Hello Everyone :)
This Blog is meant to be a quick and easy way for me to keep a journal while subsequently keeping you all posted (ha ha ha pun intended, since I'm posting a post... see it's a pun... ok, sorry) on what's up with my exploits in teaching, life, and petty mischief.
Where to start? I could start with arriving in New Mexico after a 12 hour drive from Omaha. It was a starry night and the slightly sweet clear air of New Mexico greeted me as I creakily stepped out of my over stuffed Honda Civic. I met the security guards at "the little castle" (guard shack) and they escorted me up to my new humble abode. It is a single level duplex with a porch and ample space for growing little food stuffs. It has two bedrooms (I get the big one) a living room, nice kitchen, and a bath. Totally adequate for my simple needs and can readily accommodate any friends who wish to stop by Northern New Mexico ;)
Anyways, I arrived at about 10pm and got a burst of energy so I unpacked my car until about 1, and then passed out on the bed that Adrianna and Fernando (Vice President and husband Head Groundskeeper who taught me Bio when I was a student here) set up for me. Woke up, finished unpacking my car and started trying to figure out what "stuff" I should get accomplished so that no paper work jumps up and bites me around November as has been known to happen in any kind of bureaucracy.
After that, it has been a blur of paperwork, trying to set up my classroom, office, and apartment. I took two week long sessions on how to teach IB (International Baccalaureate which is a huge international program, like AP, but for the whole world so that students with an IB diploma can attend school anywhere in the world which is advantageous for the diverse student populations that attend UWC). The sessions were exactly what I needed, and now I at least know what to expect, and hopefully how to manage all of the things that go into being the only Biology teacher at the school; writing letters or rec, advising Extended Essays (4,000 word essay required for graduation), supervising community services (x3), not to mention all of the stuff that normally goes into teaching.
I also went with a teacher to Albuquerque to check out the big city... yeah not much. We decided to hike 4,000 ft up to the 10,000 ft peak of Sandia Mountain, starting at 1pm, in 100 degree heat, with only 3L of water... it was a butt kicker to say the least. Note: Next time bring more water and start hiking at 7am. It was beautiful though. I could appreciate this fact more once we reached the top and I determined that survival was probable instead of possible. I wanted to check out Santa Fe on that trip, but my teacher friend got her iPhone4 stolen as she packed to get out of the hostel so we chased another one around for the rest of the day. I hooked her up with my ex-girlfriend Caitlin Sargent so that they could send the phone to her, because they don't keep them in stock, and this teacher is traveling around California without reservations anywhere for the next month... I told her Good Luck. I hope she'll find nice people along the way. Note: iPhone4s cost $700 if you don't get a premature contract renewal. Yowch!
So, yeah, I've been dancing with other teachers at the Thursday night parties, playing indoor soccer with the five summer student workers, and trying to get benefits, drivers licenses, and all of the miscellaneous crap done so that I can just arrive and start kicking butt in August. I'm going to keep this first entry short so that you can comment/question and then I can embellish later if you even care. I hope you're all well. My goal is to keep this thing somewhat current, so If it's been a while, shoot me an email and I'll update :)
Take Care,
Kris
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