Surprise!
I'm home in good old Southern California!
I originally said I'd be flying in June 12th, but that was a cover up for the surprise my dad and I had planned for my mom. He told her he had to go on a business trip and talked to a good friend on hers to come and make sure she stayed at home that afternoon. I made sure to call her the night I left Chiang Mai so she wouldn't be worried about not hearing from me for the 24 hours I'd be flying. My dad picked me up Sunday morning and when we got home, my mom and her friend were sitting in the backyard looking at plants. I walked out the back door and my mom saw me, and fell over! Then she yelled at my dad, trying to figure out what we had told her was a lie and what was truth. Then she started crying as we hugged. (Video coming soon!) Since Sunday, I've been laying around, unpacking, and generally settling in and combatting jet lag (Its 5am as I write this). It was really nice to go off the radar for a couple days and spend some wonderful time with just my parents.
Last week of school!
To catch you up, the last week of school was crazy! Monday-Wednesday were normal days, finishing up the last academic tidbits of Second Grade along with assessments. Our students improved by leaps and bounds this last quarter! We ended the year with the majority of student reading at a least a middle of Third Grade level (some into 4th grade) and doing math facts like you wouldn't believe. After school, I started cleaning up my classroom, taking down bulletin boards, returning graded work, finishing report cards, and getting rid of unused junk that had been in my classroom all year long.
Then, Thursday and Friday were half days. The week prior to the last week, each class had begun practicing a Reader's Theatre (for those of you not in education: Reader's Theatre is where the class practices and preforms a short play where they read their parts instead of memorize them.) Thursday was our final practice day, as well as our classroom mini award ceremony, among generally sending everything home with the kids. I gave them all clean up jobs to do which they love being helpful in that way! On Friday we had a school-wde assembly where each grade had the opportunity to perform in some way. We had just finished our unit on Country Living and Economics (Country Fair deserves is own blog post… That will have to come later.) so the Second Graders were set up to perform the Virginia Reel. After the assembly, we headed back to our classrooms to perform our Reader's Theatre plays for each other. Both classes did an amazing job! I feel like it really showcased the progress they'd made in reading this year. After recess, they went to Specials, music and art, then came back up to say goodbye to the classroom and prepare to move onward. They're ready for Third Grade! I did shed a few tears and I will miss this class! They will forever have a special place in my heart as my first group of students.
I spent Friday afternoon cleaning and packing my classroom up. Then onto Graduation (its really a community even here!) then had a birthday party for my dear roommate who is not returning for the next school year. Saturday was filled with time with friends saying goodbye, last minute errands, and packing before hopping on a plane with so many people from GIS to head home!
Its been wonderful so far to be home! Only thing so far that I've been overwhelmed by is to walk into the grocery store and understand literally every conversation occurring around me. I didn't learn much Thai this year so conversations in Thai are background noise for me. I've also noticed how expensive everything is when compared to baht. I find myself doing the opposite as I did in Thailand; there I mentally converted most purchases to dollars. Here I'm converting it to baht. I don't understand why some things are overwhelming and some are not but as I continue the re-entry process I look forward to my previously normal things to return to being normal. So far, baby steps are good.
I look forward to reconnecting with you all! With the exception of a couple vacations, I will be here until July 26. My American phone number is back up and running so call or text me to set up a date to get together. I cannot wait to hear about your lives and this past year for you!
Thank you for your prayers after my last post and as I transition back to life here for the summer! Love to you all!