BS: Settling in Guam

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Sep 08 - 08:20 AM

Brett-

Sound like great names for a pair of kittens!

Tilahun and Tejitu (our cats)

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 05:11 AM

Wakana has a new game to play. It may not have escaped your notice but it is election year.While Guam residents cannot vote in the national elections we do have a series of races going on here. Every afternoon you can see crowds of people out waving at cars, holding up signs, chanting slogans, etc. Wakana being a resident alien cannot vote.

Nonetheless, whenever she sees a group of politician supporters waving at cars by the road she beeps her horn and waves and gives the thumbs up and let's them know she's on their side. It doesn't matter if it is someone running for the territorial senate, power commission, or even dogcatcher, she is quick with her support. As she drives away she laughs hysterically, eyes already looking for another group.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 04 Sep 08 - 05:41 AM

innocent merriment!

how long does it take for a resident alien to become a citizen? Or can a resident alien live forever under that category?

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 06:31 AM

I'm not sure she wants to give up her Japanese citizenship. We haven't talked about it. Besides, she can live in the USA indefinitely. She just has to renew the card every ten years.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 05 Sep 08 - 10:41 AM

Resident Alien is similar to our Permanent resident.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 15 Sep 08 - 09:50 AM

It's been a while since I checked in. We've been very busy. And we've been having car problems. My car's brake system died a while ago and I only just got it back this weekend. The mechanic allowed me to pay with a postdated check. Paydays are on the first and the fifteenth of the month.

This afternoon Wakana's car died and her mechanic says it might be the transmission! Ouch!

She had to rent a car because she has to go to the university at lunch time and she cannot drive my car (it's a standard transmission). After that trauma I took her to Ruby Tuesdays where we indulged ourselves with a $60 steak dinner. It's been a long time since we've spent that kind of money in a restaurant.

She has been planning to buy a new car but hasn't saved enough money to go that route. Now she has to go for a used car and even that might be tough to get. She's disappointed. She was looking forward to car shopping. She doesn't realize that she'll still get to go and the "new" car she buys will be just as much fun as a really new car.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 15 Sep 08 - 07:47 PM

back in the olden days when I had a car, it was a used car, 13 years old & vetted by my father who was a mechanic. A friend bought a new car (aka lemon) - it cost lots more than mine & mine was better!

have fun car hunting.

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: SINSULL
Date: 16 Sep 08 - 07:26 PM

I never owned a used car until I left my outside sales job. I have had far fewer problems with my "Pre-Owned" babies than with the new ones. Or maybe it is because I know what the problems are and keep an eye on them.
The worst was Chevy (Company car and not my choice) with a faulty catalytic converter. That damn car would die on the Grand Central Parkway in rush hour. A terrifying experience. The company agreed to a complete overhaul. I drove out of the dealership onto Queens Blvd after thousands of dollars in repairs and ...wait for it...it died.
Go with a carefully vetted (Word of the month, I suspect) pre-owned car checked out on the Net for accidents.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 16 Sep 08 - 10:39 PM

Best thing about a pre-owned is low or no payments and lower insurance! We bought our mini-van 7-8 years ago and it is still going very well with no major repairs needed. I insisted that we pay the twenty bucks to check it out at carfax dot com. Best money we ever spent in "vetting" (isn't that a political term?!**bg**) a used car.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 04:20 AM

We went shopping and she settled on a new Nissan Versa. she is waiting to hear from the bank about her loan. She expects to get it. I am not so sure but will say nothing until she is either approved or not. I tried campaigning for a used car but she doesn't want that. I will not try to force the issue. It's her money. We will see what we will see.

This weekend was the Fiesta of San Miguel in Talofofo. Parties and loud music abound. I never realized that drinking was good for celebrating the saints. I had hoped to go out and visit the fiesta but we spent the whole day going around to the showrooms being pushed and prodded by salesmen. Wakana was getting pretty depressed over the whole thing so I started telling the salespeople that we were tired of being pushed and that she was getting mad. They laid off after that.

Also this weekend was the official launch of the Saina. This is the 33 foot canoe our club built. Tomorrow, weather permitting, she will make her first voyage, about 75 miles, to Rota. Everyone is excited. The Lieutenant Governor is going along. The boat looks great. I'm very proud of those guys.

I have to get back to work. I am setting up a pop quiz for the kids this week as well as starting them on Benjamin Franklin.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 04:22 AM

You can see a picture and read the article Here.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 05:06 AM

interesting article - also interesting comments!

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:32 AM

Brett-

Nice to hear that a large sailing canoe or sakman is now again sailing the seas.

Are there even more ambitious plans in the works? How big were the largest sakmans?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 21 Sep 08 - 11:50 AM

That is so neat! How wonderful to be there and have a hand in keeping a culture alive, Brett!

Luck to Wakana and her loan!

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 25 Sep 08 - 11:21 PM

Charley, the Saina is a scaled down version of the sakman that Commodore George Anson took in 1751. Someone in his squadron made a measured drawing of the boat. I got a high quality copy of the drawing from a museum in Australia for the club. Our boat experts scaled it down to 33 feet so they could fit it into a cargo container. The Quest went to Palau as deck cargo and wound up going through Singapore and one or two other harbors before she came back to us. We all worried about her the whole time but she came home in one piece.

Wakana is still waiting for her car. She put $2,000 down on it and they've prepared it for her. We hope to pick it up tomorrow.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Sep 08 - 04:47 PM

Brett-

Think of us all tomorrow (or maybe today where you are) while we're trudging through a tropic rain storm on our way from one venue and another at the annual Portsmouth Maritime festival.

Hey, I just heard from Chez Watts after 5 years. Do you want his e-mail address?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 29 Sep 08 - 11:13 PM

Good timing for a hurricane to wander through the area.

On Sunday we had to escort Wakana's aunt and cousin and the cousin's boyfriend around the island. By the time we were done we were exhausted. We got home and took a "nap". We woke up around 8:00 and did a little work for school. I wandered off to bed and Wakana stayed up till 3:00 AM. She had a rough day in class. When she came home she was beyond exhausted! And then we had to go into town to pick up her new car. She was too tired to get excited. At one point she was almost in tears. And THEN we had to take our visitors out to dinner!

When we got home we collapsed.

This morning I came into our kitchen and saw her on the carport admiring her new car. She is very happy.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 30 Sep 08 - 11:52 PM

That afternoon she got home and washed her car... and found the ding in the door where someone else's door hit hers. Fortunately she has a good head on her shoulders so she wasn't devastated. But she is bothered by it.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 Oct 08 - 04:40 PM

Wakana continues to gush about how much she loves her car. Last night we went to Agat to do our laundry and her main topic of conversation was how great her car is. She did talk about events happening in her classes too but mostly it was how happy she is with the car.

Our life is damn good right now. Wakana is so happy about everything. She loves this house, the cats and now her car. I tease her about not having any love left over for me but she then proves that is not the case.

Our weather has been very wet lately. Last week it rained steadily all week. The road past our house is pure mud. The mail truck backed in there to turn around and got stuck. The farmer couldn't reach his fields without walking in. We told him to use our back yard until the road dried out. He is able to pull right up to the field that way.

School is still fun. The kids can be a royal pain in the ass and I hate correcting homework and tests but every once in a while they come up with some weird idea that gives me a laugh. And they are very likable. They gather around me at the beginning of class to ask about grades or homework or some such. We laugh and joke and then get serious about the work.

Last week I got roped into being the adviser for the masquerade ball run by the drama club. I had to sign on to allow them to rent the hall and I'll have to be there while they decorate and later I'll have to be there for the dance. I'm not looking forward to that. I expect it will be loud and crowded, two of my least favorite things. With luck I'll only have a headache when I get home.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 07:49 PM

This morning Wakana and I sat on the carport drinking our coffee as the rain poured down around us. The cats slept on the workbench and we talked of life and how good it is now. Wakana spoke of how she had shut off her emotions while working in Tokyo, how one day she realized she couldn't remember the last time she cried. This was after she started to cry with the feeling of how happy the Mama Kitty is. Remember, when we first saw her she was starving and skinny. She was stealing the bread we threw to the chickens. Now she's fat and happy.

Wakana loves her new car. On the other hand she is less than happy with my Mercedes. The brakes quit working again. Last night, Sunday night. we drove it to the repair shop, an exciting ride without brakes. She followed in her car.

As a consequence of the brakes not working she dragged me out to go shopping for a newer vehicle. We looked but did not see anything that excited my interest. There was a Toyota Highlander that she really liked. She has always wanted one and this was her chance. The thing was loaded with options most of which you'd only need if you were traveling the open road; cruise control, CD and cassette player, DVD player in the passenger seat visor, lots of comfort and style. But I couldn't see letting my old Guam bomb go for that. I just had the brakes fixed and the problem should be covered by that repair. There shouldn't be any further expense.

She seems to love car shopping. I think I've created a monster. I truly believe that she wanted to go looking only because of the shopping experience.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Amos
Date: 12 Oct 08 - 07:58 PM

BRett:

I'm terrifically happy with my RAV4 Ltd, although it does not have 4WD. If the time comes, ypu might want to consider it. The Highlander carries a lot more weight, and has relatively little more cargo space to show for it.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 12:32 AM

LOL...maybe she's become addicted to new car smell, Brett!:-) It IS wonderful to read your happy words. I am very happy for both of you. I don't think I've said this lately, but thanks so much for sharing all of this with us over the past few years. It has been and continues to be really fun, interesting, and is something I really look forward to!

luvyakat

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Ebbie
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 01:26 AM

I agree. I smile very time I see there is another installment of Settling in Guam.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 04:59 AM

me three

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 13 Oct 08 - 02:20 PM

Brett-

Have you ever considered building a steam-powered car? The Stutz Bearcat was a classic one built here in Maine in the early years of the 20th century which I was always fascinated with.

You may want to order Kendall's "live" CD. There are some wonderful tracks from his years of singing, including a concert at the Portland Folk Club.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 03:10 AM

Nah, Charley, too hot. And the A/C doesn't work for crap on a steam car. I'd like to figure out how to make a car that runs on solar power. We've got plenty of that around here.

Last night my daughter, the mother of the smartest and most beautiful grandchild on the planet, told me I needed to get on FaceBook. She has posted pictures and videos of Sabra there. So, I bit the bullet and got it together. I am now on Facebook. The pictures and video are wonderful. I started uploading some stuff too. So far only four pictures, two of which are not from Guam but are scanned out of Holman Day's book Pine Tree Ballads dated 1902.

So, I don't know if any of you are on that site but if so we should connect now and again.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 19 Oct 08 - 06:03 AM

oooohhh, you dont know what you're saying Brett, inviting Mudcatters on Facebook to visit you.

You will be overwhelmed with attention - lotsa' Mucatters are on Facebook, check out the 1640 references here -
"facebook" site:mudcat.org - you can even see your post!!

sandra (not on Facebook)

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 03:10 AM

Well, it hasn't caused any problems yet but I am so busy these days I would have time to do anything about it.

We have a four day weekend now. Note, last weekend was a five day weekend for the kids. Next weekend is a three day weekend. Then we have a strange event. The following week is a full week with a two day weekend! Then we are at Thanksgiving. Sigh. I don't think I can handle this. On one hand it is nice to have all the time off but then, I would like to get some classwork done.

My juniors are reading Huckleberry Finn. I gave them six weeks to get a copy. Of course most of them didn't bother. This next week they will have a pop quiz on the first seven chapters. I can already hear them complaining about not having the book.

Last night I experienced the horror that all teachers have to experience now and again. I chaperoned a high school dance. It makes my soul cringe to remember it.

I believe the first music humans created would have been some kind of rhythm instrument to accompany a chant. If any of you have heard the music these kids listen to you would agree that we have come full circle. The only real difference would have to be the huge amplifiers and speakers.

The kids were dressed fairly conservatively. They danced in a solid phalanx that left most of the dance floor unoccupied. They rub up against each other like they are having sex fully clothed. The music pounds out of the speakers and fills the room and the hallway outside with rhythmic neanderthal beats. My head hurts remembering the evening.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Oct 08 - 11:46 AM

Brett-

You are indeed a noble self-sacrificing man, to serve your island as a chaperon at the high school dance. Wild iguanas couldn't drag me to such a special event.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 05:50 PM

lkJgf'jv'klj 5 WLWKjf'LSKDf days pojf'flkj[EIJF SINCE 'keJF'KLSDJGF;ZLG THE skdlgfJHsklJGF'lskdJGF DANCE. SD;KLJF'K I wl"FKGH:lkdjf THINK ojghflksdJF'klDJF I'M dfsLHlgkfjHJ ok.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 06:03 PM

It's affected your typing, Brett.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 07:40 PM

Only five days since and you are okay? Wow, man, that's fast recovery! (I had wondered if one of the cats or chickens was learning to type!)

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 07:59 PM

Brett-

You think you're OK?

Shall we take a vote?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 03 Nov 08 - 08:49 PM

Election day is here! Today we find out how America really feels. My prediction is that the USA is too bigoted to vote for a black man no matter how bad the other candidate looks. Would you PLEASE prove me wrong.

We took the cats to the vet this morning. It's time for Mama Kitty's annual exam, some vaccinations, and to clean the mites out of her ears. They both need to have their ears cleaned and they will be checked for worms and other parasites. Poor Wakana cried most of the way to the vet's office. She feels very strongly that the cats would be dead by now if she hadn't intervened when she did. Also she cannot stop feeding Mama Kitty whenever she asks for food.

So we now have a very fat little cat. But she'd have died of malnutrition or disease if we hadn't brought her inside. For the first year or so she spent most of her time outdoors. Now she is a committed housecat. She only goes out when Wakana is outside. She never leaves the shelter of the carport or the eaves of the house. Usually we find her indoors when we come home in the afternoon.

Neko, on the other hand, is in the prime of life. She is large and sleek and strong. She spends every available minute outdoors. She hunts and lays around, teases the dogs next door, and then comes running home and into the house calling loudly for someone to come and see her and reassure her that she is OK and home again. In the evening she will go out and come in dozens of times. Wakana will not shut the door all the way so the cats can come and go as they please.

The farmer brought his bushcutter and mowed around the betel nut trees. It looks pretty good over there. He is very grateful for the fence charger that Charley gave me to give to him. You should know Charley that there was a broken wire inside the box but he fixed it and now his crops are safe from the pigs. We let him plug it into our outdoor outlet. Thank you once more on his behalf and on ours. Sometimes we come home to find fruits or vegetables on the carport. He is a really nice guy.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 10:35 AM

Brett-

It's nice to know that the fence charger is back in operation. We used to have a lot of "fun" with it when my brother and I were much younger. We would reassure our city cousins and other visitors that the fence charger was off and that the fence wire was safe to touch, and we would demonstrate that by grasping the wire, and not responding to the small shock. Then we got to watch them jump out of their skins when they touched the fence wire. What jolly fun!

We are optimistic about the election outcome but it could be another long night before enough state results are firm enough to be called for Obama.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 04 Nov 08 - 09:27 PM

I've been watching it on our end. We'll still be up when the results are tallied. We watch it on http://news.yahoo.com/election/2008/dashboard. It works pretty well. Looks like Obama is ahead. Maine came though all right. 67% for Obama. I am optimistic for the first time in a long time.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 10 Nov 08 - 05:49 AM

You guys did it! We have a new man in the White House, a young man, a man with some experience in non-Christian beliefs, a man who may actually bring change to Washington.

Or, maybe, it will still be the same old, same old...

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 06:03 AM

I found a good book the other day. I went into Bestsellers, the only bookstore on the island, and saw it sitting there begging me to buy it. I had heard of it, I'd heard interviews with the author, and now there it was waiting for me to buy it. The title? Death From the Skies! Secondary title: This is the way the world will end. Bookstore section? Science. Author? Phil Plait, PhD in astronomy.

Today I took it into work and scared the hell out of my students. There are 9 chapters and each one deals with a different way the universe might kill us. Chapter one is meteors, asteroids, and comets, oh my! It is titled Target Earth!

Other chapters cover such things as Solar Mass Ejections, Cosmic Ray Bursts, Black Holes, Colliding Galaxies, and the eventual death of the sun. I have learned so much about astronomy in the last few days. Plait's style is easy to read and full of fun comments.

Phil Plait also has the Bad Astronomy website. That is a fun place to explore as well.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 12 Nov 08 - 09:23 AM

Brett-

Nothing about little green creatures with ray guns?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:01 PM

Yesterday was a hard day. I arrived at school and was waiting for my home room students when the principal announced an emergency and asked all students to congregate in the big gravel parking lot next to the Muroski Building. Home room teachers were to gather their students and take attendance.

Thus started three hours of living hell. There is no shade in that parking lot and it is surrounded by low jungle so there is no escape in the brush. There is one tree on the south side but that shade was claimed by several classes. There is a trail that runs through to The Grotto but it is out of sight of the administrators so we couldn't use it.We counted our students and stood around waiting while police and fire department personnel swept through the building.

After about an hour they let us take the students into whatever shade we could find. Then they blocked off one lane of the road in front of the school and let us take the kids down there. There was more shade there and we could sit on the grassy hillside. Finally about 11:00 we were allowed back into the building.

We still had to finish the school day so they reduced class time to 40 minutes and we had all four of the blocks we normally would have had.

We were hot, thirsty, and sweaty. The kids, being kids, had been telling me they were thirsty, hungry, tired, hot, and wanted to go home. I guess they figured I was standing in an air conditioned bottle with limitless cold drinks and plenty of shade and snacks. They must not have noticed my sweat soaked shirt and the way I eyed the empty bottles and cans that lined the roadside.

It was a bad morning for all involved. I developed what I thought was a good reply to the complaints. I said, "I didn't call in the bomb threat and I'm sure none of the faculty and staff did either. If you want to complain find the student who did this to you and complain to him or her."

On another note: Since we shanty singers use the word 'rollicking' quite often you might be interested to note the origin. I get an email every day from A Word A Day with a word and its origin. This was today's.

rollick
PRONUNCIATION:
(ROL-ik)

MEANING:
verb intr. To move or act in a playful, carefree manner.

ETYMOLOGY:
Probably a blend of romp + frolic.

USAGE:
"When Olivia Newton-John attends, she'll be joining the hundreds of others who rollick in the audience to the tuneful songs that have become part of the American ethos."
John Soltes; For Ashley Spencer, 'Grease' is the Word; The Leader (Lyndhurst, New Jersey); Oct 17, 2008.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 08:19 PM

Charley, Yep! In Chapter 6 he talks about Alien Attack. The chances of this one are either o% or 100%. Most of the chapter he uses the topic to talk about current theories and ideas about life on other planets.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 14 Nov 08 - 10:36 PM

Oh dear!

At least I don't have to worry about false alarm emergency drills.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 15 Nov 08 - 11:25 AM

Perhaps the kids could have picked up the "empty bottles and cans" litter while they were waiting (might have taught them about littering!)

RtS

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 16 Nov 08 - 10:20 PM

Oh PLEASE! Give them something positive to do? It was bad enough that the teachers kept them in the hot sun for hours with nothing to do. (Get the sarcasm?)

Actually we did pick up some of the litter. Someone sent a student down the line with a garbage bag. By then I'd made them throw the beer cans and bottles into the jungle. They were weaving by the roadside waving the bottles at passing cars pretending to be drunk.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 06:30 PM

Yesterday was the Japanese song festival at the Agana Shopping Center. It is an annual competition between high schools. The teams have to sing songs in Japanese. Wakana's class was there and there were two teams from ND, sophomores and juniors. The ND juniors won first place. Wakana's team did not place.

After the competition Wakana had to go to a meeting with the Japanese Language Teacher's Association (JALTA). I think these "meetings" are really an opportunity for the teachers to eat, drink, be merry, and speak their native tongue freely. Wakana certainly seems charged up when she comes home from these things.

Neko has a medical problem. She has an infection at the base of her tail. It is very tender. We took her to the vet and were given some medicine which she hates to take. She is sleeping a lot and logy. I think we'll take her back to the vet on Monday.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 08:07 PM

Brett-

Best of luck with Neko.

Our cats seem to be relatively stable. Tejitu is asleep to my right in her nest. Tilahun is off in our bedroom where she prefers to hang out.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 22 Nov 08 - 10:34 PM

I'll bet those meetings are a good way for them all to blow off some steam, too!

Good luck with your kitty. Mine had too much of the bad bacteria in his gut and was quite listless...scary listless...I couldn't tell what it was when I took him to the vet. He's on antibiotics, now, and started getting better the next day. I am putting his powdered meds in his moist food and he eats it right up. Before that, though, the vet showed me a neat trick. Cut the narrow part off of the tip of a syringe, suck up some baby food in it, pour the meds in and stir it up, in the syringe, with a small stick or ice pick like I used, then grab them by the scruff of the neck and stick it in their mouth and push the plunger. Works a treat!

Take care,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Naemanson
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 08:26 AM

Tomorrow, here on Guam, is Thanksgiving Day. I had my sophomores read Civil Peace, a story about life in one of the war torn countries in Africa. The main character comes out of the war with only his wife, three of his four children, and a bicycle that he hid from the army. He finds that his little home is mostly still there and he is able to get it repaired with the money he earns using his bicycle as a taxi. In the story's climax they are robbed of all their money by gun toting thugs. He meekly surrenders the money and goes on with his life as if nothing happened.

The other story I had them read was Uprooting a Japanese American Family, a story of the west coast relocation camps during WWII. The main characters are a simple middle class American family who had the misfortune to be descended from Japanese. Everything was taken from them and in one fell swoop they end up living in a stall in a stable at a race track with only the clothes they could pack in the five minutes they were given to evacuate.

My intention, at this time of the year, was to make the kids appreciate their lives a little more by showing them how little others have and how quickly their comfortable life can be taken away from them. My efforts were a dismal failure.

The posters were, one and all, variations on the same theme. They love their parents, God, their friends, their sport, etc., etc. I had them present their posters and asked each of them if the poster would be different if they had never read the stories. To a student they each declared the stories had no impact on them at all. I finally started asking them what would be on the poster if they were the main character in either of the stories. They couldn't see the answer. I had to point out to them that their poster would be blank with only a few exceptions (God mostly). It didn't faze them at all.

This group of kids has to be the most superficial, uninteresting, self-centered group of kids I have ever encountered. If there is something new in the classroom they expect I will tell them before I tell anybody else. If I am in conversation with another student they barge up and begin talking to me as if nobody else is around. If I have one small food item in sight they expect I will give it to them. It is quite depressing. It's as if they never had to live through the 'terrible twos'.

Yesterday I took my bones to school and rattled them a little during home room. The students showed absolutely no interest in them. Today we had a pep rally and each team and each division in the school had their own cheer. The faculty also had a cheer so I took my 'storm' whistle and my loudest set of bones.

As we strode out into the middle of the floor I heard a chanting sound from the juniors seated on the floor. It turned out they were chanting "Burn-AM, Burn-AM". I blew my whistle and rattled my bones and we did our two cheers. Somebody made the mistake of handing me a bullhorn. I used that to trot out a growling yell. I was quite busy.

Later we reassembled in our home rooms and I had four guys wanting me to show them how to rattle the bones. It seems they finally realized the bones could fit into their hip-hop rhythms and that they are easy to make.

My juniors are reading Huckleberry Finn. I have assigned a project that can be either physical or academic. I have required them to submit a project description and follow that up with the actual project. They will have to conform to the description exactly. I want them to plan the project, not try to whip it out on the evening before it's due.

Many of the students want to build models of Huck's raft. Their interest cooled a bit when I explained that the model had to be to scale. I had to teach the meaning of scale several times. Yesterday I received the first project. It was a poster of Huck and Jim and the theme was the superstition used in the story. The two students did a great job. The poster is very colorful and right on the money but Huck has been translated into an anime character with the huge Japanese eyes.

I had to explain several times that the 'underground railroad' was not a subway system used to transport slaves north to freedom. A few of the students wanted to create posters that showed the rail lines used and asked where they could find maps show the routes used.

One young lady will be producing a model of the raft made out of Rice Krispies treats.

One group (I am allowing teams) wants to film the first half of the book. They will not listen to me when I explain they've bitten off more than they will be able to chew. I'm looking forward to seeing that when they finish it.

Next week will be very interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving all. I hope you enjoy your turkey or whatever you eat for the holiday. I was intending on baloney sandwiches but Wakana says we are going to someone's house for a real meal. Sigh. I guess I'll have baloney for Christmas.

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: Charley Noble
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 09:26 AM

Brett-

We'll be heading up the coast to Lincolnville to join Judy's family for Thanksgiving. Mother will be accompanying us as well, bringing along two pies: sour cream raisin and apple (for the wimps). Judy's brother lives on the side of the hills above Camden in an old farm house, a lovely spot. His daughter Heather will be there; she's the one who won a full scholarship to study in Japan for a year and we're curious what she will do next after graduation in the spring.

I'm gearing up for ripping apart your old apartment upstairs. I'm going to square off the old bathroom, install a full tub/shower, new kitchen cabinets and a full size stove, new carpet etc. Lots of fun! The current tenants will be moving downstairs to the newly renovated first floor apartment.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Settling in Guam
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Nov 08 - 10:39 AM

They sound like a very challenging group, Brett! Sounds as though you are up to the task, though.:-)

Isn't that just like a landlord? They tear it up and renovate as soon as ya move out!**bg** (Kidding, Charley, just kidding!)