Back in America: The Fourth Month and What I'm Up To

Basically, I don't have a job.

But, I'm scouring the ads for one.  In North Atlanta.  In Administration.  I would love to be an Executive Administrator, but I know I'll probably have to work my way up to something like that.  I'd be very pleased to start a step above a receptionist.  I'd like to write our a whole cover letter about why I'd be great at the job, but I'll stop there.

In the hunting and waiting time, I'm volunteering for OM Arts.  It gives me something to do and helps me remember that normal people wake up before 8:00.

 It's normal, being back in America now.

The only thing that catches me off guard still is bathroom stalls.  The doors stop so far from the ground here!  In Korea, they stop about an inch from the ground.  And there were never gaps between the door and the walls.  Here, I often feel exposed in the bathroom stalls.  Tsk.

One other deeper thing is how I miss my students.  I do miss my friends, but it's true that their lives move on without me, and mine move without them.  It's okay.  We keep in touch, we know we can count on each other, and we live far apart.  It's okay.  Harder to accept is how I'll never see my students again.

I invested so deeply in those budding lives.  I love them very much.  Now, they don't need me.  Now, I don't know if they remember me.  Now, I can't make any contact with them at all.  I was hoping that the teacher to replaced me would post some pictures on facebook or that she would send me a message telling me how the children miss me, but I've gotten none of that.  I shouldn't have expected it, but it does make me sad.

I do think I'm near the end of the transition phase.  The hard part, at least.  I'll still miss Korean food, my kiddos, the subway, and all those other great things, but my life is becoming settled in here.  I would really like a job to help solidify that, but even, I'm pretty good.