The other side of the world, of a new year, of life reunited with my husband, of 40, of all the 'life' things that have happened since my last post.
It feels like a lifetime ago that I sat down to write in this thing... but I've been giving myself grace on most fronts because it's always chaos when you move across the world, start a new job, and get the kinks of life worked out enough to have reflection time and space. That time is now, during the summer holidays.
About the last year...
Last week marked the end of my first year post-China and reunited with Jeff. I don't really know how to tell the whole story of the last year, so I decided I'll do a personal life recap now and write specifically about some professional highlights (and failures, of course) throughout the 2022-2023 school year in separate posts.
June - July 2022
The ultimate summer romance & reunion. The fact that we were relocating to Europe made planning our summer pretty darn easy because Greece is a home base. We rented a small apartment in the heart of Thessaloniki and spent a magical (and very warm) summer. While there, we continued the pursuit of collecting all the documents, signatures, and stamps needed for my Greek citizenship.
We snuck away to Cyprus for a few days while we were there to visit a friend from a few chapters back, Teresa. The weeks were gone before we knew it and then we were off to Warsaw.
Our First fall
A new school year, especially when it's all new new, is a mix of excitement, anxiety, and wonderings regardless if you're a teacher or a student. 'What will this year have in store? 'Am I going to fit in here?' 'What's the school's culture?' 'Can I see myself staying here for a long time?' 'Who will our closest friends be?'
You can't help but feel swept up in the excitement of being in a new place and before you know it, the first break is upon you. For us, it was a busy few months of getting settled into our new place, experiencing our first fall in a long time, and planning our first break... in Italy. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better first couple of months in Warsaw.
The longest Winter
Even though you know it's coming and everyone has warned you about the cold, dark winter months, nothing can really prepare you for living it. It's a long stretch for sure, but there's a lot of stuff crammed in there to keep you busy. For me, it was chaperoning school trips, coaching for a season of (MS Girls) basketball, throwing myself into work projects, and frequenting the many food halls. It was also a time for serious nesting- our shipment arrived, we painted accent walls, hung our artwork, and did plenty of snuggling with the cats on our couch.
Springtime in Warsaw
Making it through the Polish winter means you get rewarded with an unbelievably beautiful spring. It comes with the bluest skies, the puffiest white clouds, the greenest fields, the most colorful flowers, and an abundance of happiness. Work will be the busiest ever, but I'll get into that in more detail in the other posts.
A Proper European Summer
We're now 18 days into summer and it's everything. Highlights include mom's visit, Croatian beaches, and Warsaw adventures. Jeff & I are headed to Berlin tomorrow and Amsterdam after that to meet up with friends from Vietnam who are traveling in Europe. May also try to sneak in a little side trip to Greece for our birthdays at the end of the month before school starts back up again. More later, but for now, I'm just going to pat myself on the back for getting back to this thing! Go me!