and the rollercoaster continues...

This morning Adrienne and I had a lovely chat with our former LD ladies...missing being there with them - but it was an excellent way to start my day! I FINALLY got my parent hand out translated at run off around 8:30 this morning (meeting started at 9...slightly frustrating, but at least it got done!) The meeting began with grades 1-5 all together and the principal introduced the staff and went over some new policy things. After that they dismissed by grade level (but my translator was translating for the principal so I was last...yes I got my translator, more on that in a minute) So 5th grade leaves, then 4th, then 3rd, and then 1st. Well, half the room has gone with the other teachers and half the room is still sitting there...and just me left...huh...ok. So my translator dismisses me and my parents and follows me into my room. Apparently she thought Rachel was me so that's why she had gone over what to translate with her yesterday...administration realized I would be without a translator and fixed the whole thing up - thank goodness, my charades just aren't that good! So I then proceed to have 17 parents, 6 kids, several babies, and my translator try and settle into my room. I have the biggest class in the school and apparently the best attendance for the day - only one family not there! I went around and met each of the parents and asked if they wanted their hand-out in English or Japanese before finally making my way to the front of the room to start my presentation. Can I just say that having a translator is rather disconcerting? I had this big fear that something wasn't coming out right - but no one rioted or left, so I took that as a good sign :) I went over some other school policies that hadn't been covered in the big meeting and then went over my own policies. I had to stop every couple of sentences to let the translation happen - I lost track a couple of times because of the start and stop - but we all seemed to survive. No one really asked questions which made me nervous, I don't think I could ever be THAT thorough :) I had the parents write first day of school notes to leave on the desk for their child and got a chance to chat with a few parents afterwards. Everyone seemed very nice and not a peep out of the 6 kids I had in their so I'll take that as a good sign for behavior this year :) They happily whispered and read while I talked! All in all, much more successful then yesterday - oh and my fridge situation got all fixed up (thanks Mom!) SOOOO yea, the roller coaster continues - today being a good day - going to dinner at Laura's tonight so that should end up with a good finish - more tomorrow about our military base adventure!! Thank you so much for all your emails, skype calls, mail (got my first letter today!), thoughts, and prayers. I just keep reminding myself that this is a growing and learning experience for me and the kids this year! Much love to all of you! PS my hair stayed a normal size today thanks to multiple straightenings and some hair product - no chia pet teacher! :)