Another Adventure

Today was a good day despite my being tired. The power at the apartments we live in went on and off all day as the electrician came and was working on the power grid as there was an explosion last week of a line that connects the school’s generator to the main power fuse box. Whenever the power goes out on the island the generator is supposed to kick on and the last time it did, there was an explosion that scorched the inside of the fuse box. Our fridge food may still be good or so we hope.
As is the tradition we ate food at our favorite sea side restaurant where there are dollar tacos on Saturday and ate with 4 other teachers. We then went back to the apartments where Kara went to a hotel to swim with the other female teachers. I on the other hand went with the school maintenance guy, Romel, to see how much it would cost to fix the 1998 Ford Contour Sport that Kara and I would like to buy from a lady at the church.
The car’s engine looks great for a Saipan car and it drives well. It is missing an alloy wheel (a spare is on it right now…), has a broken alternator (we charged the battery before going to the mechanic), and has a couple bald tires. According to Kelley Blue Book the car is worth $1950 in running condition. The Korean auto mechanic at told us that he could probably fix the alternator for $230 (which is awesome) and that the rest of the parts we would want to replace later would total about $450 (with the fixed alternator), which brings our asking price for the car down to $1500. This is a good price because the car could be paid off 5 months or less depending on how much we spend on groceries etc. I plan to make an offer to the owner soon, perhaps tomorrow at church if the lady is around... The only reason we want to buy a car is because you cannot do anything fun on the island without a means to get there. The experience of going to the mechanic was interesting because another fellow came in who was chewing Betel Nut (see google images after typing in Betel nut to see people with a nasty red mouth like I saw today) and was simply picking up a starter, but wanted to tell us about how good the mechanic was and that it is good that God puts limitations on us. He proceeded to talk about video poker and how when he plays it everything in his life goes poorly, but that it is good to have limitations. He left saying his name was Feliz Navidad to which Romel replied, “Merry Christmas,” we all had a good chuckle. The mechanic also told me about how after we replace/fix the alternator it would be good to get a new battery as car batteries on Saipan only last about 2 years compared to the normal five years in the states. He said that the sunlight and heat is so intense, especially during the dry season, that the acid in the car batteries boils and eventually evaporates. I don’t know if this is true, but the man has lived on the island for 27 years fixing cars and must know something about alternators and starters if that is all he fixes. I say all he fixes because that is all he does. On the floor of his store were hundreds of beat up alternators that he had pulled from other cars he’d fixed or junked cars and was using to Frankenstein new and used alternators.
In the afternoon I slept more and Kara colored in a coloring book next door. We all went out to eat together for dinner at a local restaurant that I would liken to a Perkins in the states. It was off the main road and hidden, but it was well painted in the inside and I imagine is very busy during the day. It had both Asian and American foods. Kara was delighted to have $5.00 grilled cheese sandwich. She then went to the golf range with the other teachers to hit a bag of golf balls. I stayed home as I have been really tired all day for some reason and made coffee and am now blogging, which helps me feel somewhat connected to the states. I have more to say but I will stop here and save more for tomorrow perhaps as it is ok to blog two days in a row.

1st time Spear fishing

It has been a few days and it is time to blog again in my spare time. Here is an update as to how school is going. School has been going fairly well as the kids are very respectful, even when they do not understand a concept in English. The only outburst I have had from the 6-8th grade is an 8th grader who wanted to be funny by turning his book upside down while we were going around the class reading. Having grown a thick skin, from teaching high school English, I knew what to do and required the student to read the whole chapter while standing in front of his peers in the front of the classroom. Since he didn’t finish he had to do it the next day. I believe this taught the class how to show proper respect. That really has been the extent of any trouble in the classroom. I think my favorite grade to teach at the moment is 6th grade because they are so funny and also enthusiastic about anything and everything. I feel as though this year will go by fairly fast (as it always does) and that we will have to decide whether we want to stay another year or not. As for other news, on Saturday of this weekend, I and three other teachers went spear fishing.
One of the teachers (Jake) has lived on the island for at least 3 years now and is fairly adept at spear fishing and was generous enough to take us on an outing. I am not sure yet whether or not I enjoy spear fishing. I need to have more practice reloading a large 2 band, Risse, spear gun in the water and get more practice diving before I can really feel comfortable doing it. I was thankful that Jake was willing to take us out on his Saturday off and help teach us about the sport. Some things that made spear fishing un-enjoyable for me were factors I couldn’t change such as: fins Jake let me use that were too small for me (since I didn’t have my own) and caused an open blister on my right big toe, not knowing how to reload and dive well, and getting a cramp in my left calf muscle (while in the water). One of the 4 of us was successful in shooting a dinky little black fish, but hey, at least we got some good experience. I believe that if I had the right equipment and more practice perhaps it could be a lot of fun. If I had the right equipment such as proper flippers, better goggles/snorkel, and easy reload spear gun, it could be a ton of fun. For the easy reloading spear guns Jake had made pads for his chest out of old sandals. He poked holes through them and tied plastic fishing line loops through the holes. This allowed the divers to put the butt of the gun against their chest while they pulled the rubber bands back to their lock position in order to fire. Without the pads it is easy to bruise as I have a small dot on my chest from one such attempt. In order to keep our goggles from fogging we rubbed a speck of gel toothpaste on the inside of our goggles (it just works, said Jake). I may invest in a JBL spear gun and new flippers etc… if Kara and I stay for another year and give it another go.
I guess that is all I have to say for now, but I will keep you posted as usual. Goodnight. Grant.

The First 2 weeks!

I wanted to take some time to gather my thoughts since so much has happened lately and I wanted to share what has been on my mind.
First of all traveling over to Saipan was exhausting, exciting, and a good time to sit and think. We flew from Duluth, to Minneapolis, to Japan, and then Saipan. When you have 12 hrs on one plane you have a lot of time to think about life. I was sad to have left the states and everyone I know behind, but excited about this new adventure that life has thrown our way. I love to travel a lot and having Grant as my husband and sharing this experience with him has been amazing. It is nice having a best friend there with me all of the time. I also am glad to know that he will be experiencing this with me as well. Everything with our flights went as planned and we had no troubles flying here. It was boring and they did not have any little flight entertainment systems so i started to think quickly. I also wrote to friends, chatted with Grant, and just enjoyed not doing anything since we had been so busy prior to leaving. Being in the Japan airport was an experience with everyone around me speaking Japanese, when i went to McDonalds I just pointed to what I wanted to order.
When we got to Saipan Bobby, and his wife Debbie were there to pick us up and take us to our new home. We were given flower headgear as a welcoming present. We were wired since the time difference is 15 hrs so we stayed up for most of the night. I did cry though because the whole trip was overwhelming and my nerves came out and I was scared for what was going to happen next.
We started work the next day and started getting our classrooms ready. Since we came late we had a lot of catching up to do. I quickly got into teacher mode and made my classroom my own:)
Grant and I met the other teachers and quickly realized that all of the new teachers but one were from Dordt which is right by where I went to college, small world!
It was a good week of spending time getting ready, looking through the curriculum, and getting to know the other teachers. We all live in the same apts so it is easy to go hang out. Also they are all around our age and understand us.
The first week felt like we were working but also felt like a vacation because the schedule was ours. we spent a lot of time at the beach, traveling around with the other teachers, and taking it all in. I felt as though time was going fast and was not ready for school to start.
School started on Monday Aug 9th and my nerves were high, I have never taught in a school district before, let alone first grade, so I was not sure what the day would bring. I had a 9 page lesson plan ready to go and then soon I realized that I can not always have a plan but with their attention spans I needed to always have something new up my sleeve to keep their attention. I have 22 students right now and could have up to 24. I have had one problem student which has caused me a lot of problems, but day by day I am learning how to deal with it and keeping the principal informed.
The first week went well and it was great seeing how much the kids already know and getting into a routine. My favorite time of the day is circle time because I enjoy reading books to the kids. I also enjoy math more than I thought and like the curriculum they have here.
I just started my second week and the work is starting to pile up, which I am learning how to grade a bit each day so it does not pile up so fast. The kids are getting more into a routine. Everything takes longer than you think with 1st graders to get to places and they say the cutest things.
Funny story- So I was teaching the kids cause and effect today and I dropped a book on the floor to teach them how when you drop a book you cause the book to fall and the effect is the loud sound. The kids jumped in their seats but one little boy starting dropping his book on the floor too since he was trying to imiate me and following along.
I have enjoyed getting to see more and more of the island. We have seen so much so far and are always ready for the next adventure. It has been great experiencing these places with my other coworkers and getting to have fun on the nights and weekends. I am excited to see where these friendships will go.
I am hoping to start to meet more people on the island and make friends with them too.
The church is a lot different here and the focus is on community, we sing a song called the family of God and hold hands around the chapel. I love the fellowship and enjoy the contemporary music as well.
My favorite place on the island is the Grotto which is a natural pool of water in a cave. We swam in it and it was so beautiful! Awe i just love being able to be in water and enjoy jumping off the rock. I also love the rushing water, cant wait to go back.
I am feeling more and more like this is home for me and i have been learning the quirks about the island. I am taking each day as it comes and enjoying the fact that God has me here for a reason.
So we will see what happens next, I know life is not perfect here and that life has its ups and downs, but living by the beach is ok for me:)

Kara

Musings About Food in Saipan

8-14-2010
Today I thought of a few more things to add. First, pray that my sore throat goes away . After the first week of school I have already picked up a bug of some sort, the only place I can think of that I may have contracted this plague would be the water unit in my classroom. In each classroom we have the big water jug dispensers just like the one my dad used to have at his old studio on Superior Street in Duluth. I suppose some student put their grimy paws where they didn’t belong… Oh well, such is the life of a teacher, I hope that this is the one time I get sick over here during this school year.
Second, I thought I would mention some of the interesting things about the food in Saipan and the experience of grocery shopping. Like anywhere you can get better deals at different markets. To give you an idea of some of the prices of food and kitchen appliances let me give you a short lists: Yoplait Yogurt $1.50 per cup, a large bottle of Sprite $2.30, 1 gal. milk $12, coffee maker size 5 cups $35.00+, microwave $140. I think I will stop there, heaven forbid we get to smart phones or something truly important. In this economy and how much money we make over here food is extremely expensive. There is more to say about food that may be interesting. Many of the grocery stores and markets here sell food that has expired. The food is priced so high that even expired food is too good to throw out. I walked down the row of fridges and found hot dogs %50 off because they had expired already. It is interesting that they have no worry of being sued, buyer beware I guess. Beyond expired food I have also had to adapt to food that keeps itself from expiring too quickly. What I mean to say is that 2% milk at $12 a gal. is too expensive and expires too quickly to want to use it frequently. Since my wife is really picky I buy regular milk for her, but in order to save us money, I buy what many islanders drink. This amazing drink is 2% milk in a box, yes, a box. It sits on the shelf with other dry goods. You would imagine this product to taste terrible, but I find it to be quite good. It is made by a company in New Zealand called, “Foremost.” Some of the teachers do not like it but I do not mind it and was referred to it by the PE teacher, Darin. It comes in a small box and will last me about a week. What I normally do is open it and let it cool in the fridge so that it tastes more like milk. The cereal covers up the difference in taste really well. Honestly, the only difference I can really taste/feel is in the lack of creamy texture it is more akin to skim milk.
That is all until I think of more interesting musings, which will probably be related to my students and how class is going. We are thinking of you all. Grant Out.

Random Educational Tid Bits From Life on Saipan.

Wednesday 8-11-2010
Nothing incredible happened today to blog about, but I thought I would share some things with you about Saipan I’ve learned in the past week that I haven’t mentioned yet. On the island of Saipan there are not counties or states, but rather villages. The “village” that Kara and I reside in is known as “Susupe.” The only other village I believe we have visited so far is known as “Dandan.” If you type the word “Dandan” into Google maps you can see how small the village of Dandan truly is. On to other things I have learned.
Saipan has only a couple of major cell phone carriers. We chose to go with the carrier known as IT&E. Using our old carrier of Verizon here would cost us roaming charges of 65 cents a minute! The plan we signed up for is helpful because it gives us 300 minutes a month to use for local calls and calling to the mainland does not cost anything extra! When we went to the store we almost left because everything was taking so long. By the time we got service (bad pun…laugh) the store had just about closed! I suppose we cannot blame the staff as it went pretty quickly after we were helped. It is tough when there are only a few carriers on the island. The cost of this plan was only $25 a month.
Tourism is also big in Saipan. The funny thing a couple of the teachers have mentioned is how there is one guy who always says to them on the beach, “Good day sir. Jet Ski? Banana Boat?” The whole phrase does nothing but make us all laugh.
I also feel I should talk about animals and insects on the island. Saipan is a fascinating place in that it is filled with different kinds of bugs and sea creatures. I am sure I will expound upon the list of animals and insects later as I plan to buy a spear gun at some point in order to fish on the reef that surrounds the island. We have seen many bugs. While we were exploring the beaches of Saipan I had a small preying mantas on me that was amusing to watch as it could jump really far. There are also a variety of biting flies that come out around sun set to nip at your exposed flesh. The horseflies here are gigantic and will give a person huge welts on their skin. The ants are also different as they vary in size. The ants on the beach run really fast and I have seen them attack small hermit crabs with a vengeance. We have also seen many types of animals. The land around the school is filled with Geckos of all sizes and colors. It is also common to see shrews running across the parking lot to a plod of grass or hole that is their home. There are big toads that hop up our steps occasionally as well (amazing a toad can hop so many steps) as t hey search for the moths and flies that are biting us so often. We have seen sea turtles from many of the cliffs we look over and I have read on signs that people often poach these turtles as they come to lay their eggs. It is very sad as the turtles are easy to spot because they come in droves of 4 or 5 at a time. While in the ocean I have seen a sea snake, goat fish, mussels (that hurt when you step on their spiny shells), and crabs that will startle you when the walk over your foot. The crabs are amazing because you can barely distinguish them from the sea floor. Another phenomenon is the existence of what are known on the island as “Boonie” dogs. I’m not sure where the word boonie comes from, but if you look it up you will find a few hits. Basically a “boonie” dog is a stray that has adapted to the tropical climates of the Pacif. However, I sometimes wonder if the word stray is really a good word for them because they are more or less “feral” dogs to me. Most Boonie dogs can survive on their own if they are strong enough. Some of them, however, are adopted by locals who feel sorry for them when they find a new litter or a puppy on the street. After feeding the puppies they eventually become loyal to their new found owners. It is interesting, I will let you know more about the animals and insects I run into the more I experience them.
Grant Out

Taking it all in....

I am back for another Saipan update. Tomorrow school starts and I am not ready for it. The other teachers have had two weeks, but I believe if I had that extra week I would be more prepared. On a good note one of my two planning periods happens to be 1st hour out of the 9 that exist in our day. Here at Saipan Community School (SCS) there are 9 periods instead of the usual 7 that exist in the states. So much has happened in the past two days I do not know where to begin. I will start with Saturday 8/7. On Saturday the first thing we did was work in our classrooms a little and then we were invited to join 3 other teachers for lunch at a look seaside b&g that serves dollar hard shell tacos on Saturdays (this may become a new tradition for all of us). After lunch, Jake (6-8 Science/Math teacher) and his wife Jackie took us on a tour of four beaches on the island they like to go to. One of the beaches was title Ladder Beach, I am not sure why. The scenes are beautiful and when I have time to upload facebook pictures you will see their beauty. When I say “us” I mean all the new teachers at SCS. The trip was very bumpy as guys were in the back of the truck for the trip (I am still nursing my tailbone) and girls were in the cab. I collected a few pretty shells for a later art project and maybe a necklace later. I also happened to find a spent shell from WWII that belonged to some small caliber rifle. I found the shell at an overlook we visited that was very pretty and hard to get to by vehicle. There was rusted shrapnel from spent shells that had hit the shore and a bunker or two with large Japanese guns in them. When we were done with our running around, we returned to find a barbecue being prepared for us by the school maintenance guy Rommel (pronounced Row-Mel). He and his wife, who live at the school, made some grilled chicken wings, pork ribs, shrimp, ice tea (with pineapple juice added to it) etc… It was a lovely dinner. Well on to Sunday, which I will let Kara write about.
On Sunday it started out with church in the morning. The school is run by Saipan Community Church and the services are held in the school’s chapel. The church is what they called a church that has its doors open The reason behind this is two- fold, first there are no actual doors since it is held outside, and second of all there is community there. During the service we held hands and sang the song the Family of God. It was a great service and a guest pastor talked about Daniel and the Lion’s Den and how we should live our lives significantly and not successfully. It was also a dedication service where they prayed for us as teachers. We are excited to be a part of this community. After the service there was a lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant in town. All of the teachers and staff went and it was great talking and getting to know the other teachers more. I, being a picky eater, tried everything that was meatless and Grant enjoyed eating minced duck in a salad wrap. I can not say that I will eat Vietnamese food again, but at least I tried it.
Rommel and his wife asked us if we wanted to tour the island and of course we said yes. He took us and two other teachers all around the island in his truck. We saw a few spots that are significant from World War II such as Suicide Cliff. We also saw Bird Island which is a wildlife sanctuary and it is a gorgeous view. My favorite part was Grotto which there is a water pool in the middle of a cave. We jumped right in and had a wonderful time. There were some cliff divers there that were fun to watch, but we did not want to risk ourselves The last stop of the day was the highest point on the island which is called Mount Tapochau. From there you can see the entire island, boy was it pretty. We were very tired after a long day, and school starts tomorrow.

Grant and Kara

From Duluth to Saipan

Our trip to Saipan and the first two days

As we left my parents at the Duluth International Airport we were very sad and knew that we wouldn’t be seeing our families for a long time. As we sent our luggage through the scanning machines only our packet of DVD’s set off the scanner alarm…I suppose DVD’s “could” be considered dangerous to the mind, but not to a plane. The trip to Minneapolis took less than an hour and we had little lay over as we prepared to board our plane to Narita Airport in Tokyo, Japan. The plane ride to Japan was frustrating as I had to sit next to a fellow who talked a lot and had bad breath to boot. He kept talking to the person behind us about his travel to Manila and the many issues in Manila. This flight also had a few crying children. Why would someone bring a child on an international flight that takes twelve hours? In the end I determined it was my fault for not taking my earplugs out of my suitcase before leaving Duluth. To end on a positive note, the food on the plane was the only redeeming factor as it was surprisingly good and beer was free. After our rather miserable flight, we arrived safely in Japan despite the turbulence that rocked the plane occasionally. While in Japan we had a three hour layover and took some time to explore the rather interesting shops, money exchange counter, and order from McDonalds. I have a few pictures from the McDonalds experience that I will post later. Kara ordered a plane hamburger, whilst I decided to be daring and try a foreign McDonald’s creation; I tried a shrimp patty burger. The shrimp burger wasn’t bad, but I believe I would have enjoyed the teriyaki chicken sandwich more. Our plane flight from Japan to Saipan was much more relaxing than our previous flight. I attribute this to the lack of crying children, the late hour, and the number of passengers being less than half full. I ended up passing out the majority of the flight, which was a blessing. As we descended toward Saipan we could see lit ships off of the shoreline, which I first thought to be cruise ships. I learned that evening from the school principal, Mr. Winkfield, the ships are what are referred to as “retaining ships.” A retaining ship is a ship that is privately owned, but is run by the U.S. military and carries military hardware. These ships contain enough ammunition and vehicles to carry out a small war until the U.S. Fleet could be summoned to an area as is needed. Normally there are six ships permanently stationed out to sea just off the shoreline. One ship is currently near North Korea as tensions have been high as of late. In times of peace these ships simply patrol the ocean between Saipan and Guam (where a U.S. Air Force base is located) and act as a typhoon warning system.

After arriving on the island a half hour early, we sat outside for a little while waiting for Mr. Winkfield and his wife to pick us up and bring us to the school at 1am Saipan time. Upon arriving in our apartments, we unpacked a few of our things and crashed around 3am. We would have fallen asleep sooner, but we were still pretty wired from our flight. The next morning we woke up for a staff meeting at 8am. At the meeting we filled out the regular barrage of tax forms and agreement forms. We were then brought to the local DMV to get a Saipan Driver’s license. The cost was only $30 per person and the license looks as though you could make it at home. On the flip side, the picture of me taken for the license is probably the best picture I’ve had, Kara’s was also very nice. After the DMV, we went to the Hawaii National Bank to set up a new account in order to receive automatic payment from the school.

Our second day on the island we bought lots of items that we didn’t send over. The cost of everything is very high. If anyone wants to donate money to us and is feeling generous we wouldn’t mind donations for food money. Some items in the store are cheap and others twice as expensive as in the states. For example, bacon is cheap at only $2.50 for bacon processed in Arizona, but milk is approx. $12. Our flat rate boxes that we shipped are still trickling in as it takes about a week for them to arrive we are finding. Needless to say expenses are high, I will not write about them because it makes me depressed to do so…

To move on toward a happier topic, our apartments are bigger than I expected. Our apartment, so named apartment G, is located directly above my classroom for Language arts 6-8^th grade. The apartment is a two bedroom and the bathroom is located between. Our living room is spacious and the kitchen is not bad either. We have no carpeting in the apartment, but may buy a rug or two later to give the apartment some “class.” It is nice not having a t.v. as it forces us to be social and to do other things like read the Bible together or read other books. The water for the apartment is not drinkable as it is technically rainwater that is collected from the building’s roof. The water is put through a strainer of sorts, but is not mixed with a bleaching agent of any kind. If we boil the water it could be drinkable and cause us no danger. The way most people on the island get water is by getting large 5 gallon drums of water filled for only $2.50. During the school year the water man comes once a week. The beach is right outside of our classroom and contains a variety of sea life such as: small crabs (fun to pick up in your hand as you notice shells scurrying across the sand), non-poisonous sea snakes, and minnow sized fish called a “Goat Fish” that some islanders eat raw, I will let you know if I partake in such a tradition. The “Goat Fish” can be seen if you search for it under Google Images. The juvenal stage of goat fish I have seen in the water are white, almost clear, with blackish/brown stripes down their side. The small, juvenal stage fish are the type sought after by locals for sushi etc. Another interesting thing about our apartments is the balcony that is inhabited by large toads that hop up the steps occasionally and small lizards that I believe to be geckos, but am not sure to what species they belong.

Well that is all for now from Saipan, I will fill you all in with a little more about our classrooms when I have time and once I have done more to prepare for class starting on this coming Monday.

Sincerely, Grant