Beginnings

Today was the first day of school with the students and it could not have gone any better!!  I walked to school with my host brother Theo (who is in Year 8 and turns 12 in two short hours!!) and arrived just in time for staff devotions.  Hebron Christian College is just a short half-mile walk away from my host home and the sidewalks are usually littered with students walking to school or adults running to catch the bus to work.  After staff devotions I headed down to my classroom to find it already buzzing with my students and their families.  There is no school busing for students and most of my students are dropped of by/walk to school with one of their parents.  The parents were all about the classroom helping their child unpack school supplies and introducing themselves to me.  I have had parents of students that aren't even in my class come up to me, introduce themselves, and welcome me to the school (apparently the article in the school letter about my arrival was actually ready by parents).  It seems that I get not even two words out of my mouth before I am interrupted with "Oh, you must be from America!"  Is my accent really that thick?  My host brothers say that my accent is fine and that they actually enjoy it.  Anyway...I am getting off topic.  The first day with the students was wonderful, they are all so compassionate.  We spent the day teaching procedures and orientating them with the school as well as focusing on the Waitangi Treaty.  If you don't live in New Zealand and therefore don't know about the Waitangi Treaty check it out here.  You can almost kind of relate it to our Declaration of Independence.  I spent some time teaching random bits all throughout the day and have plenty of lessons to plan for tomorrow.  By the time the parents had returned to pick up their children I was absolutely exhausted.  Having the parents in the school twice a day is ideal for building a relationship and learning more about the students' home life.

The community at Hebron Christian College is astonishing.  I feel so welcomed and completely accepted by all of the other teachers at the school.  I have even had some history teachers approach me and ask me to speak in their class when they start to look at American History and civil rights.  I am intimidated with the content that they have asked me to speak on and wondering if my own knowledge is competent, but that isn't anything that Google can't help refresh my memory.

I have found my host family to be a wonderful way to learn more about the culture, they are so willing to answer all of my eclectic and off-the-wall questions.  We spend a decent amount of time each night asking questions back and forth about our own individual cultures.  My host brother Levi had some friends (all University aged) over the other night and I had loads of fun talking with them about things only college kids could enjoy...like fast food, terrible tv programs, slang, and sports.  I feel as if I could keep writing for hours, but I MUST get to writing lesson plans for tomorrow.

Introducing: Room 7.  The best class in the whole school. "We want people in America to know that we are funny!"