Zurich International School Dinner Cruise

Last Friday our school took us out on a school-year-kick-off boat cruise around the lake. Myself and a new friend, Melissa, are smiling with our whole faces, as pictured above. Below is a picture I took from the boat, at the southern part of the lake.

Techie Techie Switzerland

I haven't even been here a week and I walked in my apartment today to find my engraved name card on my doorbell and my mailbox and five different bills and payment receipts inside. That sure didn't take long. China must have just skipped paper and gone straight to computer, here it seems they do a combo of the two. Another thing I have noticed here is that garbage is only picked up in the special, very expensive trash bags so we should try to fill them slowwwwly... very smart.

The new hood - Thalwil

I have been in Zurich for five days now and I feel e - stablished. Since the moment I got off the plane my brain has been occupied with signing papers, receiving keys and shipments, meetings, orientations and tours. But, with that said, I now have a bank account, apartment, job, health plan, transit pass, my barings, new friends and acquaintances, my health... and my happiness!

The Zurich Street Parade

The secretary at my new school told me, "You must go to see the Zurich Street Parade because it is so not Swiss". Turns out that though it is smaller, this techno parade was actually the mother of the Berlin Love Parade. The music seemed like it pumped my heart for me.

Ghana - Asufutufiam Festival

In Big Ada every year, the people from this region come together to celebrate their historical victories in war and honour those who have died. At this festival, there were big parades of people carrying their chiefs, re-enacting the battles and ending up at the river where they cleansed themselves of the years deeds and made wishes for the new year. I stood in the water, made a wish and washed my face with my hands. Tracy, on the other hand, was splashed silly but an old lady. I wish I was splashed, too!

Sega

This was actually taken on one of my last days in Sega. We had just been sitting on this straw mat beside our house for awhile, playing with the kids and talking. I like this picture alot because it seems to me like all of us look just like how we felt that moment.

Teacher In-service training from myself and Tracy (we did do work too... actually, we are up there at the front, just not in the picture) and this is hanging out in the evening, it could have been any evening really.

Graduation and Speeches... on my Birthday!

As luck would have it, my birthday fell on the same day as the Graduation and Speech Giving ceremony for the school. It was a big show of culture, traditional dance and drumming, speeches from elders and myself (I don't exactly classify myself as an elder yet), and a ceremony to honour the graduates who are moving on. We were all dressed up in kente and given Ghanaian names, mine being Angmorkie (at best seldom comprehensible when I try to pronounce it). Everyone was really excited that day, and we ate really good food!

Assembly - Higha higha higha

Every Wednesday morning is worship, an assembly with the whole school. These videos show the energy of kids pretty well.

The Amazon Flute

When my dear friend Emily went from China to Peru to go down the Amazon River, she brought me back this traditional wooden flute, stating that she thought I would enjoy figuring out how to play it. I did. Jamie, my roommate, probably didn't enjoy me trying to figur out how to play it.

Because she gave it to me after my shipment had left to go to Switzerland, I had to bring it with me to Ghana. And what a good idea that turned out to be. Many hours passed unknowingly on its sole account.

To advertise the graduation festivities to neighbouring villages, we took two days, the kids, the drums and a lot of posters and signs to the neighbouring communities and paraded through their streets and markets, singing, dancing, handing out information and generally attracting attention. This is a picture of out parade and another of me dancing at de Yunction market with Jakob. ...

A Sega Photoshoot

Taking photos is so interesting in Sega because the kids will play with the camera like they will play with a football. In this video I tricked them into thinking I was taking a picture so I could remember how funny it all is. On this day we probably took pictures with the ant hill for a good 20 minutes before moving on.

Cape Coast