It's Not Just a Dream

So I've managed to get this blog kind of up and running again, despite having all sorts of problems with it before. I can't quite figure out what is going on with the formatting of the last post though. So I guess, all my dear readers, you're going to have to be alright with some strange font changes that are going on with that. Moral of the story, and the most important bit, is that this is up and running for keeping you updated on what's going on down south of the equator.

These past couple days still feel like a complete piece of something surreal out of a dream. After months of waiting for that upcoming date of October 15th, Alissa and I area finally down in New Zealand - Swanson, to be exact. We landed on Saturday morning in Auckland after at least 25+ hours of traveling and some delays in Los Angeles. The weekend's mostly been spent setting up our home bases with our host families - me with Rachel and Alissa with Jan. So far, I'm absolutely loving every minute of this - the food, the weather, the nature, the people, just everything about it. Rachel, Cam, and Ken have been more than welcoming in every way possible to make me feel like I'm at home, and I couldn't be more grateful for all of it. Louis the cat still seems a little wary of me, but I'm sure the adorable fluffy family member will start to warm up to be me over time.

Today, after having my initial excitement develop to nerves over the past day or so, I'm home after my first day at Swanson School. It's a little overwhelming, diving into the school right off the bat, especially since it's a completely different setting from what my previous placement was. I have a feeling, however, that it's going to be a great deal of fun that will end sooner than I want it to. There are about 30 students in the classroom, and a definite mix of Pacific Islanders, Maori, and European cultures. After talking to some of the students already, it seems that at least a decent handful speak more than just English alone. It should also be rather interesting with the variety of learning and age levels that exists in the classroom. I'm genuinely impressed with how well Amanda seems to handle the classroom environment that might otherwise give other teachers some problems. The students definitely know what is expected of them and what classroom regimen is. Though she keeps the class with a steady fist, she definitely has a warm aspect to her that the kids seem to love. I hope that I'm able to learn a lot from her through observing and working with her.

I'm a little nervous how the students will handle the transition between her teaching and me taking over for the period that I'm here. With my other placement, it seemed a little bit easier as it was at the beginning of the year. With this placement, however, I'm coming in at the end of everything, when the students have had Amanda for the majority of the time and are extremely used to her teaching styles. I guess there is only one way to find out how it will be, and I'll be sure to keep tabs on it all.

For now, though, it will mostly be me sticking to observations over the next week or so. I'll also be trying to get myself adapted to the whole Kiwi culture. Nothing has really thrown me off too much, yet, but I'm sure I'm bound to encounter something along the way - especially with some of the differences in colloquial phrases/words. I need to get my head back into everything though, as it's kind of hard still to realize that I'm actually here, this isn't all some sort of dream...