Are we there yet???

No...no we are not. We still have no bank account and our registration paperwork has not been processed yet, though tomorrow should be the day. It's funny because we do feel settled but still not really like we live here yet. We're getting there though.

Let's update...

Last Saturday we went to ABN Amro to try and open a bank account. Yes, crazy we know there is ONE back here open on Saturday. We were told you could get an account there without your social security number. We arrrived there at 2:02. They closed at 2:00. Ahh.... so then we left and went shopping. And later found out, you do need your SSN. It was good though to have a free afternoon, we got a few more things to help us get organized at school and a few more decorations for the house. We decided Saturday should again be a date night. We had a pass to the movie theatre for a buy one get one so we went to an early show (Public Enemies, it was pretty good) and then for dinner at the Evita steak house! Yum. The movie theatres are so fun here because they have huge bulk candy sections where you can get all the yummy gummies you'd usually buy at the gas station and sneak in in your purse. They also have beer which you can enjoy during your movie. We've yet to do this. We were one of four couples in the movie theatre so that was fun to kind of have it to ourselves. Dinner was really good and relaxed. It was at about 9 so we also felt like we had the restaurant to ourselves.

Sunday we woke up in an attempt to go to church but realized we were a lot farther than we realized and so we would have been very late. We instead listened to Mars online and it was as usual great and really what we needed to hear. We had a nice Sunday nap and then went out for a walk/picnic in the park. We stayed out later after eating and just kept walking. We found ourselves purposefully lost in the country hillside just outside the city. It felt nice to breathe and see the green. We are only about a fifteen minute walk away from some farms and beautiful rolling hills. I guess there are also fabulous wineries nearby and some other cool places to explore. We are getting really excited to get bikes.

The week of school was good and again another week has broughten us to feeling more in the swing of things. Our kids continue to be wonderful and slowly the drama of school is slowing down and we're all getting used to the schedule. I found out my teaching partner Suzanne is pregnant. I am so excited for her and she and her husband, Mathew are SO EXCITED! They have been married a year and a half and are both early 30's so their ready to start their family.
We've had many compliments from parents, teachers and staff that we're doing a great job and the kids are enjoying having us there. This is great for us and a definite confidence boost.

Friday, Matt had his second meeting with Jopp. Jopp is a fifty something musican who Matt is giving English language conversation lessons to. They meet once a week for an hour and just talk. Matt marks Jopp's pronunciations and other difficulties and they talk about him. It is one of his favourite times of the week and mine as well; I got to shop on my own. :) There's something so accomplished feeling in successfully going to the grocery store by yourself. I know that sounds silly. But let me tell you, going alone can be really stressful or even going together. You have to bag all your own groceries, no big deal normally but here the conveyor belts are so small and so buy the time you start bagging your groceries the next customers are already getting mixed in. And then everyone acts annoyed at you. So when I had all my groceries bagged before I even had to pay I felt pretty good. Now I only bought about ten things, but this is the usual here. I also got to go out and do some birthday shopping for Matt. This was good because otherwise we aren't apart too much! :)

This weekend we've hung around home, catching up on rest and chatting with family/friends. We went out for a wonderful dinner last night and today just enjoyed quiet reading at home mixed in with some cleaning. Tonight we went to church. An English speaking protestant service. It was really great. We really like the group of people. It's about 40 people and a lot of them have a connection with the school or secondary school some how. There is one teacher from the secondary even. They meet at the red church by our house the last Sunday of the month and the 1st and 3rd Sunday they meet at another church close by. The 2nd Sunday of the month they have a social gathering/outing and go somewhere fun in the surrounding area. There is also a Thursday night bible study. They told us how they have been praying for Christian teachers to come to Joppenhof. They were SO excited to meet us and we've already been invited over for Thanksgiving to one couples house. It's weird to maybe be the answer to someone's prayer. They have all been through the same paperwork process as us so it's nice to have some people to relate to. There is a family from Minnesota, Canada, and England. Plus more I am sure but that's all we've meet so far.

Also our new neighbor moved in downstairs and she is from New York. She is here working on her PH.d and seems really cool. Hopefully we'll have her up soon.

Next weekend we are going to Bruges, Belguim to celebrate Matt's birthday and just get away! We can't wait. Still no October break plans yet, but we're working on it.

Week Four... here we come!!!!

Week One

http://www.joppenhof-id.nl/Site/A._Welcome.html


Here you can view some photos of our first week. Keep checking this site, it's our school's site and more pictures and updates of the school will be posted often, hopefully. We had a great first week of school and really enjoyed meeting all of our kids. The best part of the week was the balloon launch. We launced balloons up into the air on the end of Thursday with messages from all the kids with their hopes for the year. Each year got to cut and release a balloon into the sky. The kids loved it. Even the new teachers got to send one up so I got to cut it while Matt and Sarah released it up to the clouds. Things are still a bit unsettled as we are trying to figure out our building, where our students need to be and new students are still trickling in. But with time it will all come. The weekend was full of sleeping and cleaning. Though we did make it out for dinner and a movie. We were a bit disappointed because we made reservations at a place but then it was overbooked and we didn't have time to wait and still make our movie. So we just got sandwiches instead and then saw Funny People. It was okay but not too funny but still nice to go out. Back to school tomorrow. Here we go!

Dinner and a Movie

We're going on our first official European date. Matt even offered to walk me home. How romantic!!!! L'amour.

Day One-Success

Exhausted after a long first day!! Came home and did not get off the couch. Even to eat dinner... :) Which is something we NEVER do. Ahh well... firsts for everything. Today was absolutely GREAT! We love the kids, the school, and our teaching partners. We both will learn a lot. It was such a fun day and we'll give the full update this weekend!! Things are well. Lots of love!!!

Let the Party Start

So, tomorrow starts the party!! That's what Matt and I are calling it instead of tomorrow the crap hits the fan! :)

We're doing well. Trying already to plan our October vacation, we are thinking somewhere warm and relaxing in Spain! School is still a little behind schedule so that's not as awesome as we'd hope. But the school does look great and the kids are going to love it. Both of our classrooms really look great too! Matt and I have both been getting along with our teaching partners fabulously and enjoying our long walks to and from school. Though today we did stop in to inquire about scooters and/or bikes.

Not too much else to report right now, lots of little things to say but right now school is sucking the intelligence out of our brains :) We'll try for a better update this weekend!

Settling Slowly

Really is there anything better than a successful day followed by shopping and a lovely walk home? As you stroll home hand-in-hand with the one you love, you stop at the closest bakery near your house. Which, just happens to be an old mill from the 1440's. You buy a fresh bagette and climb your spiral staircase home to have a wine-complimented dinner. Ahh.... yes we are settling quite nicely and falling quickly into routines. They involve bumping around our tiny shower room, snacking on a quick breakfast (don't worry we still eat only cereal.) we've been walking to school right now until we get bikes. It's a lovely half hour walk down old city streets that are still quiet because it's so early, over the beautiful pedestrian bridge that hugs the Maas River. We've been spending a little apart time at school setting up our own rooms and working with our teaching partners. This is probably good for our sanity though we still wander down the corridor to peek in on each other. We eat every meal together which is a nice change from life in the states. It's really great because we only have to pack one lunch! Good thing we have been taught to share well. After school we've walked home, or taken the bus if it's rainy. (Though it's about a 20 minute bus ride so really just as easy to walk.) After leaving school we've either gone home to regroup or headed straight to shopping. I think we've been to the grocery store every night this week. We keep forgeting little things like paper towel or mustard. We also keep hunting for things like syrup. I must say though, there really isn't anything from home we haven't been able to find or at least something similar.

We are already finding our favorite shops and getting to know shop owners. (They all speak English to us when they hear our accents, which we must admit is nice. No one really seems to mind speaking English either. We really couldn't be more spoiled.) We do often hear English being spoken on the streets. Especially near where we live because of all the students.

Today, we finally had the chance to unpack our rooms. Mine is actually all set up. I am not sure if this is a good thing or a bad thing. What it means is that I am ready to go but that I didn't have much to set up. It finally does look like a classroom but there isn't a lot of stuff. Especially not books. I am already scheming what I can bring back at Christmas. Also, they don't have teacher stores here and it's quite expensive to ship stuff so they don't really order off the internet. Catherine brought a lot of decoration stuff from Canada and this is the only reason my room looks half way decent. Normally though, most class posters and such are just made from the computer or hand drawn.

After dinner Matt and I went over to Catherine's to take her a thank you basket for all she's done. I'll have to post a pic of what it looks like because it is just so dang cute. Matt and I love making gift baskets and really I think it could be a good hobby of mine. :) It just goes with my brain's love of organzing things. We shared a great moment with Cath and she was really touched by our gift. She told us how excited she is for us to be here and have friends close by (we live 5 minutes walk from her.) We feel the same way and are so greatful for all she has done for us and will continue to do.

Matt and I then made our nightly stop to the grocery store (Albert Heijn) it was as we call it "Hamster Week." There are these little labels everywhere with hamsters advertising free things. We however, didn't realize it was buy one get one free until the checkout line. Thankfully, our cashier was really nice and told us to go back and get things. We got free grapes, toilet paper, and a box of cereal. Definitely can't complain about that one.

After shopping we unpacked and then left again. It's a beautiful night here and one just can't pass up a walk in the park since we're so close. We strolled all beside one of the river's little outlets and near the petting zoo. We walked beside the ancient city wall and it is defintely one of my favorite routes in the city. We'll have to take pictures next time we go because it is SO beautiful. We really picked a great place to live. It really is all we hoped it would be.

We've had good days and already hard days. E-mails from home make us miss things, fun experiences are hard without other loved ones to share them with. We miss meals with friends, late night conversations, times with family and small things from home. But we are learning, growing, and falling more in love everyday with each other, our new city, and our lives. We can't wait to share this all with those who come to visit and enjoy sharing it with those who can't via journaling, e-mails, and conversations. Thank you for all being blessings in our life. Till next time...