Is it really almost Christmas?

It's hard to believe that it's already December.  Nate has finished his first term at ALA, Hans is now finishing grading finals and I finished the end of the year with my class last week -- and that is the end of their school year, too.  The new school year for me begins in January with a whole new class -- just when I was starting to get a handle on this class!  We will also be moving into a new building which is more than double the size of the current one, so it will really be a time of new beginnings for me.  But, the funny thing is that all the teachers that I have been working with are moving to either a different school or a different position so as of January, I will be the veteran teacher at Nova Pioneer North Riding!  I am grateful for this term as I feel like I have a better understanding of the job and I am able to leverage my prior experience and knowledge in a way that really seems to be helping this new organization.  Here is a picture of all the grades (pre-primary, grade R [kindergarten] and grade 1) on the last day:

With a busy first term under our belts, we're all taking a big breath and regrouping.  I'm returning to the States to spend Christmas in Pennsylvania with my family and the girls.  Hans and Nate will stay here and go hiking in Drakensberg and see the world's highest waterfall at over 900m (with a ladder to climb up beside it the whole way -- I must say I'm not sorry to miss that part).

We have settled in but there is no denying that the distance weighs on us at times.  Thanksgiving break was especially hard as I was overcome with mom guilt at not being with the girls.  However, they each found a loving place to be and seemed to be fine with the holiday, so, like most mom guilts, this was mostly useless!

Here at ALA, we did have a very nice Thanksgiving dinner with a number of ex-pats from all different nations (not just the US) and we had a wonderful moment of saying what we were thankful for.  It ranged from being thankful for co-workers at ALA, to family, to new experiences, even email!  ALA is a wonderful community.  The biggest shocker was to discover that while Thanksgiving is not a holiday in South Africa, Black Friday is a huge deal!  What??? How can you take the worst of the holiday and not the best (giving thanks!!)???

It is odd to be coming into Christmas with the weather so warm and so many thunderstorms, rather than snow.  In fact, I've decided to pretend that it's not really Christmas until I get back to the States.  Instead, Hans and I went to one of the highest points in Johannesburg to watch the sunset.

Looking forward to seeing my girls and family soon.  Prayers that Hans and Nate will enjoy some good father/son bonding time.  Best wishes and happy new year to all!