I'm Dreaming of a Kiwi Christmas...

Ok now that you are over the shock of seeing another blog posted within a couple of days of each other – time to do some reading.

When my adventure of teaching in the US began I was given 2 weeks to pack up my life in NZ and head off to the big unknown.  This gave me little time to pack up school stuff, go to the bank and sort out money and payments, get my car squared away and generally sort my life out.  So part of me felt like I still had unfinished business back home to take care of and it needed to be resolved.

This is where my little idea began to formulate. 

In mid November I decided I would come home at Christmas time to surprise my Mum and to sort out some still outstanding stuff I never got to do before I left to teach in the US.  Part of my plan was not to tell anyone in NZ that I was coming home. 

This meant a couple of things – first was I needed to let at least one person know just in case something went wrong, excitedly I told my friend I was on my way home and couldn’t wait to catch up her.  Then I found out that she was going to be out of town the whole time I was back in NZ.  This couldn’t be helped but that is what you get when you decide to surprise people and not give them much or any notice at all. 

The next thing was people asking me what I was doing for Christmas – I meant I couldn’t exactly say, “I am planning on coming home to surprise you” – ha, ha, ha!  So an elaborate story was concocted in order to make my surprise more effective.  My story started out simple but soon my awesome ability not to keep my mouth shut kicked in and the story became huge – I was sure people were on to me.  I also didn’t like the fact that I was lying to my mother, my family and my friends.  According to my story I was going to New York with a Kiwi teacher friend and her parents and spending some time in Raleigh (the capital of NC and the closest big city to Fayetteville).  It was great because bought into it.  My plan was in motion!

The last day of school was fast approaching and I knew I was about to leave – as usual I left my packing to the last minute so it was a late night followed by an early morning.  On Saturday I headed to Raleigh with a friend, who was going to Cancun to spend a week with her family, ready to fly back home for Christmas.  In typical Suzanne fashion things didn’t go as smoothly as they could have.  First I couldn’t find the long term parking place, after an hour of driving around, I finally figured it out.  I then rushed to check in and then to the gate only to find that the flight had been delayed – so I was in for a long wait.  At this point I would like to share an important piece of information with you – never sit in a airport lounge and read a book (a must read is the book – Little Bee – finished it on the flight over the Pacific), the day after you finish school or you could end up waking up in time for the last call for all passengers on your flight!  Yes I nearly missed it.

At his point I need to let you into my thinking (yes a scary thought), so when I plan my flights I don’t like to have a lot of time in transit because I get bored and end up spending money on things I don’t really need, but it also means that if the plane is delayed then the time between getting off the plane and getting to the next gate to board your next flight is reduced.  Yes again, this happened to me, my first flight touched down in Chicago (where it was snowing – hence the delays) and I had 25mins to get off the plane and to the next gate before it took off.  I happened to sit next to a very nice soldier who was on his way home to see his family for Christmas, he was on the same flight to LA so we decided to work to get to the plane together – he said if he got there first he would ask them to hold the plane for me.  After a semi panic walk off the plane I found the departure monitors, looked for the flight only to discover that is had been delayed 2 hours so the panic subsided and I walked calmly to the gate ready to hit the warmer city of Los Angeles.  Eventually I made it to LA and on the plane for a 12-hour ride to Auckland.  Still with no one aware I was on my way home.

It is so nice to go from freezing, cold and snowy weather to the awesome blue skyed, warm weather in NZ (especially after a week of rain in NZ) – this was one of my first thoughts as I walked through the arrival gate at Auckland Airport.  My next job was to get home and I had a plan for this – my friend who is using my car while I am away, was also the friend that was heading out of town for a couple of weeks.  She dropped my car off at a parking place and all I had to do was take the shuttle to my car and I could get home.  Job done!  

The next important piece of information I am going to share is about driving – NZ and the US drive on different sides of the road, so I have just spent 4 months driving on the right hand side of the road, where the rules are different, they have stop signs all over the place and the mirrors in different place on the car.  I have lost count of the times I have walked to the passenger side of the car to get in and drive!  So coming home meant having to remember all the things I had told myself to forget – drove down the middle of the road back in NZ before my brain kicked in and I moved to the left – ha, ha, ha.

After a long drive home, with a big smile on my face, I finally reached my mothers house.  I had decided to park my car on the road so she couldn’t hear me coming.  I also decided to call her, as a distraction.  So I am walking up the driveway and talking to her on the phone.  When Mum answers the phone she asks me why I am calling when I am supposed to be in Raleigh.  I told her I just wanted to see what she was up to, so she launched into sharing all the news of what was happening at home.  I knocked on the door – she said hold on someone is at the door.  That is when she stopped in the doorway and yelled, “What are you doing here?”  She looked at the phone and then back at me and kept saying what are you doing here – needless to say she was surprised, shocked and happy all rolled into one.  She spent the next half hour looking at me and shaking her head. 

That was the first of many surprises that followed over the next couple of days – the fun comes when you are seeing peoples faces as they look at you and say Hi like it was any other day and then watch as the figure out in their head that you are not supposed to be here, this is followed closely by the smiles and excitement as they realise you are actually here in front of them.  I never knew surprising people would be so fun!  I high recommend it, try it at least once in you life.

So I came home for Christmas (oh and to sort out all the things I didn’t get to before I left – this also meant that I had to get it done before everything shut down for Christmas) – I spent Christmas day with my brother and his wife in their new house, followed by our traditional family lunch with the extended family, then to end an awesome food filled day me and mum headed out to Piha beach for a walk in the late afternoon sun (and to walk off all the food that was consumed in a relatively short amount of time). 

It was great to be home with friends and family at this time of the year.  I head back on the 30^th in time to see in the New Year in the US.  Can’t wait to see what adventures the upcoming year holds for me.  Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a fun filled New Year.  Be safe and try to find the fun and adventure in your life, so until then…

Time Flies When You Are Having Fun?

SORRY! SORRY! SORRY!

I know it has been months since I last blogged but life gets in the way and it never seems to be that exciting.  But due to popular demand I will post a blog or 2.

Where to start is what I am struggling with – I had to go back and see what I last blogged about and try and remember what else has happened since then.

So here is my attempt to sum up October, November and part of December in one simple piece of writing. 

I have to start off by saying that before coming over here I didn’t expect this adventure to change my life and everything be smiles and roses, in fact I feel I had a realistic expectations of what it would be like living in the US.  It is the same as living in NZ  - I work, I sleep, I eat and I hang out with friends – the only difference is it is a different culture with different people!

One of the first questions people ask me is “are you enjoying it?” – my answer to this is - YES I am – it is different, challenging and at times very hard but the whole experience is a lot of fun and I am happy to be carried along on this rollercoaster ride!

So here are some of the highlights of the last 2 and half months since we last talked…

-       Discovering the international foods aisle in the local supermarket – while there is no NZ food there it has some English, Asian and Aussie foods that are close enough to home that I am happy – I am really enjoying Rice Crackers, Malt Vinegar, Butter Chicken Sauce, Sweet Thai Chilli Sauce and the odd Nestle and Cadbury product – it is so funny what you miss until you realise you can’t get it – bread that isn’t sweet, cheese that isn’t orange and tomato sauce that isn’t called Ketchup!

-       Meeting 3 other Kiwi teachers living in Fayetteville who are here through VIF – one weekend I went to an International Festival in downtown Fayetteville as part of VIF and was pleased to meet 3 teachers from different parts of NZ – it was such a relief to know that there were other people going through the same experience as me.  Two of the teachers have been here for 5 years and head back home in June, and the other teacher started the same time as me.  We have fast become friends and try to spend time together once a week – usually catching up for a meal.  We even had our own Kiwi version of a Thanksgiving meal – roast chicken, roast potatoes, kumara, pumpkin, mixed veges and gravy – my contribution was strawberries and ice cream to round off our awesome meal.  They have also dragged me along to a number of different restaurants in and around Fayetteville, and we even headed into the Dickens Candlelight Parade in town, just after Thanksgiving.  It has been so great to know that others have been through and are going through the same experience as me – thanks girls!

-       RWC – yes this even hit Fayetteville – I was so proud to be a Kiwi during this time and was saddened to miss out on being in the country at this time.  Thanks also to my mother for texting me from the opening ceremony to say what fantastic seats they had and how much fun they were having – was awake from 4am that morning trying to find it online.  One of the US TV stations showed some of the games and that was great to sit on a Sunday afternoon watching rugby and listening to the Kiwi accent of the commentators.  Managed to watch the semi and the final – imagine if you can 4 kiwi girls all congregating in one apartment at 3.30am, still half asleep, to watch a sports game half a world away – needless to say we were wide awake by the time the first whistle blew – and almost every neighbour in one apartment block was wide awake, thanks to our yelling and screaming, by the time the final whistle blew.  Again so proud to be a kiwi and I wore my AB shirt the next day in honour of the win!

-       Thanksgiving – was so glad that a friend I teach with took pity on me and invited me to share thanksgiving with her and her family – it was my first thanksgiving in the US and I was a little unsure about the whole thing.  The day was fantastic with lots of eating, talking, trivial pursuit and laughing (followed by more eating).  I have come to the conclusion that this time is one of family, friends and amazing amounts of food – who knew you could get a 22lb (10kg) turkey to fit in an oven!  It was leftovers for the following 7 days for my friend’s family.

-       Team Teaching – school is going well and has become more manageable as time has gone by.  Towards the end of October my buddy teacher and I went to the principal and asked if we could give team teaching a try – after putting our ideas forward and giving her an idea of the vision we had, she agreed.  So 2 classes became one, 20 kids became 39 kids, one classroom teacher became 2 and having to repeat all lessons were gone.  Unsure on how the kids would handle the change we proceeded with caution – but within 2 weeks it was second nature for them and they happily accepted that this was the way it was going to be.  It has been really successful with the students becoming one ‘whanau’ (family); lots of students have grown in their learning, attitude and are now excited about coming to school.  I now have a hand in teaching Science and Math instead of just Literacy, Social Studies and Writing.  I have been able to learn from my buddy teacher and hopefully in turn have been able to share what I know and do with her.  Early on in the experiment I came to the conclusion that in order for team teaching to work you have to get on with the person you are teaching with and I am grateful that both of us share the same teaching philosophy, we both have the same realistic expectations for the students and we both know the value of making learning fun and realistic.  I am truly enjoying being able to see the students having fun, learning to use the 6 thinking hats, working in groups, growing in confidence and getting excited when they are able to share their learning with others.
 -    LA Trip - on Veterans Weekend (2nd weekend in November) I flew over to visit a friend in Los Angeles.  I had so much fun catching up and spending time with someone who knew me and knew people I knew.  The weekend was spent shopping, eating, sleeping and lots of talking.  I love LA and in a way it was like coming home - coming back to a familiar place, that I knew.  I knew the shops I liked, the food I could find in the super market and people who knew where NZ was.  I think I will have to make a regular thing - oh I sound like a jet setter - ha, ha, ha

Well that is just a few of the highlights of the last couple of months – I am sure there are many more but these are the things that stand out for me – I hope I will be able to add to these as they come to my mind. 

At this point it would be useless for me to promise to blog more often because it probably won’t happen – ha, ha, ha.  Needless to say I will try very hard to post more blogs on a regular basis.

Hope all is good with you and that life is treating you well.  So until then…

The Road is Long...

Hello, yes it is me Suzanne.  No I haven’t fallen of the face of the earth I have just been busy with life in a new country.

Not a lot has happened really – work, sleep and then you guessed it – work again!

The story/adventure this week is my one to do with car buying.  Back home I remember buying my last car – walk into the dealer, pick the car I like, trade in my old one, fill in the paper work and it is all yours.  Well I wish it was that simple over here for me – I say for me because I am sure any normal American could simply buy a car as I have just described, but this was not the case for me.

On Monday of last week I decided that I would fork out my money and purchase a used car – I had thought that I might get finance for the car but that worked out to be more trouble than I could handle at this time. 

So on Tuesday I head off to the local car dealer (it is just across the road and took me 2 hours on the Internet to find), and I look for a car in my price range – I had talked to my local VIF advisor and she offered her husbands services to check out the car.  I gladly accepted and walked around the car yard making my final choices before they were to join me on this little adventure.  I know I have said before, but I thought this was going to be a trouble free exercise but as usual I was WRONG – again!

I think at this point there are a few things you need to know – my advisor is a VIF teacher like myself, she is from the Philippines and she has been in this country for 4 years now – so she knows this town and the way it works so any help she offers I gladly accept. 

We arrive at the car yard and proceed to look and talk about the different cars they have. After about 20mins they chose a car that was the better of the 2 I had picked out.  Finally, the dealing begins.  At this time I need to let you know that I am not good at the whole haggling thing – I noticed that the price on the windscreen was higher than the one on the doors so asked the dealer and he said he would honour the lower prices – yes that was $400 off – my haggling was done.  To say that’s where it ends would be a lie – my lovely advisor then stepped up and proceded to get the price reduced by $1000, along with 2 new tyres, a new battery, a new spare tyre and a 3month warranty.  I stared at her in astonishment as she truly haggled with guy, then she turned and said, “I am Asian, its what we do!”  Needless to say if I need anything else she is coming with me.

So the saga of the Social Security continues in this story because in order to buy the car I need a NC Drivers Licence and in order to get a drivers licence I need to sit a written test and driving test and oh yes, and I also need my social security number. 

When the number finally came it was the weekend and as per nearly every country in the world everything shuts down so I have to wait.  So I sit the test with my new special number and then am told I need insurance, which I couldn’t get any earlier because I needed that number again.  I am telling you it is a vicious cycle that all comes back to the almighty Social Security number.

So to cut a very long and probably boring to most story short – I am now the owner of a white 2005 Chevrolet Malibu (and as a friend constantly reminds me it is the same type of car Barbie drives – although it doesn’t at all).  It is a bit rough around the edges but it will get me from A to B so I am happy.

Well, its late and there is a thunderstorm raging outside and it is so hot inside - to say that I am truly baffled at the contrast of the weather in this state is an understatement – I will get used to it but I am telling you it is really strange.  Will post photos when it stops raining and I can get outside to take them.  So until then…

Just Another Day in Paradise...

So the question I get asked the most is ‘what is a day at school like in the USA?” – I guess there is no one answer as each school is different, the same as back in NZ.  I can only tell you about my experience so far, so here we go…

I arrive at school at 7am (that’s when the alarms are turned off) and head straight for my room.  Once I have turned on the lights, the computer, the smart board and plugged in my iPod to the speakers I am ready to go.  I then head to the photocopy room that has a photocopier, teacher pigeonholes, a refrigerator and 2 vending machines.  The size of this room is about the size of a mid size walk in wardrobe.  Here I put my lunch in the fridge, check for any news in my pigeon hole and copy anything I may have forgotten from the previous day.

I then have to head back to my class as the first bell is due to go at 7.45am that is when breakfast is starting to be served in the cafeteria and when the students start making their way to class.  From 7.45am – 8.20am the students enter the class and I am to provide morning work for them to do – this can be anything from review of previous days work, reading a book, handwriting etc.

From 8.20am – 8.45am is notices, morning broadcast and relaying any information about the upcoming day.  The students arrive to school in one of two ways – either their parents drop them off or they get the bus (buses arrive at different times through out the morning).  At 8.45am the students in my class have Resource (4 out of 5 days – this is where the students go to specialist teachers and do subjects such as PE, Music, Computers & Art – on the 5^th day they have what is called Spiral Review, this is a chance to catch up and review anything that is not fully understood).  Resource is from 8.45am – 9.30am – during this time I have non-contact time.  For me this involves meetings, prep for upcoming day or anything you can fit into a 45min block.

At 9.30am I pick up my students and we make our way back to class.  At this point I need to tell you about a new system the school is trying this year – team teaching.  Teachers are buddied up and each teacher takes specific subjects – mine are Reading, Writing and Social Studies, while my buddy teacher is doing Math and Science.  So the day involves a lot of swapping of classes and having 40 students as opposed to the 20 that are in my class.  So my class has Science first up and I get the other class for Social Studies/Writing (2 days each).  This is for an hour, at 10.30am it is Bathroom Break time – the whole class has to stop, line up and walk quietly to the bathrooms.  Here is where we wait while all of the students in the class use the bathroom – once everyone is done we go back to the classroom. 

It is now 10.35am and we are about to start Literacy – this lesson goes for 75mins and includes a whole class session and small groups.  During the whole class session I teach phonics, spelling, comprehension skills, comprehension strategy, vocabulary and fluency.  Then in the small group sessions I have to see 4 groups and read with them and cover those whole class areas again but specific to the groups needs.  It is pretty full on but I am getting used to it.  At the end of this Literacy time I swap classes and have to teach the whole lesson again but to a different group of students with different needs and levels.

These Literacy sessions end and it is off to lunch – the time is now 1.06pm.  My class is the second to last class in the whole school to go through the cafeteria and receive lunch.  The cafeteria starts serving lunch from 10.30am all the way through to 1.30pm – it is a long day for them.  At this time we have lovely lunchroom staff that look after our classes for 25mins.  That is just enough time to down my sandwich and drink, go to the bathroom and chat with the other 5^th Grade teachers.  No sooner have I sat down then I am back up again and it is time for my class to go to Recess – this is 25mns where the children are outside and playing – normally this is organised games or activities.  If it rains or if it is wet then the students stay inside to play indoor games.  At the end of this time outside it is back to have a final Bathroom Break for the day.

Finally it is 2.05pm and there is only 55mins till the end of the day.  In this time I have to teach my class the same Social Studies or Writing lesson I taught earlier in the day.  At 2.55pm it is time to pack up and get ready to go home – students have 3 options for going home, Bus Riders, Car Riders and After School Care.  My job is to go around to all of the 5^th Grade classes to pick up the After School Care kids and take them to the cafeteria where they are sorted into groups, put on buses and taken to their respective programmes.  Finally at 3.25pm all students have left the school and it is usually time for a meeting.

So that is my day from go to whoa – at times it seems very full on and overwhelming but in reality I am slowly getting used to it.  I am enjoying my time in the US – although trying to teaching phonics when we pronounce vowels differently is a real treat, and I find myself self correcting (not because I am wrong but I need to make myself understood) and re saying phrases just to get by.

Well it is the end of another very busy day, so until then…

Fits of Screaming and Very Loud Music!

At the end of the first day of my second week, darkness fell and lightning filled the night sky - I knew this would be another long and busy week. 

Life at the beginning of any school year is always full of unexpected interruptions – as Monday finished and I finally felt on top of tomorrows plan, a cry of ‘Davies’ rang down the corridor (not using teachers first name is something I don’t think I will ever get used to).  I stopped, closed my eyes and said a little prayer – hoping that whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be a biggy! 

Boy, was I wrong – testing, testing and more testing.  I don’t think that I have photocopied so much in my whole life – 2 reams of paper (500 sheets in each) later and many trees were falling all over the world and I was ready to go.  My plan for the next day changed and a day of testing was ahead.

After a lot of testing (and marking) the week is finished.  Along the way I managed to get a new bed, break the key off in the lock of my apartment door (had to call the after hours guy to come and change the whole lock system – I have issues with keys in this country as my classroom one doesn’t work either, and I can’t lock or unlock it – go figure), pass my physical and TB test, renew my car rental, buy a TV, get my pay check and deposit it in my local bank, get my social security number, hook up my internet and cable, and finally plan for next week. 

It has been a big learning curve with a lot of interesting hurdles along the way.  Different is the word I tend to use – and am trying really hard not to compare but the similarities and differences are often glaring.  I have found one lady at school though that is completely fascinated by the New Zealand school system, so she often drops by my room to ask how we do things back home.  She laughs and says I knew there could be a different way to do that.  It is really cool to be able to share our teaching culture and education system. 

I often feel blessed to come from a one schooling system in NZ, as I sense the frustration from the teachers and management as they try to please the county, the parents and provide a quality education for the students.  As I said it is different and I am seeing the positives on both sides and truly enjoying the ride I am on.

I have discovered that I have been blessed with a great 5^th Grade team of colleagues that are professional, passionate and kind hearted.  I had to go and apply for my Social Security number and as per usual in our profession the people in my team allowed me to go while they looked after my class.  They took it in their stride and didn’t see it as a problem at all – this happens back home as well but being new to the school I was unsure if we were allowed to do this in my new school.

The trip to the Social Security office was an adventure in itself – at times throughout this week I found myself in my car with the radio turned up really loud and screaming in frustration at the situation I had found myself in (needless to say this screaming was often followed very closely by uncontrollable laughing as I looked at the cars around me hoping that no one had spotted me losing it). 

So my adventure to the Social Security Administration building in downtown Fayetteville began on Thursday afternoon directly after school.  Hopping in my car I raced (within the speed limit) downtown, knowing that they closed at 4pm – I hoped I would make it in time.  Arriving a 3.35pm I jumped out of the car, congratulating myself at the fact I had made it with 25mins to spare – enough time to do the interview and be back at school for a staff meeting. 

Walking towards the door of the building, I noticed a Security guard (packing a gun – which I still marvel at) turning people away.  Upon reaching the door I noticed a sign that said that they closed at 3.30pm – I asked the guard why and he said that congress had cut funding so they had to close early.  Unbelievable!  I stepped back from the door, with my mouth open and yelled at the building (yes, the guard looked at me funny, but the look on his face told me that he felt my frustration).  So back to the car, I headed off to school.

Social Security take two – it is now Friday and I have permission from the principal to drop my students at lunch and then take off to the Social Security building for another chance to obtain my elusive number.  So armed with all the documents I was told to take with me I headed back, hoping that this process would only take 40mins at the most.  Walking into the building I knew I may have underestimated how much time it would take – I discovered that not only could you get a Social Security number here, but there are other services too - it is very similar to the Births, Deaths and Marriages Department and Social Welfare all rolled into one.  There were seats all in rows – kind of like when you come through arrivals at the airport – everyone stares at you when you walk in. 

The process goes like this, you take a number and sit down and wait.  There are approximately 27 numbered windows that you will be called to - you just have to listen carefully for your number and the window you have to proceed to.  So there I was waiting for my number to come up and watching the time slowly slipping away – after 25mins my number was called. 

At this point I would love to say that it went smoothly and I was back at school by 2.30pm.  Alas it was not to be, I managed to meet a lovely lady that had never issued a new Social Security number to someone from overseas – you can stop laughing now because the hilarity does not stop there.  I handed her the piece of paper with all my information on it and then she proceeded to ask me all the questions I had already filled in on the form – I kept pointing it to her but the questions still came – eventually she got it.  After 10mins she realised she didn’t know what she was doing so had to leave and ask someone what to do.  This was not the first time this happened – after the third time I knew I was not going to get back to school in time for anything. 

We were nearing the end of the interview and she asked me for a letter from my employer – “What?”  I said, I wasn’t told that I needed that – yes we cannot proceed until we see it.  So even though I had my Cashwell Elementary shirt on with a Cashwell ID card, it was not enough. 

Now I had to race home pick it up and get back before the place closed.  Another screaming fit was due and it was going to the loud and long.  To try and convey how far away I live from downtown Fayetteville, is like having to get from Lincoln Road in Henderson all the way to Avondale via the motorway. Oh yeah, and school was about to be let out and you are only allowed to drive 25mph in the school zones – I passed 3 of them along the way!

To cut a very, very long story short – I got home, got the info, got back in time, sat for another 10mins and then saw a lady who processed me and had me out the door in 7mins.  I was back at school at 3.15pm after all the students had left – thus ends the 2^nd week of my time here in North Carolina.  In 2 weeks time I will receive my Social Security Card and will be all legal.

After this little adventure I ended up staying and working at school until 7pm and missed the cable guy so I am now sitting in my apartment waiting for him to come – sometime between 8am – 5pm.  I have done nothing all day and that is a good thing.  It has been a busy time and I needed a forced time out – really enjoying sleeping and listening to music.

It is Labour Weekend here and Monday is a public holiday – yay! (Actually I think it is more time for me to do school work).  So until then…

The Hurricane is Gone but My Life is Still a Whirlwind

View from front door

Well, it is the end of my first weekend in Fayetteville North Carolina – and it felt like a long one.  To say that tiredness had caught up with me was an understatement!  I struggled to get up both Saturday and Sunday mornings but the need to get myself settled into my apartment was what spurred me on.

With the immanent threat of a hurricane hitting Fayetteville, it seemed necessary to get into my apartment as quickly as possible.  After checking out of the hotel (after I skyped with my brother Matt – wondering if I can use skype as a verb – not sure) I headed to my new apartment with my 2 and a half bags, my 3 bottles of water and my half a packet of chocolate chip cookies. 

Front Door

Lounge/Dining(front) - Kitchen(back)

Kitchen  - door to bedroom at back

Yes it is a bathroom

Bathroom from a different view

My huge (!!) kitchen

From the door of my bedroom

Inside the bedroom

Behind the door - looking at the linen
cupboard and bathroom 

Linen cupboard on right and wardrobe on left

My bedroom window from my wardrobe

Yes these are photos from the first time I walked into the apartment – lets call them the before shots (I will post updated ones, once I have pimped out my place – which might take a while so don’t hold your breath)

Once I had dumped my gear I headed off to my first stop – to find the bed place my advisor had told me about.  I made my way across town and found the place.  It was locked up and all I could think was that I was too old to be sleeping on the floor.  I later discovered that most businesses and deliveries were cancelled or rescheduled due to the hurricane.

What to do, what to do – I headed back to the main drag of Fayetteville and drove slowly down the road trying to come up with a plan.  I suddenly remembered a conversation I had had with my cousin (thanks Angela), she said that you could probably buy everything you would ever need in life at Walmart – so using my borrowed GPS I headed for the closest Walmart I could find.  With beds still on my mind I was constantly scanning both sides of the road trying to come up with a back up plan for my back up plan. (NB at this stage I spotted the Goodnight Sleep Store - with come back to this reference later in the blog).

I finally rounded the corner and came across the promised store – Walmart.  After parking my car I head into the store – now you are probably did she really mean find everything in this one store – answer is YES! – On one side of the store is a supermarket, while on the other (bigger side) is a department store – I laughed as I saw a man with his clothes, his motor oil and his toilet paper all sitting in the same trolley – only in the US! 

This store has an strange effect on you – it may only seem like half an hour or so in the shop, but in reality I walked out of there just under 2 hours later (this was only one of two trips to Walmart this day), laden with all sorts of stuff – towels, shower curtains, pillows, bed sets, coat-hangers, a dinner set plus much more that is needed for setting up a new apartment.  But as you guessed it  - no bed – so I headed back to a store I saw while on my way to Walmart – The Goodnight Sleep Store.  After talking to the lovely shop assistant I walked out of the store having just bought a new bed (that would be delivered after school on Monday).

As you guessed it this didn’t solve my problem of what I was going to about a bed until Monday night?  So after heading home to drop off my first load of shopping, I headed back to you know where and again walked out of the place with a laundry basket, shelf baskets, glasses, knives, bottles of water and finally an air bed (one with a built in pump) – so if you come to stay then there is a very comfortable raised air bed for you to crash on.

After unpacking and finding a place in my new place purchases it was finally starting to feel a little like home.  I realised that tomorrow was going to be more of the day I had just had – shopping and getting through the list of things that are required by VIF and Cummberland County Schools in order to teach in the US.

Day 2 of my very hectic weekend dawned and the hurricane that had brought the city to a near stand still had headed north, leaving a trail of destruction on the coast of North Carolina. 

I slowly rose and headed out into the day with a list of things I wanted to accomplish – check bank balance (had been spending a bit over the last week or so), go to the doctors (have to have a physical and a TB test – required by all teachers new to the county – find out results on Tuesday but should be all good), go food shopping, find a reasonably priced TV, do some school work, do my laundry (after all it was starting pile up – I have been here for a week and only bought over one bag of clothes), and last but not least look for a place that has free Wi-Fi so I could check emails and let people know that I was still alive.

It is now 9pm on Sunday night and I am happy to report that I got through the whole list (except for the TV part – found one but will get it later in the week).  It has been full on but as I have said if I take it day by day then I know I will get through it.  A lot more things that have to be done – but all rely on other things coming together.  I can see an end to it all, but trying to balance setting up life and being an effective teacher is hard.  It doesn’t help that I am still slightly jet lagged and that I am trying to get around a new school system.  At times I feel overwhelmed and then at other times I am truly excited to be on this life changing adventure.  So from the comfort of my air bed (which will transform into a sofa – as I don’t have one yet and I don’t want to sit on the hard floor to watch TV in the lounge), I bid you a goodnight, so until then…