Between making a grand tour of every government office in town and assembling IKEA furniture, I've been getting settled in at my new job. I don't want to blog about work outright quite yet, but I will say that I was welcomed by the English Team this morning and they bestowed upon me a Muumi mug. It's a tradition to give one to new teachers in the department. I got the "Adventure" mug (there's like a whole series of mugs and it's a big thing that I'm sure I will understand eventually) to symbolize the big international move I made. It's perfect.
My office (and building) are very JKHB - not the latest in fashion but oddly enough, I feel comfortable here. Almost like I'm back in my undergrad days, or talking to a professor in an office on the fourth floor there in 2000. I am not joking about this. Everything in this foreign country is so foreign that it's nice to just feel like I'm in a known time and place for once. Like how I listened to "From A Distance" yesterday on repeat while assembling IKEA furniture. I just needed to feel all warm and cozy and in fourth grade again for an hour or two.
However, an updated office space would certainly be nicer, and after this semester our department will move to a new, purpose-built space. So I'll ease into my job here in the comfort of the JKHB, and once I've got my feet under me, establish myself in a nicer workspace.
In furniture news, the IKEA furniture I ordered on Saturday was delivered yesterday in complete silence by two young Finnish men who did not expect a tip. It was marvelous to behold. I was so excited to have furniture...and then I almost had a breakdown at the thought of assembling it all by myself, amid everything else I have to do. To stave off panic and build confidence, I started on the couch (how I have missed having a place to just SIT. DOWN.) and did it all by myself! I felt like this:
Then my university-appointed orientation buddy came over, as well as a family from church that I met a few days ago. Together, we put together everything except for the kids' bunk bed (like all three kids - it's a bunk bed with an under-bed that slides under the bottom bunk). It was amazing and I was so touched by their kindness and sacrifice.
Anyway, blah blah blah getting settled in and things are looking up from that first night where I sat in the sauna all by my lonesome and cried.
