The Countdown is ON!

Hi friends,

Here it is!  The blog where I will document my adventures for all of you lovely people to see!

I am moving to the UK in SIX DAYS!  It feels pretty surreal at this point.  I have been waiting for this moment for ages it seems.   I will be starting my career as a teacher and starting my life as a traveller and adventurer!

I know that there are many people who are thinking of me and praying for me through this time (which I am so thankful for), so I thought I would write up a little list of things that I am thinking about most as I get ready to go.

Things that I am feeling apprehensive about right now include:

Work:

I am on a guaranteed supply contract to begin with through the agency that hired me.  This means that I will be working with new kids and new staff members every day, often in subject areas that are not my speciality and at first I will have to figure out how to get to each school in the first place. 

In one sense there will be less pressure on me since I will not have preps or marking to do and if I get a class that drives me super nuts I will only be there for a few hours or at the most a few days.  However, there are a lot of unknowns this way since I won’t know where I am going each day usually until the morning of. 

Friends:

I am a very social person so that prospect of moving to a new country where I do not know one person who lives less than a two hour train journey away is kind of scary.  However, I have already been blessed to get in contact with some people from the church that I am going to be checking out on my first Sunday in town and they have been super friendly and lovely and willing to help me out so I am feeling super encouraged by that already! 

The church is walking distance from my flat and it totally looks like the style I would be looking for plus it has a great ministry for people my age so I am feeling really fantastic about that.  As much as I know that I have been able to find “kindred spirits” very quickly wherever I have settled and as much as I enjoy meeting and connecting with new people I am sure that I will have some panic moments when I first arrive thinking about how I have jumped into this massive change all on my own.

Little Logistical Things:

These are all pretty silly things like the fact that I have not been on a plane in 9 years and never flown by myself and how I have to go from the plane to a train to a taxi to my flat when I am exhausted and carrying all of my belongings in suitcases.  I am not freaking out about this or anything, but once the initial trip is all over I will feel quite a bit better.

The agency that I am working with has been fantastic in terms of checking up on me regularly and guiding me through all of the logistical details that come with moving overseas (bank account, visa, police check, tax matters, etc.) so thankfully I do not have to worry about those things too much. 

Despite the few worries that I do have I am feeling really at peace right now and I still feel that I am absolutely doing what I am meant to do at this point in my life.  This is very comforting because when times get tough I know that I will not wonder if things are difficult because I made a mistake in going to the UK but I will know that it is just because life is not all rosy no matter where I am.  God is good through it all. 

I cannot wait to see what is in store for me across the pond!  I will try to post a flat tour and some photos of my new city as well as details of my trip over within the first couple of days (next Wednesday or Thursday).      

I love you all!  Your thoughts and prayers are SO appreciated!

-Heather <3