Post Script

ALSO I forgot to mention I've met some really great people out here, thanks to Sarah Khan. She introduced me to her friends from Portland and I was able to participate in the filming of their video as well as be a part of a really intense card game. Then, on Sunday we went hiking at Angel's Rest on the Oregon/Washington border, and it looked something like this:

 

Afterwards I went to my first Portland microbrewery, where I had Eight Malty Nights, by far the maltiest beer I have ever had. 'Twas delicious. Although it may have replaced some of the calories I burned on the hike.

Anyway it's nice to know some good people out here.

A Short Rest

Today is my only day off out of a three day weekend. The production of West Side Story at the high school has been time consuming, to say the least. On weekdays I'm leaving the house at 7:30 am and returning after 6 pm. Yesterday was a six hour rehearsal, and tomorrow's is expected to last as long.

I don't necessarily mind the time commitment, but being at school all day and part of the night is keeping me from fully moving into my apartment and from properly preparing for my classes. I think everyone involved at the district understanding the position I've been put in by coming in at this stressful time, but I'm still concerned with doing a good job and making a strong impression. Also I have impossibly high standards for myself.

Now for some good news!

The apartment is fantastic and my bed is probably the most comfortable bed I've ever had. I received my couch, dresser, and night table yesterday, and I'll (hopefully) be getting my dining set some time today. My car arrives from New York tomorrow with more of my stuff in it. And I've still found the time to cook most days, some highlights include a tomato, mushroom, and onion omelette this morning and rigatoni with sauce and sausage, garlic, and Romano cheese.

Things really are great here so far, just intense because of the time of year I came out. But hopefully by February things will settle down a bit.

Clearer Skies

A lot of the things I've been stressed about have worked out, or are on their way to being worked out.

I have an apartment! It's a one bedroom, is a five minute drive to work, and super affordable. My address is

609 Rose Park Lane NE
Keizer, Oregon 97303

Send good tidings and cookies my way.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to move in until Friday or so. So I'm continuing to stay in a nearby hotel for the first few days of work. Not so great.

In the meantime, I'm finally able to focus a little more attention on the job I'm doing at school. I'll be teaching high school orchestra, elementary string lessons, and team teaching middle school orchestra. I'm also taking over the pit orchestra for the HS musical. I'm definitely going to need to put in time outside of school to step up my game a bit. It's been almost four years since I finished student teaching, the last time I had any real time in front of an orchestra. But I couldn't be happier about having my own groups.

I've gotten to see a little bit of Portland, but the past week has been so focused on getting stuff together that I haven't had a whole lot of time to grok Oregon yet. That will come with time. Also, I'm looking forward to getting hiking/biking gear to explore the Coast and Eastern Oregon, where all the good mountains are. Despite all the rain, the temperatures have stayed at least in the 40s, so I'm thinking I'll be able to hike and bike through the winter months. Also, as soon as I finish this post I will begin searching for the best gym in the area.

A big challenge for me is to be able to reach out to other teachers/staff members and ask for help. Everyone has been really kind and generous in offering their help, but I tend to want to be self sufficient. So that usually causes problems and stress because 1. I have no idea where anything is here and 2. It takes longer me to figure out the best way to do things on my own. So one of my goals over the next six months or so is to learn how to use my support systems.

Enough rambling, the real fun begins Tuesday.

Happy New Year!