The Street Where I Live

I really like where I live in Tokyo. The first two days I was here I went apartment hunting and it was crazy stressful but I am really happy with the choice I made.  I think my neighborhood has the best of both worlds. To the West is an area called Hiroo that is populated with a number of expats and embassies. By the way, the men I have seen at the French Embassy down the street are super hot. :)  Further West is the famous Shibuya area. To the North is another fun area called Azabu Juban with shops and restaurants and just past that is Roppoingi Hills where I work.  Immediately to the south is the closest subway and Starbucks and a nice grocery store and the next street over is the one I frequent the most and has the local and small businesses. I can walk, bike, or bus to work. I could take the subway but it would take just as long or longer as the other options.  The buses in my area can take me to a number of popular places in Tokyo. I have yet to explore most of them. Tokyo has convenience stores and restaurants EVERYWHERE. I have especially surprised at the number of Italian and French restaurants here. There are a ton of bakeries and pastry shops as well.

 

Here is a pic of my building. It is along a busy Tokyo street but my apt is near the back so it is really quiet.

 

 

 

 

Here is the entrance to the "main street" across form my building. It isn't busy at all and is mostly residential.  The street plays music while you walk around which is actually kind of nice.

 

 

 

Here is the bicycle shop just a block and a half away. The owner speaks English and will do routine maintenance for no extra charge. I am super happy with my bike purchase.

 

 

 

Here is the small mom and pop fruit and vegetable store. I love this place. They have awesome fruits and veggies here in Japan and this place has good prices too. Sometimes there is a man in a little street vendor shop across the way and he also has good produce and prices.

 

 

 

 

 Here is the local grocery.  I have to plug my nose while in the back of the store because they have so much fish and seafood and I HATE the smell of it. So gross. This store doesn't have everything I need or like so sometimes I go to Hiroo or Azabu Juban to the expat stores to get things where I can actually read the labels and to also get some comforts of home.

 

The next street over on the way to the Starbucks area has this tiny electronics store. When I got here I needed a three prong adapter for my computer cord because I didn't bring one. I went to some of the large big name electronic places to find one and nobody did.  I found one at this store though and once again I learned to check nearby first before going further away.

 

 

 

 

 Here is the local 7 Eleven. They are on about every other block or so. Here the sign says "7 & Holdings." This city has them everywhere but NO SLURPEES! AAAAAHHHH! There are convenience stores everywhere in this city. The other two popular ones are Lawsons and Family Mart. You can pay your bills at most of them and buy tickets to different concerts and events too.

 

 

 

 Local Flower shop. I still need to make a purchase or two here.

 

 

The Dollar Store! I love this place. They have so many things and they are good quality too. They don't sell the cheap crap like they do at the dollar store in the states.

 

Here is the local hair salon. There are a number of hair salons between my apartment and work and some speak English. This one doesn't so I won't be going there for services even though it is significantly cheaper. 

 

Local Tailor. Right now I don't have a need for one but if I keep losing weight then I will.

 

Okay so this store I need to make sure to visit every now and then because I found the cutest second hand clutch purse there. This is the Kimono store and they have all these cool fabrics to make traditional Japanese clothing.  

 

 



 

Stationary store. Anyone need Hello Kitty or Disney pencils and junk? Here you go.

This is the local shoe/purse repair store and they also copy and make keys.

 



 

Okay so I can't believe I haven't been to this place yet because it is literally right next door to me. This is the Olive Spa and it is a massage place that is a local Tokyo chain.  They are open all night so if it is midnight and I need aroma therapy massage then I can just head on over in my pj's. I must make it a priority to check this place out. 

 

Hope you enjoyed this quick tour of my neighborhood. :)

Mt. Fuji

Yesterday I finally was able to go do something exciting here in Japan! I went with a group from church to go hike Mt. Fuji. I know most of you are thinking, Whoa! Super Awesome!"  But let me say that it was very much a difficult and miserable experience and a day later I am still thinking about if getting to top was worth that difficulty and misery. I honestly don't know. I was not at all prepared for how physically difficult this trek would be. Once I broke down physically, I broke down emotionally too.

 

So the day began early by heading out to the mountain. The goal was to get on the trail by 6am.  The parking lots were already full of cars so we had to bus shuttle to the lodge and starting point.  We buddied up and bought our hiking sticks at the lodge before taking off. My partner was a woman named Lilia who had attempted to hike to the top twice before but was determined to make it this time.  I actually didn't have the goal to make it to the top. I just wanted to go as far as I could and then that would be fine. The rule was that at 1pm, we had to turn back no matter where we were on the trail. I was totally fine with that. We finally began walking at 7am.

 

 

Here is a view from the lodge located at the 5th Station.  This is about halfway up the mountain. You drive to this point and begin to hike. The clouds and other mountains in the surrounding area were so beautiful.

View of the mountain from the 5th station.  Looking at this now, I can't believe I actually hiked to the top.

 

Here I am about to start. I got my hiking stick which isn't required but kind of a cool traditional thing to do and you get to keep it as a suovenir. It cost $10 and I opted for the one that had the Japanese flag on it. Other options had bells dangling and flags with pictures of the mountain.  When you get to different checkpoints and stations you can pay $2 -$3 and they will burn an image onto your stick. It is kind of a fun way to track your journey. When you get to the top they stamp it with red ink.

Here I am above the 6th station. It took about a half hour to hike to 6th station and it was easy going. I had no idea how deceptive that would be. The next leg up to 7th station was much more steep. After 7th station it pretty much turned into rock climbing and was significantly more dangerous. I wore my U2 Elevation tour t-shirt for good luck. I was going to need it.

 

 

Lilia and I on our way to 7th Station. Check out those AWESOME clouds behind us!

 

On the trail walking to 7th station. The trail looked this way for a very short time. The rest of it was extremely rocky.

 

 

Beautiful clouds with the trail below. This is a view from the 7th station. The section between 6 and 7 wasn't too bad. It was definitely a workout though.

 

At each station, you can get a burned image on your hiking stick. This man is burning the first image onto my stick. The images can be a bit of a motivator. Each is different and you can try to collect them all as you walk to the top. I think I got all of them but two.

Pic of a "convenience store" at a station. They sell water, snacks, noodles, and oxygen bottles. I had water with me but you really need a lot so I bought probably 6 additional throughout the hike. You have to pay to use the bathrooms on the trails that are located at the stations. Some stations have huts where you can pay to stay the night and then continue your hike the next day.

 

Oops! My eyes are closed but there I am with my handy oxygen bottle which did come in handy. I started to get airsick at 8th station because I was getting a headache. Lilia gave me two Tylenol which solved the problem and I didn't have any breathing issues. Again, check out those awesome clouds in the background.

 

 Here I am on the way up to 8th station. Those rocks were a total pain to climb. There are lose stones all around and you have to be careful where you step. The rope that goes along the side is just to keep you on the path. You are not supposed to hold on for support but I found that I had to at times. There are some sections in this part that have stairs or more structured steps but they are very high so you continue to get a crazy workout.  About halfway up my legs were really starting to hurt.

 

View of the clouds from 8th station. The clouds were huge and poofy and so pretty. There were times when I was actually walking through clouds. It was really awesome to be at the same level as the clouds and even higher. Looking down onto them was really cool.

At Station 8.5 - I am so beat up at this point. The trail became much more steep and extremely difficult. We were actually in a cloud so we were getting wet. My legs were burning up and down and we had been hiking for 5 hours.  We made it to 9th station and I was absolutely miserable. I hurt so bad. It was 1pm and we were supposed to turn back. Lilia was determined to make it to the top no matter the time. One of the Scout leaders in our group told us we should be able to make it to the top by 2pm so to not worry about the time and it would be totally okay.  At this point I was totally okay with not going any further. I had only gotten to this point thanks to my ipod. One of the rules we had was to not leave your buddy. I really felt stuck between a rock and a hard place. I couldn't leave my buddy but I didn't want to go on. Either way, it would be a problem.

 

More pretty clouds. :)

 

Right after station 9.5, I had a complete emotional break down. I was hurting so bad. I didn't want to keep going at all. I could totally see the summit and it wasn't far but still a good hour minimum away. It was 2pm and I had expected to be at the top by then. Everyone said it took 4-5 hours to climb to the top and 2-3 hours to go down.  Liars. Anyway, I was not in a good place. I was shaking and hurting and that was making me very emotional.  I cried for about five minutes and Lilia was awesome and sang some calming songs for me to help me get a grip. We kept going.  When we reached the shrine, I was happy and when I got to the summit just a few steps above, I broke down again and cried for about a minute.  I was pretty proud that I did make it to the top and I kept telling myself in my head how awesome it was that I could do hard things but I could not wait to get down. I was feeling miserable. I got my stick stamped and took a few pics and then headed back down with Lilia.

 

Summit of Mt. Fuji

 

Celebratory jumping shot. I am seriously amazed I was even able to jump.

 

Here is the volcano. Those are clouds, not steam, so no worries. I stole a red lava rock to keep as a souvenir. Because there were clouds and fog up at the summit there was no view for us. I really wanted to see how far we had come but we couldn't see anything.

 

 More pretty clouds on the way down.

 

 The trail going down was HORRIBLE!  One of the tips I got from a friend before the hike was to make sure my toe nails were trimmed. It was great advice. The trail was several miles of switchbacks on loose gravel and lava rock and it was so steep. My legs and feet were in total pain. I had a couple more breakdowns along the way. If I wasn't suffering so badly physically, then I would have been okay. The trail down was all loose gravel and very slippery. It wouldn't had been so bad if it was paved or the rocks were cleared away.

 

Water break. I did a great job staying hydrated. Remembering to eat was a bit harder. I know that sounds weird but you are literally so focused on climbing, hiking, walking and just getting to your destination you just don't think to eat too much. At least I didn't.

 

Not long after this, the sun began to go down. It was getting cloudy and foggy as well and we still had a long way to go before getting back to 5th station. I was freaking out pretty much the last two hours. I was in a horrible mood, I had pain shooting through my legs and feet and the only way down was to keep walking. The rain and dark made me feel even worse and more anxious about getting back. I had raingear but was still getting wet.

 

Near the end I was so physically and emotionally frustrated. The pain was significant through my legs, feet, and lower back (even though my pack was really light). I seriously was shedding tears the last two hours and all I wanted was to get off that damn mountain, get in the car, and get home. As we were heading down, there were many people just starting to hike up to the top. Honestly I think they are crazy to hike that terrain in the dark and in the rain.  

 

The trail down was worse than the trail up - completely taxing on your entire body because it was so steep and you are walking on loose lava rock the entire time.  Seriously, Mt. Fuji is not the safest place. Lilia was super awesome about trying to talk to me about things and help me stay calm to keep my mind off the pain and trail. She really was super sweet. I told her we were bonded as sisters for life because of experiencing this together.

 

I got back home at 10pm and I was so happy to be back. I popped some advil pm, took a super hot shower, soaked my legs, threw on a bit of icy hot and went to sleep. Surprisingly, I was not as sore the next day as I though I might be.

 

Below is a pic of my hiking stick with the burned stamps I got at all the stations.

 

I will NEVER hike Fuji again.  If I go back I will hike to 7th station and then be done with it. It took 12 1/2 hours to complete. People told me it was difficult in places but really the entire trail is extremely difficult from 7th Station and up and back down. Even people who were in far better shape than me, struggled up the mountain. Unfortunately the feelings of pain and misery seem to be stronger than the feeling of accomplishment of having reached the top. Maybe I will feel differently about it in a few days. I can't even really say that I am glad that I did it. I know I should be glad and happy and feel very proud. I did learn that I can still do hard and difficult things and that I am stronger than I think I am. I think those lessons were good for me.

Cool Co-workers

I have amazing and kind co-workers. I feel like I have always been very blessed to be able to work with such wonderful people throughout my life. 

Here is my TA, Maki. She is soooooo helpful and wonderful. She is the reason that my first week with the students went to so well. I have had to get used to a new school culture and they way they do things. She has been working at ELC for 7 years and so she has got the routines all down and it has been so wonderful having someone around who is so willing to help me out. She has been super patient as I have tried to figure everything out. 

 

 

Here is my team. They are super fabulosa!  I get to work with Julianne and Martha and I feel like we have connected extremely well with each other. They are so great about sharing things and answering my many questions.

 

 

Here I am with most of my co-workers. There is a small restaurant down the street called August Beer so tradition is go to all together every couple/few weeks for happy hour.  They have yummy fries served with cream cheese to dip them in so we all pig out on that while we just hang out and get to know each other.

 

 

I really am so lucky to be where I am. My director has lived all over the world and I am very excited to learn from her.  I have a number of co-workers with international experience and that is exciting as well.  I wasn't able to get pics of everyone so I will try to post more in another future post.

New School Year!

Hi everyone! Well I finished my first week with students at my new school and I seriously couldn't be happier!  My students are full of personality and this will be a fun year. My co-workers are so fabulous and nice that I still have to almost pinch myself to see if I really am working with such great people.  My school is an early learning center located in a very nice area of Tokyo.  It has 2 nursery classes, 3 pre-k classes, and 3 kindergarten classes. The main campus is located about a half hour east of  Tokyo proper and has all grades K-12. The Elementary, Middle, and High school each have their own buildings but all students share certain other facilities on that campus.  Below are some pics of my school and classroom.

My school is actually located below a high rise apartment building. We are on the first 3 floors.

Welcome to my classroom!

Student cubbies! I have never had a classroom with student cubbies before. I love having cubbies. 

 

 

Circle Time area

 

 

Reading loft and dramatic play centers

 

 

Here is our outdoor balcony area. We have sand and water tables. Hooray for not having to worry about getting the carpet dirty and wet!

 

Here is the indoor art area with an endless supply of paint and art supplies!  Hooray for having time to actually allow children to create and be artistic!

 

 

Here is another angle of the art area and the outdoor balcony. I love these doors because of the natural light that they let in.

 

 

Full view of the front of my classroom. Our students eat lunch in the room as well. We teach and encourage them from day one to take care of all their own items and be responsible for them and to clean up after themselves all the time.

 

 

My office area shared with my fabulous assistant,  Maki. I have a color printer and I can't get over that. We also have a dishwasher and a hot plate we can use. We do cooking projects in the room as part of our learning.

 

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

I LOVE MY NEW SCHOOL!

First I want to apologize for not posting on my blog much these first couple of weeks. It has been a bit crazy and I will try to do better. 

Here is a link to the website for The American School In Japan. If you click on Early Learning Center on the right side you can see where I will be working. :)

http://www.asij.ac.jp/

This past week was spent getting oriented with my new job and school.  All I can say is that I am so beyond blessed to be here because The American School in Japan is an AMAZING school and here are the reasons why:

1)      Location – Tokyo is a great city and Japan is a beautiful country

2)      No TEKS or Common Core

3)      Not a single session or meeting about data, scoring, evaluations, ratings, etc…

4)      Having a school director who is incredibly kind and amazing and who will teach me all sorts of things and the campus I am at is small enough that she can take the time to be involved with the teachers and students

5)      Awesome pay and benefits

6)      Meeting teachers from around the world and who have taught around the world and learning new amazing strategies that we don’t use in the USA

7)      Class size limit of 18 with a full time assistant

8)      Large classroom budget so I don’t need to spend my own money on needed supplies

9)      I am in a school that not only encourages creativity but requires it

10)   Observations by higher ups are not part of the teacher evaluation system

11)   You get to pick professional development sessions to attend that are in international locations

12)   Being with teachers who actually share and collaborate effectively – no time wasted

13)   Having children in an age appropriate environment where they get to create and play as part of learning

14)   Having a noisy and active classroom is encouraged and expected

15)   Failure is not a bad thing because we can learn through it and it can be a motivating force to continue to learn and it can build resilience

16)  We have special visits from various authors and artists such as Rosemary Wells and Yo-Yo Ma

17)   No filters on the internet for teachers and students and appropriate consequences for those who can’t handle that responsibility

18)   Being treated like a responsible professional instead of being micromanaged

 And last of all I want to say that the Head of School is an amazing man and I am extremely impressed with his attitude towards education and his openness and willingness to help and also listen to new ideas. During our meeting the other day he ended his presentation by presenting a movie clip from Dead Poets Society (in part to remember the great Robin Williams who passed away this week) to remind us to not be like the red headed guy in the classroom. I have attached the link to the clip below so you can recall this scene. It was made clear to us teachers that we are to be like this professor in allowing students opportunities to think and grow and it is okay and expected to NOT be rigid and exact in all things. So I guess I want to pass that idea on to my fellow teachers as this school year begins. Stand up for originality and for outside the box thinking. Stand up for creativity and excellence. Stand up for what an education should be instead of becoming a slave to unnecessary assessments and practices. I am so grateful to be in a place and at a school that is much more aligned with my own educational philosophy.

 

 

 

First Week in Tokyo

What a whirlwind this week has been! I will try to talk about my first week without being overly long winded but it will be difficult to do. The flight over wasn't bad at all and was only about 9 1/2 hours from Portland. I was grateful for the extensive and awesome movie selection list on Delta Airlines. Getting through customs was a breeze so after that I waited in the lobby for another teacher who was arriving. Her name is Kelly and she will be teaching kindergarten at the same campus I will be at near downtown Tokyo.  So Kelly arrived and we had to wait over an hour to take the hotel shuttle to meet our school guide, Rida. When we got to the hotel we had to take a cab to our actual hotel and at that point I was grateful to be able to sleep for a bit.
We hit the ground running with apartment hunting the next morning.  I looked at about 15 places and some of them were larger than what I had anticipated so that was good. Others were quite small and one of them was downright weird - all concrete with steps so narrow you had to walk sideways up the stairs and also the bedroom was on the third floor and the bathroom was on the first so that was an immediate "no way will I live here." The most challenging part of finding a place was trying to figure out exactly where the apartment was in relation to the school.  The realtors were AWESOME! Super kind with packets organized just for us with a map that had locations numbered and then a folder with corresponding apartment information. Just one example of how amazingly organized and efficient the Japanese people are.  The next day Kelly and I went to revisit a few of the places and I actually decided on what had been my second choice originally. It was a bit less expensive and the balcony did not face the busy road in front. I also decided I liked the layout a bit better. I will post pics after I get moved in.
The next couple of days were filled with trips to Ikea and a few other places to get furniture and appliances. I am not a huge Ikea fan and wanted very much to not have my place look like it was out of the catalog.  I was not as successful as I wanted to be in that regard but there are things I found and will also purchase later to help.  I went to this really cool store across from my hotel that had some modern and classic home décor stuff and I found some great curtains to dress up my living room and a pretty duvet cover.  I still need some amazing pillows and am going to try to find some nice plants and some other green colored items to brighten up my space. 
I have been so grateful and beyond impressed with how my new school has treated me so far. Rida, who has assisted with buying my phone, with the realtors, bank accounts, shopping, etc... has been extremely helpful and school office staff and admins have been ready and willing to answer questions within minutes and provide any assistance. I have never been treated so well by an employer and am so grateful to be among such kind people. 
My school has two campuses. The downtown campus has pre-k and kinder classes and is located in a very rich area known as Roppongi Hills. Tiffany & Co is literally the next block over. There are many nice stores (including Sabon where I love their bath products) and restaurants. It is near a few other nice areas as well with great bus and subway transportation. The other campus houses all elementary, middle, and high school students. It is about an hour train ride out of the city and about a 40 minute drive. My second day we went to a bbq at a home near the school so I got to meet a number of the new teachers that will be working there. It is a bit of a bummer to have the distance between where I am and most of the other teachers but I am very happy to be in Tokyo proper and not in the suburbs. The city is more my style and where the action is. I can enjoy more of Tokyo during the week by being at my location which is exactly what I want.
You can find any restaurant here and I see more restaurants for non-Japanese food than I do for Japanese food. I am guessing it is because most of where I have been are areas frequented by expats. I am especially surprised with the number of Italian restaurants here. More on food and restaurants later.
Everything here is clean and presented well. The Japanese are all about presentation. Even the way they dress is always clean cut and nice. Even when I wear my nice clothes and do my hair I feel like they are always looking so much nicer than me. Men are always dressed in slacks and dress shirts. Women dress very feminine - skirts, dresses, simple outfits with simple touches such as ruffles. When you go to the store you will see items packaged very neatly. Sometimes part of the price you pay for something has more to do with the packaging than the actual item. 
I promise to post more detailed info on some of the topics I mentioned briefly. I have been kind of bad about taking pictures so I will try to be better about that. There really is so much I could write about but I will try to break it all up in to shorter posts to better keep your attention and interest. Anyway, so far I really have enjoyed it here.  People are very kind and I feel very blessed to have this opportunity. Going abroad reminds me more than anything else, that as humans we are all so much more alike than we are different and I love that.

Outside my hotel - Tokyu Stay Aoyama.

Here is a view from plane coming into Narita Airport. Japan is very green. Even from above you can see how the layout of the land is extremely organized and pristine. I don't know that you can tell very well from this particular picture so just trust me.

Welcome bag from my school which was in my room upon arrival. Included were snacks, maps, dictionary, and a few other helpful things.

View from my hotel window - Just building after building. Tokyo reminds me a lot of NYC which I love but it is twice as big here and you can totally tell. It's a bit overwhelming.

 

 

The Beginning of a New Adventure

Hello my dear friends! It has been a LONG time since I have written on my blog but I am reviving it so I can document my life and adventures in Japan. For those who do not know, I have accepted a job teaching at an American school in Tokyo and I am very excited about what the next three years (or maybe more) may hold for me.
     When I returned from Beijing 2 1/2 years ago, I knew I wanted to find another overseas teaching opportunity. It took awhile for the right thing to come my way but it did and I am really looking forward to learning and growing as a teacher but more importantly as a human.
     I flew to Boston in February to attend a recruiting fair with International School Services. I stayed at a hostel instead of the Westin where the event was held. I later learned that it would have worked more to my advantage to stay at the venue. But no matter because the right job came my way despite my sleeping at an alternative and less expensive location. That first morning began with me standing at a table in the lobby looking over the schedule. A nice woman who was a director of an elementary school in southern China, joined me at the table to do whatever it was she needed to take care of. A few minutes later she was joined by an older gentleman who I immediately recognized as someone I knew but couldn't exactly place. I read the name on his tag, "Dale Cox" and at that moment realized it was the church Bishop from one of the congregations I attended while in Beijing. I was quite relieved to see a familiar face.  Day 1 was filled with presentations from various schools many of which I was extremely impressed with. About 300+ teachers were in attendance and we were all vying for competitive positions throughout the world. Everyone wanted a job, there was a lot of anxiety and a competitive atmosphere that was quite prominent throughout the event. By the end of day one, some schools had already filled positions and I revised my list of possibilities that evening. I was stressed and hungry - I had only eaten an apple that afternoon.
     The next morning, Day 2,  almost all of the positions I was interested in had been filled since directors had interviewed in the evening and during the night. I was unable to sign up for most all the interviews I had planned but I tried to be open minded and I started to look around at other schools and possibilities that could be right. I finally made my way to the table for the American School in Japan. I introduced myself to Mr. Ladd, the director, who recalled my resume after I told him who I was but he then indicated he didn't have any interest in me and that I wasn't what he was looking for to fill their one and only available spot which was a pre-k opening at their Early Learning Center. He did agree to meet with me anyway since he had hardly anyone signed up for an interview that afternoon. I met with him and at the conclusion of our meeting he asked if I could Skype in two hours with the director of the early learning center in Tokyo. I went back to the hostel where I was staying and had interview number two with the ELC director, Ms. Jean Caskey. I was soooo nervous about this interview. I am positive I did a lot of unnecessary babbling. That evening there was a social event for recruiters and teachers which I attended despite being beyond exhausted. I was so stressed I hadn't slept for 2 nights.  I ran into my former Bishop again who asked how things were going. I told him I was in the interview process for the school in Tokyo and his response was that that particular school was extremely respected in the international school community and it be wonderful if I could get hired there because it was such an excellent school. I had no idea of how great a reputation this school had and now was unsure of what chance I had to secure the position despite not having much competition. That night at 10:30 I was asked to come for another interview the following morning.
     Day 3 began with another interview sign up for positions that had not been filled.  There were not many teachers left and there were not many positions. I met with Mr. Ladd again a bit later and he requested references so that was when I tackled my phone and started texting and calling former supervisors and co-workers who could provide me with those references.  A bit later I got a text from Mr. Ladd inviting me for another meeting that afternoon. In the meantime, a snowstorm had hit Boston. The flight I was supposed to be on that afternoon had gotten canceled the night before and I had rescheduled to leave Thursday instead. I had also interviewed for schools in Nigeria, China, Ecuador, and Brazil. An administrator from a school located in the Caribbean saw me stressing in the hall before my Nigeria interview and gave me some reassuring and sound advice. Various other administrators and directors were really great about being positive with teachers and wishing us all luck as we all roamed the halls, sat in wait, and went up and down the elevators.  At one point I was waiting to go up for another interview and I was so tired and stressed, I just stood there and then just set my forehead on the wall and closed my eyes and said "Dear God please let this be over." When I lifted my head, the Catholic priest from the Bangkok school was standing next to me and just smiled and laughed at me a bit.
     So I went to interview #3 with Mr. Ladd and after I walked in the door he said he had spoken to all my references who had great things to say about me and he would love to give me the job. Yes. This came from the man who 48 hours before declared that I was not what he was looking for. At that moment I burst into tears. I started to cry in front of my brand new boss and I absolutely couldn't help it. I had wanted that job SO BAD and the moment he said I had it, all the stress and anxiety left and it was just that flood of emotion.  He asked if I was okay, gave me a Kleenex, we shook hands, and I signed a temporary contract. I was so absolutely happy about this job and off I went to call my mother first and then text the rest of the family and friends.  I tried to contact my cousin Carie who currently lives in Tokyo and whose children attend the school I will be working for. I was really excited to be near family overseas.
     At this point I realized how absolutely hungry I was. I had consumed two Starbucks sandwiches and crappy deli food from the 7-11 across from the hostel for 3 days. Gross. It was snowing a lot outside and I was still tired, cold, and hungry as I walked back to the hostel. I decided to walk around the block across the way to see what was available to eat and there was a fancy Latin fusion restaurant that had just opened for dinner service. I went right in and sat at a fancy table and the low light and classical music was so calming. I treated myself to a huge fancy dinner to celebrate my new job and it was so great to sit and relax and be happy about what had just happened.
     That night I relaxed in the lobby and did some reading. I had met some really nice people who were also staying in the hostel and we had breakfast together each morning and I spent my last evening chatting with a man who had come to find a music job so we chatted about music for a long while.  I slept great that night too.
      The next day it was back to Houston and over the last five months I have been preparing for this move which will be here soon. I am extremely grateful to Mr. Ladd who was unsure but took a chance and ultimately offered me this amazing opportunity. I am also thankful to everyone who pulled through to provide me with a reference and a HUGE Thank you goes to Lakita Combs at my old school. I am thankful for Bishop Cox who was encouraging each day I was there in Boston. I am thankful to family and friends who have been supportive in my journey and endeavors to go overseas. There were many incidents that occurred over the four days I was in Boston that were not just coincidences - running into my former Bishop, having my flight cancelled, having a lack of competition for this position, and getting a job where I have family. In a few weeks my new life will begin and I hope you all will enjoy being a part of it through this blog. Love to you all.