And now, to ease your transition and provide some guidance, I offer some Frequently Asked Questions.

School

What exactly will you be doing in Colombia?

I will be teaching first grade in an international school, in Cartagena, Colombia.  The name of the school is Colegio Jorge Washington, which is commonly called COJOWA for short.  My position is the new section of first grade being added this year.  Yup, the school is right there along the beach!

Will you teach in English?

Yes, I will be teaching first grade all in English.  The students will have some background speaking English in school.  One of the missions of the school, COJOWA, is to encourage a bilingual education, and students are supposed to speak English as much as possible in school.

Cartagena

Where will you be teaching in Colombia?

Just follow the arrow

I will be living and teaching in Cartagena, Colombia.  Cartagena was the site of early Spanish settlement in the Americas, and is currently designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Cartagena de Indias, the city’s full name, has a long history as a port of trade.  Cartagena is a city in the northern part of Colombia, on the Caribbean Sea.  That’s right, I’ll be living in the Caribbean!  Try not to be too jealous, which bring us to our next question…

Can I visit you?

Yes!  Absolutely!  I would love to have you visit me!  If you are at all interested, you should consider it.  Cartagena is growing as a traveling destination.  I will know more about others visiting once I have been living there for a little bit, and I will be able to give you more information soon.  Once I am settled, I would be happy to talk over with my roommate in Cartagena about visitors staying with me.  If you would rather, I can also look into hotels and other accommodations nearby.

What is there to do and see in Cartagena?

There are beaches, scuba diving and other water sports, churches, museums, the old walled city, and many more interesting attractions in and around Cartagena, which I am sure I will be able to tell you more about once I get the opportunity to visit them.

Where will you live?

I will live close to school, probably in an apartment.  COJOWA has a housing allowance, which should cover my costs of living, including an apartment.  I am planning on getting an apartment in Cartagena, shared with one of the other new teachers.  When we first arrive in Cartagena, the school puts us up in a hotel for a week, then helps all of the new teachers to look for housing.  The school also has a list of places with which they have had good experiences in the past, so they will be a huge help in the process of finding a place to live.

Colombia

Do you speak Spanish?

Yes, I speak some Spanish.  I took five years of Spanish in high school, up to the AP level…but I haven’t had a chance to take Spanish since then.  I have some Spanish language audio discs that I have been studying, along with some study guides and grammar notes I got from my high school Spanish teacher.  I would say that I am conversational at this point in time, and I am working to improve before I leave.  Living in a Spanish-speaking country and speaking Spanish it when I do things like get groceries, order something to eat, or while I look for housing will hopefully improve my language skills.  It will be exciting to be in an immersion environment.

Is it safe there?

Flag of Colombia

Colombia has changed quite a bit in recent years.  It has become much safer.  Of course, I will use common sense, as I would in any city.  I know how to take care of myself and how not to make myself a target.  Cartagena, from what I have read and know, is a safe place to live and visit.  As an emerging tourist destination, it is somewhat separated from other parts of Colombia, and is pretty secure.  I don’t anticipate having too many problems.

I’m more concerned about being overrun by whiny first graders than anything else.  Seriously, I’ll be fine.  Don’t worry about me.

Aren’t you scared of being kidnapped or something?

No, I’m not.  I will be spending the great majority of my time in COJOWA.  That is my whole purpose for being there.  Cartagena is a pretty safe city, based on my research, and almost all of my time will be spent there.  When I was hired, the school director told me that anytime parents and such have had doubts about teaching in Colombia, he tells them to visit.  No one has had a problem yet.

How do you spell the country where you will soon live?

Note that this South American country is spelled with an “o”, as in Colombia, rather than a “u”, as in Columbia.  Okay, so no one has actually asked this question, but it is a common mistake.

Here and There

When do you leave?

I depart on August 3rd, at some ungodly pre-dawn hour.  I fly from Washington-Dulles, have a layover in Miami, and then fly down to Cartagena.

How long will you be there?

I signed a two-year contract, so definitely until 2010.  We have about two months for a summer break, and a luxurious (for teaching) winter break of about three weeks.  I haven’t made any definite plans for this, but I plan to return to the States during this time.

Will I ever see you again?

Yes!  Don’t worry, I won’t wander off discovering the world and never return.  You can always come visit me in Cartagena (see that question).  I plan be in the States, both Northern Virginia and Minnesota, so you will be able to track me down somehow.

How can I keep in touch with you while you are abroad?

Good question!  You should keep in touch!  This website will be one place you can go to check on how and what I am doing.  I plan to update as frequently as possible, so check back often.  The page Miss me? has information about how to contact me, including email, mailing address, and more.

The path thus far…

Why do you want to teach in Colombia?

In sum, it originated with wanting to teach somewhere internationally, and to expand my mind, my world, and my options within teaching.  Plus, it’s exciting.

It all started about two years ago… I went off to study abroad in Brighton, England for a semester my junior year.  That changed my worldview, and shifted how I think about myself and the world.  As I traveled around the UK and Europe, and experienced life in a new and different place, I got hooked on traveling.  I love traveling, and when I returned to the States after that semester, I knew I wanted to travel again.  I then began the process of putting these puzzle pieces together, my love of travel and my desire to be a teacher and commitment to teaching as a vocation.

I finally figured out how that would be possible!  I could teach abroad!  Wahoo!  Then, I sat on this knowledge, until a fateful evening in January.  My mother said to me, something to the effect of, “So, when are you really going to start looking into this whole teaching abroad thing??”  Eager to prove her wrong, and to establish that I actually could be active in this process, I googled “teaching abroad”, which brought me to a website with information about an international teaching job fair in Iowa, of all places.

I then looked closer, and noticed that the registration deadline was two days from that evening.  I gulped and asked, “Mom, should I go to Iowa for a job fair?”  My mom said yes, and I registered.  I then scrambled for the next two days to get all my registration materials together.  This included a personal statement, payment of the registration fee, letter from Gustavus stating that I was not kidding and would actually graduate with an education degree, and three letters of recommendation.  Fortunately, I had three very kind professors who were willing to write me recommendations, within about two days.  With the registration process cleared, I then got a snazzy suit.

How did you land this sweet job?

I participated in the University of Northern Iowa Overseas recruiting fair, on the first weekend in February.  There were 126 international schools from all over the world represented, and 624 registered candidates.  To arrange the interviews, all the schools are set up in a huge convention center room, each with their own table and information carefully set up.  As the Fair began, the 624 hungry, job-searching teachers amassed outside of the Fair entrance, ready to rush in, network, and secure some interviews to teach in awesome places.

I did my best with this, offering my resume to everywhere with a position I was qualified for, and that would take it.  I didn’t have my heart set on any one place or grade level in particular.  This helped me enormously to be more open to all opportunities, even the unexpected ones.  I participated in 10(!) interviews over two exhausting days, and received a few job offers.  COJOWA offered me a first grade position on Saturday evening, after my interview with the school director and high school principal earlier that day.  I thought about it overnight, asked my parents what they thought, and signed a contract in the morning.

All of this occurred before I had taught a day of student teaching!

Any more questions?  Feel free to comment here, or shoot me an email.  I am very willing to talk more and tell you about what I will be doing!