Well, after five months of finishing up my first school year in the U.A.E., planning a summer trip with my parents (which was a trip of a lifetime), moving house, settling in and semi-patiently waiting on internet for my apartment . . . I am back online.
The past few months have been a whirl-wind of activity. The final assessments for school started back in May/April and that was coupled with classroom observations and teacher portfolios (which was such a waste of time, space and paper that it is one of the most frustrating things I was required to do thus far). Although my summer vacation planning started back in February, it really required a lot of my time in May as well. June was packing and cleaning up and July was getting ready for the following school year, dealing with a stomach parasite and finally finding out that I had thankfully been transferred to Al Ain.
Which takes me into mid-July, ie. vacation time... I met up with my parents in Italy, Venice to be exact, and we spent the next 2 to 4 weeks travelling Italy and France. It was an absolutely amazing experience, however it was mostly go, go, go so I was still pretty busy. After France, comes moving my apartment, clearing all of my paperwork (which literally took off 2 years of my life), living out of a suitcase for 2-3 weeks while waiting on my new apartment, moving in, purchasing home goods, starting a new job (which requires me to actually complete 2 jobs for the price of one) in a dysfunctional school environment and settling into a new town. All the while I have been battling with the local internet/cable company for internet. I mean, who doesn't like spending a half hour on the phone re-explaining your problem with a very thick-accented person, only to get hung up on when asked to speak with a manager? Ahhhhhhhhhhh
But one lowly night my dear friend called and yelled, "Come now!! There is a internet technician at my apartment!!" Needless to say I ran over in my 'Nicole running' fashion and begged for him to come over and just look at my internet connections. I explained, as I had many times before that I had all the internet boxes and connections available, I just needed a switch flipped. He willingly came over, made 2 phone calls and Voila! I had freakin' internet after 6 weeks!! Ahhhhhhhhhh
So, I immediately texted a few of the patient (semi-patient, really) people who have not been too impressed with my unreachabilty (a word?) and informed them of my new found communication capabilities. I've spoken to a few people and reassured them I was thinking of them and have been slightly occupied for the past 5 to 7 months. However, a dear friend (slightly pissed off dear friend ;) ) has reminded me of the importance of communicating with your loved ones back home . . . so I am here to say I am back.It is so easy to get sucked into a new life, new environment, new people, but it is so very important to stay grounded and keep in touch.
Unfortunately, I never quite finished up posting Italy and France (as I had to buy a larger storage package for Google) so over the next week or so I will tie up any loose ends and start back on future travel plans and ideas.
Thank you to all of you who do read the blog. A good friend Francine suggested the idea to me (along with a few others) and I think it's important I continue it for the future travelers/hopeful travelers/dreamers out there.
I don't usually post the personal experiences on here, but thanks for listening...
The past few months have been a whirl-wind of activity. The final assessments for school started back in May/April and that was coupled with classroom observations and teacher portfolios (which was such a waste of time, space and paper that it is one of the most frustrating things I was required to do thus far). Although my summer vacation planning started back in February, it really required a lot of my time in May as well. June was packing and cleaning up and July was getting ready for the following school year, dealing with a stomach parasite and finally finding out that I had thankfully been transferred to Al Ain.
Which takes me into mid-July, ie. vacation time... I met up with my parents in Italy, Venice to be exact, and we spent the next 2 to 4 weeks travelling Italy and France. It was an absolutely amazing experience, however it was mostly go, go, go so I was still pretty busy. After France, comes moving my apartment, clearing all of my paperwork (which literally took off 2 years of my life), living out of a suitcase for 2-3 weeks while waiting on my new apartment, moving in, purchasing home goods, starting a new job (which requires me to actually complete 2 jobs for the price of one) in a dysfunctional school environment and settling into a new town. All the while I have been battling with the local internet/cable company for internet. I mean, who doesn't like spending a half hour on the phone re-explaining your problem with a very thick-accented person, only to get hung up on when asked to speak with a manager? Ahhhhhhhhhhh
But one lowly night my dear friend called and yelled, "Come now!! There is a internet technician at my apartment!!" Needless to say I ran over in my 'Nicole running' fashion and begged for him to come over and just look at my internet connections. I explained, as I had many times before that I had all the internet boxes and connections available, I just needed a switch flipped. He willingly came over, made 2 phone calls and Voila! I had freakin' internet after 6 weeks!! Ahhhhhhhhhh
So, I immediately texted a few of the patient (semi-patient, really) people who have not been too impressed with my unreachabilty (a word?) and informed them of my new found communication capabilities. I've spoken to a few people and reassured them I was thinking of them and have been slightly occupied for the past 5 to 7 months. However, a dear friend (slightly pissed off dear friend ;) ) has reminded me of the importance of communicating with your loved ones back home . . . so I am here to say I am back.It is so easy to get sucked into a new life, new environment, new people, but it is so very important to stay grounded and keep in touch.
Unfortunately, I never quite finished up posting Italy and France (as I had to buy a larger storage package for Google) so over the next week or so I will tie up any loose ends and start back on future travel plans and ideas.
Thank you to all of you who do read the blog. A good friend Francine suggested the idea to me (along with a few others) and I think it's important I continue it for the future travelers/hopeful travelers/dreamers out there.
I don't usually post the personal experiences on here, but thanks for listening...
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