The Beginning.

Hello readers :-) Welcome to my new blog! I'm excited for the coming year and whatever is to come. And I'm excited to share it all with you. Thanks for following along with me.

So far, I've been home from Switzerland for almost three weeks. Some days it seems longer and some days not, but regardless, I miss it. I miss speaking German every day and I miss seeing the people I became so close to. That being said, since I'm so busy with preparations for South Carolina, it's not constantly at the forefront of my mind, so I'm pleasantly distracted from my Heimweh.

I had orientation a week ago with all the other district new first-year teachers, and there were surprisingly a whole lot of us. The district is very large, so it makes sense, but I didn't realize how large it was! Everyone I met seemed really nice and I'm excited to get to know the people I'll be working with directly.

I drove down with my best friend, which was a long 12-hour drive, but definitely not bad since I was "stuck" with my bestie for so long. I had long days of orientation on Monday and Tuesday, which meant there was a lot of information thrown at us, most of it useful and helpful. On Wednesday, I found my perfect apartment and then we drove back home. Phew.

So here I am, in Michigan, wrapping up my last few days at home. Luckily I don't have much to pack, since I did all of that a year ago before Switzerland, but my days are filled with many hellos/goodbyes (since it's the first time seeing them since I left for Switzerland and the last time I'll see them before moving to South Carolina), which is exhausting, but probably in the best way.

Mom and I will leave on Thursday or Friday to move me down there. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, curious--everything all at once. I have no idea what's in store for me in the next couple of weeks, but I'm anxious to get there and begin planning everything. I'm excited to meet my students and fellow teachers. And I'm so ready to finally be the real teacher and not the assistant (and hoping that all that extra practice will make me extra prepared for it all)!

Prayers are appreciated as I begin my new journey. And I'll keep you all posted on here on how it's all going.