From nomads to residents

To my amazement, I am now the assistant principal of two elementary schools in El Segundo. Two weeks ago I was sitting around my parent's home in Crowley wondering if Trisha and I would be on the fun-employed path until Christmas. It was looking that way for awhile as I had not heard back from any district or companies other than Los Angeles Unified. We were prepared to ride out the tough job market and be content to live out of our suitcases for however long was necessary. Fortunately our luck changed.

It all began as we were driving home from the Sierra Nevada a few weeks ago. We were prepared to house-sit for my parents while they were away in Italy, caring for the dogs and searching for work. As we were entering the LA basin, the El Segundo USD gave a call and invited me to a round of upcoming interviews. The first thing I thought when receiving the call was if anything, that this would be good practice for other upcoming interviews.

The Friday of the interview rolled around and though nervous, I again was in the mind-set of interview practice. I didn't know how much competition there was for this job, but I assumed since I hadn't heard back from any other districts that my chances weren't great. The interview was low-key and took place with the HR guy and district superintendent. Though I haven't held an educational administrative job before, my classroom experience and admin fieldwork/classes gave me a good base for a successful first round. I left feeling good, though I still expected my competition to be more experienced and better qualified.

Trisha and I then killed a few hours in El Segundo waiting to hear back from the interview panel. The call came promptly in the early afternoon and confirmed my move to the second round. Though surprised, my confidence was given a nice big boost. It was nice to know that at least I had the ability to make it to a second round.

I felt the second interview went better than the first. Though there were more administrators present -principals, superintendent, HR, pupil services director, special ed director- the mood they set was calming and I went into it trying to be as natural as possible. Many of the questions were similar to the first round as there were new panel members, though a few new questions were thrown in as well. I again felt comfortable with the topics and believed I was presenting myself well. The interview ended and they informed me that they would call Monday with their decision. That made for a long weekend.

Nothing felt relaxed or normal during our weekend after the interview. Though it was just an interview, there was so much that could change with a phone call. Both our minds were racing from one scenario to another. Would we be back to job hunting online in coffee shops and bumming at our parents places while they were gone, or would be actually begin the process of becoming permanent? Writing about this now it doesn't seem all that stressful, but the anticipation and waiting at the time were terrible.

Finally on Monday afternoon as I plopped down on the bed from the nervous tiredness of waiting, the phone rang and I was offered the job. Though it was a shock, I had this spark of confidence all weekend that perhaps I was what they were looking for. I'm not sure if I got this vibe from the interview panel or if my confidence just grew as a result of the process. Regardless it was excellent news that threw me into a roller coaster of new emotions for the next few days, with highs of becoming a good leader like my last principal, to lows of thinking I'm unprepared for this job.

Upon visits to both elementary schools, which involved meeting the staffs and tours of the campus, along with a Back-to-School Night last week, I was feeling less nervous and more confident of the journey ahead. There is no doubt it's going to be an overwhelming job with learning opportunities at every corner, yet it should be interesting to see if this a role I prefer to teaching. I feel fortunate for the opportunity.

Who would have guessed our transition from nomads to contributing citizens would only take a few months? We even have an apartment lined up in El Segundo so I can bike to work and we can enjoy the great access to the beach and west side. Trisha and I are definitely looking forward to this new and exciting change.

Yes, or no?

So I’m sitting here in the Blue Butterfly Café on Main St. in downtown El Segundo. The setting is what you’d call a very main street USA…quite opposite to the picture of the city center of Munich that I’m staring at on my screensaver. Historic storefronts line the street topped off with a city park with white gazebo and all. Why am I here? Well, my husband is currently standing outside the door of a room full of important administrators of El Segundo Unified School District, waiting to be called in for his second interview of today, just minutes from now. Godspeed Travis!

It’s been an interesting day. At 11:00am, Travis went in for his interview of the Elementary School Assistant Principal position in this quaint, seaside city of the South Bay. It’s actually a unique position in that he’d be Assistant Principal over the two elementary schools in this small district, rather than just the usual one. This is the second time they’ve flown this position; apparently the first time they didn’t find the right match for the job. Although a little intimidated to be interviewing for his first AP position, Travis was confident and ready for whatever today may bring. Well, not to my surprise he had what it took to bring him to step two, this second interview. It’s been a strange day in that we had to wait two hours after his initial interview this morning to get the call that they’d like to see him a second time this afternoon, this time with a larger panel of interviewers. So, after putzing around this city and killing some time, we’ve split up again and now my thoughts are with him as he in the middle of it.

Actually, my thoughts have been wildly active all week. Travis and I are living a rather odd existence right now, in that we are in this bizarre time of transition not knowing where in this state of California we might end up. Although we’ve had no problem having a place to rest our heads (thanks to our families), we are still living out of our same old suitcases without any sense of permanence or settling down. At least not yet. Our current home, the Longs’ loft in Pasadena, is the most familiar place we have lived all year. We know this city, the stores, the restaurants, the bike rides. Only this time we are not residents, we’re not going to and from our jobs each day, and not keeping up our home. We’re still travelers in a way as our journey towards the next step in our lives continues.

Every time Travis sends out a resume, it’s hard not to let my mind wonder and think, “What would it feel like to live there? What would our lives look like in that location?” After a year living in so many different extremes, sometimes we think we could settle anywhere and be happy. Other times though, we realize our criterion has narrowed and we have more specific requests for our desired place to settle down. I think this comes from being in such a unique place. When else in our lives have we had the freedom to literally pick up and move wherever the best opportunity arises, without severing any ties or commitments? Those ties were all severed a year ago, when we packed it all up and began this adventure.

Speaking of a year ago, we enjoy thinking back time and again to reflect on those early weeks of last year, “newbies” living in Spain making our way around with our beginner levels of Spanish. These memories are never far from my heart or my thoughts. I’ve been asked, “Do you wish you were still traveling? Is it hard to be back in the USA?” To be honest, even though last year was my dream of all dreams, the answer is no. It couldn’t have been any clearer to me than it was this week when we brought the Longs to the International terminal of LAX airport to catch their flight to Italy. Seeing the millions of people pulling their heavy luggage, passports and tickets in hand, standing in lines and looking bleary-eyed and hurried, nothing inside me wanted to seal up my bag and get on a plane again. At least now right now. Sure, I was allured by the thought of being in Italy again and discovering more of the magic that we discovered there. But truly, we had our adventure, our eyes were opened to a world larger than imaginable, and even though we’ve only touched the surface of what we’d like to see and experience it’s time for us to again have a place to call “our home.”

A home. Permanence. Routine daily life. A typical schedule. A closet. Our toiletries in a drawer, not a travel bag. Cooking in a kitchen where we know where everything is. Using our own things. Having an income! Things you don’t even think about when they are in place, but when you’ve been without them for so long they seem like a really big deal. Am I ready for this again?

I’m watching the cars passing by the window, knowing that at any moment Travis will drive up to fetch me. What will his expression be? Will I instantly know if he was offered the job, or not? Will we even know today, or will the district think on it over the weekend? I’m on pins and needles. Depending on what they are looking for, Travis might be the perfect match and within moments we may be celebrating. Our current non-permanent existence will change in an instant and our weekend may be shaped around looking for an apartment in El Segundo, sorting through the storage unit to find Travis’s dress clothes, and figuring out what our “new lives” will hold. It sounds like a whirlwind in comparison to our current schedule. On the other hand, this may just be one great “practice round” for Travis, and our future is yet to behold. If not this job, I’m sure there will be more. The important thing is that it’s a good fit for Travis and a position he is excited about. Ahh! The car just pulled up………

……..So here we’re on Saturday, and I’m presenting you with a cliffhanger. Travis walked into that café yesterday with a thumbs up and a smile. He was happy and calm, and felt like he nailed the 2nd interview. The outcome? We won’t know until early next week! Like I said before, the competition for this position is steep and they need some time to think about their decision. The best news is that Travis felt great about the position, how he presented himself, and his experience and qualifications that have lead him to this point. If anything, this interview has helped confirm for him that an administration position is definitely what he desires. If he fits their mold, I have no doubt that he will excel. It was delightful for me to see him in his element again yesterday, after a year away from elementary education. Quite a different Travis sat beside me, looking dapper in his coat and tie, than the savvy (but sometimes stressed-out) traveler I’ve spent the year with.

This weekend will sure be tense for us as we wait for the call on Monday or Tuesday. Every time the phone rings we both jump. We don’t want to get too excited, because it could really go either way. But on the other hand, it’s so difficult not to let your mind wonder ahead and ponder what our lives would be like living in El Segundo. The good news is that whatever happens, we trust our future is in God’s hands and we will adapt and adjust to whatever may come next. If this isn’t it, there will be something else… and the journey continues.

Fun-employed

Hire me!

It seems to be a steep mountain to climb in this pursuit of new employment. How was I to know the job market was going to tank while we were away on our year abroad? If I knew at the time I told Monrovia Unified goodbye last year that there would be so few jobs when I returned...I wouldn't have changed a thing of course!

In hindsight I see a safe and secure job teaching elementary school that I could be doing at this moment, had we not ventured out. It would have made all the resume, cover letter, copies of credentials, market yourself stuff a non-entity. The people I haven't heard back from for positions I have applied wouldn't be frustrating me at this moment. And the prospect of being unemployed in a profession that has seen monumental budget cuts wouldn't seem as daunting.

Fortunately, this process has been more enjoyable than not. It has given me the chance to spend more time thinking of long-term career goals and reevaluate what is important to me in this field. It has been pushing me to become more in-tune with my views on education and become more aware of the details that make for a visionary leader (something I aspire to become someday). I'm not sure I would have been pushed to make these explorations had I not quit when I did.

I do feel extremely fortunate in the midst of this transition to have places to stay, supportive families, and an nonthreatening financial situation. My heart goes out the the other huge percentage of unemployed who don't have that luxury. I admit that I do not think or pray for these folks nearly enough, but instead find plenty of time to be preoccupied with my own stuff. Another goal.

An Interesting Read

Although maybe not a summer beach read, I did enjoy recently reading 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann. I think our adventures in Central America inspired this choice from the library a few weeks ago. 1491 reads a little like a textbook in parts and historical narrative in others, with the anthropological and archaeological jargon kept to a minimum. I didn't bore of this book though, and enjoyed discovering what the Americas were like prior to Columbus. My knowledge in this area was only what I had learned in school, which was not much. This was in fact one of the tenants of the book: that what we learned in school isn't completely factual nor relevant to the history of the Americas. So what were some of those tidbits of Pre-Columbian America that previously were excluded from traditional history books? Here are two:

First, it is estimated that 90-95% of Native American populations were decimated by small-pox prior to any large number of European settlers arriving. It is often taught that Europeans were the main culprits to these numbers. This isn't diminishing their responsibly in ending many great civilizations in the Americas; it is just giving more credit to the Native Americans who were here. Basically, if it weren't for disease, they totally could have held their own against these foreigners from Europe. Their numbers were superior and their technology was just as advanced. The only real advantage the Europeans had were horses (and maybe gun power, though arrows were much faster than loading a gun).

Second, a typical fact taught in schools is that people-groups walked from the Asian continent through the landmass between Russia and Alaska, to populate both N. and S. America toward the end of the ice age. Mann and other scientists find this to not be completely probable.
For one, how did those folks crossing into Alaska walk all the way down to S. America, through truly challenging conditions, and populate a continent in such a short period of time (dates given in book). According to Mann, impossible! Instead, perhaps groups used boats to cruise down the Pacific Coast, living close to shore and eating a lot of fish. It would make the journey that much faster. It is also a hope of scientists to one day discover groups who may have always been here.

Where are we?

Trisha and I are currently living in the Crowley Lake area outside of Mammoth. We are "house-sitting" if you will, using my parents' currently uninhabited house. Although we have been doing a lot of work on future stuff, it hasn't been too difficult to adjust to life in the mountains. Sure the pace is slow and we can go all day not seeing anyone if we choose, but if there is anyplace to be unemployed, this is it. We will be returning to Pasadena on Monday, for some more "house-sitting" and doggie care. My parents will be vacating their loft for three weeks while they travel, so Trisha and I will be there to take over dog care responsibilities etc. Anyone have a house or apartment they want looked after? We have updated resumes and references to boot!

Read This! -Initial attempt to blog about what's on my mind

It is much more difficult blogging on a consistent basis when you aren't traveling and sharing your days with a large audience. At this point, I imagine our blog audience to be ourselves and perhaps someone checking on the old site now and then. The goal from this is to create smaller blog entries on a more on-going basis for the fun of it, rather than writing with an larger audience in mind.

So here is what's on my mind. First, I have been dedicating most of my time in Pasadena, Chino, and Aspen Springs to job hunting. Amidst the challenging job market, this has been a fairly enjoyable process. The education site I use- ed-join-has a steady stream of postings and I really can't keep up with all the cover letters, resumes, and applications to fill out. Of course I could be competing with 700 other applicants for each position, but I'm trying to stay positive and hoping for a few call-backs in the coming weeks. I am searching or a Vice Principal role, though other educational administration positions are also fine. I just want to get my foot in the door. My desire to teach elementary school has not completely extinguished, however, I am much more intrigued by the prospect of working in an administrative capacity. Plus I completed all my fieldwork and classes for my credential and Masters, so why not?

Other thoughts... I think one of the most difficult parts of being an American since returning to the U.S. is witnessing the division in our country. Be it health care, government reform, or any other myriad of issues, it seems like we are more polarized than ever. And the degree of polarization and vehemence which people hold for their side is startling. I would love to turn on a political show or listen to a leader say, "Today we are going to devote our time to figuring out how we can work together on issues. Let's take the best ideas from both sides of the political spectrum and civilly and politely work out compromises that will push our country forward." That would be nice. Wouldn't it be cool if Bill O'Reily said "I totally disagree with Keith Oberman, but I respect him, and want us to sit down together to figure our ways we can move forward" (I suppose ratings would go down if that happened). It would be great if that attitude transferred to the Senate and House, and all those ugly town hall meeting. I don't think we're going to make much progress as a nation without some compromise.

Finally, I just finished reading American Lion by Jon Meacham. I recommend it. The style of writing is a bit taxing as the author, loves to use commas, and interjects long stories between facts that you are already trying to keep clear in your head, but instead become confusing because of the new information he's interjecting. Anyway, the book is about the life of Andrew Jackson in the White House and his years as President.

I knew little of Jackson before reading the book, except that he is on the twenty, had big hair, and was responsible for much of the Native American removal in the the Eastern and Southern States. The book confirms the latter (they don't get into the hair too much) but it also brings out a bunch of the good things he did. I think the most interesting was that during his presidency, the country was already moving toward civil war, even though it was 1830's; thirty years before the real Civil War. He showed some gusto in his leadership, along with cool headed, calculated maneuvers that quelled the path to war. If a civil war had occurred at that time, it's unlikely the U.S. would have been able to put the pieces back together like they did during Lincoln's presidency. Overall, a good read.

Resistance

Resistance: A word that sums up some of our feelings upon setting up life again in the United States. Unique questions have come to the surface. Do we really need to have cell phones again? Can we get by with just one car instead of two? Do we have to return to our storage unit and retrieve all our stuff? What could we possibly need that we’ve done so easily without all year?

Travis and I have been home now for a couple of weeks and there is much to be said about “reverse culture shock.” Being back in a place so familiar, I stand aghast at some of the things I took for granted before without giving it a second thought. For example, I know my way around the city without using a map. When I want to buy something, I know what store to find it in. I can ask someone for help in my native language and understand the response. When I look at the headlines on a newspaper, I can read them. Road signs carry meaning; I don’t need to guess at how an unfamiliar symbol might be interpreted. Although these things may seem so simple, they clearly illustrate some of the difficulties we encountered when living abroad. But, do we really miss these difficulties now that we’re on our way to becoming settled? That answer is still up for grabs.

Starting up again from scratch in our American lives requires quite a few steps. I’m finding this transitional month of August ’09 to be very reminiscent of August ’08 when we were preparing for our new transient lifestyle abroad. Only this time, instead of closing off accounts and packing things away, we’re slowly opening up boxes and deciding where to lay new roots. With our experiences of this year fresh in our minds, we have hopes to do things a little alternatively as we become established.

Step 1: The cell phone. Even though cell phones were abundantly present in every country we visited this year, Travis and I both fear being tied to our ringing machines again. You can’t believe how nice it was having no phone bill to pay. We wondered how long we could go without signing up for a contract. This was maybe a fun experiment for us, but our family members trying to get a hold of us didn’t find this all too convenient. The truth is, we lasted two weeks before heading to the Verizon store, two weeks that included having to borrow my mom’s cell phone several times and even finding ourselves stuck at a phone booth digging in our pockets for change. Who knew that payphones were 75 cents for a local call!

So with much research, we’ve signed up for one pay-as-you-go plan that doesn’t feel as committal to us as the usual 2-yr. agreement with strings attached. Because Travis still had his old cell phone, we were thrilled to put no money down and still acquire a new number. It may be very out of date compared to the iPhones and BlackBerrys out there, but it will do. We are still living a bit out of the norm being that we only have one phone between us, but I guess at this point we’re so used to being together at every moment, the thought of actually having times apart when we need to get a hold of each other sounds rather foreign to us.

Step 2: A vehicle. I have not been behind a steering wheel for 11 months and haven’t missed driving for even a moment. We were amazed this year at how far your own two feet can take you when you want to go somewhere. Add to that the ease and convenience of public transportation in so many of the countries we visited, driving was a non-issue. Travis and I arrived in Los Angeles inspired to master the bus and metro system here and hold off on buying a car. But, did you know that just to go 30 miles from Chino to Pasadena would cost us about $20? Maybe this amount is what we should have expected, but when accustomed to parts of Europe where you can travel to another country for that price, we just couldn’t do it. Isn’t the idea of public transportation to motivate people to save money on gas and use their cars less often? With that price, maybe that’s why so many people are still on the freeways? So again, our aspirations were shot down after just two weeks of trying to go from point A to B in these spread out, metropolitan suburbs. When we found ourselves having to bum rides from our moms and my 17 yr. old sister, the feeling of being “kids without wheels” again was just all too frightening.

So, we are now going to and fro (mostly back and forth to our guestrooms with our families in Chino and Pasadena) in our new, used Honda CRV. It’s a good solid vehicle and we are pleased as punch with it. I have yet to want to drive as I’ve preferred this year of less responsibility, but I did enjoy the 5 minutes I drove it the day we made our purchase. It’s interesting that the moment you are mobile again, the ideas you had in your head about distances completely change. A 1 to 2 mile walk to the grocery store was commonplace to us abroad, but here in California we’d feel pretty strange lugging our shopping bags down the city streets for this distance. We’ve even noticed how the sidewalks here appear so empty compared to the hustle and bustle of pedestrian and bicycle traffic we’re used to. It’s a little sad really, we now find ourselves planning walks as workout times rather than just depending on our typical day of walking around to cover our daily exercise needs. Our next goal is to see how long we can go with having just one car. The hope is that one of us can find work that is bikeable from our next home-to-be. I guess time will tell. That leads me to the next step…

Step 3: Reclaiming some possessions. Take a guess on the one thing we wanted to retrieve from our storage unit right away upon returning. Yes, our bicycles. Driving up to the garage in Pomona, we were flooded with memories of the last time we were there one year ago, locking up all of our possessions for who knows how long. At that point I remember thinking, “Can I really live on just the things in this suitcase for a whole year?” Well, mission accomplished. With happy visions of riding our bikes again, we walked up the stairs with the August heat beating on us just as vibrantly as the day we moved everything in. To our dismay, our unit key broke in half when Travis put it in the lock, making it impossible to open. Because it was after office hours, we were forced to leave our bikes behind and find a way to solve this problem. Knowing all of our stuff was just on the other side of that door, impossible to retrieve, was a strange feeling. I couldn’t help but wonder, “What kind of lesson is this teaching me as to the value and need of our material possessions? Now that they’re within our grasp, how much do we really need these things in life we didn’t depend on while we were away?” Something to ponder…

In conclusion, Travis was able to bust open the lock the following day and we are now back on our own wheels riding familiar paths of our past. Our transient lifestyle is turning more towards permanence each day even though we are slightly resistant, but we are still living out of suitcases for the time being. Many thanks to our families for having open rooms for us as well as such welcoming environments. I don’t think we realized how much we missed our family members until we returned. It’s been so much fun to reunite, share some stories and hear about what we missed. Oh yeah, and jobs? That should probably be one of the steps included in this blog. We don’t quite have them yet, but no worries… resumes are out there and we’ll keep you posted.

And so we continue...

Transitioning from a year of travel to life in the U.S. has not been nearly as difficult as Trisha and I anticipated it would be. This was surprising as conversations in the final month of our journey often included the fears we had in ending our travel lives. Would we fall into post-travel depressions? Would U.S. culture shock be too much? Would we be able to assimilate with family and friends the way we had before? From our marathon day of travel from Germany to Los Angeles, to our past weeks living at home, all has been an illuminating experience which we are happy to reflect upon in this blog. Let’s begin.

The initial transition process, which was incredibly surreal, began on our final day in Munich, Germany. We concluded this final day with a visit to a beer garden (picture posted on blog) and then headed back to our rented apartment for dinner, last-minute bag packing, and some room tidying. This was all in preparation for our 12:40 a.m. train to the Frankfurt Airport (weeks prior to this evening we decided to take the night-train, as the early morning train had sold out of discount seat). The post-dinner waiting around was the most surreal, as our normal bedtime was around 11:30 or 12:00, and here we were walking to the train station at 12:15 to catch our train.

All went smoothly with the train, though we were not able to sleep at all during the night. We pulled into the Frankfurt airport around 5:00 a.m. and then killed five hours before our 10:55 flight. Our time spent in the airport isn’t really noteworthy except that we found showers, which we excitedly paid for, and were stopped by German customs officials. They gave us a difficult time because we were 10 days over our European Union tourist visa. We explained that since our plans to Switzerland (non-EU) had changed, we had no alternative but to stay longer. They claimed we could be arrested, but ultimately said since Germany and the U.S. have a good relationship, that we could proceed. Trisha claims I was nervous during this encounter, but is was obvious they weren’t going to detain us. (It is interesting to note that we met more than a few Americans and Canadians who were way over their allotted 3-month visa times. One guy in Spain has 7 years over his visa! What is he going to do when he passes through customs?)

The flight from Frankfurt to Dallas felt like an eternity, made worse I think because of our five-hour train ride. Again, neither of us was able to get any sleep on the plane, so we arrived in Dallas somewhat tired. This was our first taste of American life since our brief airport stop in March, so our lack of sleep and time away made it feel a little otherworldly. Fortunately Trisha and I became big fans of Texas this year. Each time we were there (three times total) we were pleasantly surprised how warm the people we encountered were, and this three-hour layover was no exception.

By the time our delayed flight to Los Angeles took off on Monday we had been up for about 38 hours -we first woke up in Munich on Sunday morning at 8:00, which would have been Saturday night at home. On this flight we actually did succumb to sleep and were happy the three-hour flight felt like only a few minutes.

And then we were back. In the midst of our tiredness, walking through customs and the terminal, we got a second-wind thinking about how we had been in the same spot almost a year ago. We had been privileged to see and do so much in that period of time outside of our normal lives, that being back in the familiar gave us a confused feeling. I think we were just too tired to feel anything, but it is difficult to explain how unusual it is to come home to a place you’ve know your whole life while being away for a year. It wasn’t joy, nor was it sadness. It was just kind of weird.

I’ll conclude for now that we were warmly greeted at the airport by Trisha’s mom, who whisked us away to a beach house in Newport, where we joined a family vacation already in progress. Although we will reflect and share more observations about this process in future blogs, lets just say that spending a week at the beach to begin reentry into life in the U.S. isn’t so bad.

Signing off from this side of the world...

Tomorrow will conclude the journey we have been on the past 11 months. As it would be difficult, not to mention incredibly bittersweet, to write a sweeping final blog, we’ll leave it open. We are intrigued with the prospect of keeping up this blog, despite the current end of our overseas lives. Besides, with little in the way of permanence established at home, the decision-making process in our re-entry and where we ultimately end up should be rich with material. We wish we could read ahead and see where we do end up.

If your interests in this blog extend beyond travel, keep reading, as it might be entertaining (though the photos might not be as picturesque). If this is your last read, thanks for being with us this year. We felt very supported in our adventure knowing that family and friends were taking part in something that was so special to us. We are thankful for every second of this year and thankful it turned out as well as it did. So, ciao, adios, auf weidersehen! -Travis and Trisha