December 1st

Today is December 1st and that means it is summer here in New Zealand. The weather man was not alerted to this information as the day was more like spring. I am not complaining! I have been hearing about the snow that fell last week in the Grand Bend area and am very glad to be here.

My dear friend Sharon Soldan taught me to count down the school days by how many Mondays were left. I have carried on with her tradition and am very happy to announce that I have 1 Monday left of school this year! I do not feel like I did back in Canada though, the end has crept up and it is nice that we are almost done. There has been a lot of things going on as things come to an end. They say "break up" here which means that things will end. So for instance, Dan and Sam had their hockey break up last week. I had my pottery break up last Thursday. Abby will have her ballet break up show next Thursday. Break up means that you bring a plate (filled with food) to share with everyone and you talk and some awards may be given. In the photos that follow you will see that Dano got a couple of awards this year for his hockey. He did really well.

The kids are preparing for their end of year musical, Snow Bright and the Seven Dorks. Abby is Snow Bright's dead mother in Angel form and Sammer is a narrator. We will try to video the production and burn it to DVD for the Grandparents. Sam got into St. Peter's College for next year. Orginially he did not get in but a space became available and we were happy to get the call. He has an orientation day this Friday afternoon. I will include pics below of him in the school uniform. A lady I work with gave us a bag of hand me down uniforms for Sam. He looks so spiffy in the uniform!

I have been offered a permanent contract with Gore High School. So next year I will be teaching four Year 9 classes and a Forward Thinking class. Forward Thinking is a new programme that Gore High has decided to let me pilot this year. I will not be teaching Foods next year which I will really miss. Foods would not fit into my timetable so Mr. Crosbie could not give it to me. I applied to be a Dean. Deans work in pairs, male and female, and they oversee a year group. I got the position of Dean for the Year 9's. I will work alongside a seasoned Mr. Hannah (who reminds me a lot of Uncle Ted). The Dean's job is to carry through each year until the year 9's leave school in 5 years time. I am excited about this job as I was wanting something a little different from classroom teaching. Before I came to Gore High I was never interested in the Managment side of things but here they allow for middle management positons such as Dean which I think I will like. This week I am out of the classroom preparing for next year's year 9's. I certainly feel valued at Gore High. The principal and my Head's of Departments are generous with their kind words, it is truly refreshing.

Dan's parents arrive Decemeber 21. We are so glad, and a little ovewhemled that family and friends come all this way to see us. Christmas will be different this year and having family will make it more familiar. The plan is to spend Christmas Day at the beach. If the weather cooperates, that is. Dano is working on an itinerary for Phil and Janet which includes a trip to the North Island, a train trip up the east coast, a few farm stays, a waterfall day, and all of our favourites in between. Camp Columba shuts down for 2 weeks over Christmas so it will be very relaxing. The four of us plan to do The Rail Trail while Phil and Janet are here so that they can be our support vehicle. Central Otago is beautiful during the summer, bursting with cherries and apricots. Every little village and crossroad has shops and cafes that P & J will love (maybe J will love them more than P).

Jo and John Gardyne gave us a trampoline yesterday. Our children have spent the last 2 days bouncing, squealing and playing in our backyard.



Until next time,
Samantha