你好.Hello! Let the Mandarin Lesson Begin!

As I wrote in my last post, I'm leaving Tanzania in June and recently went to an international school job fair in Boston. On my way to Boston I received an e-mail from representatives at a school in Shanghai, China saying that they had decided not to attend the job fair but that they would still like to have a Skype interview. I was a bit upset because this is the school I had felt most drawn to and I was weary of interviewing via Skype.

The night before the fair started I had the interview with them, and I (still!) don't think I presented myself in the most stellar way possible. I stumbled my way through some answers and probably said 'ummm' about 20 times in the first 10 minutes. In addition, the connection was bad, so they turned their webcam off but asked me to keep mine on. It was SO difficult interviewing with three men who could see me but all I could see was a little green webcam power light and a box showing me how I looked to them. Talk about nerve wracking! It was challenging not being able to play off of their facial and body cues, while at the same time trying not to look to the bottom of the screen to make sure I looked okay myself!

I really liked everything that they had to say and felt even more like it would be a great school for me, but I thought I just did an okay job at best. After the interview I immediately Skyped Mom and Dad and began telling them about it. One minute and thirty-two seconds into our conversation we were interrupted by a return call from the recruiters. They had already come to a consensus and decided that I was the candidate they wanted, so they immediately offered me the job! All modesty aside, people usually have a pretty good idea of how interviews go and can more or less guess the outcome. This one truly blindsided me though. I was so thrown off guard that I didn't know what to say! They asked for my response within 24 hours, but I negotiated for 37 hours by arguing that they are thirteen hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time! This gave me more time to think about it and to have more interviews for which I traveled halfway around the world!

The next day I had a series of other interviews but none compared. Going into the fair, I was very open to wherever God wanted me to be, but I had been hoping for and assuming that I would get the big flashing lights, horns, and all other manner of mayhem pointing me in the right direction. This didn't happen in the way I had anticipated, and it took me a little longer to notice it, but I actually got a much bigger sign of assurance: peace. Peace is not a word I would usually associate with myself. I am a lot of things, but peace-filled is not always one of them-especially when in the midst of decisions like these. More closely associated words are usually stressed, anxious, and freaking out, just to name a few. This was different though. I was completely at peace with moving to Shanghai and taking on this job from the moment they started the interview with a prayer (and when I found out I can still access Facebook and YouTube from there!). I accepted the offer on Saturday morning and celebrated with two days of play in Boston since I'd finished my job hunt earlier than expected!

Concordia International School is wonderful. It's a Christian school with an American curriculum. The majority of teachers and the 1,300 students are American too. I'll be teacher 2nd grade, which I've done for a few years in the past. Technology is integrated into the teaching in an extraordinary capacity, with Macbooks and iPads in the classrooms as well as an abundance of other electronic devises. Check out their website at www.concordiashanghai.org.

One of the buildings at Concordia

I'm excited to live in Shanghai too. As the largest city in the world with a population of just over 23 million, it's got many of the western things that I miss. Culture, arts, dining, and shopping as well as stable infrastructure are just a few things I'm looking forward to. The school and many local churches provide an active Christian community and large number of expats will make for a well-rounded social life.

Shanghai, China

Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, and encouraging messages as I went through this process. I look forward to sharing many more stories with you over the next few years. For now though, I will continue to to focus on these precious days left in this beautiful country of Tanzania.