New Beginnings

On Monday, Lizzie and I moved into our new place.  For those who don't know, Lizzie is my coworker who is also from the states.  We met over here when our superiors decided we would be housemates at another house.  We did not end up going to the original house but it got us thinking about being housemates and then we started looking for places together instead of apart.  The house that we chose was the 2nd of 3 houses that we looked at.  It was the one we both were excited about and its close to everything.  Our landlord has been wonderful so far.  He is a former long time parent of our school and has several houses in the city and other teachers also rent from him.  Our neighbor is also our coworker.
The house is a cute little 2 story 3 bedroom home that we both have adapted to.  I hope to bring Lily here in the future as well since cats are allowed.
Both Lizzie and I are settling into our new place and our new life now.  Its easier having a more permanent home.  We both knew that our apartments were temporary and I always felt like I had one foot out the door.  In our new place, we have furniture but very few dishes and a stove we haven't figured out yet.  But since eating out is so cheap, we have both been eating out 1-2 meals a day.  Usually we buy the school lunch since it too is cheap and good as well as dinner from a nearby restaurant.  I've discovered that even the smallest hole in the wall places, know enough English for me to be able to order something. Nice thing about being from CA is that lots of people have heard of it.  Maybe not the place I came from but at least the state. 
At work, I'm finalizing my schedule tomorrow and meeting kids and parents.  I've been making a daily appearance at the morning coffee chat with the parents so they can see who I am.  Since its by grade, I have to show up each day til they get to 6th grade.  Each day I get better at my presentation.

Next week, I begin having students come to my room.  Mostly we will do informal assessments in the beginning.  But then jump into a routine shortly afterwards.  I look forward to the routine.