Thanksgiving

This has been a wonderful Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for. My family far away, the church family here in Saipan, and my Lord and savior, just to name the most important ones. I spent this Thanksgiving at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Winkfield, and they were gracious hosts. I didn't count exactly, but there were probably between 30 and 40 people at their home for Thanksgiving dinner. There was so much food, games, fun, and more food. Here are a few pictures of our time together as well as a picture of my church, Saipan Community Church.

Another gorgeous sunset

Totally "Solid"

I just want to show a few pictures of some of my students, my classroom, and my school. The lady at the top is my cooperating teacher, Leilani Iramk. She is wonderful to work with. She grew up on the island and graduated from MHS herself. She attended a university in Hawaii and came back to Saipan to teach. She taught at a junior high for two years, and then moved to MHS. She has been teaching here for 3 years.

Also on top is a picture of my school. It is a very large school and this is just one section of building D.

These students are in my 4th period class and this is a day they are presenting the creative writing books they have been working on for the last 4 weeks. I really love this group of kids. In a class of 19 students, I only have 4 girls. They have a lot of fun, and as they would say, "Miss, we're solid." And it's true--they are.

Halloween

Above is a group picture of those of us who went cave style. From left to right is Kristie Mhyrum, Isaac Mhyrum, myself, Jackie Van Dam, Amanda Allen, and Jake Van Dam. This picture to the above right was one of the most beautiful I'd ever seen. The sail boat has a sail of the American Flag and against the sunset it was breathtaking.

To the left is Amanda Allen and Jake Van Dam

This is the view of the resort just outside of our room at about midnight.

To the left is Amanda and I on our balcony overlooking the ocean

Hallween this year was really fun. Normally I'm not into the dressing up and going out, but generally that was because it was always freezing. But here it was actually fun because the weather was great. A group of us dressed up as cave people and went on a sunset cruise. It was part of a package deal that came with a night at the Palms Resort, the cruise, dinner on the cruise, and breakfast the next morning. I had a roommate so it was only $44 a person!!

The cruise was a couple hours long and there was music, dancing, and dinner. It was right at sunset, and because it hadn't been a cloudy or rainy day, the water was crystal clear and the sunset was gorgeous. There were a lot of people I knew or recognized on the boat. It was advertised in the newspaper, yet most of the people that came were "mainlanders" who are teachers or lawyers or work at the resorts. I had a steak, and was quite surprised at how good it was since this is obviously not cattle country.

We spent the evening at Godfathers and then retired to our hotel. Although the rooms were nice, they were a bit outdated. When I opened the door I felt like I was going into an old James Bond movie set from the 60's or 70's. We had a balcony overlooking the pool and the ocean that was breathtaking. The only thing bad about the stay was the beds. I have probably never slept in a more uncomfortable bed. Even the most shabby motel on the mainland would have softer beds, but since I got a good price for it, I didn't mind. My theory is that they make the beds so hard that their guests will wake up with only the thought of scheduling a message at the day spa.

It was a very fun time with friends and was probably the first time I ever truly enjoyed Halloween.

Club 200 Mad Hatter's Ball