Less than a week left in Grahamstown!

 This past week was the last 5 day week at Kingswood and things just keep getting busier and busier!

Monday was a pretty typical day. We have been practicing our Christmas Carols at Morning Assembly (Mondays and Thursdays) to prepare for our Primary Carol Service on Tuesday evening. The students in the 3R class started painting their salt dough ornaments which are turning out lovely.

Tuesday we had chapel first thing in the morning and I had my second and last observation! I taught a lesson on Cubes. Word got around that I had experience doing face paint and back stage "giving them the look" to students, so April and I headed over to the Pre-Primary school to help the little ones get ready for their play. The pre-primary school is just like a pre-school, but also has Grade R (Kindergarten). After school we went to the LeBone Center and made Christmas decorations with the children to put up on the walls.

On Wednesday grades one through three went on a field trip to a local government (public) schools play which was Oliver with a Twist. The play was an hour and a half long and it was...interesting! Leah, April, and I went to dinner with Jen, who teaches grade five. Jen is the youngest teacher at Kingswood and we have all found her teaching style similar to teachers back in the States. She is great! I also got my first piece of mail, a Thanksgiving card from my family, which arrived at the perfect time. It was weird to see my South African address on the envelope!

Thursday was a beautiful day! There was not a cloud in the sky and the temperature probably reached 80 degrees. Grades 1-3 had their annual tennis tournament all morning so it was a great day to be outside. I was in charge of the grade two girls. I had to keep track of their points and figure out who played who.

Thursday night I got a chance to Skype with my whole family who was celebrating Thankgiving in St. Joseph. It was so nice to see them all! That was the first major holiday that I have not been with my family, thank God for Skype:)

Friday we had Market Day! I taught both of the grade classes a lesson on Thanksgiving. When I told them that it was tradition to watch the Detroit Lions play they asked me if they won. Of course I had no idea, but could have predicted that they had lost. When we looked it up, the game had only ended forty-eight minutes earlier! From 10-12 the students could walk around and buy things at Market Day. Students in grade five and six set up their little shops and sold everything from candy to clothes pin animals. I tried a popular sweet here called "caramel syringes," which is like caramel flavored pudding in a syringe!

They also have condensed milk flavored-which I did not try. I should mention that these are sanitary syringes specifically bought for this purpose!

The pillow fighting!

After school on Friday we went to Kenton on Sea with Greg, one of the grade seven teachers. We spent a few hours at the beach and went to a local restaurant called Jeremiah's that looks out over the river/ocean. I tried a South African pizza that had avocado, bacon, and banana on it! On the way back I finally got a close look at some Zebras! Pronounced Z-eh-bra of course.

Zebras! Not a great picture due to the thunderstorm that rolled in

On Saturday I celebrated Thanksgiving with the missionary family I met. I was expecting maybe a few people from our Bible study to be there and then April and me, but no- there were probably over thirty people there! I had turkey, green bean casserole, corn casserole, salad, rolls, stuffing, and for dessert I had a piece of peanut butter pie and strawberry- rhubarb pie. Not exactly the traditional Thanksgiving menu, but delicious!

A look at the table setting for our Thanksgiving-we got to eat outside!

Saturday night I went to Miss Intermediate which was an event held at Kingswood for all of the girl boarders in the Junior School. The girls got dressed up and looked very 'smart' (a word used here to describe someone that looks cute/nice. To call someone smart to us would be 'clever' here) The Hall was decorated so nicely with a runway and everything. The girls had to strut down the runway and strike a pose and then answer a question. April and Leah were both guest judges all the way from the U.S.of A.:) They gave out awards for: best dress, best personality, princess one and two, and then Miss Intermediate. The event was put on by the stooges. Stooges are like resident assistants for all the boarding houses.

Foundation Hall set up for Miss Intermediate.
The runway is on the left.

Leah, April, and I headed to another Braai today. The family that had us over has a daughter in grade one, which April teaches in. Their house is beautiful, with a fantastic view of Grahamstown. At a Braai you do not get to the house and all the food is ready, you sit and talk for a few hours, have a glass of wine, then eventually get around to making the food. Now a real traditional Braai is cooked over a wood fire-not gas or charcoal! Meat is what the meal is centered around, like a barbeque. However, they don't just grill hamburgers and hotdogs, but a whole smorgasbord of meat including: pork, lamb, sausage, and chicken. I have become adventurous in trying new food. Today I ate some lamb, and tried mussels and oysters for the first time!

The Braai. They even have one inside for rainy days! South Africans do not mess
around when it comes to a Braai!

We got done with the Braai at around 5:30. As soon as I got home I got an SMS (what they call a text message) from Debbie wondering if I would like a lift to the advent carol service at the Methodist church downtown. Of course I could not miss out on Christmas carols! It was a huge Kingswood event. The Junior and Senior choirs both sang a variety of Christmas carols and the brass band and drum line also performed.

Weekly Outlook

Monday: Observing a township school, so excited about this:), shopping downtown one last time!

Tuesday: Last day at LeBone Center :(, Carol service, and dinner with my Bible study group

Wednesday: Leavers dinner (a traditional goodbye dinner for the seventh graders at the junior school) which  I get to be knighted at!

Thursday: Last day at Kingswood (only a half day), some meetings, and a lunch at Headmaster Derek Braans house, Traditional good bye dinner with my Host Family

Friday: Take off  for Cape Town at 7am!

Thank you for reading!

Cheers:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone at home a Happy Thanksgiving! This Thanksgiving I am very thankful for the opportunity to be here, as well as all the wonderful people I have met here who have made this experience truly amazing.

Tomorrow I will be missing out on Black Friday shopping, but we have Market Day at Kingswood! The fifth and sixth graders all use their economic and entrepeneurship skills and have little shops set up around the school. They have to create a company name, figure out what products they will be selling, rent tables to sell their merchandise on, advertise, etc. Some students are selling pillows to have a pillow fight with! I am really excited!

This weeked I am celebrating Thanksgiving with a couple I met who are orginially from the United States and are doing missionary work with the Khosa people here. Saturday morning I will head over to their house and help Susan prepare the dishes and table settings for our 'Thanksgiving celebration'!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I should also mention that I am thankful for the fact that I will be home for Christmas:)

One month down, only one more to go!

      I have made the conclusion that weeks here are never going to go by slowly. I have been in South Africa for a whole month now! Despite the play being over, this week was just as busy with school related activities and spending time at the LeBone Center.
      This week I started teaching a mini unit on Christmas around the World. It is extremely odd talking about Christmas when it is ninety degrees out! Looking up how Christmas is celebrated around the world has been very fun and the students love 'traveling' to different countries and choosing our next 'destination.' On Wednesday we travelled to China where we made origami boxes and also learned how Christmas is celebrated Down Under.  Friday we went to Brazil where we picked our amigo secreto, which is similar to Secret Santa, and then tomorrow we go to Ireland! On Thursday night I made a batch of salt dough so that we could paint ornaments sometime this week, and both of my grade three classes are busy decorating their rooms with nativity scenes, paper chains, and Christmas tree ornaments.

The nativity scene in the back of the classroom!

Folding our origami boxes on a civies day (no uniforms)

       On Friday I experienced my first Food Tech with Debbie's third graders. The Food Tech room is located in the basement of the school and has two large islands for the students to sit aound, four sinks for dishes, cupboards for all the dishes and ingredients, a refridgerator, and two stoves/ovens! We made a delicious chocolate cake from scratch and even made the frosting! The students were very self efficient, as soon as they were done with a bowl they headed over to the sink to wash it, and when they mixed ingredients in they counted to ten to make sure they were sharing the responsibility. From the teacher point of view I do not think I have heard "Mrs. Kent, Mrs. Kent" or "Miss L., Miss L." so many times, but I can't blame the students for wanting to make sure their cake turned out the right way!

Carefully stirring!

      After school on Friday we headed out to Port Alfred with Angela, one of the grade four teachers, who had to take her son to an eye appointment there. We spent another beautiful afternoon at the beach and got a quick snack at a restaurant that looked over the ocean. After we got back we quickly got ready for a Braai at the Wyvern. A Braai is like a Barbeque in the United States, but more official. For dinner they had an amazing salad with strawberries and avocados in it, rolls, curried chicken squires, lamb chops, and a potato bake. Interesting fact about a Braai: it is acceptable to use your hands! It was a nice evening spent with a lot of the teachers from Kingswood that have been so welcoming to us! After the Braai we headed out with some of the teachers sons and daughters who are home from school now for the holiday. The Rat and Parrrot was extremely crowded as exams are finally coming to an end. At Rhodes classes ended at the end of October and they 'write exams' for over a month!



         On Saturday, April, Leah, and I headed into Grahamstown to run some errands. We went to a photo printing place to get some pictures of our LeBone kids that we will give them as goodbye gifts. We also went into a bunch of little shops and boutiques and of course our favorite little market shop. The market shop is called 'Under the Arch' because it is under an arch that leads to Rhodes University, similar to if there was a shop under the big Grand Valley arch. A lot of the products they sell there they purchase from people who live in townships that have created some sort of craft or souvenire item, needless to say I love going in there and supporting the people of Grahamstown:) After a fun day of shopping we went over to Angela's house to go swimming. Of course twenty minutes after arriving the clouds rolled in! Saturday night we convinced Aegean to go out to dinner with us, so the four of us went to the Yellow House again and had dinner outside on the roof!

Me with Nikita, Shanelle, Megan, and Clint from the LeBone Center

      Today, Sunday, will be a busy day with lesson plans and getting ready for another week. I have my second and last observation with Jean on Tuesday! We are also going to another Braai that one of April's students parents invited us to. Then tonight we are planning our trip to Cape Town with my friend Maryke!



A view of the cottage/flat from the sliding glass door of the house,
so as you can tell they are very close!



The House on Fitzroy St.

Thanks for reading:)

Busy Busy Week

     What a hectic week it has been! The play is over and it went off without a hitch. For each performance I spent an hour and a half painting the grade one's animal faces. It was fun to have a little production line with all of the Mums that came to help. Wednesday's performance was for all the Granny's in Grahamstown and then Thursday we did the play for the whole Kingswood junior school, and Friday we did one performance for other schools in the area, and then Friday night all the parents came. Four performances for children grades one through three is pretty impressive!



One of the Leopard's. He was all about his cool teeth I painted.



     My job during the play was to sit back stage and turn on the Christmas tree lights after the Green Gang defeated the nasty Grey Gang-it was a pretty big responibility.

   

Me and some of the Green Gang: Rain Forest, Con Servation,
Rene Wable, and Oz Ozone Friendly



Everyone in their costumes and makeup

    After the play on Friday evening, April, Leah, and I headed to the Wyvern with Debbie, one of my cooperating teachers. The Wyvern is similar to a country club where parents, staff, and alumni come for dinner and drinks. It was quite unusual to see parents and staff members watching a cricket game and enjoying a drink at the same time!

    On Saturday, Cheryl (Leah's cooperating teacher) fetched us at a quarter past nine and dropped us off at Kenton on Sea (about a forty minute drive from Grahamstwon) so we could spend a few hours at the beach while she visited her parents. The beach was amazing! While I was looking out at the landscape and turqouise water I just kept thinking to myself that I am looking out at the Indian Ocean and I am in South Africa-Ahhhhhhhh!! Though the scenery was a lot different than in Michigan, April and I both agreed that we are vey fortunate to live in a state with such beautiful beaches. We stopped in Port Alfred for lunch and some shopping at a very nice outdoor/indoor mall. The restaurant we went to was called The Big Apple and all the things on the menu were places in New York, so we felt right at home! After lunch we went into Woolworths which is a department store that also has groceries! Both Port Alfred and Kenton were beautiful places that I would love to see again!

Kenton on Sea!

   Today Leah and I went to chapel at ten for a Remembrance Day Service, which is like our Veterans Day. It was a nice service and all the students looked so smart (cute/nice) in their uniform blazers. When we got home Grandma mentioned that her and Jean were going to see a friends house that she is building out of mud! At two we all piled into the car and drove over to Lusanne's house for tea. What a cool house! Lusanne has been working on this house for five years and it is made out of cob which is a mixture of clay, sand, and straw. It sits on a hill with an amazing view! The house is no where near completed, but Lusanne is living there with no running water and just a little stove and refridgerator- by herself with three dogs. She decided to use an alternative building material because something like brick would just look silly with that kind of landscape-which is pretty logical and admirable.

The beautiful view that makes you want to sing
"The hills are alive with the Sound of Music"

   Tomorrow April and I are teaching my grade three students a lesson on 'respect' due to some pretty sad circumstances that happened on Friday that has to do with inclusion as well as bullying. I am looking forward to co-teaching a lesson with April and I am praying that this lesson will hit home for students and that there will be some major attitude changes among these students!

Thank you for following!

Cheers

Just Now, and Now Now

    I have shared several South African sayings with you, but the one that has taken me the longest to get used to is 'Just Now'. My coordinating teacher, Linda, and I were talking about lesson plans and she says "Yes, we will go over that just now," she says this while she is walking out of the room. I stood there for a little while completely puzzled thinking she just ran out of the room real quick and she'll be back. I did not realize that just now means in a little while to us or later! Then now now really means right now!

   Friday night I went to the Italian restaurant in Grahamstown called Gino's with Jean, April, Leah, and Aegean. I got pizza and it was delicious! After we got home I watched the Bachelor with Jean and Aegean-it was an episode from about three seasons ago. It was nice to have a relaxing Friday night. Saturday was a busy day of shopping in Grahamstown. I finally had time to do some leisurely window shopping and I found this really cute market type store on the Rhodes campus. All the COST girls attended Aegean's basketball game which was at St. Andrews, another nearby private school. It was quite different to sit outside for a game and we were all impressed that Aegean was not all talk when it came to his basketball skills:)

   Saturday night we went to the Rat and Parrot for Lauren's last night and made a delicious family dinner on Sunday. It is a going away tradition to have a big dinner on your last night. We all sit around the dining room table and after dinner and dessert we go around saying one thing that we will miss about the person who is leaving, and then in return they say something they will miss about us. Whenever Grandma talks I get teary-eyed because she is just so sweet and sincere with her comments.
     Today, Monday, before heading out to school I had to say goodbye to Lauren. It is hard to say goodbye to someone when you barely got a chance to get to know one another and you just know that you would be really great friends. We said goodbye and said that we would talk just now.

    Despite the melancholy walk to school I had a great day with my third graders. I taught a lesson on opposites which went well and I have found that the 'naughty' boys are starting to come around. After school I did Sport (tennis) with eight of my third grade girls. Again, I tried to act like I had been coaching tennis for years, but luckily they were responsible enough to tell me what they needed to do.

    After sport Leah, April, and I went to the Lebone Center which is an afterschool program which children that live in the Townships attend. What an amazing experience. The three of us are going to head over there as much as possible after school. While I was there, me and a little boy Simon, played Afrikaans Bingo, read, and then played outside with all of the kids. Right when I walked outside April was rounding up the kids for a game of hide-and-go-seek. All of a sudden we see two children running towards us on the roof!! April and I just looked at eachother in disbelief and could not help but laugh. We then established a "No going on the roof to hide" rule. These children were very happy to have people for them to play with and gave us all huge hugs before we left.

The weather has been beautiful the past two days and I am so hoping that it is going to stay this way!

I finally moved into the cottage with Leah since Lauren left. My suitcase is 100% unpacked.

Cheers.

Two Weeks Down!

Two weeks of student teaching at Kingswood are done and I cannot believe it. Unfortunately on Monday night a cold hit me like a ton of bricks and I headed to the Sanitarium at Kingswood early Tuesday morning to hopefully get an antibiotic.Turns out I had tonsallitis a.k.a. the worst sore throat I have ever had. Having a fever and the chills in another country was not fun, but Grandma took great care of me. To make somewhat of a long story short, I am feeling 100% better and am glad to put that South African experience behind me!

    On Wednesday I headed back to school and taught one of my third grade classes a lesson on punctuation, as well as a Maths lesson. I put my students in 'Smartboard Spots' due to some talkative combinations I was worried about and quickly ran through my expectations of how it would be used. Using the Smartboard to increase student engagement worked beautifully (an expression they use a lot here) and I am looking forward to incorporating it in some future lessons.

This was our last week of play practice and as you can see the back drop has been completed and the robot is now onstage. Traffic lights are called Robots here, and in the play it is an Environmental Indicator which is stuck on Amber/Yellow! During one of the practices I helped Kate, a Grade 2 teacher, cut the Green and Grey Gang's t-shirts which brought me back to my High School t-shirt making days:) It will be very exciting to do dress rehearsals next week with full costumes and makeup!

The second grade Litter Louts. A picture of them in their costumes
and doing their dance will be coming soon:)

   On Friday we had a half hour of 'Open Book' time where parents are invited to come in and look at their childs work before reports are sent home and parent teacher meetings are scheduled. During this time my third graders had Art, which their normal teacher does with them once a week, instead of having an Art special or an Art teacher. The art project this week was to draw their character in the play in pastel and then put dye/watercolor paint over it.

Some of my  third grade boys enjoying the photo op
as well as promoting some Quali juice.

My Grade 3K class taking a funny photo. K stands for Kent, the last
name of one of the teachers and the other class is 3R, for Reynolds. There are 30
students total between the two classes!

The right side of beautiful Kingswood Junior School. Those doors lead
straight to the classroom and the grassy area is where students play at break time,
to the right of me is a small jungle gym.



I did sport on Thursday with Debbie, Mrs. Kent, and the view from the tennis courts
was just divine (another expression) you can also see the pools under the tall court light to the left.


Wishing everyone a great weekend at home!

No travel plans for the weekend, just hanging around Grahamstown and spending time with Lauren before her bon voyage back to the States!

Cheers!!

Some of the pretty flowers in 'Grandma's' Garden

Wonderful Weekend, Wonderful Start to the Week

    On Friday evening I attended that Piano Man concert that I had mentioned earlier. It was great! The view from the Monument is spectacular at night and the architecture inside was just beautiful. The ‘Piano Man’ himself was very funny which was nice because he did play quite a few classical pieces in the beginning. The pieces that they played were from different time periods and focused on the piano’s place in music concert since the piano is celebrating 300 years! And yes, he did end with Billy Joel’s Piano Man.



April and I with the lights of Grhamstown in the background

    I woke up very early Saturday morning and walked to Kingswood with Leah and April. We got on the bus (a fifteen passenger van) with a bunch of 5-7th graders and headed to Port Elizabeth for their Swimming Gala. The facility that the pool was in was very nice. The pool was 50 meters and had touch pads so they did not really need too many volunteers. The three of us mainly cheered and kept the girls busy while they waited for their event, reminding them to not eat too many Wine Gummies before they swam! These wine gummies are basically gummie candy that tastes like different adult beverages like vodka, cider, and wine-not something that we would find in the U.S. I don’t think! At Interval (halftime/intermission) Leah’s coordinating teacher took us to a nearby shopping center so that we could experience the South African retail scene. The shopping mall was very similar to that in the U.S. though a whole level was dedicated to banks and a post office. I tried South African cream soda which is called Spar- Letta and it is bright green! Instead of a vanilla taste it kind of tastes like lemon-lime. I’ll be excited to have a Faygo Cream Soda when I get home. We went into several clothing stores which had a lot of the same kind of clothes you would find in Michigan in the summer. Mom and Dad you would be proud, I have not bought one piece of clothing yet:)
    On Sunday evening we went to Rhodes University for the opening night of a conference Jean’s students are having. Jean teaches a research methods class for pre-service teachers like us and they are presenting their big research projects this week. The event was kind of like a “Congratulations, you’re almost there!” type party. We met several of Jean’s students and had a great time talking to them about their teaching programs in comparison to ours in the U.S.

       Play practice has continued and I am very much ready for opening night! Today one of the grade two teachers asked me to choreograph the boys song that they go to center stage for. They were originally just standing in a straight line, and everyone thought that it needed a little something more. The second grade boys are called the Litter Louts and they sing about littering. It was fun to think of different hand gestures and dance moves, as well as hear and consider the boys suggestions. When they got on stage to practice with the rest of the group I was so nervous that they would not remember anything causing me to look like the incompetent American Student Teacher. That was not the case at all, they definitely need some more practice, but I have confidence that they will do great come next week!

     

       This afternoon Leah, April, Lauren and I headed to Grahamstown to explore and get some groceries. We went to a store called Fruit and Veg (I won’t tell you what you can get there) and then we stopped at Wimpy’s for milkshakes and smoothies. No matter where we go Leah always gets a milkshake, and she drinks them down like nobody’s business. Lauren leaves in a week and we discussed what she was going to do for her last weekend in South Africa. It was nice to just sit and talk about our school day and our experiences with teaching thus far. I feel very fortunate that we all get along and enjoy each other’s company. Lauren has been here since the beginning of August and she has been our little information and advice source. I am really going to miss that Southern Bell!

              Tomorrow is a very busy day with School, Sport (swim practice with the Whales, their team name), Grade 5 prep, and working out with some teachers!

                  For those of you wondering how the weather is…tomorrow is supposed to be 81 degrees:)


I got so excited when I saw this Christmas Display!

Beautiful flower we saw on the way into town