It’s still our Christmas
break and we are really soaking up all the relaxation we can get! We arrived in
Detroit on Friday December 20 and have spent the majority of our time here with
our families. It’s Monday now, when most local public schools would have
started up classes again. However, most cities in the area received over 12
inches of snow over the past few days. That, along with temperatures dropping
drastically (real feel temps around -20 degrees) caused all schools to close on
Monday and Tuesday. It made me miss the snow days we use to get in the winters.
Honestly though, the snow days are not enough to bring me back to Michigan to
work. Travis and I are loving life abroad. While home, I recently saw a post
from a friend about international school students. As I was reading it, I
couldn’t help but chuckle or shake my head in agreement with many things. I was
not an international school kid, but because we work at an international
school, I could relate to a lot of it. It inspired this post.
So here it is, 25 signs you
work at an international school…
1. You have friends
all over the world.
2. You plan your
trips to see new places and see these friends that have scattered to new
countries.
3. You get really
excited to meet other people from your home.
4. You have heard
of (and probably traveled to) countries and cities that friends back home have
never even heard of!
6. Because of this
new love of food, United Nations Day is your favorite day of the year! The food
that you consume during this weekend is better than any Thanksgiving feast you
have ever had.
7. When you meet
teachers from all over the world, they ask you where you are from. You tell
them. Then they say they could tell because of your accent. You then respond
with denial of an accent. Two years later, you believe it and understand you
actually do have an accent.
8. When you visit
friends and family back home, they tell you that you now have an accent. (This
is a different accent than the one mentioned in number 7).
9. After a few
years of making many new friends from all over, you WILL speak like them. Words
like keen, fancy, lovely and gorgeous will come out of your mouth in ways you
never imagined. It becomes normal to you, until you go home again and someone
asks you if you just said lovely…
10.
You learn that
different countries spell things differently and say things differently. This
is something that is hard to accept…so you continue to politely tell them they
are wrong. For example, learnt is not an incorrect term. Also, potatoe is
spelled correctly, just ask a Canadian.
11.
You understand
that moving to a country where English is not the primary language, does not
mean you need to learn a new language. You learn the basics quickly.
12.
When you’re
drunk, you think you know the language well and you try to use every word you
can. Also, you do this when you go home to try and impress your friends and
family…nobody ever falls for it though.
13.
You have the
best vacations anyone could imagine. A week in Thailand is something everyone
does. Maldives? Not so crazy for us. Isreal? Fiji? Anything goes. You get use
to it and take it for granted, until you go home and most friends are excited
to tell you about their Florida vacation. You almost feel guilty telling them
about your trip to Bali or Cambodia…but then you do it anyway.
14.
You love a good
theme party…
15.
You thoroughly
plan Halloween and Christmas parties WAY in advance and they always end up being
an epic event.
16.
You get new
students in the middle of the year, and it’s totally normal. Getting a new
student in May is normal. No matter when they come, your current class welcomes
them with open arms.
17.
You use jet lag as
an excuse to get out of something you don’t want to do. Except for when your
friends talk you into going out so that you can help each other stay awake as
long as possible.
18.
You compare
stamps and compare the number of pages filled in your passport as a new form of
bragging. Also, you love to see passports from other countries compared to your
own. It’s always exciting to see a new one.
19.
You learn to say
goodbye a lot, but you look forward to seeing your friends that are leaving on
a future vacation. You cry a lot when saying goodbye, and every.single.time. it
hurts and you look really sad with red, blotching eyes. Don’t worry though,
someone took a picture and posted it on Facebook for all the world to see.
20.
Your new life
has so many stories. It’s hard to pick the best ones. Sometimes you feel guilty
talking about the awesomeness that is your life.
21.
You cry
uncontrollably every time you are at the airport heading back to your new home,
and question if you made the right choice moving abroad.
22.
But then you
remember all the positives to your choice and it’s all worth it. Especially
when family and friends come to visit you and you can share your new life with
them.
23.
You often dream
about what country you will live in next...and it's probably not where others would dream of living.
24.
You go places and do things you never thought you would do.
You are so much braver and stronger than you ever were. And have more friends
than ever imagined.
25.
These friends
become a new kind of family to you and you can’t imagine life without them!
Working at an international
school, really is amazing and you remember this daily! ;)
Original 22 signs you were an International Kid, via BUZZ Feed, can be found here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/autmnjones/signs-you-were-an-international-school-kid-grak
