Starting A New Chapter

Hello, all! Sorry for the lapse in writing, but I have been in Nashville for the last two weeks, completely consumed with job searching, recovering from jet lag, and avoiding running into people that want to ask me 103 questions about my life.

But today is a new day, and I am ready for questions! This is entirely due to the fact that I NOW have a plan!

Several weeks ago, in an act of desperation, I went onto the US embassy to Poland's website and found their listings of international schools in Poland. In general, access to international school teaching positions is limited to those who go through the proper lines of communication - big international school recruiters. These recruiters charge $200, let you attend a big fair with a bunch of international school representatives, and you can likely get a job.

Of course, most schools try to do all their hiring in February, so I was a bit late to get involved in the official recruiting process, not to mention I did not think it necessary to spend $200. So I took my list of schools in Poland and just blasted them all with my resume. I figured it was at least worth a try.

And, by some great miracle, amidst the thank-you-but-no emails that came back to me, there was one from Mira, the headmistress of the International European School in Warsaw, Poland. They were very impressed with my resume, she said. Would I be interested in a primary school position or a middle school history position?

So we started emailing back and forth, trying to find a time to schedule a phone interview, and last Thursday, we finally connected. We had an extremely brief conversation, and I told her that though I had no real experience teaching younger children, I was just certain I could do it.

And apparently that was enough for her! A degree and a positive attitude! On Tuesday, I had an email from her offering me the job, and did I accept? You bet I did. This is the DREAM job. In all my moping, I kept thinking, "if only that Warsaw school would work out! It would be perfect!"

Come September 1st, I will be teaching second grade at the International European School in Warsaw. The school is K-12 and is fairly small - only 200 students in total, with a limit of 12 students per classroom. The students will have a variety of backgrounds - Polish children whose parents want them to have an English education, children of American or British expatriates, etc. And of course, all classes in the school are taught in English (lucky for me!).

This job is going to give me medical benefits, a salary of more than twice that of language schools (that's right, Jason Michaels), and a regular, Monday through Friday schedule. I can't say that I know much of anything about Poland (or 2nd graders, for that matter), but I DO think that this is going to be a wonderful challenge and experience. I am absolutely thrilled.

And, of course, from a relationship standpoint, this is the next best thing to actually being in Sweden. There are budget airlines that have direct flights from Warsaw to Gothenburg (where Bjorn will be in school) for $50! And it's a 1.5 hour flight!

I hesitate to say that it's going to be perfect, but...

All of this is to say, the blog will go on. I'm sure being in Warsaw teaching second graders will provide excellent writing material.

A few recent photos - http://picasaweb.google.com/ellen.bucy. Much love to you all!