Tougher Than I Thought....

So we were supposed to get a substitute teacher for our district. He got the job and was totally excited. He lands in one of the villages and stays for an hour. Then he gets back on the plane, never to return.

I have heard stories but I have never heard of it in real life.

So I was totally judging this guy. I was thinking, "What a wuss!" But then I remembered my first reaction when I landed here. But I still never had the urge to get back on the plane. My only thoughts were on how to make it work. Culture shock is a very intense emotion but it passes. I really like it up here.

I don't feel tough or brave living up here. When something goes wrong, you just have to deal with it. There's absolutely nothing else to do.

We had a big shake up this week and I'm not really sure what happened. But one of our elementary teachers left. As in quit her job and is currently packing up her house. I wish I had the whole story but I guess she got fed up and couldn't take it anymore...whatever it may have been.

Personally, I could never make that same choice. I love my kids too much. I have so many sweet stories about them hugging me and telling me they love me...or writing notes to me. And I love them right back!

But I guess we will get a new teacher in our wing. Who knows? Right now, one of the aides is taking over the class. Another teacher is helping him with his lesson plans but so far he's doing great.

In other news, this weekend I'm going to Anchorage for an elementary teacher retreat with my district. This is going to be a fun trip for me. I will be hanging out with my teacher friends in an actual restaurant! Yay!

I'm not very reflective right now, but I just wanted to give everyone an update. By the way: they don't have Groundhog Day...it's Marmot Day....whatever a marmot is....I kinda wish I knew that before I taught the kids about Groundhog Day....oh well!