A photographic day

It's been the most incredible clear day today. Blue skies and you can see for miles. The Northland (the huge empty wasteland on the other side of the fjord) is apparently 8 km away and yet, from our living room window you can see every contour and shadow of snow and cliffs today. The clarity also meant that it was the coldest day I've experienced so far. The wind was pretty strong and without any cloud cover the little warmth awarded by the sun disappeared quickly. I was a popsicle by the time I came home - and Tobias had icicles in his beard when he came home from work :)

As usual, my walk home from work was interrupted again and again by a fit of photography (and yes, I have a 'usual' now, even though I've only been to work twice!). I'm still getting to know my new camera and all its features and I'm really enjoying the learning, although I get so frustrated when something doesn't work for me - and all because I don't understand yet what my camera's capable of. Google, here I come!

You have to admit... My daily walk to and from work is pretty stunning.

Professionally, I had a very easy and relaxing and interesting day. The only thing on my schedule was a meeting with one of my new fellow English teachers, whose classes I will be helping out with. This is mainly what I've been hired to do; be an assistant teacher for those students that are having a really hard time. The main teacher is present in class (and basically has all the responsibility and the burden of preparation, while I lend a helping hand to any student who needs a little extra attention). Now doesn't that just sound like a wonderful no-stress job? ;)

As it happens, in addition to my role as assistant teacher, my English colleagues are also planning on creating a "special" class of 12-13 students, which will include those kids that are the most challenged, language-wise. These kids barely know the English alphabet and will have no choice but to attend this extra class, if they want to continue in school. But it's important to note that they aren't "trouble kids" - they want to learn, but their English teachers in elementary school could barely speak English themselves, so the students' ignorance of the English language is no fault of theirs, it's simply due to a very challenged school system. This is a very important distinction to make, at least for me, because it means the world once I'm standing there teaching, trying to help them and trying to make a personal connection with them. So that's going to be interesting!

During my meeting with J today, the principal came in and asked me to see him after. I haven't yet gotten to know him well enough to gauge his mood - he seems serious a lot of the time, but that's probably just professionalism. Anyway, it felt kind of like I was a kid in trouble and I was being sent to the principal's office, haha. It's going to take a little getting used to that I'm now on the other side of the table - I'm an equal! And of course I wasn't in trouble; he had good news. A few Danish teachers had approached him and asked if I might be available to help them in some of their Danish classes, in addition to English. There are some challenged students whose first language is Greenlandic, and their Danish skills are simply not good enough - while others in the same class are perfectly fluent. The difference in skill between students here is astonishing and creates a really big challenge for the teachers. That's why they need me! :D

I'll end my post with a few photos of the sunrise tonight. I'm fascinated by how the light changes in a matter of minutes... There are clear skies tonight, so I'm hoping for northern lights! I had my first glimpse of them over the weekend. They were a pale and unclear green at best, because there was a thin layer of clouds, but my mind was blown nonetheless (mind-BLASTED!). Northern lights have been on my "MUST-SEE" list for years, so I was dancing around the living room afterwards, so that Hans Henrik and Tobias were laughing at me... But screw 'em! Because I saw northern lights! Haha :)