Settling in...

Well, I made it to Many Farms safe and sound! It was a looonngggg 24 hour drive with Ben, but after all is said and done, it wasn't as terrible as a 24 hour drive may sound.  This week has been in-service and it's strange and exciting to be attending an in-service as a teacher versus a student teacher.  The staff here is great -- welcoming and helpful.  I have been approached on separate occasions from staff members, and what they have said to me makes me laugh.  So, I want to share it with you:  (not quite verbatim, but close) "Courtney, I must admit something to you.  When I saw your name on the list I thought -- because your last name is Thompson -- that you were Native."  I chuckled the first time but by the third time I was definitely laughing at the assumption.  In-service makes for long days full of information (and for me, full of new names and faces), but it is little comments like that which break the stress and wake us all up.
So, some things you may want to know about where I live (because it may help you understand what I think is funny this semester):
1. I have to drive 15 miles to get to a grocery store, but 2 hours to get to a Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Target, etc.
2. There is open-grazing here. Translation: I have to yield to cows, horses, lambs, pigs, basically any animal.  And yes, I had to yield to an ostrich yesterday.. something I never thought would happen in my life.
3. There is dirt and dust everywhere -- I have a new appreciation for Out of the Dust.
4. I work with a lot of Indiana fans... but no fellow Hawkeye lovers.  In fact, most people haven't heard of the Hawkeyes, which also made me laugh when I said, "Where are all the Hawkeyes??" and a girl responded with, "Don't be disappointed, but there aren't a lot of hot guys here."  This is also a translation error I experienced in Germany (it never gets less funny!!)

I am sure there are more, but my brain is sleepy.  I wish you all the best as your school year approaches.  School starts here on Monday, so I can't wait to share more about being on the other side of the desk (or on the other side of 4 teaching desks -- which is what was stored in my room!)

Ms. Thompson :)

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - E. Roosevelt