School 5K and Meeting with HeyMath!

Thursday & Friday, 1-2 March 2018

Singapore schools seem to have a lot of events, field trips, and opporutnities for students and teachers to enteract outside of the classroom.  Today was one of them!  Physical Education is an emphasized part of the curriculum in Singapore.  Rather than just needing one semester of PE throughout high school like in the USA, PE is a class that students take every year throughout secondary school.  Today was a school-wide 5K at the Bedok reservior (which I had not yet ran at).  Instead of having classes, the entire school met at the park and by grade level ran the 5K loop around the lake by grade level.  All the FT (advisory) sections made flags and spirit wear to cheer on their class.  In addition to race awards, there were also spirit awards.  I ran the 5K loop and then was asked to help hand out the prizes to the various groups which was a neat way to include me in the school activities. 

After the school-wde 5K, all the students and teachers have the remainder of the day off.  So I went home to work on my inquiry project and catching up on Atlanta school emails for the afternoon.  We took the bus over to AMK hub for dinner becuase I'm obsessed with eating kung pow chicken and rice from this one food stall on the top floor of the mall.  It's so delicious!  Also, we went to Fairprice (kind of like Walmart with grocceries and household things), and I turned the isle to Bren weighing himself hah.  He has been running a lot here.  I keep saying we are the healthiest versions of ourselves while we are living here.  Running a lot, not drinking much beer because it's so expensive, and eating fairly healthy. 

 I got to FaceTime with Amanda this evening and it was really nice to catch up and see her face!  She and Kait are going to come visit Singapore in the middle of April.  I still can't believe how many of our loved ones are willing to make the long trek over to Singapore--but I sure am thankful!  On my way out the door, I snapped a picture of this elderly lady (who I really think maybe over a 100 years old) that sits on our corner and sells fruit each morning.  She doesn't seem to speak any English, but I smile and wave at her each morning when I leave.

On Friday I didn't go into school because I had a meeting set up with HeyMath.  Earlier in February, dad sent me this email:

Hey Emily,

While clearing out some clutter a few weeks ago, Mom and I came across an editorial (attached) I had cut out of the AJC back in 2005.  Interesting that I cut it out and saved.  It has to do with a math program (HeyMath) created by folks in Singapore.  Per the editorial, the program was to change the world, but failed to mention that the change wouldn't start until you got to Singapore.  

I love you..  

I have always appreciated how encouraging dad has been my whole life.  He told us once that he intentionally never said he was "proud" of us because he always wanted us to build more internal motivation (or something like that :) ).  But he has always made me believe I could do anything that I wanted to if I worked hard and took risks.  In addition to making me feel great about the fact I chose apply and earn the Fulbright grant and the opportunity to work in Singapore, he also gave me a good connection in Singapore.  I immediately googled HeyMath! and realized they were still based in Singapore.  I emailed them, quickly received a response and set up a meeting for today.  I met with two community "Relation Managers" from HeyMath! at a beautiful hotel lounge about their online product and how it is used in schools in Singapore.  It was interesting to see how curriculum products are specialized to a specific country and culture and how it is utilized by teachers and students.  I gained a lot of insight and think much of it will be helpful in informing my inquiry project.  

After the meeting, I headed to United Square to meet Bren at this bahn mi lunch spot that we like.  On the way there, I came across the only spray paint I've seen in Singapore.  I think it is a skate park that has authorized certain graffiti artist to paint.  Graffiti is on the list of illegal things in Singapore.

Outside the mall that the bahn mi stall is at, is a Starbucks that has these awesome plant walls that I want to replicate once we build a porch at our house in Atlanta.  The bahn mi was delicious and it was nice to have a Friday afternoon off with Bren.