FAQ and a New Car

April has flown by.  I can’t believe July 27th is only a little over three months away.  I feel like there’s still so much for me to do in order to be ready to move.  I do have more information than I did a month ago, though.  I have my school calendar (so I can tell you that I have 3 weeks off at Christmas, and when my week and a half off at spring break is, if you’re interested), and the curriculum for my classes.  Through email, some of the current teachers at my school have been able to answer my questions about what to expect, which is great.  And, it turns out there will be 7 of us from the US teaching there next year, and 6 of us are new.  I think it’s kind of nice that so many of us will be in the same boat. 

Also, I am very excited because…I am buying a new (well, new to me) car in Puerto Rico!  2 of the teachers who are leaving at the end of this year are selling me theirs.  (Check out their blog about their experiences in Puerto Rico, by the way—it’s teachtraveltaste.com).  I’m happy because now I will have a car waiting for me as soon as I arrive in Guayama, and I’m buying it from a more reliable source than just some random used car salesman.  The car’s a bit old (a ’96 Honda), and has a few miles (225,000), but it sounds like it’s still in decent shape and the current owners have put a good bit of work into it.  I just need it to last two years…

Now, I thought I’d answer some FAQ.  I feel like since I’ve been subbing and meeting new people recently, I’ve had the same conversation many times.  It generally goes something like this:
Them: “So, did you just graduate?”
Me: “Yup, last December.”
Them: “Oh, congratulations.  And now you’re just subbing and…looking for work?  Any prospects…?”
Me:  “Actually, I have a job; next fall I’m moving to Puerto Rico to teach middle school English.”
Them: “Puerto Rico! Wow!”
And then everyone tends to ask more or less the same questions. 

1) How long will you be there?
A: It’s a 2 year contract.  After that…who knows?

2) What are you teaching?/Are you teaching them to speak English?
A: I’m teaching 7th and 8th grade English/Language Arts.  While most of the kids will speak Spanish as their first language, their classes have all been in English since kindergarten…so I’m teaching Language Arts, in English, to people who speak English.

3) Do you have to find a place to live when you get there?
A: Nope!  One of the benefits of working at many international schools…they provide housing.  Mine will even be furnished.  And I won’t have to pay rent!  Just my utilities each month. 

4) Are you scared?
A: Yes, I’m scared about some things.  I’m scared to be completely on my own in the adult world for the first time.  How does my insurance work?  Should I start saving for retirement now?  (I think yes…but how?  Am I supposed to “invest” in something?)  What happens if my car breaks down and my dad can’t make a 20 minute drive and tell me what went wrong?  And I’m scared to have my own classroom for the first time.  And of course, I’m scared I’ll be lonely, or that I’ll get homesick. 

But beyond all that, and bigger, and more importantly, I’m EXCITED.  I’m excited to have my own classroom for the first time—to do things my way, to try out new ideas, to plan a year’s worth of unit plans.  I’m excited to experience a new culture, a new way of life, to hopefully practice my Spanish.  Tonight, as I look out the window at the snow coating the ground in late April, I’m excited for warm temperatures all year long.  I’m excited to meet new people, make new friends, and have new adventures.  My gut tells me teaching internationally is one decision I will never regret. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Cambodia: Reflections and Highlights

Image
I was really excited to visit Cambodia for a few days and hit up Angkor Wat and the other temples in the area.  Cambodia felt like my kind of adventure--and I can’t even really say why.  But I was excited.  I was excited for our hotel there--a full-out boutique hotel (not a hostel), with AC, a swimming pool, breakfast included, and airport pick-up for free--which cost us a scant $20 per night.  And we’d read about a lot of great tours we could take with local guides.  Flying in and flying out, this leg of the trip would be a breeze, and hopefully everything would be as cheap as the hotel.   The Mango Rain Boutique Hotel Our flight to Cambodia was unlike any other I’ve ever been on.  There were only about 20 of us on the flight--which would not have been strange, except it was, because we were on a full-size plane that could have seated 200.  The 20 of us were mostly grouped together towards the back of the plane.  Second impressive t...
Read more

DI Globals 2016: A Tale of Two Teams

Image
For the past 3 years, I have acted as a team manager for Destination Imagination at my school in Guatemala, and each year, my team has earned a trip to Global Finals in Knoxville, Tennessee.  This school year, I was blessed to manage the exact same team I had last year—the Aguaguates, the most wonderful group of kids any DI team manager could wish for.  This group, all 7 th graders this year, has everything needed to not only excel at DI, but also make a team manager’s job almost unnecessary.  They have amazing team chemistry, and they understand the importance of teamwork.  They’re crazy creative and hilarious and amazing actors when they get on stage.  They push themselves to improve their performances.  They know what they need to get done for DI, and they create their own practice schedules.  In short, they are a DI dream team, not to mention really, really great people .  This year though, I took one look at the school calendar and deci...
Read more

Yearly Update: The Journey to 30

Image
Over a year has passed since my last “update.”  And the year I was 29, despite the fact that I lived close to home rather than abroad, was anything but boring, so there’s no real reason for the lack of blog posts.   The year I was 29, I survived what may have been my most difficult year of teaching yet.  Many overseas teachers say, “Teaching in the States is so much different than teaching abroad.  You’ll see.  That’s why I went overseas; I’d never go back to teaching in the States.  It’s just...too much.”  Well, they’re not wrong.  I admit, I thought that with five years teaching experience under my belt, my first year in the US, my first year at the high school level, would go rather smoothly.  While in a sense it did (no concerns about the quality of my work from administration or complaints from parents), it was mentally and emotionally very taxing.  Even this year, my 2nd back in the States, I’m still adjusting to and coming t...
Read more