an interesting combination of nervousness and excitement

Hello again!
Well, it seems as though I have misplaced the USB cable to attach our digital camera to the laptop. This, unfortunately, means that there will not be any pictures attached to this post...sad isn't it? We did do something fun today...we decided that we were slacking in our picture taking opportunities, so we decided to go for a short hike (a picture extravaganza if you will). We went to Otari-Wilton's bush for a picnic and a walk (isn't that romantic?). It was great fun, certainly beautiful to see some untouched New Zealand landscape. I spent most of my time looking for the perfect picture spots, that I almost forgot to stop and enjoy the fact that we were observing something truly beautiful and peacefully enjoyable.

Paul has been working a lot of hours lately, so he sleeps a lot during the day. This meant that our walk could not be very long, as he needed to rest for work that night. Its really good that he's working alot, as of course that means more income. At the same time, it would be nice to have some evenings and weekends to do some sight seeing. On that note...we are planning a trip to Auckland in September (via the trans-national train) for a week. That will be great fun, as we will be able to see the landscape on the train, and visit the biggest city in New Zealand. We are also planning a trip to the South Island, which will be really great too. We would drive there, and take the ferry across the cook strait to the other Island.

I dream of fun and adventure in the days to come, yet I am instantly reminded about the not so distant future. It seems as though reality is beginning to set in. I, Yolanda Koole, am going to be a teacher. And, starting tomorrow, I'm going to be practicing on a group of poor unsuspecting five-year-olds. I will be starting my first full time placement (a three week block) at Karori School. I'm extremely excited to get into the classroom and really learn what its like to teach. At the same time, however, I'm really nervous. I know that I will love the kids and that we'll get along famously. I'm more worried about the quality of my teaching abilities as I have very little experience in the school system. I'm hoping children aren't like dogs...because if they can smell fear, I might be in trouble! :) haha I'm sure everything will work out really well, and soon you'll be reading a post of my newly discovered love of the classroom. Here's hoping that they don't eat me for breakfast!

That's all for now,
Yolanda