The First Week Back

Well my first week back has come and gone. I always love returning to Taiwan after being gone for awhile. There is so much excitement as I look forward to the new school year and it seems everyone is full of energy, which is a stark contrast to the end of June when most of the missionaries and teachers are running on fumes.

One of my favorite things about coming back is seeing all of my former students walking around campus. When I see them or a group of them, we usually both get big smiles on our faces and say hi or wave.

I love seeing them and saying hi, or stopping to chat for a little bit. I try desparately to remember all of their names, which I am not always able to do. Sometimes I'll have to tell them to wait while I think for a second. I must say that for the most part I am pretty good at it. The Lord has blessed me with the ability to rememeber my students names fairly well, and it is something that I appreciate having as a teacher.

I ask them about their summer, and they inevetiable ask if I had a chance to go back to America, and then act so amazed when I tell them that I did. There is the feeling that yes I am not there teacher anymore, but it's ok to say hi and chat, and it's just fun to see them.

In addition to chatting with my former students, I have also been teaching 3 classes of 7th graders. I see each class once a day, giving me 15 teaching hours for the week. It's really not too shabby! Some of my classes have been a little bit...energetic...and we have been working on routines and basic classroom expectations. I have seen some improvement and will continue to press on in hopes of laying a strong foundation for the rest of the year.