Special people make a special week

My apologies for not writing a blog sooner, but so many things happened that I either didn't have the time or the energy for it. So be prepared for a very long blog!

Monday 2/11
Today was the first day after the break, and I must say that it was easier than I expected. The children behaved relatively well and listened to us. This was more than I had hoped for after a break of two weeks.We all had to get back to the rhythm but it went quite well.

The songs changed however, so I have to get to know them again but I don't think that will take so long. I already know the melodies, and the words will come eventually. I have to say it was wonderful to see the children again, especially with all the leaves that had fallen down. They were making leaf piles and jumping into them, throwing leaves at each other and just generally being very happy. We also played a new game with them named the pumpkin king. One child sits in the middle of a circle of rope (or something like it) with a pumpkin and has to close his/her eyes. The rest of the children sits around the King with the rope in their hands and the rope goes through the ring. While singing a song the ring is being moved between the players and as soon as the song is ended the King has to guess where the ring is. It was a very nice little game and the children really liked it.

Tuesday 3/11
Today was the first time we did our weekly walk into town. Since it was the first time this year, and we have a couple of stars, we only walked for a short while and then played some games before we walked back. We went to a small grass field and played Mister Wolf. One person is the wolf and stands away from all the other players. Those players ask Mister Wolf what the time is, and that is how many steps they have to take (e.g. Mister wolf says it is eight o'clock the players have to take eight steps towards him). At any time the wolf can say it is dinner time and then he has to try to catch the players, who then also become wolves. After the walk I got a drawing from one of the Sunbeams. It was really cute and it made me feel all warm in side. 

After work I went to the meeting with Beater, Chun and Anita at Chun's house. We discussed some problems and some ideas, had wonderful Korean tea and ate some delicious biscuits. When I got home I was really tired from such a long day.

Wednesday 4/11
Today I was really tired, not only from the day before, but also because I didn't sleep very well. Of course the children choose this day to be very loud and to not listen to us. It was also raining all day, and guess what I did all morning? Yes, cutting apples, SURPRISE! 
We continued with making the lanterns for the lantern walk for Saint Martin next week and during rest time I almost fell asleep. Honestly, I was so tired and I was playing the lira to calm the children down but it made me calm down too much so I almost fell asleep.

My dad and my brother arrived today and they will come to visit the school tomorrow afternoon, and I am really looking forward to it!

Thursday 5/11
I was quite early at the school because I was so excited to see my dad and my brother later on. Normally I arrive there at a quarter past eight, but this time I was at school at eight. The morning went quite well, though in my head it didn't go fast enough. We were outside longer than normally because Syco (the eurhythmics teacher) her car broke down so she wasn't able to come. We gathered some leaves from the garden to put on our lanterns, and we finished most of them. During my break I put down two papers on the staff kitchen table, with some questions I had to ask for school. Some people came in and asked me about so I explained what I needed and people started to write things down. I was quite happy people did and that they didn't find it weird or anything. I was also asked to watch some children during the Early Years meeting on Monday next week, and I said I would. I will even got some money from the parents! After my break we started to make a small bonfire, since it was the fifth of November (Guy Fawkes Night, Gunpowder plot).

Soon my dad and my brother arrived so I went to the front desk to greet them. When I first saw them I was really happy but also had to get used to them being so tall. I have been working with people and children who are smaller or at the same height as me for a while now, so looking up was something to get used to again. I showed them around the school and especially Elderflower Kindergarten, and we ended up in the garden where everyone was. It was funny to see how differently the children reacted to them being there. Some just accepted it, some were curious and asked them questions, and others became very shy and didn't want to come close. We ate an apple (surprise!) that we had put into the coals of the fire and some delicious granola before I left with my dad and my brother to go the city centre. 

I showed my dad and brother some nice things in the centre of Cambridge and told them some things I could remember from the walk I did from the tourist information centre. We ate dinner together at Jamie's Italian (which was really good, again) and went to see the fireworks and the bonfire afterwards. It was really beautiful and a great start of our time together.

Friday 6/11
My brother had to work on something for school, so my dad and I spent the day together. I wanted to go the Cambridge Museum, but due to a shortage of staff they would open at 13.30 (it was 11.20 at the time). So then we first went to the Fitzwilliam museum (which is on the other side of the city centre. We walked around the museum for awhile until we got hungry, and then we ate our lunch right outside of the building. After lunch we walked back to the Cambridge Museum and where right on time. The Cambridge museum is a little museum that shows what people in the old days used and how a tavern looked like. It was really interesting! We ended the day with a hot drink and some carrot cake in a French cafe (Cafe Rouge). It was a very rainy day but it was so much fun just having my dad next to me and being able to hug him and talk to him in real life.

Saturday 7/11
I spend the day in my room, but in the evening I got a text message from my dad saying my brother finished his school work and that they would like to go to a pub, asking me if I wanted to go as well. So that is what we did. We went to a little cosy pub with nice music and just talked a lot about all different kind of things. It was a very nice evening.

Sunday 8/11 
Last night we had made some plans for today but it didn't go as we had thought. We wanted to go to the Science Museum first, but unfortunately they were closed. So we walked to the Fitzwilliam again, finding out that it would only open in half an hour, so we walked to King's chapel, finding out that was closed as well for another hour or so. In short we did not have so much luck so far, but the rest of the day went quite well. The Fitzwilliam was nice and my dad and my brother really liked the King's chapel. We ended the day with a cream tea in a nice little shop, because I thought they should have had that.

Monday 9/11
I fully intended to go to work, but when I got out of bed the next morning my left leg didn't want to carry me. So unfortunately I had to miss the day, but I did watch the children late afternoon. It was really nice to play with the children (from kindergarten age to class 5) and just have some fun. I even got money for it!

Tuesday 10/11
Today I did go to work and we had a walk again, this time a long one. It was a very nice walk, since the weather was pretty good and the children were really enjoying it. We were out all morning so the rest of the day was pretty relaxed since all the children were quite tired.

In the evening I went to my dad and my brother since they will leave tomorrow and I wanted them to take some things I bought back with them. It was a very nice evening filled with playing Cards Against Humanity.

Wednesday 11/11
Today was a very nice day. We spent the entire morning outside, playing and singing. One of the boy Sunbeams, who first was really distant towards me, wanted to play with me and that was quite fun. Running and chasing him, making him smile. The afternoon we spend inside making drawings and just being more low-key. After the day was over we had a wonderful lantern walk with all the children and their parents and it was truly magical. We started the walk when it was slowly getting dark and in the end it was pitch black. It was truly magical to see all those lanterns in the night and hearing everyone singing or humming the songs.

Unfortunately after the walk, when I got home I started to get sick and so my week ended here. Next week will be my last week at the school already and it feels really weird. I will be coming back home in the evening of the 26th, if you didn't already know. I am looking forward to being back in the Netherlands, but I will also miss the school and the children. So a lot of mixed feelings.

Love,

Nina