September Recap

I have blogged more in September than usual, but haven't actually mentioned all the crazy events that have happened. In short, the month went very fast and was crammed with activity. Here's a recap:

-Friendship Day: Grade 12 students get assigned a "buddy" in Grade 9. They dress up for the day and then do dares after school. It used to be a terrifying hazing experience, but it is now actually quite fun for all parties involved. 

Grade 9 students get presented to the whole school. This girl was a "village woman."

Boys. Apparently it is cool for boys to dress in girls clothes. Or like old men...

Dares after school.

-Cross-country: The bane of a teacher's existence, at least this year. Basically, Woodstock seems to think that monsoon season is the best time to have the annual cross-country races. BAD IDEA. Most years it works out fine, but this year we rescheduled it many times due to the consistent down pouring. This means that everyday for about a week we didn't know if we would have normal class periods, shortened periods, or no class at all. Annoying.

My roommate (a PE teacher) looking very excited about cross-country in a downpour.

-Protests: For more than a week, protesters sat outside the school gate screaming. They worked for an organization that Woodstock used to do basic janitorial work (sweeping, trash collection, etc). Woodstock decided to end the contract with the organization, so the workers were quite mad. Unfortunately, my classroom has many windows in their direction, so my students and I had to live with constant chanting. (Sorry, no photos.)

-Goal-a-thon: Woodstock students are amazing. They have decided to raise money for a local village school's library and so organized Woodstock's first annual Goal-a-thon. The event was completely student led and initiated. Because football, sorry, soccer, is such a huge sport here (and World Cup fever is still running rampant) they put together a football tourney. Three days of matches. It felt very much like a mini world cup, since many of the teams organized by nationality (Nepal, Korea, Tibet, Bhutan, and  - my personal fav - Team UN which consisted of a motley crew of my art students from Tanzania, India, Mexico, Nepal, and Japan). Each team rallied supporters to pledge money for each goal the team scored. An incredible amount of money was raised - way more than I make in a few months of work here! 

Nepali students pumping up the crowd before the final match between Nepal and Korea.

-Monsoon Art Show: My colleague Paul and I organized the second annual Monsoon Art Show. Staff and student artwork was displayed and we had a grand opening. Overall, the show was a huge success. For more info, check out the post on the art blog: www.artatwoodstock.blogspot.com. 

The opening. 

-Staff Talent Show: Bad timing, mixed with new staff still settling in, meant that the Staff Talent Show was lacking in enthusiasm. Instead of doing a dance routine with friends, I decided to put together a stop-motion video. It originally was devised to mock a student video that aired in assembly, but due to lack of time didn't quite get there. Oh well, it is still entertaining. Students and staff both loved it, so I'd say it is a success! I also participated in the annual staff bollywood dance. This year was old-school: songs from the 50s and 60s. Mine was a song about a chinese girl (clearly I'm the best candidate at an Asian school for this role...). I am pretty sure it was racist, but my Indian colleagues claim it isn't and I don't understand the language so I claim innocence. 

Video Still: Back bends on our lawn with monsoon clouds rolling in :)

Video Still: Don't we look like a fun group?!

Video Still: Lady GaGa impersonation

My partner and me. Don't we make convincing Chinese girls? Ha.

Grand entrance. Our principal is the man in all white.

-End of Monsoon! Monsoon is over! We've had about 2 weeks of sunshine - hurrah! I am making the most of it and try to do something outside everyday. I've really been enjoying walks and sitting on the porch. And....laundry that takes only 1 day to dry (in monsoon it can take up to a week). 

-St. Olaf in India: St. Olaf took part in a college fair at a boarding school just an hour away from Woodstock. I was ecstatic to find out that a friend of mine would be representing Olaf. Even though his stay was quite short (barely 24 hours in Dehradun), Dave managed to make the trip up to Woodstock for an evening. The next day, I made the trip down to Dehradun with 60 or so students. It is exciting to hear how many students are interested in Olaf!

Dave and I at the Doon School college fair - Um Ya Ya!

Reaching for the Sun

The sun came out. My body is rejoicing, along with the hillside. 

A few photos from an afternoon stroll around campus after school today:

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Well, it has been 3 months of non-stop rain and I'm fed up. This monsoon has gotten a bit ridiculous. Each time the sun peaks out, I gain a glimmer of hope. But the sunshine is not sustained, my hope is short-lived, and soon I go back to my grumblings about how I want to punch monsoon in the face. September is historically the tail-end of monsoon, but this year it is still full-fledged. Currently, it is Sunday afternoon and it has been raining, pardon, pouring, since yesterday evening (16+ hours!). My music is playing at full volume and it is barely audible; the downpour assaulting my tin roof drowns out everything. I read the news this morning and monsoon is predicted to last at least two more weeks, maybe even a month. Argh.

Besides seasonal depression, monsoon has other negative effects. I cannot count how many of my personal belongings are covered in mold. Its futile to remove the mold; it will return within 2 days. I shouldn't complain too much, because my house is relatively dry. Some Woodstock staff have respiratory problems due to all the mildew in their houses. Occasionally, I crawl into a damp bed at night, but at least my pillow isn't growing mold! I invested in a space heater to help dry out my bedroom and I've placed all the mold-doomed clothes in a heaping pile to deal with later. 

The heavy rainfall has both positive and negative effects on the region. Floods have displaced thousands of people in Pakistan and the Ladakh region of north India, among other areas. Landslides have destroyed mountain villages; one killed 18 people in Uttarakhand (the state I'm living in) this week. However, the rain also means that the threat of drought and water-shortage is diminished; hopefully this amount of rain will be sufficient to supply the region for the year. 

Recently, I've been trying to take more photographs of monsoon. While it is easy to take photos when the skies clear and the view opens up to the valley, it is more difficult to remember to take out my camera in the midst of a downpour. Here's a collection of photos from the past few weeks. Don't be fooled, the clear views are not as common as they seem. 

Evening view from my porch.

Languor (on a leash!) enjoying the evening sun.

Wow, what a great idea to have a school-wide cross-country race outside!

The cross-country track. Yes, students were running in this deluge. 

Mold infesting the wall of my office.

View from my classroom. Taken around 10am.

Roommates making the trek up to school in a downpour. We have to walk through that waterfall. 

Yep, my sandals are still covered with mold even though I've cleaned them multiple times. 

Mold on my wooden shelf.

Can you tell that they took Vitamin D pills to fight monsoon depression? :)

Students walking up to school.

Staff enjoying tea on the first clear afternoon.

View from the tea garden. 

Sunset behind AlterRidge dormitory.

Monsoon clouds at sunset.

Glimmers of sunshine peeking through the fern-covered trees.

Sunset over Dehradun.

Students walking up to school. 

Umbrella march.

A common occurrence: water coursing down a water-drainage staircase near my classroom.

Big clouds settling below Mussoorie

Mussoorie