Almaty sits at the foothills of the mighty
Tien Shan Mountains (in Chinese
天山, "Heavenly Mountains"), the northernmost reach of the Himalayas. In thirty minutes, we can be high above the city and its smog. The mountains are big, and
growing.
Pik Talgar, the 96th tallest mountain in the world, is just 40 kilometers from here and stands at 4,979 m (16,335 ft). Needless to say, we are in an earthquake zone. Moving to seismic zones seems to be a common trend for Brooke and me. The last two places we've lived, Tokyo and the San Francisco Bay area are also notorious earthquake zones. So, to feel a bit more prepared, on Thursday last week our school had a earthquake drill. We were told to get under our tables, hold a leg of the table, and be quiet to listen for instructions. I took this opportunity while we were under the tables to remind students why it was a bad idea to stick gum under furniture. "Oooo!" they responded. (Fortunately, the undersides of the tables were all clean.) The administrators walked around the building checking classrooms and then we were given the all-clear. Back to SSR.
In my last blog post back before Christmas, I mentioned how my homeroom won our school competition to make a torch for the upcoming (this week's)
Asian Winter Games. At lunchtime on the same day as our earthquake drill, my 12-year-old homeroom class was rewarded with a pizza lunch in the dining room of the nearby (5-minute walk) Hotel Chagala. The kids were very polite and had a great time (and filled up on pizza). I love this group of kids and am glad to have chosen to continue next year teaching the 12-year-old classes.
Almaty sits at the foothills of the mighty Tien Shan Mountains (in Chinese 天山, "Heavenly Mountains"), the northernmost reach of the Himalayas. In thirty minutes, we can be high above the city and its smog. The mountains are big, and growing. Pik Talgar, the 96th tallest mountain in the world, is just 40 kilometers from here and stands at 4,979 m (16,335 ft). Needless to say, we are in an earthquake zone. Moving to seismic zones seems to be a common trend for Brooke and me. The last two places we've lived, Tokyo and the San Francisco Bay area are also notorious earthquake zones. So, to feel a bit more prepared, on Thursday last week our school had a earthquake drill. We were told to get under our tables, hold a leg of the table, and be quiet to listen for instructions. I took this opportunity while we were under the tables to remind students why it was a bad idea to stick gum under furniture. "Oooo!" they responded. (Fortunately, the undersides of the tables were all clean.) The administrators walked around the building checking classrooms and then we were given the all-clear. Back to SSR.
In my last blog post back before Christmas, I mentioned how my homeroom won our school competition to make a torch for the upcoming (this week's) Asian Winter Games. At lunchtime on the same day as our earthquake drill, my 12-year-old homeroom class was rewarded with a pizza lunch in the dining room of the nearby (5-minute walk) Hotel Chagala. The kids were very polite and had a great time (and filled up on pizza). I love this group of kids and am glad to have chosen to continue next year teaching the 12-year-old classes.