It was easy to make a trip to Florida a priority this March as I hadn't seen my brother and his family in over two years and my parents rent a condo near them for the month.  As a added bonus, their condo is a block from the beach and across from the neighborhood pool.  We left on Saturday morning and returned the following Friday evening after a week chock full of family time, warm weather and lots of naps.





My brother and his family live in Jacksonville, Florida and our trip began there as we spent the remainder of the weekend biking around their community gawking at the quantities of alligators and Spanish moss.  We taught my nieces the ins and outs of ultimate frisbee and how to play the card game, Phase 10.  It was incredible to me how much they had changed and grown in the span of two years and it was so fun to spend time with them.




Then we headed to the condo in Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island and immediately walked to the beach for some shell searching and sunning.  Other than spending time at the beach and pool, my parents took us to some local eating joints and we explored some state parks and the downtown.  Naturally, the vacation went way too fast but we were so happy to have had the chance to see my parents' world down South and to spend time with family who we rarely see.  Thanks for such a fun and relaxing time and for all of the hospitality! (Photos by my sister Susie Sanderson)

A few weeks ago, a teacher from a nearby school asked if I would give a presentation about Brazil and my experience with Fulbright to his seventh grade class.  The cool thing about this school is that it's a Spanish immersion school - students start learning Spanish through complete immersion starting in threeschool.  After grade three, English classes are gradually added through middle school.  Recently, the school added a Mandarin immersion program as well which currently goes up to grade three.

The teacher originally wanted me to give the talk in Spanish but I told him that my Portuguese has kind of replaced my Spanish since the languages are so similar.  We agreed that I would try giving the talk very slowly in Portuguese and explain words along the way if I needed to.  I was nervous about how it would go and prepared some slides with lots of visual support and easy cognates in Spanish.

The presentation went really well and we had a blast! I was completely blown away not only by how high the students' skills were in Spanish but how quickly they picked up the Portuguese.  I communicated to them in Portuguese and they answered back and asked questions in Spanish.  We had so much fun!  The neatest thing for me was watching immersion in action and I was impressed by how well it was working.  After my presentation, I was able to sit and observe the third graders in the Mandarin immersion class.  I think my mouth was open in shocked amazement the whole time as I watched eight year olds speak, understand and read Chinese like it was no big deal.  Language immersion is such an exciting idea and goes hand in hand with international exchange!

I've finally been accepted into the new substitute teaching agency that the local public school districts are using and I've been subbing quite a bit.  Being a new sub in the system is hard because I am the last one to get dibs on jobs and often wind up taking jobs that nobody wants such as assistant positions that pay less, half-day jobs, working with students with special needs, elementary classrooms and immersion programs.  Needless to say, I've been challenged in many ways and am learning a lot especially because I don't have an academic background in primary, secondary or special education.

Since I don't have a lot of experience with small children, it's been fascinating (along with humbling and frustrating) to watch them in a classroom.  To me, working as an aide alongside expert elementary teachers has taught me a lot about grade and skill level abilities and classroom management. I've seen that primary school students cling to a routine and freak out if it's disrupted.  My fourth graders last week, for example, never hesitated to fill me in on what I was doing "wrong" (read different than their normal teacher) throughout the entire day.  Emotions fluctuate wildly in elementary classes and in one day it's common to experience laughter, tears, screaming, hugging and yelling.  I've also noticed that younger students seem to bond instantly with a guest teacher even though I've only just met them.  They crave attention, draw pictures for me and remember my name when I see them again even days later.  They notice everything about me and constantly ask questions like, "How old are you?" "Do you have any kids?" "Are you married to our regular teacher?" and on and on.

In the hub of chatter and gossip that is the teachers' lounge, I've had others say to me variations of, "I'd hate to be a substitute teacher - trying to jump in another person's routine and flow is really stressful." And it is.  All day every day I make mistakes in front of an extremely critical and vocal audience of K-12 students. I get lost in new buildings. I don't know who people are and I never know which numbers to call.  The amount and variety of paperwork (attendance, lunch counts, behavior, grading ahh!!! etc.) for different schools is completely overwhelming and I'm sure that most of the time I get it wrong. I butcher  names while calling roll and scramble to remember how to explain algebraic functions like multiplying and dividing with exponents or why Alexander the Great was so great.

In many ways, subbing is a nightmarish job, but it does have its good points.  It's never boring; I'm constantly learning new things about class management, public education and child development. I'm getting really good at thinking on my feet, faking confidence and staying calm.  My skin is growing thicker as I'm learning not to take things so personally and to be a little more tough and a little less sensitive.  I'm getting good at learning names quickly and have become fairly adept at managing all of the new and fancy technology that teachers use on a daily basis.  I don't have to take work home, lesson plan or deal with parents and can choose to not accept a job for the following day.  But most of all, I have the privilege of having a daily, inside look at what it's really like to be a public school teacher and can honestly say I think it's one of the hardest careers out there.  God bless all of you teachers out there; I don't know how you do it!

One of the things that I've been participating in to try and get into better shape while at home in Holland is Crossfit.  CrossFit workouts incorporate elements from "high intensity internal training, Olympic weightlifing, plyometrics, powerlifting, gymnastics calisthenics and other exercises."  It's not so much like an aerobics or zumba class but more like using your own body weight and simple tools like jump ropes, boxes, chin-up bars and medicine balls to build muscle.  The facility closest to me also has a climbing wall which I haven't tried yet.

I did not jump right in to the "real" Crossfit classes but rather chose to participate in a 6-week "Couch to Crossfit" program that slowly introduced us to all of the Olympic weightlifting moves while also building up our stamina and conditioning us for harder workouts.  The thing I like most about the program is my group.  We are all weightlifting novices and we're all pretty much at the same level.  We meet three times a week and have the same coach each time.  I think we all have a crush on our fantastic coach, Lacey, as she is spunky, funny, encouraging and a total tomboy.


The 6-week program ends next Thursday and we're all going out afterwards to celebrate. I would like to continue Crossfit but the monthly membership is a little pricey. I think the best option would be a punchcard so I can go when I have the time.  But my absolute favorite thing about the Crossfit gym does not have anything to do with the workouts, the music or the rowing machines; the best thing about  the gym is that the coaches take their dogs with them to work out with us.  Right now my two favorite pooches are Izzo (Golden lab) and Franklin (Chocolate lab).  For some reason it makes it a lot easier and more positive to start a workout being welcomed by tail wagging and slobbery kisses.

My favorite pony, Nobie, out to pasture

This year, the public schools in Ottawa Country switched staffing agencies that provide them their substitute teachers.  For me, this means that instead of reactivating my membership quickly and easily online and jumping right back into subbing, I have to apply and be accepted into an entirely new and different agency.  The process is time-consuming and filled with paperwork, fingerprinting and background checks.  While I've been waiting to be officially approved and hired, I've been working at the Hope College bookstore, spending a lot of time at the college library and most recently, volunteering with Renew Therapeutic Riding.


I grew up with horses and miss being in the barn so when I spotted a flier at Hope stating the need for volunteers at Renew, I emailed them right away and attended the next orientation.  Renew is a non-profit organization almost completely run by volunteers.  The program promotes therapeutic riding for youth and adults with special needs.  The idea behind therapeutic riding is teaching and practicing independence through horsemanship.  Being mounted on a horse allows people with special needs the opportunity to use new muscles, practice balancing, conquer fears and control a very large animal by themselves.  Before I'd ever volunteered with Renew, I had always admired the potentially transformative power of being around horses and animals in general.  Spending summers on the farm from age 8-14 taught me cooperation, responsibility, leadership, creativity and problem-solving.  But most importantly, it was a lot of fun!



So far I have really enjoyed working with Renew; the community of volunteers is incredible, the facility is beautiful, the ponies are adorable and the students are at times hard to calm down because of their enthusiasm.  I knew I would enjoy being around horses again - grooming them, petting them, feeling the weight of a saddle in my hands while wearing boots and jeans - but I wasn't fully prepared for how moving the interactions are with the students.  My job as a volunteer varies from leading the horses while students ride or walking alongside students making sure they stay safely mounted.  Most of the time the students are so excited they can barely contain themselves and they like to talk to the volunteers and horse handlers about it.  This week I worked with four students and four different ponies (Nobie, Tucker, Bear and Lizzy).  Some of the student comments include: "I'm having a blast!", "I feel like a very strong man" and "I'm the best cowboy in the world!".

Truthfully, I suspect that the program might be just as therapeutic for the volunteers as for the participants.   Come and join us!

I've been excited about getting back into running while in Holland as there is plenty of space to run, it's safe, clean, beautiful and relatively free of traffic.  But more importantly, Holland has a large community of friendly and motivated runners to exercise with.  For the first time, I've signed up to train for a race with a group and am participating in the Priority Health Run Camp run by Gazelle.  The camp includes lots of clinics on health, nutrition, cross and strength training as well as two organized group practices a week.  One is speed training and the other is long distance; each practice is divided into groups that run at a certain pace.


The first practice was this Saturday and though I didn't relish rising in the cold and dark wee hours of a weekend morning, I did enjoy getting the workout done at the beginning of the day and with the encouragement of others.  We were a pretty ridiculous sight at Kollen Park at 7:45 a.m.  Clad in neon, leg-hugging tights and shod in "Yak-Trax" the excited attitude of the lead runners of each pace group was positively effervescent.  The beautiful sunrise helped a little too.

I haven't run in awhile and I opted for the low-mileage group who went three miles but most people ran much more.  It was really fun having people to run with and I met a lot of new running buddies.  I know that my enthusiasm might wane as training progresses and that my motivation will dip along with the temperature so I hope that Run Camp will help get me out the door and moving in preparation for the Riverbank Run in May.  Interested in joining? Let me know and we'll get you signed up!

Home sweet home smells especially good when Mom makes a big pot roast for Sunday dinner.  I think it's got to be my all time favorite food and it's nice to have a chance to sit around the table together when the weekdays have us all off and running in different directions.  After dinner we played cards (Five Crowns - highly recommend!) and now it's time for Downton Abbey and a fire in the fireplace.  It's shaping up to be one of those perfect winter Sundays.