So Many Unposted Adventures

First off, I am sorry, but I have no idea if "unposted" is even a word.  If the red underlines that just appeared are any indication, then I am going to guess that I am correct in thinking that it is not a word at all.  Oh well, perhaps I just added a new word to the English language.  Good for me.
Anyways, it has really been two years since I posted anything of substance, and yes, you can probably read a lot into that.  Call it what you will, but I am going to do my best to get back into writing.  I have been told by a few people that I ought to keep writing so I can have better stories to tell when I am senile, so perhaps I should just put them down on here.  A list of tall-tales if you will.
The last two years have been crazy as far as adventures go.  Hiking in the Himalayas, motorcycling in Vietnam, Morocco, dozens of countries all over Europe, and the continual adventure of living in China. 
My goal is to slowly catch up during the next few months and try to redevelop my love of writing.  I think that it all became too much to try and write things down.  I still saved photos, but I found myself dreading having to sit and write.  I guess I reverted back to middle school when writing was more of a chore than something I enjoyed.  No offense to any teacher reading this, but I am sure you understand as well.
That being said it does feel quite good to hear the sound of the keyboard and see something appear on screen again - even though it is mostly just verbal diarrhea.
I am going to try and go through and do all the adventures that we have had recently in some form of chronological order. 
1. Vietnam
2. Nepal
3. Korea
4. Netherlands
5. Spain
6. France
7. Andorra
8. Morocco
9. Portugal
10. Qatar
11. Germany
12. Luxemborg
13. Poland
14. Estonia
15. Latvia
16. Finland
17. Sweden
18. More on France
Seems like I have quite a lot of work to catch up on - which is perhaps why I stopped in the first place.  Who knows, maybe this time it will stick?

Trebuchet Project Part 3

After a few more days of building and testing, we have finally made a working model of a trebuchet.  The best part of this situation is that the student have had the opportunity to learn more than just math and physics, but have also had the chance to learn a skill that many students do not get to learn in a school setting.  By the time that this unit reached the end of the building phase, many students were lashing logs and tying knots with minimal assistance and were able to think on a much more geometric level in their understanding of strength in construction and how to plan on potential weight issues in building.

As you can see, the final product is all items that we scrounged around campus, and is completely made with only sticks, rope, a block of concrete, and a single nail.  The nail is used in the firing pin, and that is only because we did not want to have to tie on a smaller stick for fear that it would not last as long.  

We had to take a picture with everyone crowding around their finished siege weapon, (just in case it broke on the first shot).  Thankfully it did not, and we were able to fire about ten times on our first day of testing.  The hard part of firing is to try to get the item to release at about a 45 degree angle so we can reach maximum distance.  Of course that takes a good deal of trial and error, but by the last shot, we were able to at least release at an upward trajectory.  We were using a rather light object, and plan to try with heavier projectiles next class, which in theory should release earlier.  

One of the students was charged with the task of taking a slow motion video of the launches so that we could analyze the degree of launch.  The following video is in slow motion and you can see a projectile in the upper left-hand corner of the screen leaving the frame shortly before the end of the video.  

We are still finishing up the trebuchet from the other class, and I will post about that as soon as they are done.  I can honestly say that this class far exceeded my expectations and did a stellar job in the construction and implementation of this project. 

Seeing the World

As I look around my cluttered living room, taking stock of the different things from various time periods of my life, I have to make a very black and white decision - trash or box.  I mailed a letter today that would seal the fate of many items that have taken up refuge over the years in my home; medals from running, scented pine cones, a few plastic dinosaurs, bowl of chopsticks, an old guitar, a turquoise blue macaw feather.  While many things have a specific dollar value, it is not how they can pad my very light wallet that makes me decide their fate, but the memories that have been attached to them that will decide what gets moved into a a few boxes that will define our spartan existence.

The letter I sent in was a proverbial trigger pull that has been years in the making.  We have decided to take a leap of faith and change our home from Hilo, Hawaii, to Salaya, Thailand.  We speak no Thai, combined we have been in Thailand about a week.  We order our food medium-hot.

I am a high school math teacher by trade.  The last year in school has been trying to say the least.  Our school was in the direct path of oncoming lava for quite a few months during the school year (Hawaii problems) and while we have survived, it has been at quite a cost.  Teaching has been a challenge.  Students went without power for three weeks due to a hurricane, had to cross barricades to get to school, suffered through incessant media exposure, and dealt with the ever-present question... will my school still exist next week?

I am exhausted. 

We appear to be out of the "line of fire" so-to-speak, but it all came with a price.  I am now ready to explore.  While I might someday have regrets about leaving a wonderful school with kids who excel at qualities that are more important than numbers on standardized tests, I know that I must adventure out into the world, 

 

Thus, Thailand.

Papers are mailed.  Signed contracts in languages I cannot read have been sent with tracking numbers.  Suddenly I wonder if I am a bit like the cast on Gilligan's Island setting out for my "three hour tour" but somehow going to end up in a new land, with a new way of life, paid in a monetary system that I have never seen before, but with no hope of return and only cancellation looming over my head.

At my heart I am an introvert.  I like to watch people, I like to observe and just see how others act.  Travel has always been daunting for me.  The idea of seeing new places is alluring and fills me with wonder, but the idea of getting there, not knowing what is going on, and not being able to speak to people fills me with dread.  

Guess life is full of these double-edged swords... 

Just like the deer in Nara, Japan, (Story is here), if you keep chewing on a problem long enough, eventually you will be able to swallow it.  Probably could have gone with a different analogy route, but I am a math teacher.  We are not known for our eloquence.

Goddamn deer.