During the spring, Matt and I spent endless hours applying for jobs, researching all the cities where the potential jobs were located, and dreaming about what our return to the U.S. after four years in Prague might hold. This is what I imagined:
Matt teaching Old Testament in a one-year sabbatical leave position somewhere in a small town in the Mid-West. Me adjusting to life as a stay-at-home-mom, with Matt working most of the time. Setting up a little aparment. Trying to make new friends, find a new church, and establish routines. Being in major reverse culture shock.
When said job for Matt did not materialize for this fall, I envisioned a very different year:
Living with my parents. Being extremely poor. Having to settle for part-time jobs outside our fields (a la coffee shop/book store/bank teller). Feeling somewhat purposeless and transient. Spending the whole year applying for something like vision one above--for next year.
Vision two, though disappointing on many levels, had one feature to recommend it. It would involve a restful summer, during which we could decompress and try to process the *major* transitions our family has been through in this past year. I was really looking forward to this time.
God has surprised me.
Yes, we are living with my parents in La Verne (Southern California). However, the moment Anna and I stepped off the plane on June 14th, we were launched into a new, busy, unexpected phase of life. Matt stayed in Prague till early July, wrapping up some business and spending time with some friends who had planned a visit. This meant that I had Anna duty all by myself for almost three weeks--a somewhat daunting task on its own, not to mention on top of some of the worst jet lag I have ever experienced. My parents and Christy helped me immeasurable when they were not at work, but the days were still long!
In early July, I began a new job teaching international students in the Summer University Preparation Program at my M.A. alma mater, Azusa Pacific University. This was a wild, wonderful, draining, rewarding whirlwind! In four weeks, I came to know and love fifteen students from Argentina and Taiawan. As soon as they came, it seemed, we were bidding tearful goodbyes.
I had anticipated an empty August--that much-longed-for rest and processing time--but this month has quickly filled up as well. During my interview process for the summer school program, the Provost asked me if I would consider teaching a First-Year Writing Seminar. Thinking that the ESL deparment would have no more than 10 - 15 teach hours for me in the fall, I gratefully hopped on board in the English department as well.
As it turns out, I am now teaching five new classes in the fall:
*First-Year Writing Seminar (on the theme of Christian Missions: Being and Making Disciples)
*Advanced Grammar/Seminar Speaking
*Research Skills
*Presentation Skills
*Audit Report (a 1 unit class which supports international students as they observe an undergraduate course in their field, trying to learn about the culture of American education)
Wow!
August filled up quickly with debriefing the summer school program, making a short visit up to my sister Sarah in San Luis Obispo, participating in a Teaching Writing seminar (in preparation for the First-Year Writing Course), caring for Anna while Matt took the same seminar the following week (he will be teaching First-Year Writing, too), and now planning and preparing for the five new courses.
Busy! Busy! Busy!
I've only had one meltdown, though the pressure feels fairly constant. Fortunately, we made the wonderful decision of buying season passes to Disneyland, in lieu of the vacation to visit Matt's family in Ohio, which we hoped to take in August. So, there have been some bright points. Watching Anna discover the joys of carousels, the Dumbo ride, having her picture taken with her idol (Winnie the Pooh), and It's a Small World (it's actually sweet through the eyes of a child...), has been beautiful.
School starts on September 5th, and both Matt and I are a little bit dazed by how this fall has shaped up. Although I will be working A LOT more than I expected (basically full time), I am getting to do work that's not only in my field, but building some really key skills and experience that I have wanted to develop for a long time. Matt has been approved as part of the adjunct pool for biblical studies at Azusa Pacific. Though they don't have any openings for the fall, there may be opportunities to teach in the spring at the undergraduate and/or graduate levels.
Although Matt wouldn't necessarily have imagined himself teaching writing to first year students, in many ways it makes much more sense than the other part-time jobs he might have taken on in this "gap time." He is able to build the course around a theme connected to his field and interests: Religious Themes in Science Fiction. This will not only be more enjoyable for him than serving overpriced, half-caff iced beverages to the masses, but it is a good thing to have on a resume when working in academia. Many professors dread being asked to "put in time" teaching new students to write. Matt has embraced it with enthusiasm and is vieweing it as an opportunity to learn how to be a more effective teacher, while building connections at APU.
So, it will be a much-busier-than-expected, less-poor-than-expected year for us. We are committed to making Anna a priority in the midst of it all, for which we would appreciate your prayers. Continuing to live with my family, at least for the fall, will actually make that easier, as our financial stressors will be less and our support system will be much stronger. Anna is already thriving in the loving soil of grandma and grandpa's home, where she is showered with affection and attention from five smitten care-givers. She's never been happier, and we are much more at peace, not having to shoulder the stresses of parenting all on our own in the midst of this transition.
God has been very, very good to us. The key now will be managing to do the processing that we still very badly need to do: about our leaving Prague, about becoming parents to a cross-culturally adopted toddler, about working more fully into our careers. IT'S BEEN A BIG YEAR!!!
If you're still reading this far down, thanks for your patience...and your prayers.
