Mentoring update
I'm leaving for Thailand tomorrow so I will be away for the monthly meeting where all the Mentors get together and catch up.
Even though we have already had the awesome and heartwarming graduation we are encouraged to continue seeing our mentees and attend monthly informal catch up and support meetings.
So I wrote this email for a few of the other mentors to take, and rather than typing up something new I figured I will just paste it here, but with identifying features taken out:
Mentee and I have been going well.
We had a break the week after graduation. Then met up on the Wednesday 19th August, after her birthday (which was on the 17th). I wasn't sure where to take her and had told her it would be a surprise. It was either going to be to a movie, or out to dinner. I decided on Dinner, because there were no good movies showing at a reasonable time, and also when I got there she was busy getting ready because her sister had suggested she dress nicely in case I took her to a fancy restaurant.
Once my mind was made up, we went to a japanese tepenyaki restaurant. I got the idea for this because a few other mentors had taken their mentees there and they had a great time. Also, it's such a fun place for a kid!
It was awesome! We both caught the egg when they threw it at us to catch in our bowl (although Mentee got a bit on her hoodie), and once they had fried in and thrown a bit to catch in our mouth, Mentee caught it first time, and I got it the third time. It was also fun watching the other eaters do the same. Mentee had never been anywhere like this before, and she obviously really enjoyed it.
The Chef was also really nice to her and said Happy Birthday and gave us an extra egg because she was a kid (well that's what he said anyway).
She was allowed to open her birthday present while we were waiting for food and she loved it. Especially a Hannah Montanna sticker and activity book I got her, which also came with badges to wear. After putting it away again…
Mentee: Muggledepuggle?
Me: Yes?
Mentee: Can I do something to you?
Me: Hmmm OK (thinking I knew what was coming)
Mentee gives me a BIG hug.
Mentee: Thank you for the present.
I really like going out and about with Mentee because she is such a polite kid. We asked the Chef how to say thank you in Japanese, and when we were leaving she asked me if it was ok to just leave our messy paper napkins behind. Also she might have just been used to take-away places where you should throw that stuff away as you leave.. But still nice to know that she is the kind of customer that would be considerate like that.
When I got back to her place I came in and saw the family, and someone must have given them some named pens in these nice boxes, so they gave me one too. Mine had the name Jackie on it :)
We next met up on Wednesday 26th August and went swimming at the local pool. Unfortunately, the main pool was still closed for refurbishment, so we just played in the spray pool and little kids area. This was still quite fun and we had a good time pulling each other around on the floating toys and trying to touch the bottom of the pool with our tummies.
She said school has been going ok, and that she was playing with some boys at lunch time that day. So it was good to hear that she was getting along with other kids. Another day she had told me about some other boys that had been writing her name on the concrete so she had written their names in retaliation. Although I pointed out that they had probably done it to get attention, which she had then given them.
Hmmm… I guess that's quite a bit of an update. You might want to just cut it down to the essentials when you let the others know how I've been.
So I'm off to Thailand tomorrow until the 18th to see family and friends. I'm looking forward to seeing my younger brother and my cousins and eating lots of yummy food!
Hope you are doing well, and get as much info from the others as possible!
Love
Muggledepuggle
I'll try to get on LJ and Facebook as much as possible while I'm in Thailand. But I might be too lazy.