FIRST WEEK!

Holy sweet Jesus, what a first week. Going international for this practicum has to be the best educational decision I have ever made. Its completely reaffirmed my commitment to international teaching! The school community has welcomed me with open arms, the city is unbelievably stimulating and everyday I feel better about the path I have chosen. Here's a list of why life is so fantastic right now;

#1 The Kids: They are happy, bright, worldly and get this... THEY WANT TO LEARN! I sometimes feel like my university education is preparing me for going into battle rather than a classroom. To know that there are groups of students out there who actually like school does a lot to brighten my horizons. I mean they even say 'Thank you' after class!

#2 IB Curriculum: You can basically teach kids anything. ANYTHING. Forget about some weak list of 50 topics that you can never ever stray from. In the IB program, as long as you can get kids to thoroughly show what they have learned, then you can teach them whatever you feel like. Free at last, free at last. Thank god almighty, I am free at last.

#3 Life in Europe: I am about to head out for a road-trip weekend to Dresden. No big whoop.

#4 Jared Barnes: Possibly the world's most accommodating host. I live for free in a swank pad in the middle of the city. Without this guy, I might be keeping a blog on life in Sicamous right now. Yeesh. I can't thank this guy enough.