Blood, sweat and tears

Oh yes the children have started at my school! The blood has been minimal, but very traumatic none the less. The sweat has also been minimal since it is Belgium where the sun hates to shine. There have been lots of tears however!

I am fully oriented and it is time to start working now. The way that the school brings the children into
 the school at the young age is very helpful. They started last Wednesday with 15 minute individual meet the teacher blocks for parents and kids. Then Thursday and Friday were two small sessions for one hour. This week is all of the children but only for a half a day. It has been an interesting week, but lots of fun! Many of the children do not speak a word of English and some of them have been having trouble leaving mom and dad. The other day I had a conversation with a little boy without understanding a word he was saying. We carried on as if we understood though, I presume we were both talking about how the ball was rolling. It is great to see the children interact with just gestures and usually just staring at each other. They are too cute for words!

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to Ostend, which is on the coast. The weather was great for Belgium standards! No rain and even some sun. Not quite beach weather but it was great to go see the water. The water was actually pretty warm so I enjoyed playing in it with my pants rolled up. It was a great wonderful day trip and pretty cheap!

This past week I got my first big kid pay check! It was very exciting and I made a great trip to the Sunday market with my earnings. I bought lots of fruits and veggies! The market is near school on Sunday's so after shopping we stopped at school for the welcome back BBQ! They really go all out for this thing it was very impressive. They had a DJ and a bunch of bounce house things. The playground was barely used because of the other fun things.

The other day I also signed up for french class! I am starting next Thursday. :) I get reimbursed by school so I figured why not try it. My days will be very busy though. Monday and Wednesday I will not get home til around 6 or 7. Tuesday and Thursday I will be getting out of school doing my after school activities, working out at school then going to french. I will not get home until after 9! It will be worth it though. I sure am keeping busy. More people keep making plans to come visit as well which is very exciting and will keep me busy! :)

Miss you all back home. Talk soon!