Before School Bustle

The progress around school has been tremendous. There are folks moving, drilling, painting...and us teachers are now nesting in our classrooms and preparing for the first day.

The first day I saw campus, my room was empty; the next day there was furniture and boxes to unpack! There were more supplies and books left from previous teachers than I expected to see; that was a nice surprise. I even found a toro (bull). There are lots of windows, great natural light and I'm right next to the faculty lounge.

Desks in my room, 22 seats total!

My teacher workspace

The pre-school shuffle is always a little hectic and it's definitely an added challenge doing it in a new country while settling into a new home. But, it's been great to meet the rest of my colleagues and I'm really excited to see the students...this Thursday!

On Sunday the parents hosted a dinner at Karaweik Palace for us (that's probably a story for another entry). I met some friendly moms and well-adjusted alumni who attends the University of Southern California.

Monday, after a day of meetings and work time, several returning teachers opened their homes to us for a progressive happy hour - we moved from apartment to apartment all together. It's amazing to see how some have decorated and made these spaces feel so homey.

Today the new teachers visited the stationary store and stocked up on school supplies. We overwhelmed the small paper supply shop, but came out with all kinds of details for our classroom and course organization.

All in all, there is a lot of work to do, but plenty of fun to be had, too.

Tomorrow is the student orientation and the principal will introduce us at assembly!

101, that's me! I don't know what the Myanmar says, but they have been doing great work getting it ready.

I'll post more pictures of my classroom with its finishing decorative touches soon. :)

What I'm Listening to: Spoon - They Want My Soul (I've been counting the days to get this one - it may end up being my 2014 album of the year.)