As for the explanation for the second half of the title of this post, I will no longer be going by Ms. Britton. At this school, teachers are allowed to choose whether they will go by their first name or their surname. Others are fairly split on their choices, so I gave it some thought. I am grateful for my previous positions and the experiences that they brought me, but I decided to change things up for my new experience. Therefore at this school, my students will be calling me Ms. Stefanie. It will take some time to get used to, but I'm actually very excited for the change!
This door makes me smile every time I walk up to it. Shoutout to Brenda Faz for designing my fabulous letters!
When the car pulled up to my new place on the day I arrived in Yangon, my greeter (and amazing orientation guru!) said, "Welcome to The Palace!" I made some dumb joke about a palace, and he said, "No, that's the actual name of this place." He wasn't kidding. It has a golden gate and all. We even have a guard! Inside I wandered around - I think there are about eight rooms, each with a bathroom. It is huge, and I keep losing track when I go around to count. It ended up that each of the roommates chose a floor. Yes, that's right. There are three of us, and we are each living on our own floor of this house. Considering the fact that I have lived in tiny apartments in very big cities with outrageous rents, this is something very new to me. We also have a dining room, a living room, and a huge kitchen to share. Did I mention that housing is provided by my school, and it is only about a three minute walk to campus?
Throughout our first several days here, we had many work meetings and many shopping trips. We were already provided with furniture, but I had to buy other things to make living more comfortable. It took most of the first week, but once I bought everything and was able to unpack, I was incredibly happy with my new home!
Furniture provided by my school. Backpack and fan provided by me.
The other part of my room. Most of the furniture was already here,
but I bought the little (handmade!) rattan storage thing on the right.
I turned this rattan spice rack into a medicine cabinet for my bathroom.
My shower has a weird drain situation, but this curtain brings me a lot of joy. #iwillnevergrowup
There are a lot of mosquitos here, and on the first few nights I was getting eaten alive. I am mildly allergic to mosquito bites, so they were starting to drive me crazy. I bought a mosquito net and hung it in a weird way, so it sort of feels like I am waking up in a cocoon every morning. But it keeps those suckers away from me at night! I will put in a maintenance request to hang it properly, but I was waiting until the craziness of the beginning of the school year settles. A couple of other things that have come in handy in my new home life:
This bug zapper definitely changed my life (along with the mosquito net).
Veggie wash - diluted in a spray bottle
The water here is not safe to drink, and there are many pesticides used when raising fruits and vegetables. We have to wash everything in this veggie wash diluted in bottled water before eating it. So far, it has worked out well.
As I said before, we saw many new places during our New Teacher Orientation. I got sick from dinner on the second night here. I knew it was inevitable, but it definitely could have been a lot worse! We also were introduced to the true meaning of "monsoon season":
Going home after our work meeting... I am so happy that I bought rain shoes!
My roomie Brighton totally embraced the experience.
I think my face sort of says it all here. I didn't think the water ACTUALLY
came as high as they said. But it definitely comes up to the knees. And I just
don't really want to think about what was IN that very high water... Good thing I
got my shots! (Also, I screamed every time something touched my foot because I was
convinced that a snake was going to be there.)
As a part of our orientation, we learned a lot about culture shock. As a team, we decided to whole-heartedly embrace the honeymoon phase. I absolutely love my newbie group that came in. We have really bonded, and they are making my life so enjoyable here. Some of my favorite highlights from orientation week:
Taken at our local coffee shop. James is amazing, and his *delicious* coffee is
only 1200 kyats (that's about $1 USD!)
This was my favorite lunch spot during orientation. They have food come around
on a conveyor belt, and you make it yourself. Delish! (they don't like you to take photos inside)
My obsession.
One of my favorite buildings in our neighborhood - it's near the local market just beyond campus
Example of some really beautiful local architecture (and yes, that is a KFC next door)
View from our rooftop dinner at Vista Bar.
I read a lot about Yangon and Myanmar before I came, but you can never really be fully prepared for new experiences. I am very pleasantly surprised at the beauty in this city. I had a different idea of what it would be like, and I am so happy to be here. One thing I read about was the climate. I knew I was moving here in the rainy season, and that it would be very hot. Coming from the Midwest, it's been quite an adjustment. I am slowly getting there. I even survived a run the other day! (I am easing into it, while my body adjusts to living in the humidity again.) Something else that I read about was the dogs in Yangon. There are many wild dogs living in the streets here (I learned about the rabies vaccine after I got here, and will be getting it shortly!). We have three neighborhood dogs that live on the street where the teacher apartments are, and they sort of keep the other dogs away from us. They are so sweet and everyone loves having them around. Ballsy even walked me home one night when I shared a cab home with someone in the teacher apartments! #gooddog
Survived my first run in 100% humidity AND I didn't get lost!
Meet Ballsy, Puppy, and Lady
Our whirlwind orientation was fantastic, and I've really loved getting to know the other new teachers in my group. Here is a selfie with some of my favorites outside a pagoda last weekend (we will go back for a more in-depth tour at a later date):
The Just Ok Club, minus a few members <3
I love the hot mess status of this photo!
View from the rooftop of my school. Our house ("The Palace") is the one with
the blue roof closest to the school.
This seems like the perfect segue to explain my new school. On the first day of our orientation, we were doing the usual introductions. We had to tell our name, where we came from, what we are going to teach, and something significant about ourselves. I was all ready to tell about how I had lived in NYC and Chicago, two of the largest cities in the US. That's usually my thing. And then other people started talking. It felt like that scene in the movie Legally Blonde when they are all introducing themselves, and then it gets to Elle. One guy in my group has taught internationally for like 25 years and has lived all over the world. The married couple taught in Alaska for a year, and before coming abroad they decided they needed to see the US, so they took a 48-state roadtrip together. Another girl has been teaching about the same amount of time that I have, but has also lived all over the world. And then it got to me. And I stammered something about being excited to teach world drumming this year. (Since then, I have become much closer with this group, and they are very forgiving!)
I was already very excited for the opportunity to teach at this school. And the more the meeting went on, the more excited I became. Everything was so positive and supportive. When they talked about our observations, it went something like this: "We will come in and see you teach a couple of times, and then we'll do a few walk-throughs. At the end of the year we will give you a write-up so that we can try to give you tips to help you grow." I wanted to hug him, but I thought that might be weird. I was also elated to find out that we do not have to submit weekly lesson plans. I do have to submit unit plans, but it will be so much easier to find time to write those when I am not spending so many hours of my life commuting and writing weekly lesson plans!!
Later in the week, they took us to the stationary store. We got a shopping cart, we piled all of the office supplies in it that we wanted, and then gave it to the cashier. The school paid for everything. Without question. I have boxes and boxes of paper clips and scissors in storage back in Florida because I have spent thousands of dollars over the years buying my own supplies out of pocket. I am already so spoiled here!
We did have many meetings during the week, which is expected. Some of them were postponed so that teachers would have adequate time to set up our rooms. I am astounded. There is such a sense of community, positivity, and teamwork. I am trying not to dwell on the past, so I will just say this: I am very excited and positive about my new position and the potential for a great school year!
Our director impersonated Donald Trump and Hillary to deliver
the platforms for the coming school year. I was almost crying from laughter.
I found out that I have not one, but TWO rooms, one of which is like a Music Suite! The school is on two campuses (about a 5-minute walk down the street) - the 123 campus has grades Preschool-2, and the main campus has grades 3-12. Since I will be teaching grades 1-6, I am on both campuses. I am sharing a room with someone on the 123 campus, but the main campus room is all mine! Considering I spent two and a half of the last three years teaching on a cart (and later, out of a bag when the elevator broke down), words cannot describe the excitement I felt. Later, that excitement turned into feeling overwhelmed because setting up two classrooms is a LOT of work, but eventually it all came together.
Spelled correctly and everything! (Note: ROOMS. Plural.)
First, I'll introduce you to my room on the 123 Campus. My 1st and 2nd graders will be working here with me. It's obviously still a work-in-progress, but I'm very happy with its status for the first day of school! (This is the room that I am sharing with someone else. We each sort of decided to use one side of the room.)
My mini-Word Wall for my mini-campus.
Small space, but it's for my littles. (There are only about 13 in a class!)
Hopefully, you get the idea.
The small sampling of Orff instruments on this campus.
The rest of the instrument closet. (The largest instrument collection I've had at the initial start of a job!)
I love that both of my rooms have a mirror. I think it will do wonders for movement!
The main campus is where I will be teaching for the majority of the day. I am in love with this room. It was very difficult on the first day, trying to figure out how to maximize the space. I am very happy with the setup! We'll see how it works when I get my kiddos in there and really start using the space. I forgot to take a picture of the ceiling, which is a cool feature. There are colored squares on the ceiling of my classroom, so when I send students to work in groups, I can send them by color! So cool! I tried to capture the rest of the room, but it really is much better in person.
Board for my Singing Wall and my mini-lessons. To the left, I'll display my
learning objectives. To the right, I'll make a rhythm board (still in progress!).
My entire area for my mini-lessons. The blank whiteboard will be
used when I project things. You can kind of see the ceiling I was
talking about. Not pictured: The bookshelf with rhythm instruments behind the whiteboard.
Also still in progress: I will post essential questions, enduring
understandings, and key vocabulary for each grade level on this board.
Above it, I have my expectations and procedures. Below, I will post
my participation rubrics after I talk through them with the kids this week.
My full-sized Movement Word Wall!
I'll use this area for movement. I love the mirror!
Again, you can kind of see the colors on the ceiling.
My drumming and xylophone areas.
I have two carpets that are the same, so I set them up facing the same direction.
I can use this area in front of the xylophones to reteach or pull small groups if needed.
Otherwise, I'll use the board when modeling things for the xylophones, which are
approximately in the spot where I snapped this photo.
On Friday, we had orientation. Most of my students walked through with their teacher. There were mixed reactions (the most common sentiment being that I'm really tall!). Overall, I think it is obvious that I am thrilled to be in this position and am excited to get started. I am quite nervous too; I have never replaced anyone before, and the woman I am replacing is adored by students and faculty. I am hoping the students grow to love me too. I am also nervous to teach two new grade levels, and generally a VERY different demographic than I am used to. I hope I can challenge these kids and make learning fun. And mostly, I hope we make great music this year!
In my next post, I promise to bring more details from the actual city of Yangon. In the meantime, positive vibes are very welcome!
