February already?!!

So..to think, exactly one year ago today I was in San Francisco trying to figure what my next step in life would be.  I had no clue that I would end up living in Athens, Greece for the next two years.  In that moment, I actually had no clue where I was going to be a year later..

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 :)  

Happy New Year!!

Welcome everyone to 2014!!  I have a feeling this will be a good year :)

So where to begin...I had a GREAT Winter Break with my mom!  We wandered (not wondered) around Athens for a day and got to see all the great sites here and then we packed our bags and adventured into Paris!  Upon our arrival the city, metro, street, everything was packed with people!  So many people!  I don't know where they all come from!  But she had a good plan and we got to see so many sites and with our Museum Pass we didn't stand in line for too long :)  The Louvre had a wait for 2:30 hours, but with our Museum Pass we went straight though into the museum.  I would highly suggest getting one of those.

I think my favorite thing about Paris was knowing what we were looking at.  I had my own personal audio tour (my mom and her Rick Steve's guide book) :).  It was great!  I learned so much about the different paintings and French history.  I remember some of it, but I'm not ready for a quiz :)

After Paris we were supposed to do an island tour here in Greece, but the travel compony didn't pick us up.  Apparently there are two different Tymfristous in Greece...although only one in Halandri.  Anyways, I got my money back and it rained the day we were supposed to go, so it probably all turned out for the best.

The next day my mom left and it was so sad :(  I think the saddest part was not knowing when I will see her again.  It also made me think of all my friends in the States.  I feel like I am missing out on their lives being here in Greece.  Although I do enjoy it here and I have made some incredible friends, I really do miss my friends in Salt Lake and in Hawaii.  I don't regret coming, but I just get sad every now and then about it.  Hmm..this usually happens when I am not too busy...since school hasn't started yet and my friends aren't back I have a lot of free time on my hands, which apparently is not a good thing for me :)

So for the new year I haven't made a resolution, but I want to continue to keep in mind what is important to me and to make sure I focus my time and energy into those things.  Also to remember that I only have control over my choices and my life and that I can share my opinions but in the end what they do is up to them.

Thanks for reading my post and friends please keep me updated on your lives!!!  I don't want to miss out!!!!


Our arrival in Paris!!!  We are already for our adventure to begin!!!!!

 Got to see April in Paris!!!!  So nice :)

Atop the Arch de Triumph in Paris, France.  Great view of the city!

This was part of the Parthenon in Athens, now it is in the Louvre in Paris.  I liked the Greek history there..too bad it isn't in Greece...   

After waiting in lines...

We got a little stir crazy after walking around soo much!!!  Versailles, France 

I had always wanted to go to the Eiffel tower!  We went in the late afternoon so we got to see it during the day time and also during the night time...I would suggest this. 

The Seine River and I. 

 

Ready for our Athens adventure to begin!!!  Mom is all bundled...love the hat!!!  :)

I think this is Hadrin's Library in Athens.  Of course we went to the library :)

SO BUSY!!!

Hello friends around the world!

I know I am not doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog, but I always seem to find myself SOOO busy.  Before moving to Greece, I thought life here would be less hectic and more relaxed, but the grass is not greener on the other side.  I am not saying that life is bad, because by no means is it,  it is just SO busy!  Greeks tend to work to live unlike the American live to work, but I guess in my case you can't take the American out of America (not quite sure if that is the saying-but I think you know what I mean).  I was excited about all the free time that I would have, but I am still waiting for that free time!

This is what a normal weekday looks like:

-wake up around 6:30am
-swim or run for ~45 minutes
-be at school around 8:30
-9:00-3:45 at school with the kids
-3:34-5:00ish at school getting work done, planning, correcting...you name it
-5:30 lift or bike
-7:30 make dinner
-8:00 eat dinner and sometimes do a little more work or relax and watch something online
-9:30 get ready for the next day
-10:00 go to bed...

And do it all again the next day..I mean there is some variation. Like today, I went and got a much needed haircut (I think it had been 6 months since the last cut) so I didn't get home till 7:45 and I still needed to get on my bike-so I am now eating dinner at 9:15...I do have the luxury of making my own choices and only having to take care of just me (more on that later).  I also don't have to work out...really I don't but if you know me and I can't work out, you don't want to be around me.  In college, I got a stress fracture and I was on crutches for three months and I could do NO EXERCISE.  NOTHING.  No swimming, no biking, no moving basically..I just crutched to school... I was not a very friendly person.  I don't know how my boyfriend at the time put up with me...he is a saint...But this is true, I don't need to work out this much...I just want to continue my success as a triathlete.  I have high hopes for myself and I want to be successful.

Also, during the work day I get a lot more breaks than when I taught in the States, but they go by so fast!!  I do like things to be in order, but I don't consider my self a perfectionist by any means, because I am not at all perfect.  I think I am just slow. (the exception with that being athletics, which is an okay place to be faster :))  It takes me a longer time to get things done than the average person.  This is something that I have always known about myself but I try to think it's not true.  But it is.

Anyways I think this is just a fact about myself that I need to become at peace with..but there is no time!

So, as usual December snuck up on us all!  December not only means Christmas but also another birthday.  This year I will be 29...my last year as a 20 something..EKK!!!!  As a kid I sure did not picture myself being here in Greece or also still single.  Again, not saying those things are bad, because they are both GREAT, but I never would have dreamed it.  I always thought that I would find my husband during college, but that never happened so I never really had a second plan.  I am thankful for my past relationships and what I have learned from them and the person those experiences have turned me into.  I know that my Prince Charming is out there somewhere, probably on a bike, running, or in the pool swimming (or maybe on the sidelines cheering for me) and he will show up when the time is right.  I am excited for this new year and what it has to offer.  Oh and I can't forget about the yearly Birthday Run!  Yes, friends, the tradition still carries on in Greece!  Hopefully the weather will cooperate, although I did see one snow flake on Wednesday-yes friends 1 snow flake!  Salt Lakers I miss the snow! I know some of you hate it, but it is just so pretty and white and you can ski in it!!!!

Alright, I think the post is just about ready to be over. Thanks for reading!!  I miss all my friends back home so much, but I am also so thankful for my friends that I have made here in Greece.

Live love laugh.

PS. Just two comments about how the small the world is.
#1 One of the parents from my class is from Palmerston North, a smallish town in New Zealand where I studied abroad my junior year!
#2 Another parent in my class lived in Visalia, where my sister lives, for a year in college.  Again Visaila is a smallish city in California that you wouldn't really go to unless you lived there.

It is just incredible how small the world is and also how amazing the people are that you meet along the way.

Downtown Vienna :)  At one of the Christmas Markets :)

In Slovakia.  

Shanna, the school nurse and I.  I may have also danced and pretended I was an owl on this table...maybe....

Outside a running store in Vienna.  I love running and I love seeing others (even if the statue isn't real) 

Update

Hey guys!  I hope everyone is ready for the holidays!  I know I am!  As you know Thanksgiving isn't a holiday here in Europe, but because I am at an American school we still get a 4 1/2 day weekend!!  So, some of my American friends and I are heading over to Vienna for the holiday!!!  I am looking forward to being in a new country and getting to spend some quality time with my new friends.  While in Athens, I don't really get to see too many of them on a daily basis, so it is nice when we go on vacation because then we can relax and just chill.

At the beginning of the month I was able to go to England with the cross country team and it was a great experience!  Although it rained the day of the meet, the kids were great and just went with it.  They were also excited for a new and different opportunity (since we hadn't had much rain in Greece until now...).  We also got to tour around London and also go to Windsor Castle.  It's like I am living a dream...oh wait I am.  I am living my dream.  :)

The other day as I was waking (I do a lot of that since I don't have a car) I was reflecting upon my life here in Greece and how content I am.  Although I left all of my friends and family in America, I feel as though I have a fantastic group of people in my life here.  I just feel so fortunate and so lucky for the life that I live and I thank all of you for being a part of it.  So far in every stage of life I have had such awesome friends and awesome opportunities that have made me into the person that I am today.  I thank you all for that.  My Punahou friends, my Willamette friends, my Utah friends, and my Hawaii friends, you all have been such an important part of my life and I would not be the person I am today if you weren't a part of my life. So in the season of Thanksgiving, THANK YOU!!!

Arachova, Greece.  This is a quaint town in Greece.  The school organized a trip so my friend Aryn and I hopped on the bus and saw the country side of Greece.

Aryn, Mariren, and Marios in Arachova, Greece

The cross country team in front of Windsor Castle, England.  A fun group of kids!

Me and Windsor Castle :)

One of those days...

Hey, So this will just be a short entry (hopefully) but today I just had one of those days....  Things seem to be so busy over here....all the time!  I feel as though I have so much to do and not nearly enough time to get it done.  Things are good here but SO busy...I feel as though I don't have a life outside of school and even my training is taking a hit--that's when I get really upset!!!!  I don't have any races coming up, but I want to have a strong base to build off of for the season. I just need to keep reminding my self that all will be okay...and I know it will be, but I just get into these moods where I just feel so overwhelmed...

On a positive note, I am going to London for a business trip on Friday!  I have always wanted to say 'business trip'!!  As you know, I am coaching cross country and we have a meet this Saturday in London. I am so excited to go and experience London for 3 days.  The weather is going to be cold and rainy-but that will remind me of Oregon and maybe Utah.

I think it may be that it is snowing in Utah...and that makes me a little sad :( To be honest, I am surprised that I liked Utah so much and how much I miss it there.  I miss the environment and my friends so much.  But luckily I have made a lot of good friends here too.

This weekend is also the Athens Classic Marathon, but sadly I cannot run it because I will be in London.  However, I am still going to pick up my race packet and go to the marathon expo-which I am really excited for (probably too much so!!!)

Okay, back to school work.  I think that is what bothers me the most is when I have to bring school work home.  I was at school till 6:20 today and I still have more to do at home!  It'll be okay...(I need to be reminded about that :) )  Miss you guys!!!

The cross country team.  Go owlancers!!!

What I made for the Halloween party!

An ipad and a cereal killer :)  This was Halloween night.  There were maybe 20 people out of the 300 I saw that were dressed up 

The Oxi Day Parade. A little different than the Kailua 4th of July Parade. :)

The student's parade in Thessaloniki, Greece.

One of the ruins (and Kevin) in Thessaloniki, Greece.  

Phew!

Hello friends!

First off-I miss you guys and America so much!!!!!!   But at the same time I love my new friends here and I am enjoying living in a different part of the world.  But I still miss my life back in Utah and Hawaii.

Alright, moving on...so the past couple of weeks have been busy with school work.  School over here is not quite as organized as what I am used to, coming from Copper Canyon and my coworkers (who were all VERY organized) and I miss that.  I have settled down to my daily classroom routine and so have my kids.  Which has been a sigh of relief and a stress reducer.  At the beginning it was a little hard because I didn't know what I was doing and I was in a new place that I wasn't comfortable in and the kids could sense that and they didn't know what was going on...and you could see how it could get hard.  But, now it is so much better!!!

I am still planning day-to-day, which is something I usually find my self always doing--maybe sometime soon I will be able to have everything ready by the beginning of the week...maybe one day in the future.  But, yea, so school is settling down. I love my new 4th grade team, but I really really really really really miss my old 3rd grade team. Man, we were great.  I really miss our lunch time talks and conversations.  Lunch time here is so rushed and the teachers don't eat together and I miss that time to talk to adults instead of students.

This next week is going to be a busy one.  Parent-teacher conferences, but each conference is just supposed to last 10 minutes each..I am a little anxious about how it is going to work, but I am sure they will be fine.  We also celebrate Halloween here-well kind of, we are celebrating it on Friday, Oct 25-not the usual day October 31.  The school has a parade and a Halloween Carnival that night too.  Also this week, is the UN festival and also the Oxi Day performance.  It is going to be a BUSY week!!!!  But it will be a three day weekend because of Oxi (No) day.  Oxi Day celebrates when the Italians tried to take over Greece during World War II and the Greek soliders said NO (Oxi)!!  It wasn't quite as simple as that, but the Italians didn't succeed so they had to call for back up, so the Germans came and eventually they were able to beat the Greeks-but having to do this was not in their plan and this set them back 5 weeks, which meant that they were 5 more weeks into the Russian winter than they had planned.  So, who knows what would have happen if the Germans weren't staled by 5 weeks...So October 28 is a Greek Holiday!  Some of the American teachers and I will be going to Thessaloniki, Greece.  I am excited to explore the country!

Then early November, I will be joining the cross country team to a meet in London for the weekend.  This trip falls during the Athens Classic Marathon, which I was signed up to run, but I will be in London, which I think will be amazing!  I am sad that I won't be able to experience the Marathon and it's environment, but I am excited about going to London.  I have ALWAYS wanted to go to London!

Then for Thanksgiving, some of the American teachers and I will be heading over to Vienna to celebrate.  I am also looking forward to that trip and going to all the Christmas Markets.  It'll be a busy couple of months.  And then for Christmas my mom is coming!  I am SOOO excited for her to come and show her my new home.  Although, there is no place like Hawaii, Greece does have some sites to see and I am excited to see them with my mom.  We will also venture out to Germany or another country in Europe, we haven't fully decided yet.

Phew...lots going on.  Oh and I am starting to get into a schedule with my triathlons.  I think my first A race is going to be a half ironman in Spain, the second week of May.  I haven't fully committed to that yet, but my first A race won't be before that.  But I now have joined a gym, I have a pool, I can run, I found a track, I found a couple of bike routes that I can do on my own, the only thing I am missing is an indoor trainer which I hope to be getting soon.  Also, I wanted to find a coach--but I haven't found one yet.  I have met some here in Greece, but none that seemed really interested or excited about coaching me.  Anyways, it'll come.

Okay-I have to go and prepare for the week.  And also decide what I am going to be for Halloween on Friday!!  Thanks guys for reading and I'd love to hear about what's going on in your lives!!!  Also my phone numbers here is 30-698-735-7999, so find me on Whatsapp so we can stay in touch!!!

Aloha,

Carly

 Last night we went out to the local Irish Pub-James Joyce.  It was a good time, but my party days are over.  I haven't fully "become Greek"--staying out till 5am...I don't know how the Greeks--and some Americans do it!!!!

A cute picture from Hydra-a Greek island we visited before school started.  Fun times in bathing suits!!!!

I am still here :)

Hey all,

So it has been a while since my last update.  The reason for that being I don’t have internet at home anymore!  When I first moved in to my apartment, the previous people never canceled their internet so I was using theirs, until one day it shut off L  Sad story, but after one and a half weeks of playing phone tag (they would only call during school hours and I couldn’t call them back) and then talking in English when the other person spoke in Greek (luckily a co-worker came to the rescue) I should have it tomorrow-although I am a little doubtful.  So we will see.

Okay, now to more exciting things!!!  Um, lets see…I did my first triathlon in Greece and it went well. Again, there aren’t many girls that compete here in Greece.  Last weekend I just did a sprint triathlon and there were 120 competitors and only maybe like 20 girls-at the most…so not too many girls at all…however I did beat a lot of the guys so that was good. J  But all went well in the triathlon.  I am still not on a proper training schedule, but I am still training when I can.  I am coaching cross country after school so that has been taking up a lot of my free time. 

Oh, so that brings me to share another new part of my life-being a coach!  I have always wanted to be a coach…a teacher and then a coach after school (like Mr. Link, Mr. Tuttle and Senora but now that I am doing it is exhausting!  During the first week (we are in week 3 now) I had a couple of break downs…but all is well now.  The hardest part was leaving school right at 3:50 (it ends at 3:45) and then going to practice. Those that know me as a teacher know that I am not one to be 100% organized all the time.  I am organized, but it takes me a while and I like to take my time in planning my lessons and figuring out what we will do the next day, but with coaching I don’t have time to do that until 5:30 and by that time I am so exhausted!  However, like I said it is getting way better and I am getting better with my time management skills. J

Anyways, we have our first meet this weekend!  Our schedule is different than what I am used to because we only have 2 meets-and coach was excited about having 2!  So hopefully all goes well and the kids have a good time!  It is fun working with older kids and having conversations and talking to them about running. 

School is going well.  I am getting used to things now and how things run and what I can control and what I can’t control.  I am really enjoying my class!!  Although they are really talkative they are fun kids! 

My friends here in Athens are great!  Just like usual I have my workout friends and then my social friends.  I seem to always find myself with different groups of friends and not much mixing happens-but that’s okay. I am really lucky that I have met the people that I have.  They are making my experience here so much fun! 

So this was a long one!  Thanks guys for reading my blog and keeping up with me in my life journey.  On my ride today I was thinking about how I really am here-teaching abroad.  I have wanted to do this for so long and I actually did it!  That made me excited.  It is fun to see your dreams come true!  I miss you guys so much but please keep in touch and let me know how you are doing!!

Aloha,

Carly

Picture from my race last weekend.  

The olympic stadium-view from The Mall (that's what it's called).

The view from my bike ride Mt. Imatos (spelling).  It is about a 15k climb..(I will clock it next time) and it's about an 1:45 round trip ride from my house-if I don't get lost :)

A turtle just hanging out in the middle of the city.  Weird!

Syntagma Square, Athens, Greece

Karla, Aryn, and I at the Internations Social this weekend.  Two of my teacher friends at school!-Sorry it's so dark!