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…

Weathering the Storm!

Well it is late (or should I say early in the morning) and the weather channel has been on since I got back to my hotel room.  Apparently there is a hurricane a coming and we need to be prepared.  In my typical fashion I have been totally consumed with the first 2 days of school to worry about what is happening in the rest of the world.  After talking with my buddy teacher at school I am hoping that my 3 bottles of water and my half a packet of chocolate chip cookies are going to help me weather the storm!

So while Irene has been turning lives upside down I have been experiencing an upheaval of sorts.  Starting school in a new country, with a new school system, with new children and new ways of doing things.  It has been a major learning curve but one that I am obviously ready to take.  I have found over the last couple of days saying words to the effect of “it doesn’t matter where kids are bought up, NZ or US, in the world we still have the same successes, problems and issues!”  What is it with full stops (periods) and capital letters!

Well I was rather nervous on Thursday as the new school year was set to begin (you know the day is going to be tough when you can’t even unlock the door to your own classroom), at home I knew most of the students and most of the students knew who I was – this was different we were all new at this 5^th Grade game.  I say game because I knew how to play the game (teach) but I didn’t know where I was playing or by what rules I was going to be playing.  I needed to rip most of the pages out of my old play book and put a whole set of new ones in there.

The first day went well – I talked a bit about where I was from (told them about Rugby and they are all keen to play – might show them a video clip first and then let them decide), we did a few introduction games – all the while I tried to keep one step ahead of them and know what was happening next before it actually happened.  Basically we spent the day getting to know each other and checking each other out.

My class is full of interesting characters.  I have the girls that are the “good girls” they want to help and make sure they are doing the right thing.  I have the cool boys who think they are to cool for school.  There are the jokesters and the quiet ones, the sporty and the book reader students.  All of them really enjoy coming to school and love that they have a teacher from a different country with a funny accent.  There are a couple that are attempting to push the boundaries but they have found that I not only push back but I tend to move the boundaries and they are left on the wrong side of them.  It is early days and we will get into a good groove and take it one day at a time (has anyone else noticed the amount of cheesy song lyrics I have just used – it must be late!)

The second day went well and I felt like I was slowly getting used to all of the differences.  But it is only the beginning and I can’t wait to get into the rest of the year.

I have some really supportive and helpful teachers in my 5^th Grade team and I spent quite a bit of time with them as they guided me through the procedures and systems of the school.  At one stage I felt extremely overwhelmed and had to ask them to stop because my brain was full and it was starting to hurt.

 

As I left the school today I felt slightly better about tackling the next week – again day by day is the plan.  There is an amazing amount of paperwork each week that I have to get my head around but I am sure that once I set things up I will be just fine.

So that has been my last week – a whirlwind of activity both in my life and all around me.  I move into my new apartment tomorrow and the cable guy doesn’t come until next Friday so it may be quiet on the Internet front – so I will probably find a few free Wi-Fi spots around and do little updates.  Until then…

A Day Like Every Other...

So much has happened in such a short time that it feels like I have been here for weeks as opposed to 3 days.  Why is that you ask?  Well here we go on a day like no other…

After settling in to a comfortable hotel room, I started to wonder what I had let myself in for and how on earth I could get everything done.  Well somehow I did it (actually I felt like I was just following like a Labrador puppy in training)

VIF assigns every new teacher with a Local Advisor and boy, did I get one of the greatest ones in the world!  I was greeted by Anna at school on Tuesday afternoon and from then on, we were off – going 100mph!

Following the Open House night at the school we had a workshop on Poverty – it was an awesome workshop that applied to everyone’s country and I could see how New Zealand could do with hearing it. 

So the speaker turned up late and the teachers had time to go to their classrooms to sort stuff out – but not us we were off.  We headed to the Cumberland County Schools Human Resources department where I needed to sign documents so I could get paid and work legally in the US.  Everyone in the department seemed to know my advisor so we were rushed in and out of offices and given all the documents we needed to sign – then I was back in the car heading towards school again.

The workshop started and half listening I filled in my forms ready to take back at lunchtime.  It was so good to sit back and listen to a fantastic woman who knew her stuff and made poverty a problem that everyone shares and needs to be aware of in their community.

Lunchtime came around and we were gone again back to drop off papers and get a letter that I needed to help me get an apartment.  Job done and on to the next thing on our list – the car rental place where I was able to get a car in a matter of 20mins – Ford Focus you are mine for now!  (Ok so it kinds looks like this - ha ha ha!)

Next stop, to view an apartment (remember we are still on our lunchbreak – hectic I know!).  We pulled into the place and me being me I wasn’t fussed – my criteria was two-fold – that it was tidy and good price for rent.  Bingo, we had found a great place, for a good price and the manger of the apartment complex was really helpful.  Forms were acquired and it was back to school to finish the workshop and continue to prepare our rooms.

3.30pm and we took to the roads again – back to the Tree Top Apartment complex with papers signed and money orders obtained.   After what seemed like hours I walked away with they keys to my new second story, recently refurbished one bedroom apartment.  I couldn’t believe it – I had just signed a lease and paid my first months rent.

Then back to school to finish my room and then it was back to my hotel by 8pm. 

It was a full on day and I cannot rave enough about my advisor Anna.  She is an amazing woman that takes her role as advisor seriously.  When we were waiting for the apartment manager to finish with another client, she rang up her bed person and ordered me a bed, she called the electric company and helped me get that connected.  She then called the cable and Internet Company, where we left a message so that I could get that hooked up within the upcoming week.  All the time she was with me her attitude and knowledge of what was important to get started was amazing.  She is a woman who enjoys life, loves her family and is passionate about teaching – I thank God for her, as I know I would be lost without her.

So that was my day and you are all up to date with my life outside of school – car, done – apartment, done – bed, done – pay sorted out, done and classroom ready, a tentative done.  I am exhausted but feeling on top of things – I move in on Saturday and start shopping for household items too.

It truly was a day like no other!

Stop the world I want to get off...

Well it seems like a long time ago since I blogged but it is only 3 days – and sitting in a hotel room in Fayetteville North Carolina, I am struggling to remember what has happened but you know me I will write heaps and probably bore half of you to death.

When I arrived at the airport I was not the only one to arrive – I also had the pleasure of meeting a family from China who would be living in South Carolina and a trainee teacher from Chile who would also be in the same state as me, North Carolina.  We were all tired and were glad to have each other to go through this experience with.

Sunday was my day of rest – it consisted of sleeping, eating, and sleeping again, eating again followed by some shopping.  I thought I was up to walking around a mall but could not believe how much the jet lag had caught up with me – my one oasis in my mall experience was the huge Apple (computers not fruit) store that left me in complete awe.

Upon entering the store I noticed that for a Sunday it was packed – people of all ages everywhere, young people, old people, big people and small people – all of them using a Mac device.  I stood in the middle of the store transfixed by the hussle and bussle around me.  After walking around the store and finding what I was after (a dongle and an adapter for my charger) I looked around for the cash register – but alas there was none.  Then a lovely lady in a blue shirt asked if I needed help - then in a flash I found myself walking out of the store with my products.  I later realised there were no cash registers but that each of the store workers had a hand held scanner, product finder and visa (eftpos) machines at there finger tips – they even emailed my receipt to my account.  I was amazed – ok so 90% of you don’t care – to bad I was impressed!

As Monday dawned with the alarm failing to wake me, it was a rush to make it to breakfast and the first session of my VIF orientation.  The day was full of smaller sessions covering a wide range of information that we needed to know in order to survive our time in the US.  Things like benefits, taxes, driving in the US, and a general welcome to the programme.  Believe it or not that was all before lunch. 

After lunch it was all go again – signing of documents – from the bank, medical insurance, teacher registration for North Carolina and information about getting my Social security number. 

Once that was done it was on to the driving test – VIF had asked a couple of driving instructors to take us for a bit of a test drive to gauge our confidence on the US roads – as I had driven a couple of times in the US I felt OK about it all – I survived and so did the hundreds of other people out and about on the roads – and I only turned the windscreen wipers on once!

It was one final session about teaching in the schools and dinner was fast approaching – where I decided that it was an early night for me.

After a restless nights sleep it was back into the VIF sessions – first was information on doing our Masters Degree, followed by appropriate behaviours as a teacher (stuff we knew but it was good to be reminded), information about hiring and buying cars (along with insurances) and finally we all received a cell phone with $100 already loaded onto it for us – this was unexpected but really appreciated.  This was where my VIF orientation ended – while everyone else has another day and a half  - there were 3 of us that were going to be whisked off to our schools.

I was feeling OK about this but the closer the car got to Fayetteville the more my stomach started to churn – I thought I was ready but I was to learn that I was far from it! 

I found that I had hit the ground running – I walked through the front door of my school and was greeted by what seemed like a multitude of people.  Everyone smiling and happy to be meeting the foreign teacher with the funny accent, I myself was just trying to remember everyone’s name.  I was shown to my class and introduced to the people on my team – it soon became clear to me that I had a lot of work to do over the next 24 – 36 hours. 

A times I found myself standing in the middle of classrooms with my mouth open and my head spinning but as there always is with the teaching profession I had a lot of colleagues offering there help and support.  I found it hard to relay my appreciation, as ‘thank-you’ didn’t seem enough.

3 Hours after walking into the school, I found myself standing in my buddy teachers room greeting parents and students of my class.  It was great to meet the students and see where they were at with the whole school thing and it was really great to have the parents there asking questions and caring about their child’s education.

This experience has been full of various emotions – joy, happiness, nervousness, fear, tiredness and many, many more.  At times I have felt unsure and in over my head but I know that I can do this and in the long run it will be one of those experiences you talk about in years to come.

Tired is the state I constantly find myself in, so in saying that I bid you all a good night!