I'm not in India yet

That's probably what most people ask me. "How's India?" I leave mid-July.

There, now that's settled...

So yes, I am moving to India to begin a job as a chemistry teacher at Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India. It's nestled in the foothills of the Himalayas. So warm, wet summers and cold cold winters.

The school's website: www.woodstock.ac.in

Why India? I've woken up every morning since February asking myself that same question. Honestly, if you had told me I would be taking a job there I would have laughed at you. Ever since scout summer camp when I got to meet foreign scouts and learn about them I've wanted to see the world. Going to South Africa in winter 2007 really got me wanting to go out and do it. So I found an international job fair via the University of Northern Iowa and Woodstock invited me to interview with them. I thought, "If nothing else, it will be good practice for an interview." Well, I talked with them and got looking at their website and really started liking the school. By the end of the job fair I had two offers and fifteen minutes to make a decision. I found a quiet bench and sat down comparing the two schools. I chatted briefly with a principal from Kenya whom I had interviewed with and who had befriended me and decided that Woodstock was going to be the place for me to be.

So, I'm off to India in little over a month and a half. I'm excited, scared, and everything else. I just know that this is the opportunity of a lifetime and that if I passed this up then I would be kicking myself for the rest of my life. Now is the time for me to be doing things like this. The toughest part will be having to leave everyone behind. My friends and family (especially two nieces I don't get to see nearly enough) will be half a world away. That's really the reason for this blog. So that everyone may keep up with me and (as Cindy, my stepmother, puts it) live
vicariously through me.

What I'm looking forward to the most (besides having my own classroom) is the slower pace of life. in their new staff handbook, the school says that things go at a slower pace than what we may be used to but things do get done. I think time to just catch my breath and do some things I've been wanting to do will be phenomenal. I've been wanting to do some more camping and that seems like a very reasonable option there. The chance to do something with scouts (especially foreign scouts) or something similar would be great too. I would love to lead a campfire of skits and songs (maybe I'll finally learn how to play that guitar Becky gave me the last time I graduated). The chance to make some more stuffed animals would be nice or even to create a comic like I've wanted to since I was a little kid. I'm not sure if there would be someplace to play it but I'd like to learn bocce.

Of course the really great part will be being immersed in a new culture. Not only the Indian culture but the cultures that students from all over the world. It will be amazing to say the least and I really just cannot wait.