Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Namaste..

Honestly, I surprise myself a bit that I have gotten around in such a timely manner…it’s only been a week (cough cough those of you who have been barking at me to update…) but the monsoon has momentarily cleared, the sun is shining and it is a beautiful morning so I am feeling a bit inspired.

After almost a full day of travel we arrived in India and lady luck was definitely on my side as I was able to sleep for the duration of both flights, miraculously waking up in time for meals and snacks and did not lose a single piece of luggage…Woodstock took excellent care of us all. They were waiting right after baggage claim to scoop us up and take us to the hotel to feed us and help us settle in. it was literally one of the smoothest arrivals I have ever experienced, even with the 10 and a half hour time difference.

Dehli was a great time, we had a full day of exploration, five of us crammed into a tiny taxi for the day experiencing the infamous Dehli/Indian traffic for the first time- let me tell you, it is ALL they have ever said it is and more…I found that just closing your eyes is one of the best ways to cope…We were able to pack quite a lot into the day seeing numerous sites: Gandhi’s memorial/burial site, Indira Gandhi’s home and memorial, the lotus temple, India gate, President’s house, and of course got to check out one of the local bazaars where I am happy to report I bought my first sari. We left early in the morning to catch the 7:00 train up to Dehradun, the train ride was highly enjoyable, think the Darjeeling Limited (movie) style of bamf…from Dehradun we hopped into the Woodstock school bus and started up the mountain.

Where do I start with Mussoorie? Man. If you’re on the fb, check out the album and maybe you will understand a bit why I am speechless. I feel like I am in peter pan’s neverland every time I look around me. Campus is very spread out and I am just starting to feel like I have a grasp on where everything is. It’s absolutely beautiful, even with the monsoon rains; in fact, the rain has not been too bad, I was able to take a tiny 3 minute nap in the sun yesterday and our second night here we were even able to see the moon!

Our house is amazing! Lauren and I are extremely lucky to have Nan, our other housemate who has lived here for a year and a half. We got inside and everything was clean and decorated and cozy, and because she is the art teacher and crazy creative, we fit right in. I’m still working on making my room feel like me, but with time and trips to the bazaar, it will all come together. We live at the bottom of campus and have about a 800 feet straight uphill hike to school everyday- it’s intense, especially with the altitude change. Once I am adjusted, I plan on videoing the walk so everyone can see I am not exaggerating (as is common) but that this is the real deal.

The people here are wonderful, it seems everyone has a never-ending pocket full of great stories to tell. There were about 30 of us new staff, all of which are terrific and we joined on with the old staff of about 60. It is a bit funny to note the difference between young and old staff, as well as between families and singles, but given the social interaction opportunities of the area, it does make quite a bit of sense. We had a dinner party at our house the other night which was a riot- turns out that corks in the Himalayas are more along the lines of glue- after prying and digging with every household utensil imaginable…

Staff meetings are staff meetings- I am definitely ready for the students to start arriving and the show to get on the road. The English department is of course a group of dynamic, crazy and sarcastic people who I fit in with well. After much discussion we have decided I will be taking grades 7 and 8 English, instead of 9 and 10. Long story short, there is a new teacher coming in September who has only taught in the Indian school system, which is much different than a European style- they want to be able to guide him and keep a close eye on him, and if he teaches grades 9 and 10 they can because he will be in the same office, where as if he takes 7 and 8 he would be in a different building with his own office…I was at first a little put off until I discovered the curriculum, which has much room for creative input (basically I can teach the books I want), I don’t have to teach for any test as they just dropped the grade 8 standardized, I have my own space and LOADS of room for creative movement. I think this is going to be a great gig, and I am sure the students will teach me lesson after lesson.


Holy long winded. I had a lot to say. For those of you who made it to the bottom, congratulations and thanks for caring! I know I probably left out tons but this whole concept of blogging is a bit new and honestly, I’m sick of talking about myself…my goal is to update this thing once a week, we will see how I do. I hope all is well on the homefront; I miss you all and will be sure to keep in touch- we have wireless here in the house and I love skype dates if anyone is interested….
Until next time.


Ps. I will not be proofreading at all. Please don’t judge….

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

...it's about that time...


As I do best, I have procrastinated…extremely so.  It is the night, well morning, before I hit the road to India for three years and packing just began a few hours ago…as did the wanting of a packing break and the realization that I need to write an actual blog post and keep all you crazy cats updated on my life!  Please try to bear with me, as lack of sleep and a never-ending to-do list often have detrimental effects on my streams of both thought and word.

India- yes, INDIA; Not INDIANA…(you’d be surprised how many times people think I must have mispronounced and meant Indiana…….seriously).  I will be teaching at an international school called Woodstock located in the foothills of the Himalayas in northern India (www.woodstock.ac.in). The school seems like it will be a perfect fit and I am excited beyond belief to began this journey.  Hopefully all will go according to plan and I will be a splendid blogger, keeping this thing up to date so you can journey along with me.

As I likely will not have Internet access for a while, here is the line up for the upcoming week or so:

Tomorrow morning I head out at 11:15 from the Lacrosse airport and enter into two days of solid travel…lax to Chicago, Chicago to Frankfurt, Frankfurt to New Delhi.  Once in Delhi, Woodstock will be putting me up in a hotel for a few days while we wait for the rest of the new staff to arrive- a great time to recover from the jetlag and explore the infamous hustle and bustle of the city- From Delhi all us “new staffers” will be taking a train north to Dehradun and then a bus to Mussoorie- finding me at my new home on July 24.  The tentative agenda for the first week or so is pretty packed- meetings, orientations and loads of prep time with classes beginning on August 2 (goodbye summertime).

Please keep in touch! I am a strong believer in snail mail and promise to reply in a very timely manner… everyone needs a postcard from India on their fridge…

Emily Shriver
Woodstock School
Mussoorie
Uttarakhand 248179
India