Breakfast at "The Ritz"...kinda

Today we had an amazing all-staff breakfast provided by the school, via the Ritz Hotel. (Pics are on Facebook.) It was absolutely incredible to see a huge room filled with all ASD employees. Even more so was the fact that there were over 200 of them. This past week, it was easy to think that there were a lot of us new employees but compared to all the rest, we were a small group. We later learned that there was only a turnover of about 10% last year among teh employess of ASD. As far as international schools go, that's a pretty great stat.

By far the best part about the entire breakfast was meeting Lauren and Jen. They were great and as usual, concerned with how the rest of the newbies and I were doing and this told me yet again, that I made the right decision. It was quite an inspiration being around that huge group of educators who were all so passionate not only about teaching, but about ASD as well. Some are going into their 14th year here.

From there, I was able to work a while in my classroom and later we went out to lunch at Chili's! Many things were the same, but many things were different. The decor looked just like it does in the States, but they also had an upstairs playroom for the kids! The menu offered many of the same items but the iconic "baby back ribs" were, you guessed it, made of beef (beef bacon was on the menu too...good thing I never order ribs anyway :)

I finally have a good idea of what my school schedules will be like each day. I will teach two math sections each day: my homeroom class, and the homeroom class of the teacher next door to me. When my kids aren't with me for math, they'll be in the other teacher's room for reading. Alternating units of science or social studies, and writing will also be part of the job. It'll be a great mix of having my own students and switching classes.

It's hard to believe I will meet my students in just a few days! Tomorrow will be more of the same things: preparing my classroom and a few meetings. I will also find out exactly what sort of lessons I'll be teaching the first few weeks of school so all good things!