Preparations for Boston

So, a while ago, my company announced that they were looking for people to teach in Boston for 6 weeks this summer. I applied, went through various screening processes, and a few phone conversations, and was accepted to be one of the 5 teachers who would remain the whole time.

In June, my company had all of us teachers (from various parts of the country) fly to New York to the national offices for an all day meeting. The trip was my first time to New York, which went well. I flew in a day early, visited a friend from college, and did a little sightseeing before the meeting the next day. Then I stayed an extra afternoon before flying back. Got to see Central Park, Fifth Avenue, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, the Museum of Modern Art, Columbia University, and the subway system.

A quick aside regarding air travel. On the flight there, I sat in the window seat, in a three seat row. To my right there was an older couple who had come prepared--they had multiple bags of chips, sandwiches, water, nuts, and other food. I had brought no food. The flight attendants announced that we could buy food--at rather steep prices--but that there wouldn't be any free meals. I did get a small bag of pretzels, which I ate slowly. After the couple next to me had their appetizers, main courses, and were on their desserts, the husband offered me a bag of nuts, which I gratefully received. I made a mental note to myself to always bring food on flights of at least medium length. On the flight back from New York, we had an hour layover somewhere. Having learned my lesson, I had bought some not-so-tasty cereal grain bars in New York. After having one, I decided to try to get some better food in the airport. Walked to 4-5 fast food type restaurants, but all were closed. Went to McDonald's, waited in line for way too long, and missed the flight. So, I ended up catching another one about 3 hours later. Made another mental note: do not miss flights because of food. Got to LA really late at night, as a result. Had forgotten where in the long term parking lot I had parked my car. Spent another 2-3 hours walking up and down the rows searching (partway through, decided it would be better for me to leave my luggage in one spot, then retrieve it once I got the car). Another mental note to self: take note of where car is parked, especially when in a big parking lot. Indeed, a veritable comedy of errors.

Anyway, once back in CA, slowly began to prepare for the summer. I decided to move out of my apartment, and, when I returned, move in with a friend of mine in town, who has been staying in a condo. Leaving my 920 sq. ft 1 bedroom apartment meant I'd have less space, but this was, I decided, a good thing, since I'd be less tempted to acquire material possessions. And, more importantly, I'd gain the fellowship and accountability of a fellow believer. And a considerably lower rent.

So, aside from wrapping up some things with my day job and evening job, the primary preparation was moving out. I chose to rent some storage space, throw my stuff in there, then move in to the new place at my leisure once I returned from Boston. The moving was largely by myself, which was necessary since I had to decide what needed to be thrown out and what I'd put into storage or take with me. I was rather slow about this, and various other circumstances conspired against me so that I found myself on the last night of my lease frantically sacrificing various things due to lack of time and space. (I was reminded of that famous hypothetical: if your house was on fire and you could only take 1 thing/3 things with you, what would you take? Except that I had a car's worth of space, and many hard choices, and too much time to make them.)

I then drove to my parents' home with a full carload of stuff, unloaded it (since my brother would be using my car while I was gone), frantically packed for 6 weeks worth in Boston, and got a ride from my brother and sister (who was in town for just 2 weeks) to the airport. With 2 hastily packed pieces of luggage, and a shoulder bag. I distinctly remember during the packing process considering whether I should pack a jacket, in case it got cold and/or rained. But then I remembered various friends saying that it would be hot and humid in Boston, so I didn't.

With regard to weather, I was looking forward to being out of town for the summer, since the last two summers were very hot in Bakersfield. Especially 2 summers ago, when the daytime temperatures got into the 115+ range, and it didn't cool down enough at night (once, it was still in the 90's at 11 pm). So, I figured, how bad can it be in Boston?

The other preparation was for the work. I've never taught the more intense course that the curriculum would be based on, so I had to arrange to get a copy of the materials, and intended to start preparing it. Two of the teachers had taught last year, two hadn't, but had taught the intense course in their respective cities. One of the nonrepeating teachers had been with my company for about a year. So I felt in some sense that I was in the running for least experienced teacher who would be there.

Intended to do some more prep work on the plane, but only did a little bit. Slept a bit, felt cold, made another mental note to dress in layers when flying.

(Another post will come soon.)