January and February have been crazy months! They have gone by so quickly and I feel like I've barely had time to even realize they were here. I seriously have no idea what happened in January. I didn't do any exciting trips I would remember those :)
School has been busy...the last 2 weeks has been insane. I've had 4 birthdays (remember this means the whole birthday party happens at school), Valentine's Day, Mother Tongue Week, 100 Day, White School (which means over half of the school is gone and some of the specialists), and there were a bunch of other things I can't remember anymore. I'm barely surviving this week, memory is not the most important thing right now. There has been this terribly illness/flu thing going around and it's knocking teachers and kids out for entire weeks. Well, at small schools in countries where people don't speak the language taught at the school subs are hard to come by. Therefore, when the Polish, Art, and P.E. teachers were gone these last 2 weeks that meant I got to teach those classes and not have any preps.....HURRAY!!! I am still loving my kids, but they have been a little extra crazy lately. We put on a play for the school and parents, The Little Gingerbread Man, it was pretty much all kid done. They made the background and masks in Art class, the Music teacher helped them create a song for the end of the performance, and then we practiced many, many times in class. The practice sessions left lots to be desired and I was quite nervous the day of the performance, but the kids pulled it off and it turned out really cute! It was their final assessment for our unit "How We Express Ourselves" and I would say they passed :) Shoot they're great at expressing themselves, its getting them to stop physically expressing themselves that is the problem, oh kindergarten. They are teaching me more than I ever thought possible. And I realized after break, much to my relief, they are actually learning!!! They are starting to sound out words and recognize sight words, they can add numbers!!! There was a point where I didn't know if any of it was getting through and I was SO happy to come back from Winter Break and realize it is! That's the really great thing about teaching such young kids, they learn lots and it is fun to see how much they've learned and feel that a tiny bit of it at least is because of you. We don't have school next week, so I will be getting a much needed break and hopefully will come back to a healthy and better listening group :)
As I just said, we don't have school next week, it is our February Holiday. I will be going to Sicily and Rome, Italy with two other teachers from the school. I'm really really really excited! I don't know if I've ever been so ready for a break or so in need of one. We're going to rent a car in Sicily I think and just drive around and see whatever we want to see. We're leaving it pretty open and just hoping for fun and relaxation. We all seem to have very similar traveling styles so I think it will be a great time! I also have a few trips planned when I get back! I'm going to a PYP training in Berlin in 3 weeks. I think I would probably rather just be traveling in Berlin, but I got to see a little bit of it when I was stuck there trying to get to Portland for Christmas and I'm really excited that the school is sending me to a training. Plus, it will be fun to spend time with some of the teachers and Meg Luttrell is going to the same training so we should be able to play! After that I am going to Cork, Ireland the next weekend for the St. Patrick's Day weekend. This will be a short trip, but I think it will be lots of fun and I'm excited to see some of Ireland. I have a week and half break at the end of April and I think I'm going to go to Istanbul, Turkey. A few other teachers from my school are going and I think Meg Luttrell is going to come too! I'm probably most excited for this trip! I never thought I would be that excited to go to Turkey, but parts of it have such a different culture from Europe or the U.S. so I'm excited to experience it and be in a warm place. Warmth is what guides most of my breaks :).
Summer planning is in the works... No exact plans yet, but Greece is for sure in there and hopefully Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden....along with a long list of other countries I'm hoping to see. I'm trying to figure out how to pack them all in at the moment.
I am realizing as I'm here that no matter where you are or who you're surrounding by your life is still your life. This sounds odd I'm sure, but I guess I just didn't realize how much would be the same even in such a different location. Food for thought :) I am still loving Poland! I do not second guess my decision to come here ever. I love this country and don't think I could have asked for a better school to have my first real teaching job at!!
