Night Before The First Day

My Borgo ladies (the five of us newbies live in a complex called Borgo De Felice) and I gathered at Chelsea’s for dinner tonight. Of course we are all broke from apartment shopping, so dinner was a potluck of rice, beans, and salad….and WINE! Chelsea, my friend from NH, will begin her very first year as a PE teacher at the Middle School (I'm super impressed by her courage and maturity!). Meghan, from North Carolina, will be teaching Spanish for the upper elementary classes. Sam, the Texan, will be joining me on the fourth grade team. Evelyn, our NYC girl, will be spending her days with the little, little ones – PreK. 

We all gathered around Chelsea’s dining room table and talked shop for a bit. Sam left early because as Ev and I pulled out our computers to get some work done, she felt super unproductive and needed to go back to work at her place. Meghan dispersed key advice to me on how to handle the two students in my classroom who will come to me speaking very little to NO English. As Evelyn and I pounded away on our keyboards, Chelsea transferred movies and tv shows she has stored on her hard drive to mine! (very excited about this since I do not own a TV yet!) Throughout the evening, we all found many opportunities to rag on Chelsea for the fact that as a PE teacher she has virtually NO prep work! As she does with everything in life, Chelsea took every joke in stride and with a smile on her face.

Sitting at Chels’ table tonight, I realized how lucky I am to already have such a great support system developing here in SA. Often times, our conversations turn to educational topics and I am happy knowing I am around adults who I can relate with. To balance this, many times our conversations revolve around wine, beer, going out, and boys – which helps remind us all there is more to life than work! I know, with all my heart, these girls are going to be good for me. Especially as I prepare for my first day of school – a time in my life that is always weighted down by my nerves.

I can remember almost every “night before school starts” throughout my (short) teaching career. All of them have included tears ignited by anxiety. What if I can’t handle them? What if something happens I can’t respond to? What will they be like? Will they listen to me? My mum says she remembers similar fears from her teaching days, and I know my colleagues all experience those beginning of the year jitters. As I embark on this new world of teaching in Jo’Burg, I find myself in the same anxious position. However, the one difference is that tonight I haven’t shed a single tear. I don’t know what this means, or if they’ll come as soon as I close the cover of my computer, but I do know that tomorrow marks a new beginning for me in my career. Similar to a roller coaster cresting the first hill, after tomorrow, there is no turning back…I will never be the same, and I can’t wait to find out how this international experience changes me.