I'm sorry it has taken me so long to write! Let me just say that the past month and a half has been crazy. The end of the summer came faster than I expected and I found myself scrambling to get everything done. Long story short....I'm finally here (without very many options for internet or phone service)! Pippi, my guinea pig, and I hopped on a plane last Friday and landed in St. Michael, AK a few hours later. It was quite relieving to finally make it to my new apartment. Within hours of arriving I was eating dinner with my colleagues and meeting people from the community. There wasn't any time to feel lonely or scared; I had to jump right in. Villagers make you feel so welcome. I couldn't imagine a better welcome. One teacher came to my apartment within the hour that I arrived and gave me a big hug. Let me tell you: that was the best way to start a new chapter.
Like a true nerd I got to see my classroom the very night that I arrived. I became a little kid on Christmas. My eyes scanned the room looking for a place to start. Little did I know that I would soon be overwhelmed with the amount of work I needed to get done. The first day of being in my classroom turned into a day of destruction. I pulled furniture across the room, took books off of shelves, unpacked an art supply drawer, and changed the layout at least three times. By the end of the day I was exhausted and defeated. I was so relieved that my mom was coming in the very next day. Without her I wouldn't have been able to complete everything. I'm pretty sure that I would have fallen to the floor and started crying like a two year old.
I am incredibly lucky to have my mom come and help me set up my first classroom. Simultaneously, I want everyone to know that that was something my mom and I always planned. When I helped her with her classroom at the beginning of every school year, she told me that she would come help me set up my very first classroom. My mom kept her promise. Yes, I'm incredibly lucky.
We spent at least two entire days in my classroom, but I have cupboards that are organized! As I looked around my classroom, I couldn't do anything but smile. In the end, my classroom actually looked like a classroom. With the exception of planning, I was ready to have kids in my class. Real life keeps getting more and more real as the days go by...
