Drum Roll Please

Jet Lag.

They say it takes a day to recover from jet lag for every hour you change into a different time zone. I think it did take me about 9 days to recover, after returning to Kuwait from Christmas break in Nebraska, and then a bit more to adjust to getting up at 4 am again. And now, just 26 days after arriving back in K-town, Q8 (Kw8) I have headed back to America. This time the time difference is only 8 hours, since I've landed in Boston.

The Athens of America.

I'm at a large international job fair, in Boston. As I not so subtly hinted in my previous post, I've been job hunting. I'm also planning a little sight seeing as this is my first time in the Athens of America. So, just performed a google search for nicknames of Boston and...

Here are just a few:
Beantown-- which refers to the regional dish of baked beans. I want to eat some Boston Baked Beans while I'm here.
America's Walking City-- it has the seventh-highest percentage of pedestrian commuters of any city in the United States, while neighboring Cambridge is the highest. (I'm actually staying in Cambridge.)
The Olde Towne-- which comes from the fact that Boston is one of the oldest cities in the United States. 

The Athens of America-- because of Boston's great cultural and intellectual influence.

The Real Reveal.

Drum roll please... I'm not sure, yet, if my new blog title will be A Nebraskan in China, but I will be a Nebraskan in China, next year. I have made a 2 year commitment to teaching elementary ESL (English as a Second Language) at an international school in Xiamen, China.






Xiamen, The City.

Xiamen is suppose to have clean air and lots of walking paths, parks and greenery. Part of the city is an island connected by large bridges. The population is over 3 million. It's been ranked as China's second (no idea what the first was) "most suitable city for living", as well as China's "most romantic leisure city" on some list, at some point. Lots of nationals go there for vacation because of its beauty and nice subtropical climate. July is usually the hottest month with a, 24-hour, average of 82°F, the coolest is typically February, averaging 54°F; the annual mean is 68°F. See, third graders you do need to know what mean, means. In one place it said that the per-capita GDP is 9,000 USD.

What others are saying:

"It is not Taipei or Hong Kong (which are the nearest big cities, an hour plane ride or so away), but compared to most other cities in the region, Xiamen is definitely a very vibrant, affluent and modern place."

"Xiamen has consistently been voted as one of the most livable cities in China..."

"Deemed as China’s “cleanest city,” Xiamen is an ancient island community in the Fujian province that continues to top vacation destination lists. It exudes the vibrancy of a major city while still maintaining the alluring charisma of a beach resort." 

(Life in Xiamen, from the school website.)

Notable

Other things I thought notable, though I may or may not have gotten everything right. (It's amusing to go back to my research of Kuwait before arrival):

-It's on a bullet train line which, I think, goes to Shanghai in 8 hours for 50 USD.
-It has an island, that I read, is home to 20,000 people but allows no vehicles.
-It's on China's list of National Scenic spots, says Wikipedia.
-It can be quite humid.
-They don't speak a lot of English.
-Seems like they have Wal-Mart and Starbucks, but I'm not sure what other western stores/ brands will be available.



The School in Xiamen- Notable.

Again, from what I understand at this point, here are a couple things that I feel are notable about the International school I'll be working at.

-The student body is comprised of students from 29 different countries.
-There are two classes of every grade, which makes it a third of the size of the American school in Kuwait, I'm currently working at.
-The school has the highly sought IB (International Baccalaureate) program accreditation I was hoping to get experience in.
-The teachers, at the school, are from the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and China.
-Each elementary class has a, local, assistant teacher.
-There are not required school uniforms for students.

I'm ready to stretch my worldview even wider.

I'm in a Dream

I learned this phrase last night, in Arabic class: 
.أنا في حلم
Ena fi holm. 
I am in a dream. Which, loosely translated means, My life is unbelievable; dreamlike.

I am in a dream. Seriously. I know. I've taken "trips of a lifetime"... a lot. Someone has said Someone should say "Take a trip of a lifetime, or live a lifetime of trips." 

Well, I have a couple upcoming trips and I think one is a contender for a "Trip of a Lifetime" label.

Sometimes I feel embarrassed to go to so many places, but I've, actually 😳, found many people are perfectly content to stay near their loved one in their respective communities. Those folks say, "I like to sit back and see the world through your eyes." Ultimately, I keep sharing, though, because, well,... this is my life. 

So whenever I start to feel sorry for myself because it's end-of-the-quarter grading and report-card-comment time, I will remind myself how much I have to be grateful for.
.أنا في حلم
Ena fi holm. 
I am in a dream.

Arabic class started again last night, after a month long break. Technically I'm at an Intermediate level, but that may be the too-good-to-be-real kind of dream. I am still having fun though and as my dad would say, "That is the important thing.", and as Pete the cat would say, "It's all good."

Actually my dad might say that, too.

FYI, BTW, the real reveal will be this coming Thursday. 

Beauty, Reflection, Bonding and Announcing the Big Reveal

Beauty.

Beauty.
When I first arrived in Nebraska it was warm and snowless. 

Eventually, we did see some snow.

I really enjoyed driving my car, though I forgot what a pain scraping your windows is.
Now I remember.

Christmas Eve Day had a pretty awesome moon.

As did Christmas Eve, Eve.

Reflection.

 Spent a lot of time at coffee shops like this one. 

And this one.

I have been contemplating possibilities for months now. I did a lot of reflecting in K-town, Nebraska about if I should move on from K-town, Kuwait. 

"Should I Stay or Should I Go?"  

Bonding.

With friends.

With family.

My Announcement: The Big Reveal. 
My announcement. I want to introduce that a new blog title will be coming soon. It will be coming July, 2016. Can you guess where I will go next? It's not as simple as blue or pink though. 
It is really funny how far I can take these analogies. What got me started was the picture below. Most things "truly" funny have a little bit of truth in them. 

Coming soon...

Photos and a Few Thoughts, From Kuwait.

Thanksgiving.
Enjoyed celebrating Thanksgiving with some of my sweet, fun colleagues.

Good people, good food and games = smiles.

Two Monthly Book clubs. 

Participating in two clubs gets me reading books I may not otherwise choose to read on my own.

My apartment building's (I can go in my slippers!), last month's, book club read: City of Lies: Sex, Death, and the Search for Truth in Tehran. Yeah, I only made it half way. That was enough of those true stories for me.

This month's read: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie. I know, we DO read a wide range of books. I've never read an Agatha Christie book.   

Heading to the in-my-apartment-building book club.

In the other club, last month, we read The Paradise Guest House, a novel that takes place in Bali, Indonesia. This month: The Snow Child by Ivey Eowyn.

Of course we eat at both meetings.

The Novelty of Running.

I'm still enjoying running. It still feels novel and like a major accomplishment. But, my sensitive knee, has been limiting me. 

In November, I ran my first 10K.

Really Random Stuff.

I am not creative enough to even try to tie this stuff together.

Tim Horton's now sets up a stand at our school every Thursday morning, before school!

I snapped this, from my window, at the end of September.

January 8th. I'm not thrilled.

Wherever they are, I love sunsets.

My school has an amazing canteen.
"I say cafeteria, you say canteen."
I eat these stuffed grape leaves a lot! 

Arabic.

This, beautiful, language is Arabic!

Graduation from another class.  I am still a beginning beginner though.
(You just don't need to see me that up close, again!)

How awesome is this. I haven't made the purchase, yet, though. Hmm...

Christmas.

Got to do a small service project with friends. The note below is in, beautiful, Sinhalese. A language spoken in Sri Lanka.

The things that amuse me. The tree in my classroom.

My adorable, not-so-secret, admirer.

Wrapping it Up.

I wish I was at Pizza Express now.
I ♥️ food pictures.

I'm Actually here: at the new Starbuck's, in my neighborhood.

Next up: Home for the Holidays. Nebraska.