Born in the USA!
Trip Start
Jun 27, 2009
1
46
47
Trip End
Jun 25, 2011
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McLean,
Virginia,
United States
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I've been home in America for almost 5 months now and thought I would send an update using the good ol' travelpod! It's been a while, huh?
Rewind to Japan, July/August 2008
I spent the last month in Japan soaking in the last of my small town, counting down the days until I would never have to teach English again ever in my life, taking drives through the beautiful countryside (alone, because Lily left a month early to start grad school :(, and swimming at the local beach. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I climbed Mt.Fuji!! No big deal...yeah right! Hardest thing I've ever done. After I said a (non-tearful) good-bye to all the employees of the local Board of Education and some teachers at the train station I was on my way to Tokyo!!
I stayed in Tokyo for about 2 weeks doing all things touristy and hanging out with Kat and Dave (they both lived in the rural part of Wakayama my first year in Japan but have since moved to Tokyo). After that I officially said goodbye to Japan and headed off to Shanghai and Beijing to watch the Olympics! I met up Joe there and we saw about 7 events (track and field, soccer, hockey, tennis, handball, baseball and swimming-I saw Phelps win his 7th gold!). It was an amazing week and I definitely want to go to another Olympics again - Vancouver?
I returned to America excited and nervous because I hadn't been home at all in 2 years. I was anxious to get started real teaching (not just teaching English) and was a bit nervous I would forget how to do everything. Good news: I didn't :) I started working again 5 days later at the private school in Alexandria, VA where I taught prior to going to Japan. There was an opening in Kindergarten which I was so excited about - this brings me to January!
I've had an interesting first half of the year to say the least - things with my co-teacher have been a bit of a struggle, but we are taking steps to improve our working relationship during this part of the year. We are just VERY different people and teachers, who have different styles of doing everything. If you know me you know that at times I am a fan of color-coding, using tabs, and making organized binders. My co-teacher? Well..let's just say she only has pens and a computer on her desk. We're a bit different! But I'm trying to look at this year as a learning year for me and how I work with other people, and at the least say that I learned from the experience.
On a positive note I have a great class of 19 energetic, funny, smart 5 and 6 year olds who love me so much-and vice versa (well most of the time). Putting everything else aside, it makes going to work a joy everyday. I always leave with some pretty amazing kid quotes to write in my kid quote binder (yes, I have one. You just wait, I'll be rich someday when I put them into a cute coffee table book!) We are getting ready to start our big Social Studies unit on China and I'm looking forward to showing my kids pictures and things I bought in China.
My favorite thing so far since being home, besides eating mexican food, is reconnecting with family and friends. In so many ways it feels like no time passed, and that 2 years was really 2 months! Weird how that works out..
When I'm in town I've enjoyed doing things around the DC area with friends, meeting up for dinner at an old favorite restaurant (I'm sure everyones sick of hearing me say "I haven't had ___ since before I left for Japan! I'm soo excited!"), going to a sporting event, happy hour, party or just shopping at the mall (it's so good to be back if only for the american sized clothing!! I finally have new clothes!).
I've been up to New York and Baltimore to see friends from Mary Washington, down to Durham, North Carolina to see Tom at Duke, to Costa Rica for Christmas with Tom and my Dad, and out to Las Vegas to have a "reunion" with Lily. As if that wasn't enough I will be flying out to Chicago in February to .visit a good friend who I met in Japan, Parry!! Oh yeah, and the big one...going back to JAPAN to visit in March during my spring break :)
Needless to say I still have the travel bug!!
Fasdt Forward to this Summer/Fall 2009:
I have decided to move to New York City, somewhere that I have wanted to live for years now. The plan right now is to enroll as an almost full-time graduate student at Bank Street College on the upper west side. It's a great small school with a fabulous reputation in the education world. I will pursue a dual degree in Elementary Education and Teaching Literacy. I could see myself in the far off future becoming a reading/language specialist. Both language acquisition and the process of learning to read fascinates me! Because school is so expensive I am also going to work full-time as a teacher. I will start looking for a new job in early March. I'll keep you updated as to how it's all going!
Ok everyone, I'm going to use this motivation to write to work on my graduate school essay's now/watch trashy television (it's in English, too!) But I would love to hear from you if I haven't in a while.
My e-mail is still the same: kateclute@gmail.com My new cell is 703-399-1030
*PS: I love mail!!!*
My address is:
8360 Greensboro Drive
#603
McLean, VA
22102
Have a great evening everyone!!
xxx
Kate
