Count your blessings, one by one...

Lately, I've been really struggling to stay positive about my move to Williamsburg (I like to call it The Burg or W-burg). Before I left for here, I was nothing but excited to get here and find an apartment. When I finally got here and got an apartment, I was nothing but excited to get it set up (my furniture arrives tomorrow). Then I was in and out of my school and nothing but excited to get that going... but, I've found that I am grinding to a hault in my excitement. I look at my friends who are overseas still and I envy them because the international school situation is so different. You work with people who share your situation and you become like family because of it (granted, a fairly disfunctional family, but family nonetheless). But here in The Burg, it's not like that. Most people here have been here for years or their whole lives. For example, today I was at an all day teacher's training day in one of the HUGE highschool buildings and one of my partner teachers was telling me that her husband attended that school. *sigh* I don't even know what that is like, I can't identify with that at all. But I digress... The whole point of the example is that unlike international schools, these people have outside lives and roots and are nicely settled into their routines and there is seldom room for a newcomer. Today I was lamenting over the situation with a good friend and she told me not to give up hope and to stay positive. I'll be honest, I couldn't see the apples in the trees because of the clouds and raindrops... I had given up. But after I got off the phone with her, I began to realize that I have plenty to be thankful for: My closest friends are but a phone call away, I am in a place where I can be understood for the most part, I have a great apartment, I have a good job that helps me keep my nice car and great apartment, my great apartment comes with a gym and a pool, there are some people here who really do care (like the pink kindergarten fairies - there will be a post dedicated just to them), and I am healthy. So, when I am getting weepy and homesick for my former life, I need to just remember these things, count my blessings and be grateful for the goodness in my life.... I am BLESSED in the truest sense of the word.