And...school starts ...

Greetings,

A month later than originally expected, school actually started on Saturday, 3 October. Hayden biked to the elementary school and met his teacher; Logan and I locked up our bikes and walked across the street to his school to meet his teacher, Ms. Sue. (See photo) I stayed with Logan to read some books in his classroom until Ms. Sue came over to say hello. After nearly nine weeks of living together at the Marriott hotel, our boys already know their teachers quite well - and vice versa. Logan's teacher is Australian and Hayden's teacher is from Canada, but what is most appealing about her - in Hayden's mind, of course - is that her Australian husband loves American football!

At the Harbor Secondary School, where David and I teach, class changes have been a constant for the last few days. Nearly all the boys who originally wanted to be placed in a boys' only program have opted for co-ed, as well as many girls. The school was initially founded with the understanding that there would be a girls' school, a boys' school, and a co-ed international school. Right now, it's all in the same place. The girls who have opted for the girls' school have a wing for girls only, but they are generally happier than we expected to come down stairs for classes and to share lunch in the lunchroom. The first day was complete with excitement, confusion, transition, exhaustion, activities, new friends, and - of course - a fire alarm! All systems are still being worked on. The air conditioning, for example, is either freezing cold with rooms around 16 degrees celsius or off which allows the rooms to

warm up to steamy mid-twenties. It's exciting. Though I teach co-ed classes, the students are mostly boys. I teach 7th grade humanities to 8 boys and 1 girl; 6th grade humanities to 3 boys and 1 girl; 7th grade P.E. to 8 girls. My colleague teaches the other half of the humanities classes, total grade 6 is around 9 students and grade 7 is around 20. More students are arriving in mid-October. Like their teachers, some families' relocation have been delayed in order to get the graduate students, professors, and teachers moved in. My students are wonderful. Having them in the class makes us realize, again, why we are here, adjusting, preparing, adapting, and working hard. They are so fun and many are eager to learn. I have students who are Saudi Arabia, British, Swiss, Palestinian-Jordanian, Filipino, Saudi-British, American-Egyptian ... They seem happy to be here and I see them acting as teenagers do world-wide - silly and sophisticated from one moment to the next. We are tired each day, not completely prepared for the next one, but making it work well nonetheless. All the teachers seem very jazzed about their kids!

David is no longer teaching just boys since the boys' only classes have disappeared - except for 2 boys in the 8th grade and that may change ... He is much more pleased to be teaching girls and boys because he thrives professionally in that setting. Must head off to dinner. More to follow. Students receive laptops tomorrow, which should offer new challenges and benefits!

Thanks for reading! Jennifer