Welcome to the New South

Yes, I know I've used the same Less Than Jake song title at least 3 times now.

And yes, I know it's been like a month since I blogged.

Those things aside, I'm going to get back on the horse here.

I'm sure nobody, myself included, expected me to be the one to move halfway across the country after graduation. I hate change. I love the familiar. And yet, here I sit, 800 miles from any friends or family.

July 1981 - May 1986: Arlington, Texas
May 1986 - April 1995: Lake St. Louis, Missouri
April 1995 - August 1999: Holland, Michigan
August 1999 - August 2004: Ann Arbor, Michigan
August 2004 - August 2005: Holland, Michigan
August 2005 - ?: Graham, North Carolina

Last August I was supposed to move to Plymouth, Saline, Okemos, or some other school district in Michigan. Instead I returned home broken and defeated, unemployable for a year. I knew I needed to expand my search for this year, and when the Captain relocated to Chi-Town it made perfect sense. Far enough away to have a better job market than Michigan, close enough to home. And having your best friend either down the hall or across town might be nice.

Nada.

After hearing nothing from March to June I initiated the emergency back-up plan to apply in North Carolina. I figured I could just keep it in my back pocket as I waited for schools in Illinois to get their act together. In short order it went from emergency contingency to viable option to only option.

And here I sit.

Before you make assumptions and jump to conclusions, I'm not feeling bitter and dejected right now. So far the places I've been and the people I've met down here have all been great. Going to the school and meeting some of the other teachers I'm going to work with, I feel optimistic for the first time in a long time.

I really am feeling good about things right now. Thanks to The Captain's insistence I have a new X-Box to keep me occupied, but if my orientation days are any indication of what's to come during the school year I think keeping busy is going to be the least of my worries.

I haven't freaked out yet. I haven't spent the evening rocking myself back and forth in a corner as I come to the realization that I am totally alone and totally out of place down here. I don't know when that will happen. I may still be in shock just from the overwhelming amount of change that's happened in the last week.

All I know is that right now, despite it all, I'm hopeful and optimistic about what's to come. I'm not miserable, and right now that's a good start.