A Moving Nightmare In My Own Country

Just because we are living in the States does not mean that moving was any easier. When you are in a country where you don't speak the language, you expect things to take longer and be a little more difficult. However, this past month has been the biggest pain in the butt than any time we've moved in the past, including Korea and China. Mind you, we are renting.

Since we moved in on July 22, we've had the following problems:
1. Washer flooded
2. New washer not installed properly
3. Upper heating coil went out on our water heater (took one week to repair)
4. Zach's credit card number was stolen and someone racked up $600+ at The Home Depot
5. Found out the mail carrier wasn't delivering mail to our building since we moved in because of wasps that aren't there
6. Found out the post office "returned to sender" every single piece of mail we had coming to us (including Zach's new credit card)
7. The realtor's office can't do anything without the owner's approval and the owner wants to fly in from New Jersey to take care of the problem themselves instead of delegating
8. After contacting the water company, we found out that our deposit never went through so we haven't been charged for water/sewer since we've moved in
9. A drainage pipe in the kitchen leaked during a heavy storm
10. Didn't get Zach's first pay check because the post office is holding our mail

It's been a complete nightmare. The post office is sick and tired of me calling and the realtor's office doesn't seem too sympathetic about the mail situation. At this point, the problems we had in Korea seem minuscule compared to what we are experiencing right now.

I post this, not for sympathy, but to show that there are problems everywhere in the world. It's not just difficult to move to a new country - sometimes it's easier.

Teaching in Florida (An Update)

A lot has changed in the 10 months since I last wrote. At the end of July, we moved to Fort Myers, Florida, which is in the southwest part of the state. Zach accepted a position as a 7th grade math teacher in the Lee County public school system. He just finished his first week. Since I haven't passed my ESOL test yet, I accepted a job as an educational paraprofessional (teacher's aide) at the same school where Zach works. We both really like the school and everyone who works there.

Everyone we talk to wants to know if we will ever go abroad again. Our answer is always: YES! We plan on teaching in Florida for a couple of years to get experience, but we definitely want to go back abroad.

Well, that's really the only update I have for everyone. I will leave you with a few pictures of Zach's classroom.