And the next job will be in.....

Jakarta! I'm so happy to say that this morning at 6:45am I accepted a job teaching at Royal Academy in Jakarta Indonesia. I will be teaching second grade, which I'm super excited about because it will be slightly different than 1st grade but I will be able to use the same classroom management strategies.

The school is new, and next year will only be its second year of operation, but I'm super excited to be on the cutting edge of something spectacular! Additionally it uses the IB IPC curriculum, allowing me to become IB certified, and the potential jobs for the future to increase.When I look at the pictures of the way they present the material to students I know I'm going to love it. They start each session with a field trip or day of exploration surrounding a unit. Units could be about food, inventors, or animals, and they might vist a grocery store, or a zoo, or the teacher may dress up as famous inventors for a day. Then they spend 4-6 weeks studying math, english, science, and social studies surrounding that idea/concept. How incredible that all the subject areas can relate!!!!

The job starts mid July, so I will be heading home briefly to get all my documents and my life together before heading there. I wasn't planning on going home, but it looks like it will be necessary to get my visa before I head out, and to get all my shots and medication to prepare for 2 years. It will be crazy busy, so if you are hoping to see me, you better book ahead. I'll be in Minneapolis for a stint and Marshfield for a while. I'm hoping to sneak in a few days in Milwaukee with my niece and nephew as well. Chances are if you pick a place I love (the Republic, 331 club, Al's, Hard Times, anywhere with cheese, cheese curds, beer, or burgers) you'll be in.

I've already started making a list of things to do when I'm home and things I need to purchase when I'm home. Rain proof items are essential, given the monsoons. The climate means I'll be wearing a lot of teacher dresses, and I'm not sure how I'll deal with the heat and wetness, but I'm sure I'll adjust.

Also, it is time to begin learning a new language. I'm not sure where to begin. The second language of the school is Mandarin, and I feel like that could be useful in my travels, but, Indonesian is apparently the official language.

Overall I feel as completely unknowledgeable and freaked out as I did when I decided to move to Albania. I've realized that you can't trust what any person or any web forum says, and I have no idea what to expect. But that is what make my life so fantastic :)

The best part about landing a job so soon? I'm able to plan for the next 2 year of my life. Well, sort of. I know that 4 months from now I'll be on a plane to Jakarta, and that 3.5 months from now I'll be home. I KNOW I GET TO SEE MY FAMILY!!!! And I can start planning some kick ass trips in southeast asia. I keep forgetting how many people I know who are teaching and/or live there. I have an insane amount of places to visit. And so I offer you my bucket-list. Knowing that I accomplished zero of the items on my last one, and that I'm almost okay with that because I don't care to see many of those place anymore, I made this one less specific.

Asia Bucketlist:
1. Go surfing. It's number one because it is realistic.
2. Bhutan, after reading Beyond the sky and the Earth I cannot resist
3. Burma: it is number 3, only because Scott and Robert plan on going there, but it would make the list no matter what.
4. Bali: I've been obsessed with this for a year or so now.
5. Thailand: I'd like to SEE bangkok( for like 2 days), and the explore some other countryside, or find some random waterfalls to jump into. I wanted to go to Thailand freshman year, for some very strange reason and I've been constantly intrigued.
6. Vietnam/Cambodia: This could be a fun combined trip. I've heard a lot about each and for awhile I thought eventually I'd end up living and teaching in Vietnam, so I feel a week long visit is necessary
7. India: I'll be close enough, and it has always been on the list, so why not. I need some indian food and a Sari.
8. Taiwan: for a little while I thought I was going to be getting a job here as well, so I've found a lot of things I want to see.
9. Volcano hiking: yep. This is an ex-pat group in Jakarta. For real.
10. Jakarta blues festival: don't judge. Live music? I'm in.

Why not Australia, China, Japan or New Zealand ? Because overall they seem a lot like Europe to me. Over rated and expensive. If I get there, great. If not, I'll survive. Let's be real, I thought I'd love travelling Europe and now I just cannot get the beauty of Asia out of my head, and I never want to see a church or museum again. This is obviously a basic list, and I'm very open to suggestions from anyone with experience :) But if you suggest a building then it better be spectacular because I'm in love with the natural world.

Culture Shock: A Definition

I feel like the term "culture shock" is used in the smallest sense in the real world. Time to set it straight for those of you who are confused, and for myself.

When i was 10 years old (maybe 11?) I travelled with my family to Honduras to visit my brother. He was going to school there for 9 months and it was my first real family vacation. All of the trips up to that point had been within a few states radius, to visit my aunts, uncles and grandparents. When my mother told me were going to another country my imagination flowed. I would get to swim in the ocean, and possibly see real live dolphins! The vacation was fantastic, but I was surprised by a few things. For example I would see little boys peeing in the middle of a street, and the same little boy would come up and beg for money. We would drive past mansions protected with barbed wire, and right next to them would be a one bedroom home made of a box. Nothing had a price tag on it it, you had to bargain for everything. When I returned to small-city Marshfield everyone wanted to know about my experience, and everyone kept asking if I was culture shocked. I concluded that yes, experiencing the new culture was very shocking for me. Never had I seen a box house actually being used for a house before. So I had experienced culture shock right?

When I came to Albania I learned the term in a whole new light. You cannot experience culture shock just by visiting a place for a brief amount of time. The only way to experience culture shock is to emerse yourself in a culture enough to change your pattern of living, and the way you think about things. For example: Instead of just going to Rainbow and/or target for my weekly groceries I now go to 4 places on average. I go to 1-2 markets, usually a smaller store, and 1 or 2 big chain stores just to find everything I need. If I wanted to save more money I would go to a different store to get my cleaning supplies, and a different one to purchase my cosmetics. It is crazy how much time I have to spend shopping. Don't even get me started on how many stores I have gone into to look for leather boots.

My way of living is different in so many ways, and I can't even begin to explain all the little things I've been forced to change. More small examples: there are no dryers so I have to plan 1-2 days of drying time for clothes; I have to think about when I want to shower so I can turn on the water heater 40-60 minutes in advance; everything I throw away could be a potential craft item for school; I don't get to recycle anymore; I have to remember to stop at the market to pick up jugs of water 3 times a week; I cannot trust traffic lights; the streets don't run in blocks; I have to walk with my head down so I don't fall into a manhole; And don't even get me started on the teaching differences and work culture.

I'm not saying I hate life here at all. I love my life, and I'm loving it more everyday. As my principal told me when I arrived, Tirana is a great city if you are willing to find yourself in it. I'm just saying that living here has taken a lot of getting used to. I had no idea what the word "culture shock" truly meant until I came here. It was little, tiny stresses that added up to a lot of tears and homesickness throughout the past 2 months.

I also have lost many things I used to consider my passions. The live music culture here is very limited, it's not as simple as exploring until you find a good band, and then seeing that band live every week. I've only experienced 2 concerts, and I know there is more out there, I just have to search harder. I used to run about 5 days a week. I have ran only once since I got here, and it resulted in a cold that has lasted a month (plus) long. The air pollution just makes deep breathing seem impossible, and thus running becomes much less healthy. I used to love drinking beer, and I felt as though I was getting somewhat knowledgable about it. Now I have 1-2 choices at a restaurant, 2-5 choices at a market, and if I'm lucky 10 choices at the supermarkets.

I like to think that after 3 months I'm finally starting to move past the shock, and I'm able to experience the culture and my life a bit more. I have down my routine. I know how to plan my showers in advance. I know how to stop at the markets on the way home. I know the streets enough to not get lost and confused. My passions have had to change as well. Now I like exploring. Just walking until I find something new, or something that reminds me of my old passions. I'm also starting to throw myself into blogging, because I love reflecting on my life, and organizing my thoughts into something meaningful. If I leave them in my head they all jumbled up into a giant ball of confusion. Thus you can expect more post from me in the future.

To be honest, I'm glad I got to experience culture shock and I hope to experience it again in the future. Hopefully, if I'm really lucky, it will be with a set of friends as good as the ones I have here.

You guys rock!