Germany...

aloha everyone,

i have accepted a teaching position in stuttgart, germany.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart#City_districts

i will be leaving maui at the end of july and plan a visit/packing trip to va on the way to germany. i accepted the job on 6/28 and my landlords were leaving the next day for 2 months in australia, so the timing made things interesting. i was not supposed to be notified about whether the job was mine or not until 7/1 which would have made things much more difficult to arrange with them. anyway, they have agreed to let me sublet it, so i am busy trying to make that happen. running all over preparing everything for the big move to the other side of the world- i think it's 10,000 miles from where i sit right now.

my dad was nice enough to inform me that they don't have beaches in germany. while i was aware of that sad fact, he brings up a good point. i'm leaving my lovely maui for cold weather. what am i thinking//// well, for starters, teaching overseas with the department of defense has been a goal of mine for years. i will be teaching preschool special ed. on an american army base in central germany, and report to work on august 20. hoping to use mass transit primarily as i have been told that traffic is a nightmare in stuttgart and i'm a little scared of the autobahn at this point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart_S-Bahn

my little sister- jill- will be arriving on maui tomorrow and leaves 7/22. great timing, and not pre-arranged. her trip will be now be super sweet for both of us. i plan to follow her to va not long after she leaves. still waiting on confirmation on a few things before booking that flight.

i have found out that i am able to have a 'split shipment'of my things, which means that they will ship my stuff from hi and from va. i am excited about this b/c i have several things that i didn't pay to ship here that i will now have in stuttgart. i put my notice in at work today and called the parents of my students. the second was the harder to do by far. i packed up most of my things from my classroom today and will finish that in the morning.

i am entitled to 90 days of temporary housing in a hotel while i find housing. my shipped belongings will be held until i have permanent housing. this is in stark contrast to my move to maui 3 years ago when it was all on me. my housing and utlities will be payed for the duration of the 2 year contract which i am seriously looking forward to - especially after paying most of paycheck in rent and food here on maui.

a point of contention right now is my sweet jack. i just don't think it's fair to him to put him through the move. 25 hours under an airplane is just brutal. he didn't eat for 2 weeks when i moved him here and i swore i'd never put him through that again. i am considering options regarding him staying here. i cannot wrap my brain around leaving him right now, but i am trying to put his needs ahead of mine.


i will try to update this a little more often- haven't written since April i just noticed. always love to hear from friends and family and of course love to have them visit. consider a trip to Germany anytime after September if you please.

much aloha, susie