Non Sequitur Conversations Concerning Random Countries

Education has been on my mind a lot lately.  In fact, I'm going to devote an entire post on this subject, but for now....
The conversations in our house sound a bit like this:


Yesterday:

"Did you know there are two Waldorf schools in Hyderabad (India)?"

"Really?  Are we moving to Hyderabad?"

"No.  Well, maybe.  I was thinking of the Finnish education model and then I was reading some articles on that and one referenced how the Finnish model of early education (the children don't start school or learn to read/write until the age of seven) is incredibly similar to Waldorf.  Both stress the importance of play and age appropriate learning.  And you see how well the Finns are doing with their model (number one in case you've missed the news--the USA ranks in the middle or worse on all subjects).  It got me thinking...you know since we can't move to Finland."

"I could work for my company in Hyderabad.  There are loads of expats there.  You think it's really dirty?"

"Yes.  It's India.  But I'm OK with that."

Today:

"You know I was just talking to someone in my company who got transferred to the office in Singapore because his wife got a job there.  That could be an option for us."

What I think is: "There's no Waldorf school there or Hong Kong.  Bangkok has two.  The Singapore education system, while ranking incredibly high, is just the type I wish to avoid with its rote memorization, lack of creativity and hours of homework and tutoring.  I wonder if there's a Montessori school...."

What I say is: "I'm down with Singapore.  It's close to everything else we love in South East Asia."

(By the way Singapore does have at least two Montessori schools and the added benefit is the Chinese Mandarin immersion offered.  Because if you're balking rote memorization and hours of homework, why not strive to have trilingual children? Yes, I am a Gemini and I am a complete contradiction.)

Also:  Chicken has informed me she 'likes my blog and gets excited to see a new post.  It's almost like reading about someone I don't know.'  I find this highly entertaining since we live/work/sleep in an 800 square foot space and have been in this same room day after day, night after night for two years running.  Apparently I don't tell her everything.

Update:  After reading this article on malaria, I thought hmmm, should check something out before going deeper in my head.  Found this article on Hyderabad and malaria and.....no thanks.  NO Thank You.