The Second Week

I love my job! It is only week two, but these classes have really showed me that I have gone into the right profession.  I have amazing students who are eager to learn at every class. Being in a beginning brass class may make me cringe and joke every so often, but they are a true blessing. It has been 14 years since I last was in a brand new beginning brass class so this has been a great refresher for me as well as makes me examine my own playing. The day that six of my seven brass players blasted their first notes I couldn’t be more proud! All of my classes are going wonderful and I can’t wait to see where we go this school year.

I have a wide age range in my classes as well. It feels a little like Sheltered Reality in the fact that everyone is learning together no matter their age. However, unlike Sheltered Reality I have them all at once, and not all over the country. My students range in age from 12 to 72. All learning guitar or brass with me. There are lots of challenges in these class makeups, but at the same time it is really neat to see people of different ages helping each other to understand some concept that the whole class is working on. Last night I got to see and hear one of my two guitar classes play their first song. That was fulfilling in itself to see them at the point that they are able to play something. I remember when I was able to play my first song. I was so excited to be able to do it, and I saw that same look of excitement on many of my students’ faces last night.

It is a very strange experience to be teaching but school not starting in the morning. We teach between 3:00 pm and 8:20 pm Monday through Wednesday and 1:00-5:00 pm on Saturdays. I thought I had a strange schedule working at Mosaic and going to Waldorf full time, but that just prepared me for this job. We have stayed up late more often than not watching movies after eating dinner at 9:00 every night. We go to bed sometime between 1 and 3 am, and then get up anywhere from 6:30-10:30 am. Being a teacher and being able to sleep in that late is wonderful! I know it won’t be like that back in the states, but I will enjoy it while it lasts.

We are still waiting on internet at our house. We have learned that you have to be able to call out on your landline before you can get internet. I guess it can take upwards of a week to be able to call out. I don’t really understand how that works, because we have been able to receive calls for a few days now. I have been trying to call out every single day just so we know when we can do it. My hope is that this happens before Eric leaves to go back to Minnesota.

I am our house supervisor, so if anything goes wrong in the house or something isn’t finished yet I am the one who is put in charge to see that it gets done. When we still had a bunch of workers at the house and Eric went to Georgetown for a few days with Michael I became Contractor Kelli. The workers were to check in with me on everything they did that day and I had to approve of it before they could get home. Let’s just say I am glad we are done with that phase of the house.

This Sunday I have been asked to preach at a church here in New Amsterdam. They said they would tell me the topic they wanted me to talk about later this week, but I still haven’t heard anything so I am thinking I will just choose a topic. If I hear from them today I will go with what they want, but if I hear nothing I suppose I should have something ready.

Well, I better get back to planning for our Academy Classes with the rest of my team. Have a great rest of you week everyone! Enjoy the cooler temperatures, knowing that I miss those wonderfully crisp fall days and the changing leaves.