First day in the classroom

Headed off to our respective schools today - for Lynn and I, it was Ellwood School in the Goleta district. 

My first heartmelt moment: All the children in my class wrote me welcome letters and my CT passed them to me!!! (these letters effectively eradicated any apprehension that I had towards being in a first grade class - these kids are so sweet!!!)

That's the 'staff pass' that was issued to Lynn and I upon our arrival. 

My first grade homeroom - Room 11. 

I was definitely slightly overwhelmed by the multitudes of differences between the Ellwood/Californian education system and the Singapore education system - in addition to the homeroom system, the curriculum and the teacher-student interaction was also very different (well, more on that in my journal!) 

And so my second heartmelt moment occurred at the end of the school day: 

A student in my class drew me a heart!!! (Can these kids get any sweeter?!?!) 

Stayed in and cooked up a storm for dinner due to the rain... Check out our dinner!

(Not shown in picture: More chicken and vegetables). 

And that's the fresh bread from the Farmers' Market and homemade zucchini chocolate cupcakes that Peggy brought for us. They were absolutely delicious. 

Looking forward to class tomorrow!