Ben - Always working hard

Some of you may know this, but I have been going to school everyday with Ben and teaching in the pool with him. There are three teachers in the pool each with our own group. Ben has the highest level swimmers and I have the lowest, which of course I love. Now I love being outside all day, one of the reason I love being a PE teacher, but being in the 80 plus weather and in the sun all day everyday can exhausting.

Last week Ben was making fun of me because I was falling asleep on the couch at 8:00 pm. Well so what! I didn't sleep well when I was in Kuwait because of the sand storm, a hard bed, and being in a different place, and being outside all day can be tough! So I needed the extra sleep!

Since Thursday though we haven't been in the pool, because they had to drain most of the water because there is a leak in a pipe. So with the 4th and 5th grade we play a large group game outside, which Ben usually leads. But the first day it was so hot we couldn't be out there all day (104 degrees), so I said why don't we do some tumbling downstairs on the wrestling mats because that was the only space we had. So for the past 3 days I have been teaching the KG2 - 3rd graders some basic tumbling. It has been a lot of fun and the kids get really excited about it.

So Ben hasn't been doing a whole lot of teaching ;) . We also haven't been outside all day. Ben and I usually work out after school but today we didn't. So we went home started watching TV and 30 mins later I see Ben on the couch like this. Gosh he just worked so hard today, it really took a lot out of him. :)

But really we have had a great time teaching in the pool and are really looking forward to getting the kids back in the pool swimming. Especially since it is getting so hot outside!

EMAC Badminton

The bubble




Hello Everyone!

I am back from Kuwait and Oh what a trip. If any of you thought about traveling to Kuwait I would save your money and go somewhere else. Kuwait has oil, malls, lots of sand, really bad drivers, and sand storms. All the teachers from the host school (American School of Kuwait) live in one of two buildings. The teacher apartments are about 20 miles away from the school! The school also starts at 7:15 am. The teachers who were hosting myself and the varsity badminton coach left the apartments at 5:45 am to get to school early to get things ready for the day. Buses also take teachers to school, and the last one leaves at 6:00 am! So it was some very early mornings for us. The first day of competition for the JV team was held in the bubble. The bubble is a dome that has a swimming pool and badminton courts. The first day the bubble was super hot, and I wasn't even playing badminton! The first couple of days was the round robin tournament where we played all the teams. This also dictated who the winner would be. Saturday afternoon was the elimination tournament where people were award for their individual effort. All my players made it to the elimination tournament (top 4). I was very excited and anxious to see how they would do. They had a little bit of trouble with the host school but during the elimination tournament they beat almost everyone! I was very impressed with their play and they truly played their best. As a team we won first for the boys and girls teams but place second in the overall competition. We lost by only 3 matches. The kids were still excited and I was very proud.
During my time there we went to one of the many malls, where there wasn't a book store because Kuwait it so conservative they censor all material going into the country. The one night there was a major sand storm. The apartment building we stayed in wasn't made very well so the windows weren't seal too great. So the faster the wind blew, the higher whistle the windows would make. The next morning there was sand on the floor in the apartment. It was an experience. I don't think I will returning to Kuwait any time soon. :)