Friday Night Random Thoughts

Jamie and I had a good work day today. They provided us with, hopefully, our final class schedule and finalized, we hope, our room assignments. We went to the brand new Early Childhood Center today on a "field trip," and I can honestly say it is the best pre-school I have ever seen.

The brand new middle school they have had to convert into a middle school will work quite well. Brand new facilities with brand new computer labs and classrooms. They do not have LCD projectors in the classrooms which is both a bummer and a surprise considering how much money they spend on other resources. Jamie and I are used to using PowerPoint almost every day. We'll work it out nonetheless.

We had a nice evening at our Director's house as he provided the new faculty with Papa John's pizza and some beverages. Tomorrow we are going to Damasha Beach which is the closest nice beach about an hour and a half away; although it might be another beach that I can't remember the name. It is amazing how much the school will pay for these trips and accommodations. Jamie and I have our Visa interview next Tuesday and Wednesday, so please check back on those days to see how it goes. It is apparently a hoot!

Jamie and I have decided not to get an IE (which we have not determined is a word, initials, or what) but it is a housekeeper. A family of 6 here has a lady come over almost every day and clean, do laundry, and she cooks them meals a couple of times per week for only $15 per week. Simply amazing. Despite the fact that our IE would not even be half this much, we've decided to pass our our 2 bedroom apartment. We'll have to hire one to keep care of our pets whenever we go on vacations and back home for the summer.

I was going to post some statistics about our school but decided to save that for another post when I do not have a lot to say; not that I really have anything to say this time. Our British/New Zealand/Australian commentators for basketball have not gotten any better an actually said the other day that Duke was near Boston and one of the oldest American universities. I seem to remember another school in Boston that might make that claim.

I've added a pretty cool little world clock over to the side. Blogspot has opened up a ton of new gadgets for me to add here, but only some of them work. I'll try them out. I can tell how many "page impressions" there are per day, but really haven't gotten much feedback from people about the blog. I had 30 yesterday, 42 the day before. I know 2 of these are mine because I have to make sure the ads are appropriate, 2 more from Jamie's parents, 2 more from my parents on average per day. I hope everyone is enjoying reading this.

We'll be up early going to a Chinese beach. I'll be sure and take pictures. Not sure how special it will be, but we'll tomorrow. I think Jamie and I are sold on going to either Bangkok or Phuket Thailand or both for our first break. The visas entry into the country is really easy and the couples whom we have spoken to have rave reviews about it. I will certainly keep everyone posted on this.

On a side note, my friend Joshua Holmes writes a celebrity/news blog called Bumpshack. He will be attending the debate with press credentials and live blogging at the Obama/McCain civil debate held at Rick Warren's church. He has told me that he will have a video of the debate and events afterwards. The debate will be Saturday night at 8:00 eastern standard time. For those that know about the Bumpshack, it sure has come a long way to be included in a presidential debate along side of CNN, Fox(wannabe)News, and other major news networks. Be sure to check out Josh's website and live blogging of the events at Bumpshack.

Please email if you are reading. Some have, some haven't. We'd be ecstatic to hear from some of you concerning the events of back home, Georgia or Tennessee. Our emails are at the top of the page.

Have a great Friday America!