Mid Semester Break is Here

Since we returned from Singapore it has been really hectic. First of all we had to get our mid term marks in to our department heads. Although we use Markbook to track student marks the college has not yet taken advantage of the export function whereby we can export an ASCII file to the college database. Instead we manually transfer student marks to a hard copy and submit these to our department head who then manually enters them into the database. Too many opportunities for mistakes. We have approached the IT department about mapping the necessary fields and it looks like this will be ready for finals.

Second, we have conducted parent teacher conferences on Saturday, September 8. I wonder how that would fly in Ontario. The parents were generally very nice and supportive. When a student is not doing well they tend to place the onus on the student to improve. It is much less confrontational than we often see back home. There is, however, pressure to maintain a positive approach and help the college retain and recruit students. Some students here are on government scholarships and must maintain an 85% average in order to keep the scholarship. If they do then they get four years support at a Canadian university. There is very real stress for these students.

We joined a gym. There is a very modern gym at Subang Parade (a local mall) that is within walking distance of the college. We also booked eleven sessions each with a personal trainer. The negotiations were exciting. We dropped in to have a look and were immediately accosted by a promoter. He was very nice and he was into hard sell. There were joining fees, processing fees, training fees and a monthly membership fee. We negotiated some reductions in the fees and Aarron, our promoter, went to find a trainer to discuss that service with us. We had seen a colleague working out and decided to consult with him. Carl asked what the charges were and when we told him he said that they were ridiculous. He immediately joined us in the negotiations. But Carl doesn't negotiate, he bulldozes. He's not rude, just very forceful. He 'instructed' the promoter and one of the managers to delete the joining and processing fees; they did so. He gave them the option of having two new members or having us go across the street to another gym. In the end we paid the monthly fee and the trainer fees. The gym is not cheap even by Canadian standards. It is a high end gym, very clean with many options for exercise including extensive classes, machines, cardio area, and free weights. The cost is about the same as what we might pay at Bally or Good Life. That's pretty expensive in a country that has a minimum wage of about $2.00 per hour and many employers ignore that.

We've had several sessions with the trainers and our muscles are telling us that they are working. We are almost through the assessment part and looking forward to getting a program to work on our own. After that we'll meet the trainers intermittently to upgrade the program and check our progress. We walk to the gym a couple of times a week and follow up with dinner and a little shopping. We also try to get there on the weekend.

The past week (on Thursday) was the start of Ramadan. It is the Muslim month of fasting. That means that adults cannot eat between sunrise and sunset, not even to sip water. There are some exceptions but most of our Muslim students are pretty rigorous about the fast. On Thursday evening we went to the gym and then out for dinner. While at the restaurant at about 7:00 PM a young Malay Muslim couple sat down next to us and ordered dinner. The dinner was delivered to the table at 7:10 and they just sat there chatting; they didn't touch the meal nor did they taste the water placed on the table. The man had his cell phone out and checked it regularly. At about 7:20 they both started to eat and we looked around to notice that the rest of the people had also started to eat. Again on Friday evening we were out to shop before our holiday and we sat among an entire restaurant of people doing the same thing as the young couple the night before. This time at about 7:20 waiters and waitresses went table to table informing the guests that the sun had indeed set; the meal began.

The fast does take a toll. We saw an elderly gentleman on Thursday who was clearly in some distress. He was holding on to a lamp pole and seemed to be feeling faint. Bill's trainer at the gym asked to reschedule their appointment because he was not feeling well. He explained that this always happens on the first day of the fast, but his body adjusts in a day or so. We rescheduled. Ramadan here is a lot like Christmas back in Ontario. It ends with the celebration of Hari Raya (October 12 to 15 this year), much as Advent ends with Christmas. In the store right now there are coloured lights and Happy Hari Raya cards. In Bhasa Malayu it is written as Selamat Aidilfitri. Specialty foods are also all over the stores. Dates and Hari Raya cookies are for sale in large displays in the stores and malls. Hari Raya is like American Thanksgiving and Canadian Christmas too in that everyone travels home for the holiday. It's a great family get together. We're looking forward to it. The catch is that there are no flights available anywhere because we left it too late to book; we only started six weeks in advance and everything was taken.

This next week is mid-semester break and we have a week off. We are travelling with colleagues to Redang Island on the north east coast. It is a SCUBA diving and snorkeling destination. We are really looking forward to a restful five days. We'll re-certify our diving and take several outings to view the local underwater flora and fauna. The rest of the time is beach and rest.
Watch for pictures.