Saying Goodbye to Warsaw

This a little photo a took by in 2003 when i first arrived. I played around with it and I believe it is perfect for this posting. Back in October around the 11th or so i decided it was time for me to leave my beloved Warsaw. Over the past 5 years I have had some wonderful adventures and made some great friends. I will cherish all of them for the rest of my life. It was not an easy decision to make. Actually it was much harder that leaving the US. I know I will go back to the States at least once a year. I know I will not come back to Poland every year. I will come back but things will change and people will leave and move to other schools or jobs as I have. Right now I am trying not to think too much about leaving but I am now back in the land of cold and ice with some news. I have an announcement to make. I am on my way to teach in Tokyo, Japan next school year. I will be at The American School in Japan I will teach at the Early Childhood Center. Pre Kindergarten is the grade level I will teach. I can't wait for the change. Life will be so different compared to living in Poland, as well as Kansas. I have talked with many people about moving and everyone who has visited or had family living in Tokyo has said it is wonderful and i will love it. I am still living on the high of having a new job. Lots of people keep congratulating me for getting the new position. This school is known in the international teaching world as being one the best and most difficult schools to get into. The teachers that go to this school stay for an average of 10 years. I don't know if I will be there that long but it is good to know that it is a school that people enjoy working at and feel comfortable staying for a while. I met the administrative staff and feel that I fit in well. It will be a lot of work to establish myself as a primary teacher but I am used to that. Still most of my friends out there don't believe I teach what I do but I know it makes me happy.

Take a look at the Tokyo skyline. The Mori Tower in Ropongi Hill building is the tall building on the left. It is right next to my school. This photo on the right is a view from the top of the Mori Tower. It's looking down at my new campus, ASIJ's Early Childhood campus. So you can see i will work in downtown Tokyo!




I had some other schools interested in hiring me at the fair but felt overall that ASIJ was the best professionally for me and it has a pretty good benefits package as well. So that didn't make the decision very hard. Initially when I left for the fair I was looking at South East Asian schools with beaches and a slow pace but as many people told me, "jobs will come up you never thought about". They were right. I looked at Japan of course, Burma, a lot of SE Asian schools and Uganda. Uganda is a great school and I think it is a possibility for me in the future but not right now. I really like the woman I interviewed with but she was the HS principal. If she was the Elm Principal....it would have been tough to say no.


I am sure you are thinking the same thing as many of my friends here. "I bet you marry a Japanese woman." Here are a couple of the famous icons in the Japanese modeling world. Before you say they look 15 cause i know you are thinking it. This one on the left was born in 1980 and the other in 1983. I have heard that about 20 times so i am giving odds. I would say chances are high. So start placing your bets in the comment section.