I applied to ISS (International School Services) after a couple of years of thinking about it. Ever since the winter of 2010 I had thought about teaching abroad. I almost packed up my bags and left that winter as a quick reaction to a bad break up, but I decided that more thought should go into a big discussion like this. However, three years later I couldn't put it out of my mind. It isn't that I wanted to leave Utah, it was just that I was ready for a new experience and a new adventure. I LOVED Utah, so much! Even though I am not LDS, Utah was such a good fit for me.
So, back to the ISS job fair in San Francisco. Prior to being there I created a list of places that I would like to go to, which turned out being around 20 different schools, ranging from Ecuador to Malaysia to Morocco and everywhere else in between. My dear friend Laura, prepped me, helped me with my outfit, and my e-portfolio, which I never ended up showing anyone..oh well!
So let's go back in time to the job fair:
Day 1: I dropped my resume off with many different administrators and went to many different presentations. (I think I had around 40 resumes or something!)
Day 2: I signed up for 5 different interviews (I had three)-all to no avail...
Day 3: Discouraged, I went to the 2nd interview signup and was hesitant to sign up for anymore interviews..but I did. I saw ACS, Athens there, a school that was on my list but that I hadn't seen the previous day. "Oh," I thought. "Well, I guess I should stand in this line and see if I can get an interview..well, maybe not the line is about 20 people deep...well I don't have anything else to do" I contemplated with myself. When I finally got to the front of the line, the elementary school principal greeted me with a smile and gave me a time to meet with her. With new hope I went downstairs and began to research the school and Athens, Greece. The first thing I looked up was if Greece had gotten into triathlons yet. Some may say that my priorities were a bit confused, but then that person wouldn't know me. While being at the fair and having numerous interviews I had time to think about my needs and what would make me a happy and successful person/teacher and one of those things was being able to run, ride my bike and swim. If I am not able to do those things, then I am a grumpy, grumpy person!
Anyways, from my thirty minute research about Athens, ACS Athens, triathlons in Greece, and what Greek men looked like (:)) I figured that I could live in Greece for at least two years! Luckily I was offered the job and accepted within the hour, not fully knowing what I had gotten my self into-but luckily it has succeed what I had imagined!
As I sat at work today, thinking about where I was 1 year ago it is amazing. I wouldn't have imagined that I would have actually gone through with not only applying with ISS, but also registering for the job fair, and then finally accepting a job!!!
I have really enjoyed my journey so far and I am excited about what else is to come. Life really isn't too much different over here. I feel as though anywhere I would go I would find my niche and what is comfortable to me, and that is what I have done. Sometimes when I am sitting in my apartment alone, I get a bit sad but I don't regret my choice. The only way that I was going to get this dream of mine out of my system was to actually do it. I am not sure what is going to happen after my two year contract is done, and I find my self getting anxious about thinking about, but I need to remind my self to enjoy the moment.
In two weeks I will be traveling to Monemvasia, Greece and the week after that I will be on my way to Istanbul, Turkey for a long weekend. I am trying to figure out how to balance my traveling and my training, which too can become a bit stressful, but I am trying to take it day by day. It also doesn't help that I am unable to run right now, something with my lower abdominal muscles-I have taken a week off from running, so hopefully soon I'll be back on the road.
Miss you guys and remember to follow your dreams and live your life to the fullest!!!
This is the only new picture that I have...my first selfie in my bathroom :)
