Oostende & ECC Week One Fun!

As I sit here and think about my life at this moment it's hard not be completely content with where I am. I'm in a beautiful place, have made some great new friends already, love the school & the ECC, and have already done some fun weekend traveling! Just this past weekend a group of us took the train about an hour and a half away to the coastal town of Oostende. Although it was quite windy at the beach the water was surprisingly warm and the sun was shining all day. We honestly couldn't have asked for better weather at this time of the year! We started the day off by walking to the beach where we enjoyed putting our feet in the water and playing in the sand. It's almost like we were all children that had just experienced the beach for the first time-we quickly took off our shoes, rolled up our pants, and frolicked through the sand and water. What an amazing experience! What was your first beach experience like? I know I've always loved the beach and the water ever since I can remember. After each one of us was able to release the inner child from within us we headed across the beach and into town for some lunch. On our trek we saw lots of people flying kites and enjoying some time in the sun. I must admit that it was the perfect kite flying day...next time I'll have to bring one!

After lunch we took about a ten minute tram ride over to the dunes and spent the afternoon exploring over there and relaxing on the dunes. The view from the top of them was absolutely breathtaking! The sea stretched for miles upon miles, white puffy clouds that filled the blue sky, and the water was flowing freely onto the beach. Here are some pictures from the dunes! The one of just me is for you, mom and dad! I thought you would enjoy that since I'm not big on taking pictures of just me...Can you tell it was a little windy?

I must admit that it wasn't too shabby of a day at the beach! It was definitely a nice way to unwind and have a lot of good laughs after the first week of school.

Life at the ECC has been going really well so far! I love the kids in the class and am enjoying watching a good amount of them either learn English or learn more about the language. It's amazing how quick they learn and how happy it makes them when they figure something out! That's a smile you just can't beat :) Tomorrow afternoon I go back to my regular floater intern position. I'm going to miss the class I've been working with for the past week but I'm really excited about getting to work in so many different classes and grade levels! I stopped in one of my preschool classes to say hi today and already fell in love with all of the kids, they're so cute! Here are a few pictures from the first few days of school from the K/1st grade class I've been in! 

 As always click on the link below to see all of my pictures from my weekend trip to Oostende! 
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067147&id=59201520&l=3cd0038812