Expectations

I don't know what to expect.... it's hard to say when I only know vague details of what I will be doing, where I will be living an who I will meet. Here's what I do know:

1. I will be teaching preschool (probably the 4 year old class)

2. I will live somewhere in Bogota with another preschool teacher at my school who is named Pamela and has a cat

3. A bus will pick me up and take me to and from school each day (about 30 minutes away)

4. My students will know little to no English when they arrive in my classroom

5. I will have a maximum of 18 students in my class plus an assistant

6. School starts on the 15th of August

7. I have to leave for school around 6:30a.m. and will get home between 5:00 and 6:30p.m. except Fridays around 3...

Other than that I'm pretty much waiting to find out till I get there... I'm going to meet the person I'm living with and get an apartment with her. I don't know anyone in Bogota other than a few acquaintances who I may never see... so I am pretty much banking on the idea that I will get along fabulously with my roommate and co-workers in order to have any kind of socialization in my life. To be honest, I'm fully expecting to be lonely, at least for the first 6 months....

This is how I picture my daily weekday life:

wake up

get ready

eat

leave for work

work

get home

exercise

shower

eat

plan lessons

sleep

AND repeat

Sounds like an exciting life in Bogota, huh?? If it's anything like my past teaching experiences, which I believe it may very well be the most difficult of all... I will probably dedicate a Saturday or Sunday to a full day of planning as well... mainly because I'm extremely anxious about being prepared for class and tend to be overly obsessive about that... but I suppose that is to be determined and will become less frequent as the year goes on. I hope I will eventually be able to find a balance, but as of now, I'm ready for the overwhelming workload.

I know that its going to get hard, its going to get boring, its going to get stressful, its going to get lonely, its going to get frustrating, etc... but I also have full confidence in myself that I will be able to keep going and not give up. I have to accept that I need to go through the tough times in order to reach the fabulously wonderful benefits of it all! Who knows, maybe it will be a blast and I will magically make a million friends the first day... but I have to say that although I am a very optimistic person, when it comes to moving somewhere new, I always expect the worst... that way I can't be disappointed.... I don't consider that pessimistic as much as just realistic. I don't know how I could realistically move to a new job in a new country and not be scared and lonely for a while... it just is what it is and I have to know that it will get easier, more comfortable and more fun as time goes by.