December 30, 2010

So today was quite a day. I was by myself with the little preschoolers, which wasn't that bad because there was only five of them but still. Haiden is my favorite and is so cute, but for some reason he refuses to eat ANYTHING. I mean even when we had Macarroni and cheese. What kind of kid doesn't like that. Anyways, during lunch when I was trying to get him to eat this like microscopic piece of chicken he was crying and whining and it was just frustrating. I ended up giving him this little tiny piece of cantelope after almost an hour of trying to get him to eat anything besides a bite of rice. none of the kids in my room are big eaters. I was picky as a kid, but I have always been a really big eater, so it is odd to me that so many kids aren't. There is this other girl, Maria, who just gets on my nerves because like every two seconds I am sternly telling her to stop hitting or stop ripping things out of other kids hands. I don't know why she is such an awful kid. Her dad seems nice, although her mom doesn't. Maybe that is why. Like Nilanie and Mariana from this summer. Bad news. The second half of the day I was with the kinders again, and they were combined with preschool C room. They were so awful! Usually even the kids that are really good were for some reason out of control. Probably because it was the last day before break and they are crazy. Well this one kid Landyn usually is such a sweet heart but when I asked him to sit on the carpet he literally ignored me. Like not just not doing what I asked, but ignoring me and not talking or answering. I was so frustrated. I told him whenever he sat on the carpet quietly he could get snack, but he didn't, so no snack for him. And it was soft pretzals and carrots too with ranch. I think that is a bomb snack. And so then we took all the kids outside after snack, and there are just these awful little kids. In Pre school C there is a kid named Jeremy who doesn't listen to anything, but is the most adorable kid ever. He screamed in Xavier's face and then I asked him, "Jeremy, would you like it if I screamed in your face?" He said, "No, I would like some chocolate ice cream" I was bewildered. This kid is such a cute little space case who completely missed the point. Then Aymani, this little boy from Preschool A or B (they also came out) was walking behind a parent kicking his feet every time he stepped. And then he just drops to the floor crying when he doesn't get his way. And Gregory and Aiden, (Gregory is the bad influence. Aiden doesn't want to be bad, he just is when he hangs out with Gregory) were hitting kids and kicking and punching. One of the people who actually works there and isn't part of camp took these boys into another room and ripped them a new one and was talking to them like all up in their faces. They were better behaved after that. But this was the first day I had to write up an incident or accident report. Altogether it was just crazy. I was very glad it was the last work day this week. Although I absolutely love the kids and have been having so much fun with them! Tomorrow off to Florence!

December 29, 2010

The kids were pretty good today. Nothing really much happened. The kinders were on a field trip though so I didn't get to work with them for the second half of the day. That was kind of weird. Instead, I just did projects for Sylvia, who is the lead teacher in the Part time preschool room that I work in. I did stuff like making a birthday board and stuff and listened to Adventures in Odyssey, which was cool. Tomorrow I will be by myself with them, so we'll see how that goes. I have been trying to upload pictures on Facebook for like ever and it just sucks sigh. At least the internet is working now. Can't win em all I guess. Night!

December 28, 2010

Today was a crazy day. The kids were so incredibly riled up. I couldn’t even believe it. But I really enjoyed them still. The only part that sucked was that I had a horrible headache for so much of the day. I still have a headache right now, although it is nice to be lounging around in my own clothes for a change since I actually have my stuff. Internet and charger still not working but w/e. It was also super super cold outside today and there was frost everywhere. I was surprised the kids didn’t like die when we went outside. But I really need to go to sleep now. Bye!

December 27, 2010

Today was such a great day! I was back with my kids again, which I absolutely loved. They were all riled up after the weekend of Christmas and were so excited to tell about their presents and santa and stuff. I had a blast with them. Nothing really much happened that day. The most exciting thing I guess was that I got my luggage. It was delivered today and it was just weird. It was massively taped together and they had ripped an entire side of it apart. And then there is a wheel missing too and there is a huge hole in it that you can like see into with. It was ridiculous. I’m so lucky that there was nothing missing. At least I have all of my stuff. Lol. Ok, that’s all really. Night!. Oh, just kidding. The internet in my side of the hall is not working and my camera charger isn’t either. Lol. Whoops. Such bad luck. Not letting anything get to me though! Bye!

CHRISTMAS AND ROME!!!!! December 24-26

Rome!!!!! That was by far the most amazing thing I have ever done in my entire life. We left Friday morning, which was Christmas Eve, at like five in the morning. We waited for like ever for a taxi to show up and of course nothing did. I guess whoever was supposed to call the taxi didn’t or something. We went with two groups. Ours that was going to Rome, and the other that was going to Florence. But oh well. We ended up getting to the train station eventually although we were late for our train. We had to take the bus, but whatever. We took the train to Balogna, which is the closest place on the way to Rome that we could buy a Eurorail. I’m not sure that it was exactly the most cost effective thing, but someone said it was and all. So we got on the train from Balogna to Rome, and finally arrived there around like two. It was soooooo rainy when we finally got there! It was horrible. Like raining so hard my comfy boots were soaked all the way through and my socks were wet for the rest of the night. When we got there we bought hop on hop off tickets, which was where for 48 hours, we could get on and off this tour bus at the different stops all throughout the day. It was absolutely perfect because after we got it at three, we were able to use it until three on Sunday, which was about when we were leaving. So we got off on the stop that was nearest to our Hostel/hotel, which was at the Piazza, well one of them. There are like a thousand of them in Rome. And then we walked to the Pantheon, which was right next to our hostel. We ended up walking around literally in circles for like 2 hours trying to find our hostel. Circles around the Pantheon. It was so horrible. Puddles covering my feet, and we were just walking in circles. The streets like don’t make sense either. They are just all twisty. They start in one place and then go in a circle and then cross the street and go to the other side of the road. It is so weird. So we walked everywhere and asked so many people if they knew where it was. Finally I saw this little tiny tiny sign. That was on the side of a building that was for our hotel. Natalie and Jessica went up to check us in since we only registered for two people. The hotel in this building was actually only on one floor. Which was like three floors up. So they went up and dropped off our bags so we could go to dinner. Everything was really pretty since it was Christmas and stuff, and there were lights and everything everywhere. It was so lovely. We ended up eating outside, and they had heaters out there at this restaurant. It turned out that the lit up Pantheon was right in front of us while we were eating. It was so increadibly gorgeous. The food there was so good. Like amazing. And we each had a glass of this great wine. We went right to bed after dinner. We were so tired. It was so hard to sleep that night though because one, Natalie snored like no other (She was sick), two, midnight mass got out and there were screaming people all over the place, and three, the beds were basically like rocks. Horrible!!!!! Rock, rock, rock. But oh well. I woke up in the morning and got ready to go out for the day! It was Christmas! It was raining again, but more drizzling and absolutely nothing like the horribleness that was the day before. It was Christmas in Rome! We got on the hop on bus and were just riding it around on top and taking pictures of the beautiful city. I could literally ride around on it all day long. We ended up stopping at the Vatican and then I remembered that there was the life size nativity in front of it so we got off to look at it. Then we saw people all around the steps. And I remembered that on Christmas at noon the pope was going to give a Christmas message. We went and got some food really quick and then we got back to the steps where we kind of pushed our way to near the front and were waiting for it to start. After waiting about an hour, a gate happened to open right near us and we got to run and get seats. We were so excited! Jesa, Jessica, and I were linking arms so we would stay together. We got to be in the second row! We were one of the first ones in line that got to see the fricken pope! It was amazing! He gave the message and then did the prayer in every single language. I was on the verge of tears because I just felt so incredibly blessed to be there. Oh, and it was raining up until the pope came out to give his message, but as soon as he started to speak, the sun came out and it was shining on the whole St. Peter’s Bascilica. It was the first time we had seen the sun the whole weekend. And the sun stayed out until he was done. I couldn’t even believe it. It was completely divine. There were these super cute girls from a Mexico boarding school there behind us cheering the whole time about the pope. I loved it so much. After we were done we went around the tour and kept on going. The collessum, old ruins, and everything else was amazing. The treve fountain too. Absolutely everything was just so great I can’t even stand it while I’m thinking about. It. I used to want to have my honeymoon in France, but now I don’t know how I could not come back to this amazing place. That night we went out to dinner again, except this place definitely wasn’t as good as the place the previous night. It was cute and had orange all over the place, but the waiter didn’t seem to like us very much. We called our families for a little while while we were there which was really nice, and I got to talk to Dillon also and say Merry Christmas. Then we went back to our hotel and slept again. The next day we got up really early so we could go around again. The sun was shining on that day so we went back and took more pictures, which were just even more beautiful with the sun! And then we hurried over to the Vatican so we could see the inside of it. My jaw about dropped when we went inside. So amazing. I was so sad when we had to leave and hurry on to catch our train while eating McDonalds. I loved Rome more than almost anything and I loved every moment of it. Such a great Christmas

December 23, 2010

So today was our last day of the week since it is Christmas weekend, which is really nice. I’m not sure that this whole winter break thing would even be worth it if we didn’t get two three day weekends. Its really nice. My kids were so cute today. Oh, I forgot to say that earlier this week, Tyree (one of the kinders) told me his name was Scooby Doo Tink Private Allen. I have no Idea what in the world that means. Riley then preceeded to tell me that his name was Power Ranger War Power Ranger Snore. So interesting. I love them. I was just thinking about that today so I thought I would share it. There were like barely any kids all day since it was Christmas season. For the last half an hour in the Preschoolers, I only had one girl, Maria. I felt kind of bad for her. If she had bad parents, I wouldn’t care, but its like normal. Her parents were also the only ones that didn’t come to the parent lunch that day so I felt really bad. Once it got time for me to be with the kinders, there was literally no one there. They combined all three preschool rooms and the kinder room and there was only like maybe twelve kids and like seven adults. They kept sending home all of the staff that officially worked there, and it was just us interns. The work slaves. But oh well. It was nice when we were finally done. I called Dillon and my parents that night to say marry Christmas since I wouldn’t be able to talk to them that weekend. We are going to leave at fricken like four fortyfive in the morning the next day. Crazy!!!! Well See you after Christmas!

12/22/2010

Well, today was a really good day! Unfortunately, I really was exhausted last night and went to bed at like nine thirty which was a really really bad idea. I ended up having a really weird dream about all my teeth falling out and having to have crazy mouth surgery. Not fun! Anyways, that definitely woke me up at like two in the morning, which I am going to blame on jetlag, and couldn't fall back asleep. I got out of bed at five and rented a movie from the hotel desk and watched it and talked on skype with my mommy and Dilly. It was nice to have time to talk to them, and I wasn't really tired. Of course now I am dying. Hopefully today I will be able to get back on track. So today for the first half of the day I worked with the part time preschoolers. They were so stinking cute. I already have my favorite in there, his name is Haiden. Omg, he was this little tiny thing that drew a picture with me at the very beginning and I knew I would love him. The second half of the day I worked with the kinders, which is also awesome, and even better since I observed with them the last two days. Little Kyle was back today, he was there the first day I was, and he ran up and gave me a hug. He is tiny and adorable. He pretended to be sick and lose his voice for part of the time to get out of doing stuff, so he sat in my lap and we read a story. I also love Riley, who is actually kind of a brat, but I really love him. He was playing an educational game on the computer and he asked me to play with him because I was his best friend. I love these kids already. I can't wait to get to know them more. I can't believe tomorrow is our last working day of the week already. At least I have the three day weekend in Rome! Oh Goodness, I should eat, its been since lunch. Have a good night!

Caryssa

12/21/2010

Well, I am finally in Italy! Well, for the last two days. I was so tired yesterday that I didn't even bother writing. I was literally so dead. I got in in the morning of yesterday, which for me was the 20th, and it was about nine thirty. So when I finally was going to get on the flight, it was like 7 pm the previous day in New York time, which is three hours ahead of Spokane. I finally got ahold of Dilly, and I had said goodbye to my mom and everything, so I was really excited to just get going and finally be in Italy. So I go up and they scan my ticket and it didn't work. I was thinking great....but it actually turned out to be good! I got my new ticket, which was somehow in first class. I about died. I have never ridden in first class before! So I got on the plane and got to sit in this massive chair and I got free champagne and noise canceling headphones and a menu with like three course meals. Holy crap! People are like spoiled in first class. And the chair was so huge and relined all the way back and this foot rest thing popped back. I about died. Well I guess I kind of did since as soon as our meal was over I passed the heck out. I even missed our breakfast, which would have probably been ridiculously amazing in first class ha ha. Well whateves. So I get off the plane in Italy! And customs was so easy to get through. We didn't have any forms or anything to fill out, which i found a little bit odd, cuz you have to do that in the US even if you are going to Hawaii or something. But o well. I'm pretty sure the lady didn't actually look at my passport either when she stamped it. But I was ok with it because I got through faster. Then I go to get my luggage. Stand by the spinning thing for like an hour, and still no luggage. Of course it would be my luck that out of my two bags they lose one of them, and on top of that the one with all my clothes and everything important in it....sigh. I guess that was balancing out luck from somehow getting first class. But as soon as Kori, our PC, picked me up from the airport I had to go to training, which kind of sucked because I was like dying, and I felt kind of like the odd man out since I had just gotten there. But I really wasn't because there were still three more people who had not gotten there yet. So for training we did some paper stuff and then observed in the rooms we will be working in. So for two days I have been with the little kinders, which is like what I had this summer. It was kind of an odd experience at first because all I was doing was comparing these kids to my kids from this summer. I miss them so much still. It was probably also a little bit because I was jetlagged. But it all ended up working out really well. Today especially, even though its only the second day, I felt like I will love these kids as much as my first ones and have a blast with them. (Although I don't know if anyone will ever compare to my Nikolas) Today when I was observing we went outside for like an hour and the little kids were chasing me around and stuff. The have so much energy! They were putting me in a "jail" and then I would escape and stuff. So cute. I was so worn out by the end of the hour. And in the middle of it the other rooms came out too, so there were like a million little kids running around everywhere and screaming and stuff. Ha ha. I love them so much. I do love my kinders, but once in a while I wish I was in the infant room, just so I could hold babies all day. It would be so nice, since I love babies so much. The reason I requested the kinders or preschoolers though is because I want to be able to make actual connections with them, which you can't really do with kids that won't remember you ever. I will be officially starting tomorrow working with the preschooler part day room in the morning and then after the lunch with the kinders. Which is a total cakewalk after their lunch and nap time, so I think it will be really fun. The room I am staying in is so much nicer of a hotel than what I had in Atsugi. This is like three of us to a room, but the room is actually two rooms joined. The first half of it is two queen sized beds, and the other half is a pull out couch with tv and kitchen. And the kitchen actually has like a stovetop and dishwasher and stuff and comes with pans and crap. Its awesome! And internet, which is like yay! Ok, I am dying so I'm going to bed. Still no luggage, its in new york now, which is at least an improvement over Portland I guess. Night!

Slight Detour 12/19/2010

So, Going to Italy has not worked out like I had planned so far lol. I am currently stuck in Portland overnight. Although I don't know if it is technically overnight because it is now three in the morning. lol. My sleep schedule is already way off. I slept from noon yesterday when I finally got to the hotel in Portland until like seven or so. Then I got up and ate dinner, and went back to sleep around nine and woke up at one. So hopefully I will be awake on the plane ride to JFK and then sleep on the plane to Venice and arrive in the morning tomorrow. Although it will still only be like two in the afternoon or so here. I am so hoping that getting to Italy actually works out today. sigh. Praying hard. But everything happens for a reason right? Who knows what God was protecting me from. I guess getting stuck in Portland also is better than being stuck in Amsterdam or something and not be able to go anywhere. So right now in Europe, there is like crazy snow EVERYWHERE and everything is being shut down. KLM airline, which I was set up to take (plane to amsterdam and then amsterdam toVenice) was completely shut down until like Monday. Europe is like Seattle. They are not set up to deal with snow, so when it snows everyone freaks out and shuts down the whole city, or in this case country ha ha. So now the new plan is to leave at like six thirty today and fly to new York, and then from JFK to Venice. Amsterdam, Paris, and Venice, and basically every other city in Europe is accepting in the really big flights that are direct, but they aren't flying the little planes, which makes sense I guess cuz the weather would affect them more. So at least the lady at the airport was able to help me figure out a way to get there today. Out of the two "special services" ladies, I definitely got the nice and helpful lady. The lady next to mine wasn't sending anyone out til Monday at the earliest. Then I would be stuck in Portland for like two days or have to go home and start over. That would have sucked even worse. But my lady worked with me for like almost two hours to figure everything out and then she comped my hotel room and like thirty dollars in meals, which is like ridiculous and they don't do that often. So I was so grateful. Although I made such good use of my hotel room by sleeping so much ha ha. But now i am packing everything back up and getting ready to go start over at the airport in a couple of hours. Sigh. So fingers crossed I actually get there and am not stuck alone in New York, although I would DEFINITELY choose that over being stuck in Portland.Who knows where my adventure will lead me. All I know is that I am safe, well rested for the moment, and ready to head to Italy! I checked the weather for Venice and it looks like it is going to be like 40 degrees all week, which I guess there are like blizzards and stuff in some places. At least my city seems to be doing ok for the moment. Thank goodness. Well, peace out for now! I will write again when I can!

Caryssa

8 hrs to go! 12/17/10

Ah. I am so tired, and it is only midnight. Got a lot longer to go before I leave lol. I am staying up all night so that I can pass out on my ten hour connecting flight to Amsterdam. Too bad I have a seven hour layover in Portland prior to leaving and a five hour layover afterwards. Lame! I would much rather sleep than watch movies and stuff on the plane lol. I don't know. I am getting more and more excited! Italy will be really awesome. Especially the food! I sent my Nikolas his christmas present today. I hope that he really enjoys it. Gosh that kid is so special. I spent probably like two hours picking out things to give to him. Oh, my family and I also decorated our Christmas tree today! It was so cute and fun. It was my turn to put the angel on the tree. It is weird to think that it might be my last time doing that before I move out for good and have my own Christmas tree. Growing up is weird! I can't really think of what else to write. Too tired. But I know I will have lots tomorrow. Well..Tomorrow and a half. I will probably end up writing again when I am actually in Vicenza, unless I get too bored in a different airport lol. Til then! Pray for safe travels and sleep!

Caryssa

Second to last American day 12/17

Well, I am FINALLY done with finals and I am getting ready to peace out of the country yet again and go on a new adventure! This was such a long semester, the travel and time with new kids will be well received. I guess even though I will be basically taking care of kids the majority of the time I am there, for me that is one of the most relaxing things in the world. (And of course it helps doing it somewhere else in the world ha ha) But really. Kids are just so refreshing to be around. Which is interesting to think about.... People normally associate maturity with good company, but I have found the opposite true in the last year or so. While it is nice having mature company to talk intelligently to and hang out with, the immaturity and innocence of young kids is one of the most beautiful things ever. I still think about my Nikolas and Jaquin from Japan everyday, and I would choose to hang out with them over going out to dinner or playing board games with friends. Not that I don't completely enjoy those activities. I guess it is just amazing the way kids rationalize and speak about their world. I smile everytime I remember the ridiculous and adorable things Nikolas would say to me on a daily basis. I was never stressed, I was never unhappy, I was never worried. Because that's how my kids were. Naturally I am the opposite; high stress, worry wart, negative. But with my kids, I am more the person I want to be. I love how these children, whose lives have barely started, are able to help me stay more on course with my life and who I want to be. It is God's way of reminding me about the joys in life... through the eyes of a child. And I am so looking forward to finding new Nikolases and Jaquins in Italy to brighten my life and warm my heart. Although right now it is really strange to think about opening my heart to new kids when my summer kids still hold such a close place in my heart. I even got Nikolas a Christmas present that I am going to send tomorrow with a letter and some pictures from this summer. My Nikolas. Goodness. I am tearing up as I write this because I miss him so much.

This semester was a hard one for me. Even though I'm 21 now, sometimes I feel like I am making more mistakes and learning more lessons each year. But I guess that is just part of life. I get sucked in by the negativity, cattiness, judgement, and craziness all around me, and am ashamed to say that sometimes I find myself in the middle of it. Glad I have my family, friends, boyfriend, and kids to pull me back out of it. If you are reading this, please be praying over my trip. For safe travels, personal growth, and that I make an impact on the kids I am with for these next four weeks. I know God has great things in store for me, and I am so thankful that he has again given me the opportunity to stretch myself and rely on him in an unknown environment and situation. I can't wait!