There are 4.5 school days left in the school year. And, even though last week felt super long, this year really has zipped by. Here's my last few months...
February
Ita and I got to take the fourth-graders to the soup kitchen again! That might be one of my favorite field trips of all time because it's a different experience for them.
We also had ski break! I went to Amsterdam to catch up with Rorey for a few days. I miss working with her a lot. We had a great time catching up, exploring the museums, and eating delicious foods!
Dennis also came down to visit for a day and took me to the zoo, because he knows me so well! On Tuesday, I left Amsterdam and headed up to Den Helder. I was able to see the base and Dennis' ship. How he lives on that for weeks is still unknown to me!
We hopped a ferry to Texel for the night and spent the next day exploring more of the island before heading back to Assen for the rest of the week.
March
We had a full month of work in March. We started our government unit which is one I really miss/am hoping I get to teach at my new school. The students made their own table governments and played president/king/dictator for a day. Of course, they loved that! I also started my final graduate class in March!
April
Spring Break started with good Friday. Dennis flew into Riga on Saturday, we had a lovely Easter brunch and then took a bus down to Vilnius.
I went to Vilnius a few years ago and it rained all weekend. When we arrived in Vilnius, it was raining again. I was beginning to think it was a gray and rainy city, but the next day the sun came out and my impression of Vilnius was changed. We enjoyed lots of cake while practicing Dutch, learned more about Lithuania's history, and relaxed in a park until a bird pooped on us. haha. After three days there, we were happy to return to Riga. It was Dennis' last trip to Riga, which made saying goodbye even harder.
At school, the student council kids decided to run a Penny War fundraiser in connection with the Children's Hospital fundraiser event. Ita and I were thinking we could make 200 euros, maybe 500 at most. Instead, the elementary kids got super into it! We raised just under 1,000 euros!
We were thrilled about all the money, but by Friday afternoon we were ready to not count pennies anymore! We had over 10 euros in .01 coins alone. Latvia also has some fun rules about turning in coins. So, we could only go to ONE branch of one bank to exchange the coins, and we could only bring 1,000 coins at a time. We had to make several trips to the bank (9 visits I believe) but eventually, we had no more pennies!
And, the best part of April, and potentially the entire year, I FINISHED GRAD SCHOOL! No more essays, no more discussion boards, no more powerpoints. At least for a bit. :)
May
The first week of May was a bit odd as we had Tuesday and Friday off school. I used the long weekend to go visit Dennis in the Netherlands. As the tulips were in full bloom, we went to tulip country to take it all in! Visiting Keukenhof was awesome and we enjoyed all the beautiful flowers just as much as we enjoyed watching everyone play instagram model!
We also celebrated Liberation Day by visiting a local town's festival and flea market. We explored Leiden, Delft, and the Hague. It was sunny and beautiful all weekend long! It felt more like mid-summer than early May and we took full advantage of that! And, of course, we rode bikes. Because Dennis wouldn't have it any other way!
I returned to Riga on Monday, did my laundry, and packed again for the volleyball tournament. This year it was back to Sofia with 8 middle school girls and the other coach, Diaga. While the flights all went well, we had super long layovers in Vienna. We spent 6 hours lounging in the airport on the way there and had 10 hours, which turned into 11, on the way back. There is a direct train from the airport to city centre, so at least we spent that day relaxing in a park instead of in a crowded airport terminal.
The tournament itself went well. I love the school in Sofia and it was fun to be back there again. The girls showed tons of growth over the weekend and started to be a bit nicer to each other out on the court. A bit. We took 7th, out of 8 and won a sportsmanship award. Because, of course they did.
We arrived back in Riga around 11:3opm. I was in bed by 12:01.
The following Tuesday, I left school early to meet the movers at my apartment. They had my stuff boxed and out the door in 45 minutes. It helps to not have a lot of stuff. Now, I am living in a basically empty apartment, with five days of school left, and less than two weeks remaining in my life in Riga.
I thought the last few months went fast. How has it been four years already!?
February
Ita and I got to take the fourth-graders to the soup kitchen again! That might be one of my favorite field trips of all time because it's a different experience for them.We also had ski break! I went to Amsterdam to catch up with Rorey for a few days. I miss working with her a lot. We had a great time catching up, exploring the museums, and eating delicious foods!
Dennis also came down to visit for a day and took me to the zoo, because he knows me so well! On Tuesday, I left Amsterdam and headed up to Den Helder. I was able to see the base and Dennis' ship. How he lives on that for weeks is still unknown to me!We hopped a ferry to Texel for the night and spent the next day exploring more of the island before heading back to Assen for the rest of the week.
March
We had a full month of work in March. We started our government unit which is one I really miss/am hoping I get to teach at my new school. The students made their own table governments and played president/king/dictator for a day. Of course, they loved that! I also started my final graduate class in March!
April
Spring Break started with good Friday. Dennis flew into Riga on Saturday, we had a lovely Easter brunch and then took a bus down to Vilnius.
I went to Vilnius a few years ago and it rained all weekend. When we arrived in Vilnius, it was raining again. I was beginning to think it was a gray and rainy city, but the next day the sun came out and my impression of Vilnius was changed. We enjoyed lots of cake while practicing Dutch, learned more about Lithuania's history, and relaxed in a park until a bird pooped on us. haha. After three days there, we were happy to return to Riga. It was Dennis' last trip to Riga, which made saying goodbye even harder.
At school, the student council kids decided to run a Penny War fundraiser in connection with the Children's Hospital fundraiser event. Ita and I were thinking we could make 200 euros, maybe 500 at most. Instead, the elementary kids got super into it! We raised just under 1,000 euros!
We were thrilled about all the money, but by Friday afternoon we were ready to not count pennies anymore! We had over 10 euros in .01 coins alone. Latvia also has some fun rules about turning in coins. So, we could only go to ONE branch of one bank to exchange the coins, and we could only bring 1,000 coins at a time. We had to make several trips to the bank (9 visits I believe) but eventually, we had no more pennies!
And, the best part of April, and potentially the entire year, I FINISHED GRAD SCHOOL! No more essays, no more discussion boards, no more powerpoints. At least for a bit. :)
May
The first week of May was a bit odd as we had Tuesday and Friday off school. I used the long weekend to go visit Dennis in the Netherlands. As the tulips were in full bloom, we went to tulip country to take it all in! Visiting Keukenhof was awesome and we enjoyed all the beautiful flowers just as much as we enjoyed watching everyone play instagram model!
We also celebrated Liberation Day by visiting a local town's festival and flea market. We explored Leiden, Delft, and the Hague. It was sunny and beautiful all weekend long! It felt more like mid-summer than early May and we took full advantage of that! And, of course, we rode bikes. Because Dennis wouldn't have it any other way!
I returned to Riga on Monday, did my laundry, and packed again for the volleyball tournament. This year it was back to Sofia with 8 middle school girls and the other coach, Diaga. While the flights all went well, we had super long layovers in Vienna. We spent 6 hours lounging in the airport on the way there and had 10 hours, which turned into 11, on the way back. There is a direct train from the airport to city centre, so at least we spent that day relaxing in a park instead of in a crowded airport terminal.
The tournament itself went well. I love the school in Sofia and it was fun to be back there again. The girls showed tons of growth over the weekend and started to be a bit nicer to each other out on the court. A bit. We took 7th, out of 8 and won a sportsmanship award. Because, of course they did.We arrived back in Riga around 11:3opm. I was in bed by 12:01.
The following Tuesday, I left school early to meet the movers at my apartment. They had my stuff boxed and out the door in 45 minutes. It helps to not have a lot of stuff. Now, I am living in a basically empty apartment, with five days of school left, and less than two weeks remaining in my life in Riga.
I thought the last few months went fast. How has it been four years already!?
