Last Day of School

We finished our school work on the first Friday of June. We didn't have our official last day of school until the following Friday though. On this last day, we exchanged gifts and I gave the girls certificates and notes. My Dutch friend, Alida came over with her students(also missionary kids)to teach my students and I about Holland. We learned many interesting things including information about: the royal family, the money, the national anthem, and so much more. It was so much fun! The girls wanted to play a soccer game: Holland vs. U.S. It worked out great because there are 3 American girls and 3 Dutch girls. They had fun,but Holland won!
Here are some pictures from our fun day:

Dina showing us what the Euro from Holland looks like.
Team Dutch singing their anthem
Team U.S. singing the anthem. I am smiling because we did a really rough job hitting the notes and remembering all the words.

Noa guarding the goal
Me with Natalie after I gave the certificates
Elissa and I
Lauren and I
Alida, Noa, Dina, and Jada singing the national anthem. I think.
Jada is singing

Sorry it took me a long time to post these pictures.

What School Can Do To A Kid...

Look at HOW FrAzZlEd she is!

So cute!!

Teacher's Pet

She had just taken her hair out of braids...thus the WILD HAIR!!! How fun!

I Have a Friend Named Bob

I have a friend named Bob

who likes to disappear. But when I want him back -He's right behind my ear!!

My students like to do this little hand trick. I think it's fun, so I thought I would take some pics of them. The words of the hand trick are listed with the pictures. Bob is the top of a thing of chapstick.

Fixin' to learn me some English, ya'll!

This blog was prompted by this comment from one of my students this week: "Hey, you can learn Romanian and English while you're here (in Moldova)!" This comment was said in good fun and was followed by laughs from all, but it got me thinking.

From the time I first walked through the 'Gates of Opportunity' at my college, I've heard this question over and over again, "Where are you from?" This question undoubtedly was asked in reference to my southern drawl. My reply was always, "TN." The next comment was always something in reference to my accent or "I thought so." Now, I know I have an accent and I'm sure it was pretty strong when I first left TN for MO. In those early days of college I tried to deny it by asking, "What accent?" In all reality though, I heard all sorts of accents on my college campus.

Even now as I am working and living with other Americans from northern states, I can hear their accents as well. My student mentioned above would say that she does not have an accent, but that I just "talk wrong."

So, during school yesterday we decided to have a little fun and we made a list of just some of the word endings that I say differently or with a southern accent/drawl. Here are the word endings and a couple of examples. See if you can identify!

Word endings:
ail as in mail I say mail like this: Did you get the male(or mill)?
ill as in hill I say hill like this: We climbed up the heal.
eel as in peel I say peel like this: I am going to pill these potatoes.
ull as in full I say full like this: This bag is too fool.
eal as in heal I say heal like this: The Lord has hilled us!

As a teacher, these were very important realizations for me and a good reminder to make sure that I use correct pronunciations and enunciate my words. I don't want to leave any endings off my words like we tend to do at home. For example, I hope you enjoyed this blog. I am fixin' to go to bed....

Winter in Moldova

Today I woke up to LOTS of snow outside. This is the most snow that I've ever seen! I've definitely never had to walk through this much snow in my life. I am trying not to complain. I am trying to convey the significance of this new experience for me. I decided today after falling 3 times that I hate walking through snow. Hate it. I took a picture for my friend Liz and I thought I would share it with everyone. I'm in my nice, warm coat with a sign for Liz that reads: Hi Liz! I'm in Moldova and it's Snowing!!! My student Lauren and her friend made it. This picture was taken moments before I slipped and fell on the ice that is buried beneath the mounds of snow. I also thought I it would be fun to keep you updated on how many times I fall on the ice here. Total times I fell today: 3. Total times I've fallen so far this winter: 5. Yay for Winter in Moldova.