Rusty's schedule at the kindergarten has been up in the air for the past few months. He was told earlier that classes were canceled because the school was going to change locations. We've known for several months that the police would be taking over the current location, and the school would have to move. We kept waiting, but we've also learned that things don't always go according to plan.
The move was canceled, but then the teachers were at meetings for the local government. Finally they were able to fix up the new to them buildings, and the building dedication was scheduled. It was great to be back with the kindergarten!
The new classrooms look great! They had them decorated already, and we were happy to see the tables in the older class. This was a very important event for preparing the older class for elementary school.
The ceremony began with the students sitting down in front waiting for the monk to get there. Once he got there he worked with them on meditation and focus. I thought it was funny when he had to work with them identifying their right and left hands.
While they were waiting for the other monks to get there for the blessing, we had to have some entertainment. I like watching the dancing only because these are our students, but this time I thought the stage mothers were going to get heavily involved. I had watched them get their daughters ready to dance, and I thought about how organized they were and seemed to be ready to see their daughters dance. They spent a lot of time getting the costumes just right.
As the students were dancing another little girl started imitating every move they made. She got quite a few ah's and oh's, but it didn't stay cute that long. The teachers tried a couple of times to move her away from the older girls, but she always went right back to where they were. Then the mothers made it clear they couldn't get a good picture of their own girls with the extra in the way. So she was successfully moved.
When the chanting and blessing part of the ceremony started, Rusty and I found our way to where the real action was happening.
The kids were having a blast playing on their playground equipment. It's the same equipment that was at their old school building, but here they have sand to play in as well. Give a kid a plastic cup and some damp sand and they will be occupied for hours!
Finally it was time to eat lunch. I'm always amazed at how quickly the community can get the tables, chairs, and food set up. It's a group project, and everyone seems to know what they should do. People are able to sit down and eat in no time! We didn't get to stay for lunch as we needed to travel on to another school to finish getting our schedule set up for the new term, but I'm sure they would have had plenty for everyone to stay!
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