Welcome to Singapore!

I feel so very excited and blessed that my teaching adventures have taken me to Singapore. For those who didn't hear, my credential program through UCSB is piloting an exchange program with three countries. For the month of January 11 UCSB credential candidates are studying in Denmark, Switzerland, and Singapore. I am here with four lovely ladies (see my home page) who are just as much fun as they are studious. We landed in Singapore one week ago and have had that week to get our bearings, settle in to our dorm, and explore all this beautiful island has to offer. Monday will be our first day in the classrooms. We're been hearing so much about the Singapore education system, but I will save all of that for a future blog about our teaching adventures.

Our first week has taken us all over Singapore and since picture can spare me typing thousands of words, let me take you on a tour of our week:

Day 1: My 28th birthday!
We took the train down to the river, where we had dinner.

Then we rode the Singapore Flyer, a 47-story tall ferris wheel with awesome views of the city.

Day 2: New Year Eve! We went to a party our on this resort island called Sentosa Beach. We enjoyed the views, made some new friends, and celebrated the beginning of 2014.

Day 3: not super exciting. I caught up on sleep and let myself settle and watched frozen. Didn't really need to document that but it's a great movie :)
Day 4: We got to meet the amazing staff hosting us at the National Institute of Education (NIE). They are so thoughtful and excited to have us here. From that meeting we left for Little India where we had a delicious lunch, enjoyed the sights, and got our eyebrows threaded!

Day 5: A few members of the NIE staff took us to lunch at this INCREDIBLE organic restaurant called Bollywood Veggie. The food was amazing, the people there were so much fun, and they had a spectacular garden that we got a personal tour of.

Day 6: We headed out early to a little island called Pulau Ubin. It's a lovely wetland preserve. We rented kayaks and cruised the Indian Ocean. Then we rode bikes out the explore the wetlands. On the way we saw a horrifying spider (but I didn't scream) and a wild boar! There were mud skippers and crabs and some great plants down by the water. But the highlight was the group of monkeys that were playing by the road. So adorable.

Thus far it has been a delightful trip. I'm excited and nervous for what's in store at school tomorrow but I know it's going to be a great journey. Stay tuned for adventures in education!