Patience

Definition: pa·tience 

Noun The capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset.

Synonyms forbearance - endurance - sufferance - solitaire

Calling All Teachers, 

I decided to start putting together some positive teaching quotes to look at every morning. I think they help serve those little reminders, such as, "It's not the students fault I'm tired/ grumpy today.. so why make them pay for it?" 

Some positive thoughts about this diving head- first plunge of living/ teaching overseas by myself thing that I'm currently into:

So it goes...

I was literally in the middle of a phone conversation with my mom when the call to prayer went off. I'm not sure if its considered "kosher" or not but inshallah. When I told her what it was, her response and reaction to it made me realize that I'm pretty much totally tuned out and used to that thing. Although, some days I'll notice it when I can actually hear it go off at school. Insert:
"You know its a good day of teaching when...."

Just wanted to share another phrase I learned in Arabic: Yella Habibi. In a nutshell it means: hurry.. sweetie (term of endearment).

I experienced the City Center in Salmiya for the first time this weekend. This place is legit! WHAT HAVE I BEEN DOING THIS WHOLE TIME?! I got some cute dishes and lots of other random things for cheap. As my friend would say, "cute dishes?".. "lol women." I will be going back to this place when/ if I ever move and get an actual non- hotel apartment! *fingers still crossed believe it or not.

Speaking of a possible (latest rumor- end of Feb.) apartment, I have developed a love- hate relationship with construction. I LOVE that someday... I will have a fully finished and constructed apartment. I HATE that the construction right next to my window goes off at any random points of the day/ night/ early morning. Ugh.

To stay "in touch" with my last post and finding ways to stay sane, I think I've found my # 2. Want a hint? I have created a new folder on my computer labeled booked tickets.

Booked trip # 1: Lebanon over Liberation Days in Feb.

Soon-to-be booked trip # 2: Spring break in Jordan/ Petra/ Dahab in April

Soon-to-be booked trip# 3: Professional Development in Dubai in May

Soon-to-be booked trip #4: South Korea in June

Booked trip #5: Arielle and Brad's wedding in San Diego and naturally spending a little pre-time in VEGAS in July

I'm hoping for a trip a month! Lot's to look forward to... :D

Oh The Places You'll Go...

“It's opener, out there, in the wide, open air.” 
― Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!


see ya next time..


P.S. You can thank my addiction to pinterest for the lovely quotes/ pictures! See why it's so AWESOME? :D

Let The Dust Days Begin

As salam alikum,

Wowzers (by the way, I used to HATE that word until I discovered they say it on inspector gadget). And even now, I'm second guessing myself on whether or not that's cool. But, wowzers... life is just crazy sometimes, eh?

In choir, we're singing an opera about.. ah crud I don't really know but it involves witches. So, naturally, we will wear witches noses.. And I was excited for them and my friend was like, "can I leave?" Lol. At least my friends are the non- judging type. :)

Let's see, some must share events, ideas, frustrations, etc. in the every day life of Ms. Tiffany. Here's some solid advice about your first year of teaching: accept- early on that you suck at teaching until further notice, USE YOUR RESOURCES (extra emphasis intended), make friends with the good people and tolerate the rest, eat red delicious apples... Seriously!, find ways to "control" or "navigate" those annoying, ever flowing ideas about teaching that completely take over the inside of your brain, "mention" to your students that you love chocolate and hope for a prompt back asking, "what kind?", pay attention to where s^*# is and how to get s^*# done efficiently (reliable go-to people), understand what they mean by having clear and concise expectations and procedures AND also be aware that these two things are completely different, practice smiling in uncomfortable situations because you WILL have a parent who annoys the living daylights out of you, and phrases like "is that dust or fog,".."thanks god,".. "miss, why you wear your hair open?".."humdullah".. become part of your every day conversations. Also, everything is not in something. I'm not in Thursday. I'm not in my table. I suppose for 6 and 7 year olds learning more than one language at a time, I can forgive this for now.

Well, dust days have officially began. Reminder * I need to figure out what color gets us out of school. Apparently, it's unusual to see the kind of fog we've had this past week in Kuwait. Mix that in with a lot of dust and absolutely terrible driving (exaggerated, and genuinely concerned voice). Sometimes, I just wonder what my lungs look like. Khalas, we've.. as in us newbies... still have yet to experience our first "real" dust storm. :s

On another note, this last week, I went to the Tarak Rajab Museum, a jazz quartet at the Kuwait National Theatre, permanently "borrowed" a plate from the coffee bean, went to The Early Bird, had shirts made at the Friday Market as well as a rug, indulged in bread and hummus and bread and hummus and bread and hummus oh my! The museum was pretty fascinating, even considering I'm definitely NOT a museum type of gal. I usually find my way straight to the potato chips and hold people's coats. Check out pictures on FB if you want to see it. :) The jazz concert was nice. It for sure had Arab style concert etiquette: Videos  cameras, walking out and about, texting, laughing, smoking, are all things that are normal. The Early Bird- best. breakfast. food. ever. (all you need to know). Hmm, having a shirt or anything really made specifically to your liking for super cheap is a nice benefit to living here. Oh, and inshallah... latest rumor about the apartment situation is that it will be one in a half more months. HA. Am I supposed to think it's actually going to happen someday??


It's hard to believe that January is almost over! Where does the time go? I mean, it IS still January right?!?

Alright folks, let's get down to business and get real about this whole living on your own and being grown up thing. It's exactly everything all at the same time. You jump on this roller coaster because you want to. Yes, you WANT to. The top of the ride may very well be the best moments you will ever have in life, and boy, the bottom makes you question everything in this life. You get on this ride, though, because you don't want to wonder for the rest of your life what the top of the ride involved.

I have been stretched in every way possible. Seriously, Kuwait! COMMIT TO SOMETHING for once (like the ability to throw trash on the ground anywhere). Geez, if Kuwait committed to something like that.. well, that's just scary to think about. A teacher's worst flaw: seeing the potential and knowing you will not be able to change it.

I think it's really important for an expat to find that "thing" that keeps you sane. For me, it's jazz band. I don't have to worry about not being good enough anymore, or "holding people back" as they might say in college. I feel like I can embrace my mistakes and do it proudly. They always say.. if your going to mess up, mess up loudly and with confidence. When you take this approach to music, it's so much fun. When you're not so worried about things, then you can relax. When you play music relaxed, your sound is way better. Win, win.

Anyways, to sum up this rant or perhaps leave it with a question: Does money truly equal happiness?


Yella, More to come: sharing about this place they call the Middle East..

sincerely,

a girl who could reeealllly use a big ole' dust storm tomorrow