So you go through this amazing, surreal, frightening, primal, other-worldly experience. You stay in the hospital for the next day or two being served meals, checked on by nurse, midwife, nurse practitioner , pediatrician, infant nurse, plumber, electrician... you get the idea. And then there like, "Okay. You can go now." They're nice about it, and really, it is time to get on home, but then you realize what that means; "They are actually letting us leave as a family of three when we only came here as a couple. I feel kind of light-headed, is my forehead sweating? I don't know what the hell to do and I read a bunch of damn books...." You get the idea. And there is the problem; BOOKS. I'm a teacher. I love reading, I promote it, I think I can say that I use books every single day of my life. I don't think I am going to feel bad about saying this, Sometimes reading too much about one topic can be a mistake. I have used books to learn to bui...
A few years have passed since the last entry, but we felt it was time to revive the blog, as we are now on an epic adventure in Surabaya, Indonesia. Yes, crazy, I know, but here's some background: Matthew and Julie, friends of our for many years, have been teaching in international schools for over 15 years. Matthew has been an admin for about the last 5 of those and finally landed at a school that he thought would be a good fit for Michael. So in January 2017, we made the big decision and signed a two-year contract. Clearly we were not worried at all........ Taking the plunge and clearly not worried
We have moved to a new country where we don't speak the language. I don't expect anyone to speak MY language. I am the visitor. The expat. The bule . But I have Google Translate on my phone so things will be alright. I can get by. Acquire the things I need, and get to the places I need to go. However, there are some very good reasons to have a basic understanding of the language that surrounds you. It isn't too difficult to think of the scenarios in which you might find yourself suffering for the non-existent language skills you possess. And you may find yourself soothed by the fact that many people do in fact speak your language, if your language is English. It isn't an obnoxious "American privilege" I speak from but a fact . But knowing how to say hello, good day, thank you, please and where is the bathroom can only get you so far. I decided that I needed a haircut and had the afternoon available to do so. I took ...
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