A Funny Thing Happened On My Way To Summer Vacation

As the academic year 09-10 drew to a close on June 18th, my spirits were high with the idea that Summer Vacation had finally arrived.  This was a particularly difficult end of the year due in part to the current political environment in Jersey regarding State Budgets and funding for Education and also with the thought that I might not be a member of the BTHS staff come September.

Driving home, I was still wondering if I would get a job offer from one of the recruiters that I had interviewed with at the IRC in Fairfax.  Mainly, I was hoping to hear from the school in Poland.  Fantasizing on my way home as to what would be like to work and live in Poland and at the same time, wondering how well I would manage a rejection from them as well.  The phone buzzed and I ignored it, since in NJ you can get ticketed by using your phone while driving; I did not want to start my Summer Break with a ticket from one of New Jersey's finest.  Anyway, by the buzzing sound, I knew that email was coming through, and although I was curious and hopeful, I decided to wait to check email until I was home.

As soon as I was home, I turned my laptop on and prepared a cup of coffee.   I opened my email and saw an email from the school in Poland.  I hesitated to open it, because at that time two thoughts crossed my mind:

• This is it!  Here is the job offer!!!
• This is it!  Here is the rejection letter!

I immediately opened the email letter and read it so fast I could not understand any of it!  So, I took a deep breath and read it again.  Indeed, it was the letter I was hoping for!  The school in Poland was offering me the job!  I was so happy that I stood up and did the "happy dance" and since this is true confessions time, I also squealed!  I know that this is difficult to imagine, but folks, I was there, and it did happen.

Not being able to wait until Larry would come home from his meeting to tell him the happy news, I called him up and read the letter to him on the phone.  I could tell by my voice that I was happy and thrilled with the opportunity, but I think it caught Larry off base because the news was received with a moment of silence and very quiet "Congratulations!"  Under other circumstances, that lukewarm statement would have bothered me, but I understood that he had company in front of him, and being happy for me at that time and expressing it, would have been inappropriate.

I immediately let my colleague MH know via text message that the offer was made and told her to "pack her bags, we are going to Poland."  She was just as excited about the news as I was and expressed her wish to talk in depth about this happy event with a phone conversation without distractions.  So we parted with the agreement that she will call me to talk more about this awesome opportunity.

Larry and I took the weekend to think things through (weighing the pros and cons) about this move from both personal and professional perspectives.  On Monday, I found an email from the school in Poland wondering why I had not responded to their offer.  Larry and I panicked because we thought that we had missed the window of opportunity to answer their offer.  I sent a hasty email confirming that yes, I was accepting the job.  We spent the rest of day running errands and wondering if we had blown this opportunity altogether by taking too much time to think things through.  To our relief, we received an email letter that same evening confirming that I would be the new Middle Years Programme Coordinator and Library Media Specialist for the Wroclaw International School in Wroclaw, Poland.

Please join us in our journey from Medford to Wroclaw right here on this blog.  Your comments are always welcome and encouraged!

And so, this new adventure begins!

The Nomadic Librarian