Time Flies When You Are Having Fun?

SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!

I know it has been months since I last blogged but life gets in the way and it never seems to be that exciting.  But due to popular demand I will post a blog or 2.

Where to start is what I am struggling with – I had to go back and see what I last blogged about and try and remember what else has happened since then.

So here is my attempt to sum up October, November and part of December in one simple piece of writing. 

I have to start off by saying that before coming over here I didn’t expect this adventure to change my life and everything be smiles and roses, in fact I feel I had a realistic expectations of what it would be like living in the US.  It is the same as living in NZ  - I work, I sleep, I eat and I hang out with friends – the only difference is it is a different culture with different people!

One of the first questions people ask me is “are you enjoying it?” – my answer to this is - YES I am – it is different, challenging and at times very hard but the whole experience is a lot of fun and I am happy to be carried along on this rollercoaster ride!

So here are some of the highlights of the last 2 and half months since we last talked…

-       Discovering the international foods aisle in the local supermarket – while there is no NZ food there it has some English, Asian and Aussie foods that are close enough to home that I am happy – I am really enjoying Rice Crackers, Malt Vinegar, Butter Chicken Sauce, Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce and the odd Nestle and Cadbury product – it is so funny what you miss until you realise you can’t get it – bread that isn’t sweet, cheese that isn’t orange and tomato sauce that isn’t called Ketchup!

-       Meeting 3 other Kiwi teachers living in Fayetteville who are here through VIF – one weekend I went to an International Festival in downtown Fayetteville as part of VIF and was pleased to meet 3 teachers from different parts of NZ – it was such a relief to know that there were other people going through the same experience as me.  Two of the teachers have been here for 5 years and head back home in June, and the other teacher started the same time as me.  We have fast become friends and try to spend time together once a week – usually catching up for a meal.  We even had our own Kiwi version of a Thanksgiving meal – roast chicken, roast potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, mixed veges and gravy – my contribution was strawberries and ice cream to round off our awesome meal.  They have also dragged me along to a number of different restaurants in and around Fayetteville, and we even headed into the Dickens Candlelight Parade in town, just after Thanksgiving.  It has been so great to know that others have been through and are going through the same experience as me – thanks girls!

-       RWC – yes this even hit Fayetteville – I was so proud to be a Kiwi during this time and was saddened to miss out on being in the country at this time.  Thanks also to my mother for texting me from the opening ceremony to say what fantastic seats they had and how much fun they were having – was awake from 4am that morning trying to find it online.  One of the US TV stations showed some of the games and that was great to sit on a Sunday afternoon watching rugby and listening to the Kiwi accent of the commentators.  Managed to watch the semi and the final – imagine if you can 4 kiwi girls all congregating in one apartment at 3.30am, still half asleep, to watch a sports game half a world away – needless to say we were wide awake by the time the first whistle blew – and almost every neighbour in one apartment block was wide awake, thanks to our yelling and screaming, by the time the final whistle blew.  Again so proud to be a kiwi and I wore my AB shirt the next day in honour of the win!

-       Thanksgiving – was so glad that a friend I teach with took pity on me and invited me to share thanksgiving with her and her family – it was my first thanksgiving in the US and I was a little unsure about the whole thing.  The day was fantastic with lots of eating, talking, trivial pursuit and laughing (followed by more eating).  I have come to the conclusion that this time is one of family, friends and amazing amounts of food – who knew you could get a 22lb (10kg) turkey to fit in an oven!  It was leftovers for the following 7 days for my friend’s family.

-       Team Teaching – school is going well and has become more manageable as time has gone by.  Towards the end of October my buddy teacher and I went to the principal and asked if we could give team teaching a try – after putting our ideas forward and giving her an idea of the vision we had, she agreed.  So 2 classes became one, 20 kids became 39 kids, one classroom teacher became 2 and having to repeat all lessons were gone.  Unsure on how the kids would handle the change we proceeded with caution – but within 2 weeks it was second nature for them and they happily accepted that this was the way it was going to be.  It has been really successful with the students becoming one ‘whanau’ (family); lots of students have grown in their learning, attitude and are now excited about coming to school.  I now have a hand in teaching Science and Math instead of just Literacy, Social Studies and Writing.  I have been able to learn from my buddy teacher and hopefully in turn have been able to share what I know and do with her.  Early on in the experiment I came to the conclusion that in order for team teaching to work you have to get on with the person you are teaching with and I am grateful that both of us share the same teaching philosophy, we both have the same realistic expectations for the students and we both know the value of making learning fun and realistic.  I am truly enjoying being able to see the students having fun, learning to use the 6 thinking hats, working in groups, growing in confidence and getting excited when they are able to share their learning with others.
 -    LA Trip - on Veterans Weekend (2nd weekend in November) I flew over to visit a friend in Los Angeles.  I had so much fun catching up and spending time with someone who knew me and knew people I knew.  The weekend was spent shopping, eating, sleeping and lots of talking.  I love LA and in a way it was like coming home - coming back to a familiar place, that I knew.  I knew the shops I liked, the food I could find in the super market and people who knew where NZ was.  I think I will have to make a regular thing - oh I sound like a jet setter - ha, ha, ha

Well that is just a few of the highlights of the last couple of months – I am sure there are many more but these are the things that stand out for me – I hope I will be able to add to these as they come to my mind. 

At this point it would be useless for me to promise to blog more often because it probably won’t happen – ha, ha, ha.  Needless to say I will try very hard to post more blogs on a regular basis.

Hope all is good with you and that life is treating you well.  So until then…