Johor Bahru Continues...

So, most people would only stay in this place for a couple of days max, but I got sucked in! Why? Well for many reasons. Firstly, I have really enjoyed my time guest teaching at my friend's school. The kids did a project on what they learned about Hawaii for me. They had to come up with 10 facts and draw a picture of their favorite. I was really impressed with what they took in. Some even did more research and found out their own new facts. For instance, did you know the guava capitol of the world is known to be Kauai? News to me. I gave the kids an introduction to plate tectonics and the formation history of Hawaii, and then some of them brought in pictures of cross sections and information about hot spots! I was really proud.
I know some of you are wondering how teaching the senator went... Well it is going bloody fantastic! He says he loves the way I teach him as no one has ever broken down the words for him, or taught him simple rules of pronunciation. He has just been trying to memorize the way each word is pronounces, most of the time not even understanding what he is saying. Now he knows about syllables and vowels- first one does the walking, second one does the talking and so forth. And he understands about 'ph' and 'ed' now. It is really great seeing the twinkle in his eyes when he finally gets it right after minuted of frustration on some words. He increased our lessons to one each day to maximize his time with me while I am in town. I will be leaving tomorrow for East Malaysia and then will be back here for 2 days when I return from the other peninsula. He made sure he had my phone number for when I return. p.s. to everyone interested, I now have a phone number again. It is (dial out of the country first, I think 001 for the US) then dial 6016 785 4494. Would love to hear from all of you.
I have also been spending my time here painting a mural. This is probably why I have stayed so long to be fair. I was inspired by the artistic house I am staying in and the blank space of wall that obviously needed something. It has taken me four days and I couldn't leave until it was finished, of course. Anyone who knows Hawaii will be able to guess the beach, at least I hope so. You can tell I miss my home :( Anyway, my gracious host wants me to think of his place as my home away from home, and now I can. Here is the finished piece!
For more pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/find.barlow/JohorBahru#