning!!). This year, I get Christmas/New Years with Cass and am so incredibly thankful for that. I am used to going down to Cassie' parents with her for Easter and spending the weekend there. These are going to be speed bumps for me and I dont want anyone back home to take these times with family for granted. They are special and need the recognition and love they deserve.

I know that this blog is not giving a whole lot of information of what is going on here, but that is because there is not much going on currently. I may make it up to Dubai for the weekend to visit a couple friends up there and get to work out like I was used to back home. Other than that, not much news, but I wanted to tell you at least how I have been feeling and what I have been thinking. If any of you read this and get to see my Cassie or my family, would you do me the favor of giving them a big hug for me? I would greatly appreciate that and just tell them I love them and miss them. Hope all is well back in the states and look forward to talking to people soon.

A&F

The Last Two Weeks

*PICTURES : Myself out at the Hiltonia (our resort beach) reading/A view from an italian restaurant at one of the 30 malls in the city (Abu Dhabi Mall) looking out over Beach Rotana and seeing the 30+ cranes in working mode, building onto an already sky scrapper packed city/ Myself with my homeroom class 5B/ Myself with my first salary paycheck !!!

Friday/night was a great start to a weekend. After my first week of school, I spent the day of Friday purely lounging poolside with a buddy I met at the gym. I indeed got a bit burnt but it has turned to a silky golden brown! After a full day at the pool he offered to take me to dinner with a buddy of his. He picked me up in his fancied up, brand new bmw and said, “Well we were going to go grab a burger at Fuddruckers, but the mall is packed, so we are going to go to a great Japanese restaurant/bar in the Emirates Palace. Is that okay with you?” HAHA are you kidding me?!?! The…THE Emirates Palace? I of course was in! We headed on our way and met up with his friend George who also seemed to be driving a brand new bmw (ohhhh the money in this city!!!). As a walked through THE EMIRATES PALACE, I was in awe! I will make an effort to go back soon to take pictures for everyone to see, but all I can say is WOW!

After trying some more amazing new food/appetizers it was time for the bill. As I reached for my money clip, knowing I had no more than 80dhs (30$), Tony of course said “It is on me bro, consider it a welcoming gift to the city.” We headed to this little social area, with a small DJ, called the Yacht Club and enjoyed some good music and company. Let’s just put it this way, when the night was over, he had paid for all three of us and it ran around 1500-2000dhs. I tried so many different types of Japanese food, it’s not even funny.

Saturday consisted of a fulfilling breakfast before making my way to the school by cab for some time in the classroom. Sunday came very quickly and it was officially the first day of our entire school being open (KG1-5^th). As far as my department, things went very smooth and are coming along very nicely. My kids are great and full of knowledge. They lack the understanding of basic tools for English/Reading/Writing but when someone takes the time to answer their questions they are quick to learn. I would agree with my colleagues in saying, the 5^th graders here are closer in educational level to the 4^th graders in the U.S.A.

As far as the KG kids, there is a whole lot of screaming and crying for the first few days. This is one reason why I refuse to work with that age group until I have some KG kids of my own running through my own house J.

The week has been full of getting to know the kids, parents, their drivers and nannies. We will not be full speed in the curriculum until the third week. We are required to pull each student and do assessment of how advanced they are in their English. This forces us to take 20-30min with each child until we make our way through the class. Unfortunately this requires us to give the students worksheets to work on as we assess. Thankfully, I student taught for an amazing man, Mr. Nyegaard, who gave me access to binders after binders full of worksheets/keys. I have provided the 5^th grade staff with Verb Helpers and Verb Worksheets to get us through these two weeks. This will give the students both in class work and homework and give us teachers the time to pull kids individually. It is not what I want for as far as the role of teaching is concerned, but it is what I am being told to do.

My classroom is slowly coming together. I am putting quotes up including:

“Excuses are the nails you use to build your house of failures.”

“Success is how high you bounce once you hit bottom.”

“Live as if you will die tomorrow. Learn as if you will live forever.”

I enjoy decorating the classroom and making it my own and a place of home for the students. Although it takes time that I don’t get because of the staff shuttle schedule and lack of money to afford a cab, it is coming along.

It is most certainly getting a bit more comfortable in temperature/less humidity, but it is still hanging around 100 degrees. However, I feel I am definitely adjusting to the weather and it is becoming much more comfortable.

My patience has been most certainly tested beyond my wildest dreams while I have been here. The way of life is very fast but the way things are done and accomplished is very slow. I am not used to this, bring from America, I was taught when you say you are going to do something…do it! I have learned to be patient and to HAVE FAITH it will all work out. I received my bank information yesterday (28^th) but don’t have a check yet to deposit into it. I am getting paid tomorrow for 6 weeks of work and will be taking a picture of that as well J. I hope to be getting my reimbursement check and furniture allowance within the next 1-2weeks. My keys to my apartment are available to me, but I am waiting for water and electricity to be turned on. I will then move in and have limited amounts of…well…anything until I get my furniture allowance and reimbursement checks.

Life has been stressful, but God is good and I have been burying my head in an amazing book a good friend of mine (THE Mr. Jon Bishop) gave me a while back. A book I read before but didn’t get as much out of it then, as I wanted to. Going through it this second time has opened my eyes and mind to some amazing new things. God has done a lot of work in me in the last 5 months and jumped back into this book with a new mindset and am excited to read more and finish. I know I am here for a reason and need to accomplish this challenge in order to build a strong enough resume teaching wherever I may want to. I have many opportunities over here not only through teaching but through travel and more and need to take advantage of them. GOD HAS A PLAN!

These school weeks have been good but I am looking forward to getting full speed in the curriculum with the kids starting Sunday. Also, I cannot wait to get these stinking assessments over with! My 5^th graders need my attention and I can’t give it to them with these assessments breathing down my back.

On a much more exciting note…Cassie got her ticket to Abu Dhabi mailed to her the other day and had it in hand. This is very exciting for we will have a very large period of time together over here. Not to mention, a much needed large period of time together. This has been very hard, but we have both chipped in and done our best to get in touch. Once we both have full internet connection in our apartments, things will be a lot easier and hope to be able to catch up with you all from home. I will be in touch and posting blogs more often for sure.

I miss you all and hope the weather is not getting too terrible to quick yet over there. Scream extra loud at GameDay for me and remember it was only a year ago you watched GameDay at Autzen and saw three massive black and white heads bobbing up and down behind Lee Corso’ head J (represent me well Saturday Cass!!!)

A&F

The First Week!

Hello everyone! I have completed my first week of school and it was great! The school is slowly coming together on the inside. Materials are making there way in by the dozens day by day. Murals are being finished at night and last minute fixes are being done. All the classrooms are good to go leading to us still opening. My classroom is still in need of posters and such on the walls and I hope to gather these this weekend. I am also hoping to gain a rug of some sort for the front of the classroom. I am told if you bring it up to the class they tend to go home and tell mommy and daddy and then appear with what you are in need of haha! Maybe I will give it a shot…I don’t know!

I have a class of 20 students and am promised it will not get any bigger…yay for me! They are all amazing and much more English fluent than I expected. I have 5B as my homeroom and am an English/Social Studies Specialist while Math, Art, P.E., Science, Islamic/French, Arabic and Arabic Social Studies specialists teach my kids during those periods. I jump back and forth between my class 5B and 5D for English and Social Studies. All in all I have a great group. They all speak at least 3 languages and have traveled the world in their own aspects. For the majority of them, they are Emirati’ (born and raised in the U.A.E), but there are a few either from American (but are Emirati), Indian and Canadian.

I have an even split between boys and girls and it is obvious what personalities are strong and weak already. I am excited to get to know each and every one of them on a much more relational level. I am already getting questioned about Justin Bieber because of my first name and the girls love Miley Sirus, while the boys love soccer and wrestling. We have already implemented our hand signals and rules/procedures. They learn fast and are eager to learn and be here. They know they are in a private school and are excited to be where they are. They also now know after listening to me, that we are not their nannies, drivers or maids and not to expect us to pick up after them. These are very privileged children but know nothing different, so they are not to blame. They are willing to change and desire to be more educated/advanced all around. Teaching is so amazingly rewarding and am thankful to have found a profession I love.

Each one of them has strong aspirations for their lives and have desires to be someone, someone who makes a difference. Many want to be doctors, soccer players, engineers and swimmers. Some want to be lawyers. One wants to be a teacher and one, Hissa, well she wants to be an actress in Hollywood and it is obvious after only two days that she would be a good one . Abdullah and Kareem love school and love coming to school to learn. I could go on and on but wont. They are all wonderful.

My classroom will soon be decorated and I am excited for that to be done and call it my own. I have gotten notice that I should have my apartment keys by Sunday or Monday. Then they will start the process for my furniture allowance. I will then start doing the minimal decorating I can to survive until Cassie gets here in December!!! Her womanly/lady-like touches will be much needed and appreciated . I can’t wait to see her and spend those 2 weeks with her. It is only about 88-90 days away . Seeing her will make this process so much easier! She will get to see me teach and take a look at the beautiful school/city where she hopefully will be teaching in next year as well.

By next year, this school will be complete with so much more. Being apart of this building process have been so incredibly straining, stressful and busy, but have been so educational and informative for the rest of my teaching career. It takes so so very much to build/put a school together for opening day! I am glad to be apart of a building year, for it is my building year as well. I am eager to learn, to teach and to relate. The Lord has a plan for me and day-by-day he opens new doors, doors that I want to run through. The opportunities are endless and I/you seek Him, He will make them clear!

I wake up at 5:30am, hit the breakfast buffet at 6:05am and hop on the shuttle bus at 6:35am. Arriving at the school five till seven a.m. gives me 50 mins to prepare anything needed before I am due in the playground center area to pick up my kids at 7:45am. Class lasts until 2:30pm when we then bring them back down to the reception area where they are either picked up by parents or busses. Because of our staff shuttle busses coming at 4pm on the dot, I only have an hour and fifteen mins to prepare for tomorrow. I would like to stay longer but need to catch that shuttle. I take advantage of my free periods and get most of my work done then. If need be I can always come back in a cab with others this weekend to prepare for next week. Once we get full speed in the curriculum I will be forced to stay longer or spend more time on things at home, until then I will enjoy the flexible workload .

There is 24-hour security guards on duty at all 3 campuses and cleaning people walking the halls, playground and cafeteria constantly to keep the entire school clean at all times. It is a very large campus with a few mistakes as far as placement of bathrooms and sizes of other rooms, but it is this oil companies (ADNOC) first time building a school, so it is understood. They will fix their mistakes in a hurry! When it is complete we will have a beautiful campus full of educators eager to make a difference. I am glad to be apart of them.

Here are a few pictures of the beginning but I will post more when I finish decorating and can take a class picture for you as well.

Keep the prayers at large and know how thankful I am for them. I hope the states are treating everyone good and the cold/rain is not too close : ( . I will share some of the warmth! I am getting used to the humidity and love the constant warmth. The weekend is here and I am so happy for it! I look forward to talking with both family and my lady this weekend to update them on what is going on. Being a teacher is tiring and hard work! Sleep is my best friend over here and I don’t get enough of it! Bye for now! A&F

New Apartment Photos!

This is the apartment I plan on getting the keys for mid week. Here some pictures of it and the views from the flat itself. The views are amazing!!! I love it and cant wait to be up there when the city lights are lit in the night! Take a peak and let me know what you think!

Ramadan Ends...Eid Begins

Tuesday and Wednesday have been full of anticipation concerning when the month of Ramadan would conclude with Eid. The school was informed that we would begin the weekend starting Wednesday and would wait till Wednesday night to hear for the announcement at 9p.m. if he “moon watcher” in Saudi Arabia has had a visual on the moon that would determine when Eid would begin and conclude.

Tuesday consisted of another day of preparation at GSAD for the first day of school. The first day of school is right around the corner. It is amazing to think that I am apart of such an important time in Abu Dhabi. I am helping build the foundation of a school that will set standards for all schools around and schools yet to be built in the area. I couldn’t think of a better situation for myself, a first year teacher straight out of my undergraduate. What an opportunity for an upcoming teacher who is just getting started in a career that will rewarding for years to come.

I have been fortunate enough grow up in a house full of teachers. I have been learning since day one. My parents are the most amazing parents in the world who have taught me the ins and outs in life. They have truly prepared me for this new chapter in my life.

Wednesday was the first day of what was going to be our five-day weekend. It was anticipated that it would only be a four-day weekend until Thursday night when the “moon watcher” sent the announcement that Eid would conclude on Sunday evening, giving us in schools Sunday off. The first days of Eid were quite uneventful, with the exception that I was now allowed to walk around with water/food in hand and shops would be open during normal hours of the day. The Hilton was booked solid beginning with the first day of Eid, equaling complete chaos in the breakfast buffet in the mornings. This was a bit overwhelming not getting my 2 omelets in such a timely fashion hahaha! After having my standard issue breakfasts I typically either made my way to the gym or to the beach for a little dip in the gulf. Following my routine, I headed down the elevator from the 4^th floor and looked directly to my right to the 38 story building under construction and saw probably 400 men running away from the building. I began to run 5 different things that could have possibly been happening: a)building falling over = I die; b) bomb = I die; c) something very big falling; d)they are on lunch break; e) time to catch the bus or shuttle. I went up and down the elevator to the 10^th floor 4 times to try and figure out what was going on…kinda scary yeah?

Thursday night I found out that Etihad Airways (the airline I flew in on from Chicago) is giving us individuals who flew in through ADNOC (our school funding company) the credit for the miles and our stay at the Hilton. This was great news because of the fact that ADNOC pays for it all and for our future flights, but we are going to receive the credit miles for it (3 one way flights to the states=one free flight). Just another benefit for working for a high powered oil company that doesn’t mind throwing money around like oil pours out of their gas pumps.

Thursday night I made my way down to tourist club area with a couple colleagues to walk around and be in the city with the locals, along with a dinner at a awesome Indian Restaurant. We took the bus down and my oh my was that an experience being squeezed in like a sardine with one hundred other people. One interesting fact about the bus system in Abu Dhabi is that females ride on the front of the bus and males on the back. Females are given the right on all accounts, including lines (they are allowed to cut in line no matter how long it is). After a nice dinner full of new food and a long couple of bus rides, I finally was back at the old nest.

Friday morning I received a much needed phone call from THE lady, Miss Cassandra Joelle Bishop and got to talk to her for a little while. She was a bit down and had a day where it seemed to have really hit her. She has not had a day like that to my knowledge for a while with her being so busy. The beautiful thing in a relationship is that when one is hurting, the other is strong. I have more than enough days of hurt since I have been here and she has been nothing but strong for me. It was time for me to be strong for her. We both go through our phases of emotional hurt and we have each needed to turn to each other, the Lord, the Word or all three. None the less, it has been a struggle that has left us with no choice but to ask for help and become stronger individuals within ourselves, with the Lord and with each other.

Friday was a very relaxing, fun filled day. Layla and Stuart (a newlywed couple at GSAD) invited myself and a couple other colleagues form GSAD on their boat with their other friends. Not knowing what to expect, I was all for it and all for getting out of the hotel and onto the water with some people who have been living here for a while. A total of twelve people joined as we made our way out to a deserted island. When we made our way out to a random island it was time to throw anchor and make our way onto land. It was amazing how deep we could be in the gulf, but still be waist/chest high in water. Treading the gulf waters to land was quite the experience. As we walked trough the water, you would not believe what flew by a mere 50ft in front of us. A flamingo flew overhead! I haven’t seen a flamingo outside of any American zoo! It was by far the best part of the day. After settling and setting up umbrellas for the occasional shade, we made our way out into the gulf to relax and get to know each other. I met some amazing people, from Sudan, England, Canada, Texas and the UAE.

I was able to hear some amazing stories and pick some brains about the area. Made some golfer contact with they guys and a regular Wednesday night golf get together. One of them is a manager/pro at a small golf course in town and we got to talking. He told me that I need to take advantage of the lack of amateur golf talent in the area and attempt to qualify for the European Tour event that comes through the Dessert Swing every year and hitting here at Abu Dhabi Golf Club. What an experience that would be, to be able to have the opportunity to play a tour event in Abu Dhabi on national television. The opportunities seem to be endless so far and am so very thankful I stuck it out.

I plan on going in Sunday to GSAD to start a bit early and help set up the classroom. I want to be fully prepared for Tuesday. I have my own classroom! I am a 5^th grade teacher! Is this real life? I am now in the real world! God is good!

Looking forward to talking to family and friends tonight on skype and get updates on life back in Oregon. Hope everyone is good and healthy. Talk soon! A&F

Being so far away from someone you love is extremely hard! A&F