Living in a song

Today it was the Teachers' Day in Estonia. I got many emails from my colleagues saying that everything went well and I was really happy to hear that. To be honest, I felt guilty for leaving Brita  alone there.

In Boone, life is the same. It's sunny and warm again. We are sitting downstairs, struggling with a reading text we were given for tomorrow. I can't believe it's Wednesday already. Time passes very quickly when you have such a tight schedule.

Yesterday I got up at 6.45 and had breakfast with Ethel and McKiever. Then we drove to the town and I met Ethel's teacher cadets. They made a field trip to Appalachian State University. I went to Lucy Brock Daycare with them. This was an interesting experience as I could see what daycares are like here in the US. Actually, this daycare is different from others as they offer teacher students a possibility to observe the children there. They even have special observation booths for that.

I had to leave at 9.15 as we were going to have a session on lesson planning. It was nice to see other TEA fellows again :) By the way, they went to the Hospitality House on Monday and served food for homeless people.

We also had a session on digital storytelling and an ICT class with John.

After classes we came to the hotel and had a chance to see just how geographically disabled (Tea's expression) some Americans can be. We met a lady who thought Estonia was a part of the UK and was convinced that everybody in Europe has mad cow disease and in Guatemala they all have malaria.

We did some shopping (I just love Boone Mall!)  and had dinner. Oh, and we bought the bus tickets to New York City,

Today we only had two sessions but both were pretty long. First we had lesson planning and then poetry with Mark Vogel. Everybody read their Where I'm From poem and it turned out that there are so many creative and talented people in our group.

OK, I'll also post my poem about my childhood memories and that's it for today. I must admit that I removed a couple of lines that were too personal to share...

WHERE I'M FROM

I am from a small village by the road that takes people to the seaside on the few sunny days we have in Estonia.

I’m from Russian cartoons and from strawberry chewing gum that tastes like strawberry for only about three minutes.

I’m from the brand new row house that has four bedrooms too many for my parents now.

I’m from the dusty narrow paths snaking between forests.

I’m from the dandelion fields, the red and yellow trees swinging in the wind and roaring trucks filled with rye and wheat.

I’m from the coldest of colds and from huge piles of snow.

I’m from silence, modesty and rational thinking.

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I’m from the power of mind and from dreams that do come true…