My One Month Anniversary with the UK

This week I saw the official one month anniversary of me being in the UK. It is crazy to think it has already been one month. There have been tears of laughter, tears of sadness, overwhelming feelings, excitement and adventure. The beginning of this week was a little tough. I definitely missed home and the realization that one month had passed made me miss my family and friends even more. Not only were my UK friends great this week, as per usual in supporting me (as we support each other always) during the one month mark, but my students and my friends and family  in Canada also helped. I told my students that I taught the day of my one month anniversary and they were very excited. They couldn't believe I had only been in the country for one month...even for me, sometimes one month seems so long other times I can't believe one month has passed already. In addition, hearing from some friends back home was really nice. Not that I have not heard from them at all, but either sensing or knowing my longing for home I felt a sense of support from abroad. Even my best friend, Tasha (there's a shout out for you) who I know is insanely busy with lesson planning, teaching and marking for her own classes got in touch :)  Thanks friends! Also, Ashley Robinson--thank you for uploading pictures of my going away party...it was great to see them and be reminded of how supportive everyone actually is in my life :) My family abroad was great with support this week too. I received several emails from the James side of the family with words of encouragement and thoughts of prayer for my success in England as well as my grandparents (Banks') travelled to England to visit!

They spent the week at my granddad's sisters' house and all three came to visit me on Saturday. I met them at the bus stop and we went for lunch at the White House...a favourite of mine (Sarah can agree). I wanted to introduce them to the great fish and chips there but unfortunately the restaurant ran out of them the night before...they will never know. After lunch we spent some time shoe shopping, a task that my gran and I both excel at and could spend hours doing. They bought me a pair of winter boots, even when I argued that I can buy my own boots with the money I make from my career, but they are stubborn and I have learnt to accept their kind and generous gifts. I was able to take them to the school I work at and give them a tour. They were the first to see my classroom all decorated and were definitely shocked at the large and new facilities my school offered. They were able to meet a few of my fellow Canadian/American teachers who were in on the weekend doing some extra work. After the school, the tour continued with a visit to my house. I think they were relieved to see that it was a real house, in a real neighborhood and not resembling anything like the first house I rented in Peterborough during University. We ended the visit with coffee/tea and cakes. It was great to see them and almost felt like I was home again. Plus they brought me Canadian Peanut Butter---way better than the sugary/grainy peanut butter I found here in the UK. I will be eating apples and peanut butter like clockwork now.

On the teacher side of things, I feel more confident/more prepared than I did the week before. I think each week I will accomplish or master something new. This week not only did I finally decorate my classroom but I was consistent on some classroom adaptations for students with learning disabilities and for classes with social/behavioural problems. There are still tons of areas that I need to improve on and as a teacher I will always be learning and adapting my teaching to meet new things but the accomplishments of this week seem like a success and I am going to celebrate them as one. Here's to hoping I meet my goals for next week!