It's almost that time of the year again...

....and when I say "that time of year" I mean back to school. I realize that this is not the case for my far-north-North-American-residing friends, but it's true for me. I guess in all honesty I'm not too far off from what I was used to in Florida. Teachers in the Sunshine State prepare to go back for the week of pre-planning during the 2nd or 3rd week of August. Right? I'm going back the final week of July. School starts the first day of August. I think I'm almost ready.


The school year at my international school in Brazil is the same length as that of the schools I've gone to/worked in, it's just that the start/stop/vacation times don't coincide with those where I've studied/worked before. We may begin school earlier, but I'll have a month-long vacation around Christmas time versus the two-week period I've been accustomed to. It all works out in the end. I guess I just feel I need a bit of a longer break now because since I finished the school year in June, I've been busy packing and moving to Brazil and then once I got here I've been busy unpacking and settling in. However, these last couple of weeks running around preparing for work have helped me almost feel like I'm ready to go back to work. 


At least I'm going to start working here...

I am looking forward to this new adventure and after my teacher orientation last week I'm even more excited about teaching at an international school. Even though the majority of my students are of one nationality - Brazilian - they are very multicultural/international. There will be students from about 30 countries in the school - of various religions, ethnic groups, past experiences, etc. This of course is one thing that attracted me so much to the school. That and the bilingual aspect. I'm bubbling with excitement of being able to meet my students and get to know them well. I've always enjoyed teaching Brazilians (and students from other multicultural backgrounds).


Nervous as I may be (even if just a little bit, and aren't we all when a new school year begins?), I'm anxious and happy about what's to come, about meeting the other teachers, attending in-service  training, setting up my new classroom (which will be temporary because a new wing is being built for high school students, scheduled to open in September/October :), and preparing my lessons. I hope that everything goes smoothly and that I have a nice transition into this school. I became so exhausted and burned out from uninterested students, from parents who wanted nothing to do with the school and frankly couldn't care less about education, and from the lack of support from the government in the U.S. that I need to be here. Hence, part of the reason why I moved to Brazil, to work in a private school.


I am excited about the books I'll be teaching and about the opportunity I have to teach reading and writing to ESL students. I have new clothes for the new school year and already the staff and administration I've met have been fabulous, fun, and supportive. So I'm ready, right? Let the school year begin....

It's crunch time

It's definitely crunch time over here in the "Bound for Brasilia" household. We only have a few days left and are not ready to walk out the door at this time, though we're pretty darn close. Our upstairs is cleaned, vacuumed, and ready to vacate with the exception of our mattress/box spring that we're selling in a couple of days; we're also still using that bathroom since it has the shower. Sebastian's "stuff" has been moved from the downstairs bathroom (so I could clean it and shut it off) and moved upstairs. So I'm sharing a bathroom with two boys during our last few days in this apartment. We brought down one piece (our last piece) of furniture from the upstairs which we're about to sell in a couple of hours, and the rest of our clothes - those that are out because we'll either be wearing them the next couple days or the day of our trip. As I look around the first floor I want to say that there's still a lot in it, but that's because we're taking most of it with us. We're at 8 large suitcases, 2 carry-ons, 2 personal items, 1 trophy (that's too big to put anywhere), and 1 cat. The rest will be sold/donated/disposed of over the weekend.


I think, and hope, that I've taken care of all of the paperwork that it takes to move. I know it may seem that I'm organized and I believe that I am, but it's a lot to do. I'm VERY glad that I have my mom's support as far as her helping us with our mail. We're also very blessed to have such amazing friends that will take us to the airport and help us out once we sell our car. And now that we have a MagicJack we'll have a US phone number so we can make any calls to/from the US at no extra cost. 


Honestly, I'm afraid that putting into words all that I'm thinking and worrying about is just going to stress me out, so maybe I shouldn't. We've gotten everything done and will be ready to leave in a few days. I'm not going to stress out over things that are out of my control, and everything else we'll work itself out in the end. If we have any issues then we'll just cross that bridge when we get there. Moving itself is stressful enough; I don't need to worry myself. 


For now I just need to enjoy my last few days in the States and prepare for the fun adventure ahead of me. I love to be abroad more than anyone else I know (or close to it) so I need to feel excited and not worry because really, I can't wait to be in Brazil! [Oh yeah...and a special thanks to my new friend (really a friend of Renata's and now mine) who is going to take us all around Brasilia once we arrive. Yeah!!!]

Wordless Wednesday: High School Books

As I prepare to move to Brazil to teach high school English, I'm spending some of my time (re)reading books that I'll be teaching starting next month.

Remember these from high school English class?