1
A year ago...
Posted by Teresa Ulrich
on
3:50 PM
It's hard to believe that only a year ago I was in Thailand. A year ago at this time we were gearing up for summer choir.
I've experienced some nostalgia lately as I've lightly reminisced on my time in Thailand. I have pictures hanging up on my apartment walls of an afternoon in the city, the kids I met at the English camp, and various exotic dishes I was able to try--and, surprisingly, enjoy. Never in my life would I thought I would eat tripe, but I did! And... it wasn't all that bad...
That's one of the ways I've been affected by my time overseas. I'm much more confident in stepping out to try new things, and not just in terms of food.
After I came back, I spent a tough summer applying for jobs. Door after door after door shut in my face, and I was in a slump. Interview after interview... they all went really well, and most of the prospective employers thought I was a really strong candidate, but none of those opportunities worked out.
One opportunity stuck out, though. The recruitment program for Memphis City Schools contacted me after seeing my resume on a teaching jobs website. I, somehow, progressed through their rigorous hiring program, and I had a sense somewhere deep inside that this was where God would send me next, a feeling that only grew stronger after a week of interviews and touring the city. None of those positions worked out, of course...
I had one last interview on a Monday afternoon about an hour away from my parents' house. About an hour after I arrived home, feeling confident about the position, I received a call from the school saying that... yep, they decided to go with another candidate, even though I had a really strong interview. I called my mentor to break the news to him. "Hang in there, kid," he encouraged.
Not five minutes after I got off the phone with him, I received a call from the elementary music supervisor in Memphis. "Okay," he said, "we have a placement for you." After a quick interview, I threw about three weeks' worth of clothes and some books into a suitcase, drove three-and-a-half hours to Terre Haute, and finished the drive to Memphis on Tuesday. After securing a hotel room for about two weeks, I drove all over Memphis to find the district's main office and my school on Wednesday.
It was a whirlwind of events, and I was thrown into something, having NO CLUE what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go or how I was going to be able to start teaching so soon. I cried many times out of frustration. I had to live in the hotel for longer than expected due to a housing situation with my apartment complex of choice.
Since then, it's been a huuuuuuge learning experience, all process and very messy. I've had some awful days in the classroom, and some days where I've questioned why I'm doing this.
But it's all starting to level out. The good days are starting to outnumber the bad, as I'm learning more about how to teach and how to manage a classroom. I love my students--they are a trip-and-a-half and a blast to teach. The wonderful administrative assistant at my school (who is now one of my new "Memphis moms") invited me to her church to meet her daughter in their young adults group, and now I have the best group of friends anyone could ever ask for, and through that, God is making Himself real to me, more and more from one day to the next. It was totally a God-thing, as I'm not sure I would have gone looking for a church otherwise. Really, this is where God has me, and He has been so good to me--even on the bad days. :)
At any rate, that's just a small glimpse of what's gone on since Thailand. It's because of that time spent overseas that I have done as well as I have. If I can survive in a big city across the world, adjusting to a new place here in the US is no big thing.
Will I ever go back to Thailand? I sure hope so. At least to visit. The sights and the smells and the tastes and the people are still fresh in my mind. I'm content in Memphis for the time being, so I don't think it will be anytime soon, and I am okay with that.
By the way... the movie theater where I saw Alice with my friend Ashley was burned down in the riots of the Red Shirts. They also burned down another mall (one that I did not visit), and other buildings in Bangkok and in various cities around the country. The riots heated up shortly after I returned to the states. I was truly blessed to get out of there when I did!
I've experienced some nostalgia lately as I've lightly reminisced on my time in Thailand. I have pictures hanging up on my apartment walls of an afternoon in the city, the kids I met at the English camp, and various exotic dishes I was able to try--and, surprisingly, enjoy. Never in my life would I thought I would eat tripe, but I did! And... it wasn't all that bad...
That's one of the ways I've been affected by my time overseas. I'm much more confident in stepping out to try new things, and not just in terms of food.
After I came back, I spent a tough summer applying for jobs. Door after door after door shut in my face, and I was in a slump. Interview after interview... they all went really well, and most of the prospective employers thought I was a really strong candidate, but none of those opportunities worked out.
One opportunity stuck out, though. The recruitment program for Memphis City Schools contacted me after seeing my resume on a teaching jobs website. I, somehow, progressed through their rigorous hiring program, and I had a sense somewhere deep inside that this was where God would send me next, a feeling that only grew stronger after a week of interviews and touring the city. None of those positions worked out, of course...
I had one last interview on a Monday afternoon about an hour away from my parents' house. About an hour after I arrived home, feeling confident about the position, I received a call from the school saying that... yep, they decided to go with another candidate, even though I had a really strong interview. I called my mentor to break the news to him. "Hang in there, kid," he encouraged.
Not five minutes after I got off the phone with him, I received a call from the elementary music supervisor in Memphis. "Okay," he said, "we have a placement for you." After a quick interview, I threw about three weeks' worth of clothes and some books into a suitcase, drove three-and-a-half hours to Terre Haute, and finished the drive to Memphis on Tuesday. After securing a hotel room for about two weeks, I drove all over Memphis to find the district's main office and my school on Wednesday.
It was a whirlwind of events, and I was thrown into something, having NO CLUE what I was supposed to do or where I was supposed to go or how I was going to be able to start teaching so soon. I cried many times out of frustration. I had to live in the hotel for longer than expected due to a housing situation with my apartment complex of choice.
Since then, it's been a huuuuuuge learning experience, all process and very messy. I've had some awful days in the classroom, and some days where I've questioned why I'm doing this.
But it's all starting to level out. The good days are starting to outnumber the bad, as I'm learning more about how to teach and how to manage a classroom. I love my students--they are a trip-and-a-half and a blast to teach. The wonderful administrative assistant at my school (who is now one of my new "Memphis moms") invited me to her church to meet her daughter in their young adults group, and now I have the best group of friends anyone could ever ask for, and through that, God is making Himself real to me, more and more from one day to the next. It was totally a God-thing, as I'm not sure I would have gone looking for a church otherwise. Really, this is where God has me, and He has been so good to me--even on the bad days. :)
At any rate, that's just a small glimpse of what's gone on since Thailand. It's because of that time spent overseas that I have done as well as I have. If I can survive in a big city across the world, adjusting to a new place here in the US is no big thing.
Will I ever go back to Thailand? I sure hope so. At least to visit. The sights and the smells and the tastes and the people are still fresh in my mind. I'm content in Memphis for the time being, so I don't think it will be anytime soon, and I am okay with that.
By the way... the movie theater where I saw Alice with my friend Ashley was burned down in the riots of the Red Shirts. They also burned down another mall (one that I did not visit), and other buildings in Bangkok and in various cities around the country. The riots heated up shortly after I returned to the states. I was truly blessed to get out of there when I did!
