What's New?!

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Kia Ora Whanau. It's a while since I last posted - please excuse me. I have returned from an amazing, almost 3 month trip around Europe. How lucky am I? I flew to London, and from there visited Greece (Mykonos and Santorini), Spain (San Sebastian), Paris, Croatia and Italy! A lot to fit into just under 3 months… I had an absolute ball.
I travelled mostly alone but met friends in Spain and Croatia. I have travelled alone through Vietnam earlier in the year and although many may think it is a lonely experience I find it quite the opposite. Staying mostly in hostels I was amazed at how many other people were travelling alone, so straight away there are people you share a common trait and conversation starter with. Travelling alone makes you get out of your comfort zone. I found myself really putting myself out there and making an effort to walk up to people and spark a conversation. I am certainly not a shy person but I think in daily life I am mostly around people I know, colleagues, friends, family etc and I don’t often HAVE to make the effort, so you don't. You talk to the same people and I certainly didn't find myself walking up to strangers out and about and introducing myself to them. I met some amazing people who will are now not just strangers but friends!
I did a bike tour in Paris and met another girl travelling alone who was from Virginia, USA. We ended up spending almost 2 days together, exploring the sights, eating crepes and laughing. I often had to pinch myself to remember I had only met this person the day before. This is the beauty of travelling alone, you so rarely get the opportunity to do this kind of thing and it sometimes takes really getting out of your comfort zone to experience moments like this in life.
I don’t want to bore you with every detail of my trip but these were most definitely the highlights; seeing my auntie and uncle’s house in Surrey, Chipstead London, swimming in the crystal clear waters in Greece and eating a whole fresh Squid, eating the pintxos in Spain (these are small bite sized morsels of deliciousness on top of french bread) and walking to the top of the funicular in San Sebastian,  sailing around Croatia on a boat with 7 of my friends and jumping off the boat into the water every morning AND standing up on a paddle board!
Since I’ve been back I have relieved back at Point England School. It was really valuable to move around the school and get to teach the different year levels. When you are in your own room and not a beginner teacher, you rarely get to move out of and/or see other teachers in other levels teach. I went from teaching year 0 in the morning to year ⅞ in the afternoon. What a great deal I learnt in just a short two weeks.

Currently I have joined Team one for Term 4 and am lucky enough to be teaching alongside the talented Helen Squires. I started off teaching the 'babies' and it feels good to get back to my ‘roots’ and what I am comfortable with. It was so amazing to go away but as they say ‘there is no place like home’! The last few years have been a bit all over the place for me, I am looking forward to being settled in one place next year and moving forward in my career. How am I feeling right now? I am looking forward to applying for the opportunities Manaiakalani has on offer in 2018.



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