Today was my last day with my wonderful students in Wylie. They honestly are a great group of kids. Yes, they're teenagers and they are living every bit of their teen lives, but I wouldn't trade the last three years for anything. They've made me into who I am now. I have been way too busy this week to even stop and realize that when I walk into the school tomorrow, my students won't be there. I'm sure I'll see several of them around at the rec center and such this summer, but some of them I'll never see again. Tomorrow I turn in my keys and start the march to the next door with Kuwait written all over it.
I've narrowed my teacher paraphernalia down to one crate and two plastic bags. I'll probably only take half of that with me. There is still so much to do before I leave. I need to sell everything in my apartment. I've decided to have my parents hold onto my tv, bed frame, dog and car. Everything else is going. Its crazy to think that everything (which isn't much) I've built up since I moved out 7 years ago is about to be in someone else's posession. Everything that has given me a sense of belonging will be nothing but memories. Anyone who knows me knows that I've had the desire to travel since I was a little girl. Those who meet me for the first time know that I can't sit still for 5 minutes. When I told my parents I've decided to go to the other side of the world to teach for a few years, or possibly forever, they didn't even blink. They both started putting me in contact with people right away.
So much has to be done before I leave. I never keep a planner. I'm not a list person, and I typically do things right at the last minute. This adventure has made me do the exact opposite. I started a planner, I have sticky notes everywhere, and there's no such thing as last minute. Let me just list a few things that are on the agenda before departure:
1. Say my goodbyes at school tomorrow.
2. Graduation
3. Supervise a summer camp for half the summer. I normally do this all summer, but its not possible with everything I need to do.
4. Make a trip to Houston.
5. Make a trip to Waco.
6. Make a trip to Chicago.
7. Make a trip to Austin/San Marcos.
8. Go skydiving.
9. Be a tourist in Dallas. This sounds ridiculous, but I've lived here for 3 years and there are so many things I havent done. I need to be a tourist and appreciate Dallas before I leave.
10. Spend some quality time with the family.
11. Love my dog as much as possible so she doesn't forget who I am.
My friend left a few weeks ago to fish in the Kodiak Islands for a few months and then travel a bit. I asked him if there's anything I needed to know about packing up your life and moving to the unknown. He said the hardest part is figuring out what you're storing, what you're getting rid of, what you're taking and what you're going to do with the little things you need for the last few days of your residency in Texas that you won't need when you leave. I'm trying to balance all of that out, which means lists upon lists.
I know this blog is mainly about my travels overseas, but I want to be able to look back through these when I'm missing my home in America and see all my memories of my summer before I left. The rest of my blogs will be about American travels I'll be doing in the next few months. Knowing that I'm leaving soon has made me really live every single moment of life even more than I already do! This also makes me a list taker...
