Update

After a lot of thought I have decided that this will be my last blog post, at least for now.  Very few people are reading it anyways and it is not worth the amount of time I put into typing something out.  I am documenting things in my journal for my own reference and I will be home in a little over three months and can tell everyone who wants to hear what I’ve done.  Photos may be loaded on to Facebook (if the speed of the internet will allow it)  Maybe I’m just at a low point and will want to blog again later.  I don’t know.  If I do decide to I will let everyone know.

Manuia le aso and thanks to those who have be reading. 

Kristina 

Random Updates

1. Sara and I now live together in the apartment.
2. Josh, one of the Leone WorldTeachers quit the program.  His replacement Jordan  arrived two weeks ago.
3. Some of you are probably wondering what happened to the trip I was planning to take over Christmas break.  I was planning on spending a week in Western Samoa, but decided to cancel the trip after Cyclone Evan hit the island.  The photos and people I talked to said the island was devastated.  Since I was not going to be helping with the clean up I decided the right thing to do was cancel my trip.  I did not want to get in the way of the clean up.  I also felt made going there to relax on a beach while everyone around me was cleaning up.  Hopefully, the trip will be rescheduled for this spring.
4. Ants come out of my laptop and crawl on my fingers while I am typing.
5. I am officially an old person.  I go to bed at 8PM.
6. Look for a post soon (maybe) about my mom's visit.
7. It looks like I'll be flying into Roanoke on 6/17!  I'll announce when that is confirmed.

Christmas!

Christmas Western District Choir
In my last post I mentioned that Cyclone Evan had canceled the choir performance that Sara, Amber, and I were suppose to sing in.  It was rescheduled for December 18.  We found out the day before!  We got to the Lee Rex Auditorium and  the choir director put the three of us front and center!  We were doing good singing the songs in Samoan until we got to the governor's song where we have to sing, sway, and clap at the same time.  We ended up mouthing the words to that song and bumping into each other.

 (Sara's frig snowman )

(Our choir uniforms)

Afterwards people kept telling us how well we did.  I'm not sure if they were really telling us that because we did well or if they were telling use because they felt bad for us.  The performance was even on television!  For a few days afterwards students would say they saw me on TV and want to know if I could speak Samoan now.  Haha no, just because I could sing memorized words does not mean I can talk to you in Samoan.  Hopefully, the video will be on YouTube at some point in the future.  I haven't been able to find a copy of it anywhere.

Christmas Eve
For Christmas Eve a Samoan family invited Amber, Alison, and I for dinner.  When I got there I realized it was the family of one of my students.  The truancy officer from the school was also there.  She is the aunt of the student.

The house had beautiful gardens.  The dinning tables were set up outside in the covered patio.  The Christmas Tree was on the front porch and there were lights and decorations throughout the garden.  It appeared that there entire Christmas celebration would be conducted outside.  There were probably 30-40 family members that came for dinner.  The teenage girls in the family were the help for the night.  They sat the food out, got drinks, cleaned up, and served dessert.  I never saw them sit down to eat.  The family's two large dogs ran through the tables waiting for someone to drop food.

There was so much food.  Tui, the host, said, "it's Samoa we eat until your dead."  People kept putting offering me more food.  There was so much that I wasn't even able to sample a little of everything before I got full.  There was a whole pig, including the head!  There was also taro, boiled bananas, papaya, pineapple, salad, noodles, ham, pork, fried chicken, turkey and stuffing, and curry.  About five more dishes came out after I had made my plate.  For dessert we had pumpkin pie, chocolate cake, and a version of peach cobbler.

We went to the LMS church's Christmas Eve service.  It was almost 2.5 hours long.  There was a sermon in Samoan and then youth performances.  I had three students on stage that I could see.  The kids sang songs, performed skits, and danced.  One of the songs the students sang was the same song that I sang for the Christmas choir.  It was neat to be able to sing along with them.  As the service ended I was walking towards the doors when another of my students stop me and asked in a playful surprised way, "what are you doing here?"  All my students came up to me after wards for a hug and to wish me a Merry Christmas.

(Inside the LMS Church)

Since Sara had left for New Zealand the previous day I decided to stay the night with Amber.  i didn't want to be alone on Christmas morning.  We staying up until midnight tracking Santa (using the NORAD tracker) and waiting to see him visit American Samoa on the map.  However, he did not come here!  He went to Johnstone Atoll and then back to the North Pole.  I guess all of my students were too naughty for Santa.

Christmas Day
Christmas day didn't appear to be a big deal around here because families see each other and have huge meals together every Sunday.  I woke up to the neighbor mowing the yard and doing yard work!  Really?  Who mows the yard on Christmas?  I opened some presents sent from home and then relaxed the rest of the day.  AKA, I went back to sleep because it was too hot to do anything else.  I was able to talk to everyone back home for about 2 hours.  That was the best part of the day.

It was a different feeling Christmas.  The heat index was 99 degrees with full sun, still air, and a UV index of 10.  It felt like July 4 not December 25.  So after laying around and relaxing all day Amber and I were invited to dinner with some other palagis (white people) on the island.  We went over to the house of a previous WorldTeach field director and some contract teachers from the states.

Of course we ate another huge meal; turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, more stuffing, cranberry sauce, umu, and potato salad.  We completed the night by riding around looking at Christmas lights and singing carols in the back of a pick-up truck.  Most of the extravagant lights were on churches!

 (Leone Catholic Church)

 (A church in Iliili)

 (House in Nu'uuli)

 (In the back of a truck; Michael, Rachel, Jenn, Amber, and me)

 (A house in I think Kokoland)

 (Church in Kokoland)

(A house in Kokoland)

I am so lucky.  Christmas was spent away from family, 1/2 my friends here were off island traveling, but the community made sure that I was around people and fed for Christmas.  i was able to experience a Samoan Christmas Eve dinner (which is a lot like family dinners at home) and an American Christmas dinner.  I felt like I had a special Christmas, but I don't want to be away for it again.

Banquets, and Pageants, and Concerts OH MY!

 Teacher of the Year Banquet

WorldTeach was invited to attend the Territorial Teacher of the Year Banquet on November 30.  The Teacher of the Year (TotY) nominee from each school was in attendance and recognized.  The Leone TotY, Mr. Berquist aka Mr. B., is a Palagi (non-Samoan) teacher from the States who has been here for 15 years I believe.  Each of the nominees received an award and prizes.  The prizes were awesome, laptops, flowers, and gift cards.  Then the over-all winner was announced.  The Territorial Teacher of the Year was awarded to a man from Tafuna High School.

Sara and Me

Mr. B is on the right

Dinner was served and the amounf of food given to use was insane.  The servers brought out trays and we thought it was one or two trays per table for us to share.  However, it was one tray per person!  There was enough food on there for four meals.  We were given rice, a roll, salad, pasta, chicken, pork, and a mystery meat.  (I’ve learned not to ask what unfamiliar things are.)  We all started eating and then noticed that no one else was.  Later we were told that most people take it home to eat later.  That would explain why there was so much food.  It is being shared with their families.

All the volunteers on the main island, including the two new girls, were at the meal.  We were dressed in our finest puletasi’s and looked stunning.  The best part of the night though was being back together as a group.  We hadn’t all been together since orientation.  It was great catching up with everyone. 

Miss South Pacific Pageant

I volunteered to help backstage with the Miss South Pacific Pageant (MSP) on December 8.  I don’t have any photos to show because we were told not to take any.  However, I should have known that the rules don’t really matter here.  Once we got there we were told we could take pictures.  I’m hoping to get some off of the contestants Facebook pages and share with everyone.

The pageant uniform

There were 10 contestants and the girls were amazing.  They broke all the pageant stereo types that I had.  They were all beautiful, but also had great personalities.  The countries that were represented were… American Samoa, Western Samoa, Tonga, Cook Islands, Hawaii, Aotearoa (New Zealand), Fiji, Tokalau, and Papua New Guinea.

This wasn’t your typical beauty pageant.  There was not a swimsuit or formal section.  Sarongs, tribal dances, religious songs, and dresses from bark were common.  The stage was covered in sand (which turned out not to be a good idea.  It cut two of the girls feet) and the Siva Samoa was performed.

Being a volunteer for the pageant was frustrating and at times things were complete chaos.  I was told not to let anyone back stage if they did not have an orange badge.  I would stop someone from coming back and then a higher up would be like “oh she is so and so.  Let her come in.”  It got to the point of me not caring who came and went.  The pageant was suppose to be from 7-9:30, but lasted from 7-11:30.

I was impressed that the pageant was televised live to the island.  Up until the morning of the pageant people had been told that it would not be shown.  It was being reserved for the elite.  There were only corporate tables that cost $750 and sat six people.   The majority of the island cannot afford that.  Even the contestants families weren’t allowed in the auditorium unless they bought a table (which most could not afford).

I felt extremely bad for Miss Tokalau.  She was the girl contestant.  Not only did she have the downside of going first, but the pageant committee kept messing up her stuff.  First, they did not give her enough time to change outfits between going off stage from a group performance and back on stage for her individual sarong wear.  Then when she went for the talent portion her mic wasn’t on!  That’s not all!  Her biography in the program wasn’t hers!  The committee put Papua New Guinea’s bio in twice (once under Miss Tokalau).

The Miss South Pacific title went to Miss Samoa (Western Samoa)

1^st Runner Up: Miss Cook Islands

2^nd Runner Up: Miss Fiji

3^rd Runner Up:  Miss Papua New Guinea

4^th Runner Up:  Miss American Samoa

Miss American Samoa and Miss Aotearoa were my favorite contestants.  They were so friendly and grateful to Sara, Amber, and I.  Miss Aotearoa reminded me a lot of myself.  Miss Tonga is a social work major from BYU in Hawaii and wants to get her MSW.  Who knows maybe her and I will be in grad school together.

The pageant was an example of how the world should be.  There were 10 girls from 10 different countries.  Each girl had her own culture, upbringing, and most language (they all knew English though).  However, they were unified.  Their differences made the individual, but did not negatively affect the group.  They were connected for one cause and that is what mattered.

That’s what I want.  I want to be surrounded by friends from different cultures.  I want to experience other holidays, traditions, food, and languages.  I don’t want my future children to go to an all white school.  I want them to be bilingual like so much of the world is.  If people around the world would realizes that the differences are what make an individual interesting and that differences are not a reasoning to have wars, segregation, genocides, or terrorism.  So much could be solved if people embraced diversity. 

At one point during the pageant I became very homesick for a few minutes.  The girls were waiting for crowning and were in the back circled up talking, laughing, and taking photos.  It made me miss doing the same.  I have Sara here, but it isn’t the same as having a group or several groups of friends.  I miss my social work group, the Ghana girls, and of course Kiersten and Elise.

Taumafai Chior

I had heard that the Leone High School swing choir was amazing, but had not heard them sing.  That changed on the 11^th when I attended their Christmas concert.  Now I agree with everyone.  They are amazing.

The choir is made up of students from all four grades.  There is probably close to 100 members, including four of my students Andrew, John, Neemia, and Tala.  The choir sang both Christmas and patriotic songs.  The best song of the night was God Bless the USA.  It brought tears to my eyes.  Sadly though I did not record it, however, I heard that the choir sells CDs as a fundraiser.  They also sand To God Be the Glory in Samoan.  The student’s voices are beautiful and harmonize so well.  The Swing Choir could easily compete with any state side choir.

The students were also extremely focus, more focused than I’ve ever seen them.  My four students in the choir never even focus half that much in class.

The concert turned into a mini fundraiser.  As the students sang people threw money onto the stage.  Throughout the concert the names of people ho donated and the amount donated were read aloud.  I was proud that I was able to translate most of the amounts said.

In typical Samoa fashion we were feed.  As we left we were given boxed lunches of egg sandwich, bongos, and cake.  

Here are two of the videos. 

Leone High School Update

College Update

Lise, my senior, took her SATs and ACTs earlier this month.  She also submitted an application for admission to VCU.  Her Liberty application is due on January 15.  Sadly, her and my two juniors will only be in my class one more week.  They only needed the first semester to fulfill the English requirement.

Grades

I calculated grades about two weeks ago.  It was nearing the end of the semester and I wanted students to know their grade prior to exams.  I knew a lot of students were not turning in their assignments, but the grades shocked even me.  I teach 120 students.  66 of those students had a D or F.  I felt like a terrible teacher.  I felt like I was doing harming these students not helping them.  Then I looked at their attendance.  The majority of the students who are failing have missed 10-15 days this grading quarter.  There had only been 25 days of school.  None of my students with A’s, B’s, or C’s had missed more than 4 days.  That showed that attendance is a huge factor in how successful a student is going to be.  A student cannot learn or turn assignments in if they are not in class.  I gave a 50 point extra credit assignment out.  It was required for the students with a D or F.  We spend 2-3 days working on it in class and I still had students who did not turn it in.  I can’t help them if they are unwilling to put in any effort.

Fights

There was a girl fight and an almost fight in my room last week.  I am not suppose to get involved when there are fights in my room, but going to get help from another teacher or the office takes too much time.  Usually the guys in my class step in and break it up, but both of these I had to help break up. 

The girls started fighting.  A couple guys grabbed the larger girl and I got the smaller one.  I sent one outside to wait on me and told the other to stay in her sit.  I didn’t want to get the office involved.  I went out to talk to the smaller girl outside.  She was sobbing, but thankfully is one of my advanced students with near perfect English.  She was able to tell me her side of the story.  The other girl is still yelling and cursing at her through the window. I calmed her down and told her to walk to Sara’s room (about 50 yards away) if she got there and was still upset go inside and sit down.  I’d call Sara and tell her.  I go back inside to call Sara’s room and talk to the other girl.  Girl 2 runs outside trying to get the other girl again.  Thankfully, her sweatshirt got stuck on the doorknob.  I pull her back inside.  She decided to get an attitude with me.  So I decided to have her escorted to the office.  I send her with two guys.  I’m getting the rest of the class back in their seats when I hear “FUSU” (fight).  Girl two had found the smaller girl sitting on the steps and starting punching her again.  The guys and I separate fight number two.  By this point I call the office and have them send someone to get her.  I also had to send the smaller girl down.  I walked her down praying the whole time that they would not hit her.  I walk with her into the office and my anger towards the other girl came out.  I had her permanently removed from my class.  That was the second fight I had seen her involved in at school. 

I left the office and cried.  The smaller girl is one of my best students.  She is helpful, polite, and has an A in the class.  However, I knew that she would go home that night and probably get beaten.  Thankfully, she was not suspended like the counselor originally said she would be.

Fight number two of the week was an almost fight between guys. I was subbing for another teacher and a guy came in that wasn’t in the class (this isn’t unusual, it seems to be appropriate here to walk into classrooms in the middle of class and start talking to people).  We weren’t doing an assignment so I didn’t chase him out, but I watched him and noticed the signs of a fight about to break out.  I put the kid that is in the class in a chair and push the other guy out of the room.  I make the guy in the class stay after as punishment.  The bell rings and the other guy comes back inside, starts cursing, and throws his bookbag to the ground.  I push him back out the door and have a hold of his shirt to take him to the office.  Then something that has never happened happened.  He twisted around and slapped away from me and took off running.  He did get a week suspension.

Vandalizing

Some days I feel like I am teaching at an inner city school.  I went to open my classroom on a Monday morning and my key would not go into the lock.  Someone over the weekend had put stuff in the deadbolt causing my key not to work.

Administration told me to unscrew a screen from the window and climb in.  Then at the end of the day screw the screen back on.  They also told me to go buy a screw driver that night so I could unscrew it each day because they didn’t know when it would be fixed.  I found that solution unacceptable.  I walked to the vice principals office and gave my solution (while trying to hold back tears of frustration).  I would either have class in the library, outside, or I’m be sick until the lock was fixed.  I was given permission to have class outside as long as it was in the shade.  Well, two hours later and my door was fixed.  I hated acting like a brat, but their solution was not acceptable.

Exams

Exams start on Tuesday of this week and end on Thursday.  My advance classes will test on Tuesday and my mainstream classes well test on Wednesday and Thursday.  Pray that the students study and remember what I have taught them.  Also pray that they remember test taking rules.  Cheating (talking, looking at someone else’s paper, showing your work to someone, using notes) all equal a zero.