Today I started my first day as a full time teacher. Wooof!! So the story goes that this teacher started the new year in September and took medical leave less than two months later. Huh? A substitute who we'll call Hat guy (due to the ridiculous hat he liked to wear in the winter time) filled in for this nice lady while she was gone. Just recently she told the school board that she was taking early retirement. "Well [Hat guy] is going to have to fill in for the rest of the year," said the principal
"How's he doing in that classroom?" "More than 2/3 of the class is failing!!" "Really?! Is [Hat guy] qualified to be doing this?" "I'll check his credentials... OOPSS!!" "Quick find a certified long term sub for science."
This looks like a job for Mr. Mulder.
Joel was asked by the principal on a Monday. Due to multiple snow days, some formalities were skipped and Human Resources called him on Thursday afternoon, telling him to start Monday. Being the intrepid go getter that he is, on Friday Joel travels makes the 1/2 mile trek to the high school to meet this principal again and get a handle on "the ropes." Our hero's heart sunk when he learned from the secretary that the principal was out sick that day, and no one in the office new anything about him starting on Monday. The only advice given was come back Monday morning.
Well Joel doesn't take this lying down. He tracks down a science teacher that he knows and gets the scoop on the curriculum. He spends the weekend refreshing his memory on Newton's laws and force diagrams.
When Monday arrives our fearless warrior, akin to the greats such as Gilgamesh and Jason of Troy, finds the principal and is told that Hat guy will be working with him for the first week, so that those legendary "ropes" may be found. But first the principal had to find [Hat guy] in the building so that he could inform him that Friday is his last day. YEAH!! POOR HAT GUY DIDN'T KNOW!!! Well let's just say that the rest of the day was , hmmm.... awkward. Hat guy was not happy. I figured since this was the first day of the week, I'd just observe his class to get to know the students and see where they are. I mean, our hero did. At the end of the day the bomb fell squarely in Gilgajoelson's face. Hat guy announced, "I'm not coming back this week. You're on your own." Now our warrior must head into battle tomorrow on his own. Cannons to the left of him. Cannons to the right of him. Cannons in front of him. Rides the one. Oh yeah, Gilgajoelson was also informed today that the nice lady who went on medical leave did so because of her (now his) sixth period class. The likes of which the high school has never seen. Medical leave was code for nervous breakdown. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!
tune in next time for more adventures from the tales of "What did I sign up for??!!"

ps. Sarah arrived safely in Africa and so did her luggage... two days later.

Well ok. So it has been awhile since the last post. I figured the previously mentioned humdrums would buy me some time, since very little occurs during the humdrums. On top of the humdrums, we are in this deep freeze that is reminiscent of the bottom level of Dante's inferno. Our old house is having a hard time battling out the cold. At times a slight cold wind will be felt inside. Sarah and I have dealt with this the best way we know... going to the botanical gardens. The gardens are a favorite of ours for many reasons: they remind us of our wedding day at the Meijer gardens, they warm us up in the hard winter, and they give us a slight taste of how life will be when we move to the middle of the jungle and disappear from society. Aahh life will be good. Living off the land without a care in the world. We already have the majority of the vaccinations known to man and we know the secrets of the fire swamp, so we feel we could live quite comfortable in the wilds. Here Sarah is coaxing in a scrumptious butterfly to have as a tapas in a jungle feast. See that look of hunger in her eyes? The exodus grows closer and closer everyday. In two days Sarah leaves for Africa. One of her missions is to stake out a place in the Great Rift Valley where we could create a homestead. She leaves me here to start packing. If she can find a good one, I'll join her soon enough. But until then we must just dream of our futures, and live in the present. Towards that end there is some good news in the "present" category. It seems I have procured a long term teaching position at the high school. I'll have my own classroom, a steady job, and about twice the pay. The only hitch is that it's been so cold lately that the schools are closed, so I'm having trouble tracking down the principal to discuss the job. I bet African schools are never closed due to cold.

Sarah Here Now: Well I have a couple of days left here in the Frigid cold (we're getting soft, it's a whole 8 degrees outside) before I trade it for 85 and raining each day. I'm going to try to post a few blogs from Malawi if I can. If I can't I'll try to stay in touch with e-mail. I'll let you all know when I find our new homestead. The address might be something like this:
The hut next to the lake just north of the old hippo field. Wish me luck everyone and enjoy the rest of the winter!
Stay warm everyone, and keep dreaming of spring like us.