India's Got Talent

The big event this past weekend was the annual staff talent show. Last year, we had the show in the fall, but this year it was moved to the spring. Rather than jumping right into the talent this year, we started with a fashion show. We decided to sit this part out because we're just not that fashionable. There were some great examples of Indian, African, Tibetan, and other clothes from our wonderful colleagues.

The actual talent section of the program was full of the usual songs, skits, and dances. There are definitely some talented folks on the staff here.

There are also some ridiculous members of staff. Dave and three other male co-workers decided to do a dance to the song Maniac from the movie Flashdance. They were all decked out in tights, leg-warmers, and cut-off sweatshirts. The dance even included the iconic scene of water being dumped on stretching dancers. It was great fun, even if the students ended up having nightmares that night.

The final event of the show was an all-staff Bollywood dance number. Dave had changed out of his tights by then and we wowed the crowd with our great dance moves.

The night was fun and a bit embarrassing. Thankfully, Dave won't be able to do an encore performance of his dance next year.

Dave and Beth

Science is Real

The big news in middle school here yesterday was the science fair. Every year, the sixth and seventh grade students at Woodstock practice the scientific method and try their best to test hypotheses to reach a conclusion. This was Beth's first year teaching the process here, but you should be able to see by the quality of these presentations how great she did.

The Woodstock community also did a great job of supporting the students by coming out and asking the students questions about their work. A lot of time was put into these posters, so it was nice for the other teachers to come and show some interest.

As with any good science fair, one group had an exciting analysis of mold. The big test of the day was to see if anyone could stand putting their nose in the bags below.

Beth's colleagues from the science department came through and judged the use of the scientific method in all the experiments and chose winners in several different categories.

The fair was a great success and Beth did a fantastic job.

Dave and Beth

Baby Shower

This was not a baby shower for us, but Beth was very involved in organizing and planning this one for our new friend Dechen. For most of the men involved, this was the first baby shower that they'd attended. Some of them were more ready than others for the games.

One of the highlights of the day was the unveiling of the quilt that a group of women made for Dechen. It was not quite finished, but you can see Beth's square second from the top on the far right side.

As with any party, most people wanted to spend time with the guest of honor. Dechen was happily passed around while we all celebrated her new life.

It was a great chance to think ahead to our own big changes coming up in the next few months.

Dave and Beth

Happy Losar!

For those that may not be aware, not only was yesterday Valentine's Day, but it was also Losar. This is the lunar New Year as celebrated in Tibet and is the biggest holiday of the year for our Tibetan students. Beth and several other teachers decided to wear their traditional Tibetan chubas to celebrate the occasion.

Ordinarily, these dresses are worn without an apron by women who aren't married. There was one other married woman besides Beth in the picture above, but she must have forgotten to put her apron on.

Dave was able to get in on the Tibetan dress action yesterday, too. One of our students brought a new shirt back from Nepal that actually fit Dave. We looked very sharp in our new Tibetan digs.

Unfortunately, this will probably be the last time that Beth wears her chuba in India. Her clothes are starting to get a bit tighter lately, and it won't be long before the baby makes it impossible to squeeze on.

Dave and Beth

Taking it Easy

After our trip with Beth's sister, Emily, we had grand plans to take a whirlwind tour of India. After some thinking, we decided that it would be better to simply stay in Mussoorie for the remainder of the vacation. Though not very exciting, it was the best situation for us. We did have a chance to celebrate Dave's birthday. If you look closely at the cake Beth made, you'll notice that it looks just like our local mountain (Banderpunch).

We also played a great game of 6 Nimmt with all of the friends that were still on the hillside.

It definitely has been nice to take it a bit easy for a few weeks. We know that the upcoming semester is going to be ridiculously busy, and we'll be looking back fondly on this time in a few weeks.

Dave and Beth

Christmas Mountains

After our big haul on Christmas morning, we were off to the house of a friend for a potluck Christmas dinner. Most of the Woodstock staff that are still on the hillside went over to share some Christmas fellowship. We took the long way aound to their house because it brought us within view of the snow-capped Himalayas and because we wanted to wish our ayah a happy birthday and a merry Christmas (Beth baked her a birthday cake).

As you can see, the mountains looked breathtaking. We haven't posted many pictures of them of late, so we thought we'd give some here.

Even when we got up to the potluck, you could still see the mountains peaking through the trees.

But once we got to the dinner, no one really noticed the mountains because there was so much wonderful food to share.

It is always amazing how people can improvise here and make things that transport us back home to North America.

We spent a lot of time playing games and there was even a Christmas movie. On our way home, we stopped to take one last panarama from the top of our hill. It shows most of the mountains that we've seen from there. You will have to click on it to be able to see it more clearly.

Dave and Beth

Midnight Mass

Since we went back to the US for Christmas last year, we weren't able to experience what the holiday was like here in Mussoorie. We just got back from the midnight Christmas Eve service at one of the local churches. First, though, we went out to dinner at a restaurant near the church.

We got there at about 9:00 but the place was still packed, because that's right about Indian supper time. It was also nice to watch a little cricket on Christmas Eve (India won the series if you didn't watch it).

After dinner we all walked over the the church to attend the midnight mass. We didn't want to turn the flash on to disturb the other worshippers, so the pictures that we took were either dark or blurry.

It was a great chance to remember the reason that we celebrate with a very international group. After the service, there was tea, coffee, and cookies and some good fellowship. Now that we're home...we're ready for bed.

Dave and Beth

One Last Party...

Though the kids have all gone back home, we couldn't leave Woodstock for the winter without one last party. Our staff banquet occurred last night and Dave was given the honor of MCing with our friend Greg.

The invitations that we received from the social committee said that it was a Christmas fiesta. It seems that they were just trying to find another word for "party," but Dave and Greg decided to give the evening a Latin American theme. Greg lived in Mexico for a year, so he new just was we needed. This, of course, included a piñata full of candy.

Aside from the other festive events that we planned, it was a great chance to have some closure for the semester.

After our last meetings this morning, we were officially done for the semester. We're definitely ready for our break!

Dave and Beth

We've Got Spirit

One great thing about the end of the first semester here at Woodstock is Spirit Week. During the last week of school, students and staff are encouraged to show how much spirit they have by dressing in a different silly way each day. Monday was twin day and Dave looked quite ridiculous and nearly indistinguishable from our friend Scott (Dave is the one wearing maroon shorts, if you can't tell them apart). Today was celebrity day, so we decided to dress up like Minnie and Mickey Mouse during school.

Since grades have already been entered, it's been fun to have some other things going on this week. The students are watching movies in most classes and we're all ready for a break.

Dave and Beth

Christmas Caroling

The Christmas season has begun here in Mussoorie, and we were greeted by our first round of carolers tonight. Nobody asked us for figgy pudding, but it was a nice treat to have some great music come right to our door.

It was a bit different, of course, from the caroling that we're used to in the states. Most of the songs were in Hindi, but they did sing some familiar tunes.

We've been warned of another set from a different church coming tomorrow night, and we're planning to leave the light on for them.

Dave and Beth

Care Package

We were all set to begin a series of posts on the Activity Week trip that we finished last Friday. This was a lot different from the Activity Week that we had last year, so it warrants some thorough coverage. Today, though, we got a wonderful surprise from some friends in Germany. The principal at Woodstock was on a recruiting trip to Europe last week and we got him in touch with some people at Black Forest Academy where we used to teach. Our friends, the Duecks, gave him a little German care package to deliver to us.

The chocolate is much appreciated and the fancy napkins definitely remind us of the wonderful year that we spent in the Black Forest. The trick now will be to eat and use them slowly so that they last for a while...

Dave and Beth

Sticky Wicket

Since first taking up the sport of cricket while living in Germany, Dave has been trying to figure out a way to see an international match in person. India seemed to be the perfect place to make this happen. The Australian cricket has been touring India this fall, so we thought we'd give it a try. After school on Friday, we took a taxi to Dehradun with our friends to catch the overnight train to Delhi. The train ended up arriving about two hours late and made it to Delhi about three hours late, but our spirits were not dampened. After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we made a quick trip to the American embassy club. This is one of the few places in the country where one can get good American food. We filled up on hamburgers, hot dogs, steak sandwiches, root beer, and curly fries. It was fantastic!

After lunch, it was off to the stadium in Delhi for the match. The security was very tight and we had three checkpoints that we made it through successfully. At the fourth security checkpoint, the guards decided that we were not allowed to bring anything into the stadium. This inlcuded cameras, phones, backpacks, keys, and anything else we had in our pockets. As we sat trying to convince the guards to let us in with our stuff, we watched wave after wave of Indians being allowed to walk through with bags full of the things we were asked to leave behind. In the end, we were unsuccessful and two of our number had to return to the hotel with our bags. Since we were not allowed cameras, we've put a couple of highlights from Cricinfo.com on the blog to give you an idea of the fun we had.

It was an exciting close match. The series had been tied 1-1 at the beginning and India won this match by 6 wickets with only ten balls remaining. It was great fun. The only cricket-related picture that we were able to capture was one of the two of us wearing our cricket jerseys in the hotel after the match was over.

In spite of a few difficulties along the way, it was a great trip all around.

Dave and Beth

Settling Catan

We've had several occasions to play the German game Settlers of Catan while living in India. We have our set here and there are several other enthusiasts on campus, so we decided to host the First Annual Woodstock School Settlers of Catan Tournament yesterday. We ended up with 22 people on the bracket, but only 20 were able to play in the tournament. It was a good mix of people who have played a lot, people who have never played, younger, and older. The first round consisted of five separate games.

Beth decided not to play so that she could entertain the children who were a bit below the recommended age on the game box.

There were some heated moments during the evening and several references to the official rules to see whether a play was legal.

In the end, the final championship was contested by our friends Tami, Moryam, Cookie, Greg and Nate.

The final was a close match watched by several of the losing players. Cookie got out to an early lead which is not always a bright move in Settlers. She was then targeted by the other four players, and was easily knocked down a few pegs. After some monopolizing that displayed questionable moral fiber, Tami and Moryam looked to be the main contenders and in the end, Moryam was crowned Lord of Catan. You can see from the photo below that not all of the other settlers were ready for Moryam’s benevolent rule of the Island.

It was a very successful evening of fun and fellowship. Several people suggested that we make the tournament quarterly, but we certainly won't be able to host such a large gathering that often. We'll keep you posted on the results of the second tournament...

Dave and Beth