London and Paris- Check!

Whew! What a whirlwind the last month has been. It has been a little over a month since I began my new adventure across the world and it’s definitely time for an update!

On August 17th, I left Texas and flew to London for a few days. The purpose of flying to London for only a few days was to spend time with the family before we jumped right into teaching full time. I was able to get to know the kids without the pressure of school and I was able to adapt to the time difference. The visit to London was short, but it was nothing short of amazing.

August 20th, we packed up our stuff and took the Chunnel from London to Paris where we began settling into the next chapter of this adventure. We had an incredible apartment that had all the amenities we needed. Our apartment was a short walk to multiple metro stations allowing us access to all over the city and we became locals at the grocery store across the street. I couldn’t have asked for a better location to spend 5 weeks!

So now that you know that the city of Paris was great, let’s talk about the teaching aspect of this adventure. The real reason I’m here! To be quite honest, he first few weeks of teaching were tough.

Whether you teach in a public school, private school, abroad, or homeschool, it takes time to get into a routine that works for everyone. Paris was no exception. The first few weeks were challenging. Trying to settle into a routine is always hard, but there were a few more challenges that came along with teaching siblings in the same space and at the same time.

There was a lot of trial and error trying to find the best routine and finding things that interested the kids. As someone with a lot of experience, I had high standards for myself. I wasn’t meeting my expectations right away which resulted in a lot of disappointment within. I knew I could do a better job, but things were not flowing as easily as I was hoping. Thankfully, I have such supportive family and friends that were giving me constant reminders to give myself grace during the first few weeks. I’m surrounded by so many teachers that were also experiencing the same struggles during the first weeks of school. It helped me realize that the first few weeks of school are the same everywhere. I’m also so thankful to work with a family that is so encouraging and open to new ideas and suggestions.

As I reflect on my time in Paris, I’m thankful I started in Paris. It took a lot of time to get to the point where we are now. I had a difficult time getting myself to leave the house to explore on my own. I was spending a lot of free time planning lessons, prepping materials, and scrolling the internet for new ideas. Again, a lot of this comes with the beginning of a school year, no matter where you are. With this being my 4th time to Paris, I never felt like I missed out on anything that Paris had to offer because I’ve seen so much already.

Even though I’ve seen a lot of Paris, one of my biggest struggles up to this point is balance. There are so many things I would love to see and do, but I also have a job to do. I would absolutely love to do everything the family does and see all that each country has to offer, but my job requires a lot of planning. There’s a lot I would like to do in my free time, but I also have to be wise with how I use that time. Being an introvert, I also know how important it is for me to get alone time to relax and recharge. I’ve struggled with some spiritual disconnect because I’m lacking self-discipline and not making it a priority to spend time reading my devotional and journaling. The time change has made it hard to watch my church service online in Texas, so I'm hoping that I can find a better balance to make it a priority.

Although I’m spending a lot of my free time planning, I’m building the foundation for future lessons. I had to build a lot of resources, but I feel like I’m at a point where I have a solid

foundation of lessons going forward. This will hopefully limit the time I need to plan in the future.

This job takes a lot of flexibility. I teach a solid 4 days a week, but the days may change depending on activities. For example, Disneyland Paris was cheapest on Monday, so we went on Monday and I taught on Friday. We also go on a “field trip” one time a week and those changes weekly and I teach during some travel days. We recently changed locations and took 3 trains to get here. I taught about 3 hours total on the train so I had to make sure I had activities planned that required no Wi-Fi and could be done with materials I could fit in my bag. It was challenging but a great opportunity to adapt my teaching to different situations.

After a month into this adventure, I’m becoming more confident in my abilities and feeling a bit more settled. It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve learned a lot about my teaching and what I’m capable of. Although it’s been hard, it’s been a good challenge for me and I look forward to the rest of this opportunity. I have had a few hard moments, but I remind myself that God has placed me here with purpose and he has given me everything I need to be successful in this teaching position. He purposefully chose me to teach in the position I’m in now and I have to trust in that, no matter how challenging some days are.

I’m so thankful for this opportunity because I can already see the growth in my teaching abilities and the flexibility to new environments and situations. I cannot wait to see what the rest of this journey will entail because I trust that God will continue to guide me and give me strength!