Connecting With An Old Friend

We first met when we were about nine years old.  We quickly became friends - best friends.  We were in the same class, but I think she had started coming to my school when we were in grade four (I seem to recall her being in my brother's class), but I don't know if we had become friends then.  I do remember that we were in the same class in grade five, and that's where our friendship developed.

I don't remember specifics about playing together, outside of school, but I do remember going to her house or her coming to mine.  I also somewhat remember her little brother (who was probably a year or two younger than us) playing with us sometimes.  It's been over 30 years since we last saw each other.

At the end of grade five, my family moved to New Brunswick and I was quite upset about losing my best friend.  Somewhere along the line, I had acquired a decoration for my bed.  It was a red octopus made from yarn.  It's tentacles were thickly braided, and the round head had been tied off (giving it a head shape).  I put that octopus on the centre of my bed, tentacles spread out, and I thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.  Before we moved, I gave it to V.

For a few years, V and I would exchange letters via snail mail (this was before the internet, before email, texting, and Facebook), but as we grew older we gradually lost touch.  Over the years I've thought about her, wondered what she was doing and where she might be living.  When Facebook came out, every so often I would try to search for her with no luck.  I tried to Google her name, hoping something would come up, but I had no luck with that either.  I figured she had married and without her new last name (providing, of course, that she took her husband's name) I wouldn't be able to find her.  I never really gave up trying to find her again.

Last night, we reconnected!

You see, back in October, I was searching Facebook for her again.  I remember she had two brothers, though I couldn't recall her older brother's name.  I was fairly certain of her younger brother's name.  I tried searching for his name on Facebook.  I came across a man with his name, but since I also hadn't seen him in over 30 years, I had no idea if it was B.  I decided to try my luck.  I sent a message with details of where V and I had lived (very close together) and mentioned about being in the same class, etc.  I mentioned that I have been trying to connect with her for so long, and if he were indeed her brother, B, I wondered if he could put me in contact with her.

I waited a few days for a response, and after not receiving one, I sent a message to a woman on his friend's list with the same first name has V.  Again, I gave details that might spark a couple of memories.  I never heard anything back.  I assumed I had the wrong people and felt a little disappointed.

About three weeks ago, I received a reply from the man I had messaged.  He had only come across my message (and several others he didn't know he had).  This was indeed V's brother, B!  He said I should contact her (and yes, that was V in his friend's list) directly.  Well, I became busy with work and was sick for a little while, so I hadn't been able to send another message to V.

Last night, V contacted me!  My message had gone to her spam folder so she hadn't seen it.  She'd been talking with B that day and he had mentioned me contacting him and said she should check her spam folder to see if I had sent her a message.  She did, and then she replied.

We messaged back and forth for a little while, doing a little catching up, but soon she had to go as she had some work to do.  We promised to chat again today, and we did.  I'm not sure how long we messaged back and forth, but we recalled memories and people from the past.  She had also wondered about me over the years and had hoped we could reconnect one day again.

I'm so thrilled that V and I have been able to renew our friendship again and start catching up on life over the years.  I hope that now with modern communication being a lot easier than it was in our youth, V and I will be able to stay in touch now.  I can't explain just how happy this makes me feel. I've reconnected (over Facebook) with a few others from my childhood, but I've not felt as happy as I am with this.

I'm so thankful God has brought V back into my life!

One More Sleep

It's hard to believe, but my time in Melbourne, Australia is finished. Tomorrow morning we begin our long journey back home to Canada. We've been here nearly two months, and the time has flown by so quickly.

Last week was my last week at the school, with Friday being my last day. Actually, we were there only half a day since we left for Sydney after lunch. Two of the teacher's from Sarah's school took us, and we stayed at the apartment of one of the teacher's brother. That last day of school was sad - I'll definitely miss those kids, as well as my host teacher and the other teacher in the room.

On Wednesday of that week, they had a little Australian party for me. They had the kids bring in some different foods that Aussies eat (and they were allowed to bring in food from other cultures if that is what they eat as well). There were lots of different things to eat, and the kids enjoyed it (I did too). There were several different types of cookies (or biscuits as they call them), some sandwiches, sweets/desserts, and one of the teachers brought in a little BBQ and cooked sausages on it. One of the "sandwiches" that were brought in tasted great - I loved it! It's called Fairy Bread and all you do is butter a piece of bread and put cake sprinkles on it. Sounds gross, but it's not.

I also had my first taste of Vegemite. That was totally disgusting! My host teacher, C, captured the moment on video. I thought she was only going to take a picture, but she taped the experience. She then showed it to some of the teachers, and then on my last day she showed the kids. Everyone thought it was quite funny (so did I). I really don't know how they can eat that stuff! I suppose, though, that if it's something you are brought up on you get used to it and grow a fondness for it.

Back to my last day...the two classes I helped in got me an Aussie kids book and they all signed it and put a picture of the classes in it, as well as a picture of me tasting the Vegemite. It was quite sweet (the book, not the Vegemite). C also got me an Australian kids book as well. The principal gave me a school mug and several different chocolate bars (one or two we have back home, but the others we don't have). When it was time for me to go, the kids all came over and hugged me, and one little boy says to me, "Ms. S, Tom's crying." One of the little boys had tears in his eyes, but just walked away after hugging me. I don't know if he was sad I was leaving, or if it was for some other reason, but I like to think he was sad that I was leaving.

That afternoon we flew to Sydney. We were there until Sunday night, and had a great time seeing the sights. The main reason we wanted to head to Sydney was to see the Opera House. We got to see that, the Sydney Harbour bridge, and several other places.

Early Monday morning we headed for the last leg of our vacation (the internship part wasn't vacation) and flew up to the Gold Coast. We stayed in a cute little town called Coolengata. Our hotel was a two minute walk from the beach. It was a beautiful place, and there was gorgeous weather. Unfortunately, Tuesday morning I wrenched my back and couldn't do much of anything the rest of the day and most of the next day. The girls went to a chemist (the Australian version of a drug store) and got me some meds after talking to the chemist/pharmacist. Those seemed to help as they had codeine in them. Thursday I walked around and took some pictures. I didn't go swimming because I didn't have a bathing suite, and my back was still sore. I was actually trying on a bathing suite when I wrenched my back...go figure.

Thursday evening I went to an after hours clinic to see a doctor for my back. He agreed with me that it was a muscle problem and wrote down two different types of pills to get (over the counter kind) as well as a prescription for an anti-inflammatory and Valium. He said the Valium was for the plane trip (it's a long flight) and that both the prescribed meds would make me drowsy. I have been taking all but the Valium and it's helping. I plan on only using the Valium on the plane ride.

All in all, I had a great time here in Australia. If you ever get the chance to visit this country, you should go - lots to see and do! I don't know if I'll ever have the opportunity to come back here, but if I do, I'll head this way again; I'd like to see the teachers/friends I've made on this trip again.

But for now, I need to get some rest (the pain pills I took a little while ago are kicking in and I'm feeling tired), and then do my packing. I'd like to take my host family out for supper tonight to show them my appreciation for all they have done for me while I was here. They are great people, and I'm glad I had the opportunity to meet and stay with them.

The next time I write, I'll be back home in Canada. See you soon!

School's Out...

I finished my classes on Thursday, and all I have left to do is my teaching internship - which starts tomorrow!

I'm excited but nervous. I was lucky that I am able to be in the same grade 2 class where I have been doing my observations on Fridays since October. This way the kids will be used to me (so will the teacher), and I'll be used to them. I do know I have one student who has Asperger's and there is a TA in the room who works with him. Hopefully she'll still be there. There are also a couple of kids who get pulled out (usually during math) to go see the Resource Teacher to get help with their reading. These are things I need to be aware of in the class - they dynamics and all that stuff.

We are supposed to get eased into things by teaching a class here and there, and then gradually working our way up until we are the ones responsible from the time we set foot into the class, until the time we lock up and leave. Then we get eased back out towards the end. However, where I have been in this class and know how the kids are and what to expect (and how the teacher runs the classroom), my teaching time might come quicker than someone going into a class they've never been in before.

At any rate, I'll find out more tomorrow and I'll sit down with the teacher and find out what she's teaching, what she wants me to teach, where she is in the curriculum, the procedures for fire drills, helping her if she has lunch duty or something, etc. I'm also supposed to get involved with the school (clubs, etc.). I'm not into sports, so I highly doubt I'll be doing anything with that. I'm not musical so I wouldn't be doing anything with that. I might see if my host teacher needs help with the literacy group she has going though. Also, I was thinking about hanging out with the chess club (sounds geeky, I know), though I can't play chess. I'd like to learn, so maybe I can help out there and get the kids to teach me how to play. I'll have to see what else they have going and see where I can help out.

In other news, at Sunday school, we started a new module this week. This is when new classes start up and others end. The one I had been in didn't continue on for this module, so I joined another class. This one is a women's group as well, and it's small (at least so far). We are doing the Women of Faith series and so far it seems like it might be good. This study is all about finding balance in our lives (physical, mental, emotional, spiritual). I'm looking forward to this class.

I was also able to spend the afternoon at my best friend's house - something I haven't been able to do in a long time. One of our other friends, and her two kids, are down for a few days so we all hung out together. It was really great to be able to spend time with them. Since I should be able to hang out after church now that I don't have to worry about doing homework, we are thinking of possibly starting up another Bible study. Not sure what we'll do or anything like that just yet, but I'm sure we'll be talking more about it next week.

Well, I'd better head off now. I need to work on my observation journals and get that caught up so I can hand it in before Friday. We also have to do journals throughout this part of our internship as well, but it focuses more on us rather than observing the operations of the classroom and teacher we observed. Those of us doing the second half of our observation in Australia will have to finish our journals for teaching in those classrooms as well (the ones staying here to do their internships - regardless of when they actually do their internships will have to do them as well, only they'll have one class to worry about).

Any way, I hope you'll have a blessed, Christ-filled day!

It's The Weekend Again

Another weekend is upon us, the sun is trying to shine through the clouds (it is bright out) and some flurries are fluttering to the ground. It is the middle of February; hard to believe the month is going by quickly - or somewhat quickly. Soon it will be spring, the snow will be gone, the temperatures will warm up, and I can't wait. I think I am tired of all the snow and cold of this winter.

Yesterday the grade two class where I observe, held their Valentine's Day party. The kids were excited from the moment they walked into the classroom. They wanted to pass out valentines immediately. However, their teacher had to remind them to put the cards away until after lunch. She had been explaining all week that the party would be in the afternoon, and the morning was just like any other school day. She had even spent about five to ten minutes the afternoon before reminding the kids, getting them to tell her when the part was, what they were supposed to do with the valentine's when they got to school in the morning. They knew the answers. Yet, she had to get stern with them several times because the kids kept asking when they could hand out the cards, eat the food, etc.

All in all, the little party was fun. The kids really enjoyed getting to go around and put their cards into the construction paper pouches they had worked on during the week. The pouches were taped to the back of the child's chair, and the teacher explained to be careful or the pouch would rip off. A couple did get ripped from their chairs, but it was accidental both times and more from brushing past them rather than putting someting inside.

This coming week is a little busier than last. I have a presentation on Thursday (there are four of us in the group), we are meeting on Monday again to put things together, and will probably have to meet again to work on the lesson plan we have to submit for the presentation as well. I also have two speaker's responses and an article critique due on Tuesday and Wednesday. Other than that, the bulk of my work next week will be in working towards next weeks assignments, presentations, etc.

Today is going to be busy trying to get some readings done, searching for an article to critique (really it's more of a review of the article, but they call it a critique), look into starting two lessono plans for my math class, looking for info to bring for our meeting on Monday regarding the presentation next Thursday, as well as hopefully beginning to create my portfolio, a wellness plan (for phys. ed. class), and phys. ed. resource binder. It all adds up quickly!

On top of all that I want to do some crafty things this weekend as well. I need to work on a scarf (knitting) that I have to do for an exchange group I'm in, something for my best friend for our "after Christmas gift exchange" which we decided to hold on St. Patrick's Day (neither of us had the time or money to do anything at Christmas so we decided to put it off until March). We did this one other year as well, only we chose Thanksgiving to do it then. So, I need to figure out what I'm going to do for her and get cracking. I also want to try and do some scrap booking or work on some handmade cards this weekend as well.

Well, I am starting to ramble, and there really isn't much more to talk about, so I will end here. Have a blessed and Christ-filled day!

It's Sunday

I had a nice relaxing afternoon with my best friend and her nearly nine year old daughter today. We used to get together pretty well every Sunday after church, but since I've been home from Korea - especially since I started back to school in the fall - we haven't been able to hang out too often. It's because of the amount of school work I have, and I generally need my Sunday afternoons to work on presentations or critiques or other various pieces of homework related stuff.

It was a really nice day today, weather wise. It was supposed to go up to around +7C or +9C, but I don't know what if it did or not. It was definitely mild and sunny, though. It's also supposed to go down colder tonight, so I would expect some slippery roads in the morning. Maybe I'll luck out and they'll cancel school tomorrow, but I doubt it; they never cancel unless its extremely bad and they've pulled busses off the roads.

We had a nice surprise this weekend. My younger brother, his significant other, and their son came up yesterday and stopped in. We didn't know they'd be here, and my brother said they had only decided that morning to make the trip up since the weather was cooperating for once. We haven't seen them since Dad's funeral in August, so it was a nice surprise.

Well, I'm going to head off and make a phone call and hopefully get to some knitting or reading before bed. Have a Christ-filled day!