A view of the Gulf from the marina on a evenings stroll with friends.
Wow, what to say after living and teaching in the Middle East for the last ten months? Well, I never did learn everybody's name which was pretty frustrating at times. What is the fascination for the name "Abdullah" and the nearly ten variations of that name? It's nice not to have to worry about a car and practically needing to take out a second mortgage every time you fill up with gas. However, I do miss the freedom to get in my car and go when and where I want, anytime I want. I'm not a fan of taxis and public transportation. There are a surprising number of American products and restaurants here, but they are usually pretty pricey. I've learned to adapt fairly well, I suppose. It's always a choice to accept the things you can't change and try to put your own signature on the things where can have an impact.
This isn't a culture that is rich in the arts, but that is slowly changing. This country took a big leap into the modern era once oil was discovered in the Gulf. I think we teachers forget that reality and tend to get impatient with some of the practices and attitudes we are confronted with on a daily basis. But sweet faces of children are the same all over the world. They can also be as exasperating here as Anyplace, USA. I came here to teach music, and teach, I did! It was a special challenge my first year. It wasn't always easy, but I was never alone. God was with me every step of the way. When I thought I would never teach again, He had a plan for my life that I never dreamed of. Jeremiah 29:11
Expats
My friend, Penny Lee Hallin comes from Chicago, Illinois. Teaching is a second career for Penny. She attended the University of Colorado and earned a degree in English with aspirations to attend law school. Before embarking on a career in her chosen field, she decided to take some time to spend with her grandmother who was in declining health. While she was with her grandmother in Los Angeles, an opportunity arose to become an office assistant at the recording studio belonging to country music artist, Emmylou Harris and her then-husband Brian Ahern. When it came time for Emmylou to go on the road and record a live album, Penny joined the production team. She worked in the office during the day, and learned the mechanics and operation of the remote recording truck (called Enactron Studios) at night. Enactron was where Willie Nelson recorded his famous “Stardust” album.
A new job opportunity in the burgeoning world of music videos came about and Penny went to work for Backstreet Records, home to Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. Backstreet was producing one of the first “rockumentaries” for the fledgling cable channel, MTV. Penny was the production coordinator for that project as well as many other music videos for the label’s artists. A chance meeting with the owners of Soundelux took her on a new path as an assistant sound editor for feature films. Penny worked on such movies as “Turner and Hooch” and “Young Guns”. Another opportunity presented itself to move to motion picture editing. She became an assistant film editor on such movies as “A League of Their Own”, “My Best Friend’s Wedding” and “The Last Samurai”.
In 2000, Penny took a summer course on Italian Renaissance Painting at Oxford University in England. While there, she was fortunate to be shown a chalk drawing done by Michelangelo from a private collection. She knew this great artist was well-known for his paintings but what he really loved with his heart was to sculpt. Penny said she could relate to this (on a much smaller scale!). Even with a successful and rewarding career in show business, there was something she’d always wanted to do: Teach!
So in 2000, Penny went back to school and enrolled in North Park University in Chicago and earned her Elementary Education Certification. She taught for three years in Chicago Public Schools, four years in Burbank, California and two years in Denver, Colorado.
So what made her decide to come to Kuwait? A good friend and colleague from her days in Chicago Public Schools had been teaching at UAS the last few years and urged her to apply for a job that was opening up in the elementary. And the rest, as they say, is history. It has been a wild ride at times, but mostly rewarding. As Penny sums it up, "I'm here to give what I can to my students and be open to what I can learn from them and bring back to my own culture."
Penny came with me and a group of about fifteen of us that started the new year. Four of our group didn't finish the year with us, but the rest of us are still here and with just days before the end of the calendar year, I think it safe to say that we all have survived somewhat unscathed. Penny decided she liked Kuwait much more than she anticipated although she is looking forward to seeing level sidewalks and paper towels again!
Greetings!
The last few years I taught in the states, it had become my habit to greet my students outside the door with a cheery "Good morning everybody!" Being the music teacher, I sing it, of course! They sing back, "Good morning, Mrs. Kluever!"
Then I give them the new word of the day which is always a new way to say, "great." So after they hear their new word (this week it was "sublime"), then I sing to them, "How are you today?" Then they answer in unison, "We are sublime!" The next exchange is, "Come and find your places," to which they reply, "We will do it quietly!"
They really respond to this greeting and if I give them a word I chose way back in October, for instance, they let me know right away! Lately I've had to scramble through the dictionary quick before they get my classroom to find a suitable synonym for "great." I should have written them all down this year...
My last class of the day is second grade. These poor teachers have to walk their twenty-five or so highly excitable eight and nine year olds with all their back packs and lunch bags down four flights of steps to the underbelly of UAS to get to the music room. By the time they arrive, usually in two or three scraggly groups, the teachers are somewhat short on patience. They are using their sternest teacher demeanor with limited effect on their little charges. It's the end of the day and both students and teachers have about reached their limits. The students are arranging their heavy back packs against the wall and finding their place in line when I step out and give the students my cheery little greeting. The kids immediately step into formation and are ready for the greeting ritual. The teachers sigh, and give me that "Good luck with this bunch today....look". The kids file in the classroom and if they are quiet enough, someone gets to ring my Chinese gong. Woohoo!
The teachers get a little snarky with me sometimes about my greeting ritual and sing a greeting to me when they see me in the hallway or out at recess duty. It's all an act, of course. What are we teachers, other than underpaid actors who's day job is to try to educate the next generation? If we have to resort to the entertainment factor to get our students' attention at times, so be it. I don't mind being teased. Actually, some of them are beginning to sing to their students, too. Whatever works!
The Last Program of the Year!
Those of you who know me from my last school in Baxter, Iowa, know how busy my life was teaching K-12 vocal music the previous nine years. There were four elementary music programs each year, two junior high, four high school programs, small group contest, and numerous vocal music festivals scattered across the school year, plus graduation. When I came to UAS, the elementary principal asked me to put together a program for each grade level. After being accustomed to about twelve programs a year, four didn't seem too much to ask. Four programs became six after I agreed to allow my UAS singers to sing at the Christmas program with the high school band and then I agreed to help the nursery, preschool and kindergarten with their Spring Show. That was OK. Keeping busy is a great way to make the school year pass quickly and keep my mind off family and friends back home.
So at last, May 22 arrived and it was time for the last program of the year; the dreaded 4th grade! Every school I have taught always has one class that the teachers find particularly challenging and this year it was definitely 4th grade. I agonized over the song choices. Didn't want the songs to sound too childish, but they must be kid friendly, singable, and not too challenging for my piano skills! I have to keep one eye on the music and another on the kids, so anything with five sharps and lots of running sixteenth notes are not going to make the cut!
Part of my select UAS singers looking sweet and angelic.
After songs are chosen and adequately rehearsed and somewhat memorized, the dreaded days of "Rehearsal on the Stage" begins. We have five sections of 4th graders this year (twenty-five students in each section), so I put together one group of two sections and another group of three sections. I put together this elaborate seating chart and taped their names on the seats in the auditorium. Each student at the start of the row holds a card so I know when a new row starts. The whole system works pretty well. All the kids have to do is stay behind the person walking in front of them. It doesn't sound that complicated. It worked for the second and third graders. You have probably guessed by now where this is going! Someone decided the person in front of them was moving too slowly, so this next line got in front of the line they were SUPPOSED to be behind......! We eventually got it sorted out. Thank goodness both principals and all the teachers were there to help. We have a great staff here and the teachers have been a huge help to me this year.
The program went very well, after we had a slight problem in the first song. One student had a meltdown in front of the entire audience because someone was standing too close to him. Thankfully, it happened right I front of me as I was accompanying the students as they sang "Puff the Magic Dragon." I can play that song practically without looking so I kept trying to get this kid's attention whispering his name as loud as I dared. When the song was over, I walked over to him and he was still elbowing this poor student standing next to him. There was a little space behind this kid, so I directed him to move. (He spent some time in suspension the next school day!) The rest of the program went without a hitch. It is so rewarding to hear Tom Chapin's song "This Pretty Planet" sung beautifully with the magical, unchanged voices of children. It is such a privilege to work with these slightly naughty, rambunctious kids and showcase the pure beauty of children's voices. I was told in the airport in Jordan from a music teacher that the kids in Kuwait were pretty difficult, if not impossible, to train to sing properly. Well, I found that yes, it was challenging, but not impossible!
Summer Just Around the Corner!
My next blog will be coming to you from sunny Portugal! I'm taking a little detour on my way home. I'll be meeting up with my daughter, Stacia, in Lisbon for a trip to remember for the rest of our our lives. I will keep you posted!
