Oh Christmas tree, Oh Christmas tree....

This week has been busy and wonderful. I have been surrounded by the Christmas spirit from the start of the week, in more ways than I probably ever have. Working in the schools here, I got to be included in their Christmas celebrations, including concerts and carol services. I have posted many pictures in this blog, to help you get an idea of what I have been up to, but also just because they are fun. The week started with our meeting with Doug where we talked about journeys and how this is a journey for us, and about the different Christmas journeys and the intentions and emotions behind them. We found comparisons with our lives here in Belfast with those of the Shepperd, the wise men, and Mary and Joesph. Tuesday night I went to the Currie Primary Christmas Concert. Almost all of my BB kids and then the P6 class I work with on Wednesday mornings performed. The little ones were too cute. I don't have many pictures, I didn't want to fight parents who really should be the ones to get the good shots, so I only have one of these two precious wee ones.


Wednesday morning I went with Ms. Rock's P6 class that I do swimming with to the Pantomime. Strangely enough it was held in the Pittsburgh Steelers Bar here in Belfast! We had been looking for the place (Alison is from Pittsburgh) and oddly enough I ended up there with school. Pantomimes are a fun Christmas Tradition here, where they change around a fairytale, or make a new one by combining old ones, and act it out. The lead female is always a male, and there are many one liners intended for the adult audience. Audience participation is also very important. The kids had a good time and for my first pantomime, it was pretty good! Here are some pictures of the P6 kids and the panto cast...



Wednesday Afternoon and Thursday afternoon I spent my time at Castle High School where the whole school was involved in getting ready for Thursday afternoon's performances for their annual Grandparent's Day. The cast of Oliver was to perform 4 of their songs, all in full costume, and other Christmas songs and dances were performed. Spending two full afternoons with tons of the kids was so much fun. I got to chat more with the ones I knew, and meet some that I hadn't met yet. The event went very well on Thursday afternoon, the Granny's and Grandas were too cute and the kids did very well. It was good fun, and of course, here are some pictures...


I am very grateful for my role within the schools because it has given me the opportunity to really see what life is like where separation of church and state doesn't exists. Yes, I notice things every day, with the troubles and churches running the schools, but this week has been a very clear example for me. Coming from a place where we use the term winter break rather than Christmas break, and had Holiday parties in school rather than Christmas parties, it was a new experience to be in school and hear Christmas said so often and attend a school carol church service. I have never really been one to be bothered by the lack of religion in schools, I didn't feel like I was missing out or not being a good Christian by celebrating a Holiday party. If anything, looking back, I would say it was more of a Christ-like thing to do, include everyone. But it has been fun to be in schools where you don't have to be careful as a teacher or even volunteer what you say to the kids about this season because the diversity and likelihood of offending are slim to none. It has been a very fun week.

On another note, Belfast has decided to turn into the North Pole. The high this week was about 30 each day and a thick fog covered the city. I first opened my front door and really thought I was back in Boone for a minute. haha. I know this is not all that much colder than Boone, however I never realllllly walked all that far at school My 25-30 minute walk is teaching me just how cold the 20's really feel. I learned that to clear your windshield here, using boiling water from your kettle is customary as I saw this on my street 3 times. Also, the sidewalks here turn into ice skating rinks! I was out before 9 every morning this week and as early as 8:15, where the sidewalks were white sheets of ice. No precipitation had fallen, the water on the footpaths had simply frozen through. I was so surprised by it, I took a picture... (Anne, aren't you proud?) This is my life, early in the morning...


We had a nice dinner the other night and pulled some Christmas Crackers, getting into the spirit. Alison, Lauren, and I will all be with different families from our churches on Christmas day, so it was fun to sit down together.