A pint with the superintendent..

I am pleased to say we finally have wifi!!!! Sort of..it's really crappy wifi but hey, better than nothing. Its the second week of school and things are going really well!! I've been working more with the students, helping in math and with any other assignments. I love how they really listen to me, if I tell them not to talk..they instantly stop talking and continue working. This may seem trivial but it still surprises me. I am really starting to love my kiddos. One girl after school asked if its difficult to be a teacher. I answered that it is sometimes..but its normally worth it. I asked her what she wanted to be when she got older and she said "An architect..I'm really good at drawing blueprints." Now this girl is at the top of the class in every subject and is exceptionally bright..I told her I believed she would be an incredible architect. The next day she brought me a blueprint of a mall she wants to build one day :) It made my day. This week I'm leading a science project with the class..and next week I'm taking over spelling and working with read alouds. I'm slowly but surely taking on more responsibility and I'm excited about future lessons I'm already planning. 

So yesterday after school I played volleyball with about 10 other teachers and it was fun! The teachers were wayyy better than I expected! They liked to joke with each other and were pretty competitive. After we played about 6 games (full games! some of these teachers were in their 60s!) they offered to take us to a pub called Checkers for a drink. The superintendent, Frank, picked us up and took me, Stephanie, and Micaela and chatted with us in the car about how our student teacher has been going. When we got to the pub, there were 6 other teachers there and we all discussed how its been living in England. Everyone I have met through Dods has been nothing but nice and generous. These teachers were offering to give us rides to the airport and told us if we ever needed anything to ask (I then started throwing out dates, asking if they were free..). Frank was asking more about what trips were were going to take and how living in the dorms has been..it was just interesting to have a sit down conversation with him and be so informal. Was not expecting to have a pint with the superintendent at all..but he was very nice and tried to be helpful in answering any questions we had. He also asked for our feedback about the dorms and other situations so I'm glad we could be helpful in return. 

This week has been fantastic and I look forward to a quiet weekend on base, working on more lesson plans and assignments for school. We are in talks about going to Paris at the end of September and I hope that happens! We are also discussing going to Denmark as Kali has a friend who offered for us to stay with her and be our tour guide if we come. I have also received a mailing address!!! Well technically its Jenn's address but whatever, she said I could use it haha. Message me on Facebook if you would like the address! Mailing to the base is actually very cheap..there is no expensive international fee due to it being military shipping. Feel free to send me food, warm clothes, and lots of love. Speaking of warm clothes..I feel like I skipped autumn and the weather has gone straight into winter. Its been rainy and in the 50s and low 60s. And there is no heat in our dorm. Luckily Jenn has let me borrow a heater so I don't freeze to death in my sleep. Pray I do not catch pneumonia or hypothermia! 

I'll try to keep updating and I appreciate all of the encouragement and sweet comments!! You have no idea how uplifting they are. 

Love love love