I woke up this morning to a demon alarm. I have the old school alarm with two bells, except it rings and screams "Good morning, Wake up!" I set my alarm for 5:10, as I always do. However somehow it went bazerk at 3 in the morning. When I finally got a grip on reality and turned on my light, I couldn't understand how my alarm clock was ringing when it was still set for 5:10. Oh my! Then it started making animal noises. (This is not a joke - I think in attempting to turn it off, I switched the alarm to animal noises and it went off again).
Well long story short, I finally got my life together, slept for a few more hours and eventually got up. Leanne and I took back to school pictures in front of our house. I felt like a little kid again. It was kind of fun.
Leanne and I drove in with our neighbors (their daughter has her first day of school in Kindy today). We got the last things ready in our class and crossed our fingers. Then the LCD (projector) went out and I kinda lost it. I kept saying I need LSD, I need LSD, and my teacher kept laughing at me. Whoops - I meant to say LCD. We got it working just in time for the parents to come.
The parents come for the first two hours of school for a presentation and information session. We also work with the kids and try to keep them busy here. The parents were amazing. I have been told the parents have a little bit of an issue adjusting to new international teachers, but they were very open with me and extremely talkative.
My friend Dini said that in Grade 5 parents really liked my teaching and presentation style. What a blessing to hear that. It was so reassuring to me that the parents approved (especially being a new teacher and all).
We played people bingo, filled out some get-to-know-you sheets, and talked about birthdays and other important events. By then it was lunch. The day was half over - wow! I ate lunch with the principal and Dini, as well as the PE teacher Febri. We had a nice chat and it was refreshing to talk to other people around my own age.
After lunch I had English - Grade 6 for three periods. We played the toilet paper game (they have to take as many squares as they want and for each square they have mention something about themselves). We also played the stranded on the deserted island game (where they choose one thing, tell why, and form groups of how they would use their items for survival). This transitioned into how we in Grade 6 will work as a team and a family to make English 6 work. We made some class rules and then went to the library for the remainder of the period.
I came back for a break (while Budi taught Math) and then took my Grade 3 students to the library as well. I had a blast with my Grade 3 students. We started the book, "The Best School Year Ever" - which is a follow up to the "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" (however you can read the books in whichever sequence. The students thought it was the funniest book ever - and actually I laughed aloud a number of times. It's a great book to start the students out with.
Now I have the rest of the afternoon off because Budi is teaching Bahasa language. It's nice to sit down for a while. I'm totally wiped. What a day! I'm so glad it was good, but I'm also so glad it's over. So much stress and anticipation for one single day! I feel very content and calm now.
Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement. God is good! Love to all!
PS - enjoy the 1st Day of School Pictures below!
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