My last first day of school

The first day of school was Friday. The kids have been coming to school since Wednesday to clean the classrooms and the outside. We have people who work at our school cleaning it, so I am not sure why the children come to do their job.
The first day started with a ceremony that began at 7.30am. The priest from the big church came and sang/said prayers for the beginning of school. This was a special ceremony and first day, as the minister of education from Ungheni came, the mayor and other big people in education to view our school and help celebrate. A group of children performed a traditional Moldovan dance, complete with traditional clothes and the new first graders were paraded around ringing the first bell to start their education.
Of course, I received many flowers and wishes for a great school year. I was lucky in that I had no classes scheduled for Friday. I simply arrived at school, late for the ceremony, received flowers, and sat down to a masa. I was back home at 11.30 with a buzz and went to bed for a bit.
So really Monday is my first day of school. I am excited because this year there is a new English teacher. She will be the school counselor and teach a few Englishes classes until my counterpart goes on maternity leave and she will take over for the other classes. She just graduated college and is excited to teach and is looking for me to help her and collaberate with her. We will have a great time and have some interesting classes because of it.
I have a pen pal, finally after waiting a year. It is a school in NE Georgia with a woman who teaches Elementary school students. Not only has she adopted my classes, but the entire school. They have included information about Moldova in a special section in the library, with maps and such, and are planning on purchasing books about Moldova to have in their library. What a great chance for young children to learn about a different culture and for my students to learn more about America, the schools, the culture, and practice their English. So three cheers for the beginning of a great school year!
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