Life in KK

This past week I taught the combined A & B sections (63 students) CEE 521, Principles of Health and Fitness.  JD Hoover, from West Virginia, joined me to teach a class of 49 new students.  The students really enjoyed the resort but still put in the long days and work needed to successfully finish the class.

The two classes, totaling over 100, combined at night after dinner to do some activities under the lights by the beach.  Night time was the best time for activity.  Besides being cooler, it is the best time for the Muslim students to do activity during Ramadan.  Ramadan is a month of fasting between dawn and dusk.  By doing activities later in the evening the student were able to eat prior to the activity.

The activity sessions included static and dynamic stretching, a basic fitness test (push-up, sit-up and sit and reach tests), core conditioning and training using just body weight and manual resistance.

We were visited by some department of education officials which was an opportunity for group photos.

As usual group work went well.

I might have worked them too hard at times.

On to Kola Kinabalu

Moved from Tawau to Kola Kinabalu (KK) yesterday.  This week class is being taught at the Beringgis Resort.  Should be interesting to see how they accommodate potentially over 100 students.  An other instructor is arriving tomorrow to help teach these next two courses.

Couple lobby pictures

Views from the lobby and back towards the lobby

Some of the units

The pool area

Restaurant and beach area

The beach area

Last Week in Tawau for a While

Just completed the second week teaching the CEE 525, Fitness and Conditioning, course.  Had 45 students that all passed the course.  Next week is an off week and then we move on to Kola Kinabalu (KK) where we are supposed to be at a resort by a beach.  There are two more instructors coming from the states to help teach the next two courses so that we can run the over 110 expected students through the courses at once.

The students really enjoyed the practical and group work like usual.  I tried to get pictures of the practical sessions but they didn't turn out that great.  I included a couple below anyway.

The long days did start to get to everyone with a group taking naps during the lunch break in the lecture hall.

The program even made a local paper.

New Week, New Course

The teaching curriculum moves a little quicker here in east Malaysia since we only have two sections of each course instead of the four sections in most of the west regions.  This week presented the challenge of working through a 500-page book (there were a lot of pictures and exercise descriptions) with some very technical sections in 4 days, but the students rose to the challenge.  This week's course was Physical Fitness and Conditioning.  Some of the technical exercise science sections were difficult for the students to understand at first, but they really enjoyed the practical sections.  Many had not been exposed to the topics covered in the detail we covered them.

There will be one more section of this course next week and then a week break before both sections come together to cover two courses over a two-week span.

One group demonstrating PNF stretching for the class

Group led review of ergogenic aids (notice the much better penmanship and artist skills than the primary instructor)

Tawau

In east Malaysia, I am teaching near the city of Tawau in the Sabah region.  East Malaysia is located on the island of Borneo and consists of two regions, Sabah and Sarawak.  Sabah is the north east region at the top of the island and boarders Sarawak on the west and Indonesia to the south.  Tawau is along the southeast coast of Sabah and is next to Indonesia.  Tawau is the third largest city in Sabah, with the other two located on the northern coast.  In between lies a lot of forest and mountains, which is why it takes some of the students from the north coast 10-16 hours by bus to get to Tawau for our classes.