Busy times!

Well, the last few weeks have been pretty busy here in the life of Erik and Amanda! Here are some of the things that have been going on since I last checked in ...

• Two professors from Corban came to Jakarta! Dr. Matt Lucas is the Provost at Corban and Janine Allen is the Dean of Education. Matt is one of the main people who really encouraged me and Erik to come here. Their main connection recently has been UPH (University Pelitah Harapan) - the college here. Their main reason for the visit was to do some work there and to also visit some other schools! It was SO great to visit with them and see some familiar faces.

{left~right: Janine, Katie, Chris, Me, Erik, Matt, Kaitlyn and Chaney}
{Kaitlyn and and Chaney are two other teachers here from Corban}

• Last weekend Erik, Chris, Katie and I went out to one of the other SPH campuses and participated in a fund raiser trivia night. Chris got these fake mustaches from his brother so we decided to theme ourselves around the mustaches! It was a fun night! We didn't end up winning - but we were close - even if we were one of the youngest tables there :)

{left~right: Chaney, Grace, Patrick, Erik, Me, Lindsey,
Katie, and Becky. Ben and Chris are in the back}

• My class led chapel! Each Wednesday, the primary school (K1-G2) get together for chapel. Each week a teacher/class is assigned the story part. Luckily, my time didn't come until October! :) Our story was baby Moses. Leading up to chapel my kids were soooo excited. We even had a countdown chain - that's how stoked they were! Here is everyone right after we acted out the story of Moses!
  

• We had our first parent teacher conferences. I met with 24 parents, and Erik met with about 6! Overall, they went very well and they were very encouraging. You never know what to expect from parents in a new place and because I am basically a first year teacher, I was pretty nervous. But, I can really say that the majority of my parents are wonderful and very supportive! :)
  
  
• Mixed in with our parent teacher conferences, we had professional development days. Our campus (Kemang Village) hosted all the other schools for these 2 days. There are 3 other campuses so it was a lot of fun to be all together for those days. We hosted two of the teachers from the other schools during the training - so that added even more fun :)
  
  
• Some totally random news [but very exciting for me] ... We started having a maid (or helpers as they are called here) this week. She works for our friend during the week, but we will use her one day a week now. I came home today to a spotless kitchen and bathroom - so I am a pretty happy girl tonight!
  
  
• This Friday [November 4] a group of 10 of us are heading out to another island (West Timor) in Indonesia to visit an orphanage there. The city there is called Kupang and the name of the orphanage is called Roslin. I am SO, SO excited. We are taking a lot of supplies and resources the them to use. Many kids at Roslin, also attend the school there so they are in need of lots of supplies - and of course lots of hugs, kisses, and love which I will bring endless amounts of! Please be praying for safety, health, and rest during the trip. We leave on the 4th and return the 7th. Then we start school back on the 9th so we will have a day to rest and get ready for the rest of November and December!
  
  
• We are planning two awesome trips for our Christmas holiday but I will have to tell you about that on another blog :)

Well, I think that is about it for now! Life is busy - but we are lovin' it! <3

bye.for.now.