What is Happening?

Life is so strange.

Life is strange for all of us right now for a huge variety of reasons, and we’re all coping differently.  Some people are doing really well, others have mental health issues, some have physical health issues, some have financial issues, and there are obviously endless other kids of issues.  It’s a unprecedented experience that affects us all uniquely.

For me, it’s been partially better and partially worse than it might have been had I stayed in Australia.

Photo:  This is the view of the Himalayas we get when the clouds clear and it’s incredible!

If I’d stayed in Australia I would have been locked down for a while, been stuck alone (I was living by myself in 2019), and probably been bored out of my mind.  However I would have been let out of lockdown much soon than is the case here!  I can’t imagine how hard it would have been to teach online at my previous school, and I’m grateful that I never had to find out.  In some ways life would have been easier because I would still have had access to anything I needed, and the healthcare system in Australia is always something you can rely on.  I would have had my family and friends there (even if I couldn’t see much of them), and I would have had my long term support networks to fall back on.

Photo:  This is near my house where I often buy veggies and fruit.

I’ve been so lucky with my amazing new job at such an amazing school.  The staff are wonderful, supportive and friendly, and the students are motivated (mostly), friendly and hard working (mostly).  I’m so blessed to be at KISC!  I had a term and a half at school physically before we moved to online teaching, and it’s been challenging.  I was just building rapport with my students as we had to leave the campus, so it’s been interesting trying to maintain and build relationships via a screen.  It’s going ok, but I can’t wait to get back into the classroom.  The government isn’t allowing schools to reopen, and we’re definitely starting the new term (July 27) online.  I’ll be surprised if we go back on campus for any of term 1.

Photo:  Part of the walk to my local shop.

I’ve been made head of mathematics at KISC, which feels strange, but I’m getting used to it.  I’m focusing on documentation of curriculum, and good communication within the department.  As you can imagine there is a very high turnover of staff at an international school, so I’m working on trying to smooth out staffing transitions, and help the department access everything they need to be effective teachers.

Photo:  These are my housemates in front of our house.  From L to R: Adrian (Nepal), Lauri (Finland), Hannah (UK), Hailey (America), Me (Australia), Nohemi (Venezuela).

One of the things anyone who knows me knows is that I’m an extrovert.  I need people and enjoy spending time with others.  This has been difficult, and not only because of lockdown.  I had been here for just over 2 months when we got locked down and the school shut, so that made relationship development difficult.  Just as I was establishing friendships and getting to know people, I had to stop seeing them.  My circle of friends is quite limited to anyone who lives either with me or near me at the moment, as well as some texting with other people I’d started getting to know.  This is one of the parts of our current situation that I really hate.  I truly value my relationships, and this has been an ongoing challenge.  I spend some time on the phone to people back home, and that’s great, but it’s obviously not the same.

Photo:  We tried to make our own fun during quarantine by doing stupid things.  One day we recreated photos.

Photo:  From my birthday in early March, right before we got locked down.

Photo:  A part of town called Thamel that I haven’t been to since early March.

In some ways perhaps lockdown has been easier for me here because I was only just establishing a routine when everything was cancelled.  I’d joined a community chorale, starting going to an international church, and joined a teacher’s bible study group, but I hadn’t been part of them for long.  I was just finding things to do and places to go, so I had no long established routines.  I was out and about for less than 2.5 months, and I’ve been in lockdown for more than 100 days.  This is basically what normal life in Nepal feels like to me.  I’ve not known much apart from my small life on the Techo (the area I live in) hill where I see my housemates and neighbours and pretty much no one else.  It’s very strange.  My life feels very small, and as an extrovert (and the only extrovert in the house!) who loves variety in life, you can imagine it’s a bit frustrating.  I’m starting to get bored in my third week of school holidays.  I’ve been working on my Nepali language though which is great!  I’ve learnt heaps over the last couple of weeks, and even had an entire conversation yesterday (with lots of mistakes) with a local lady who runs a little shop!  And she understood what I was trying to say!  Bonus!

Photo:  The view from our roof at sunset a few weeks ago.

Life here is complicated, but good.  I know I’m where I’m meant to be, and I’m grateful for that.  There are difficult things about my life here, but overall I know this is the right place for me, even in this bafflingly strange time.

I’ll leave you with some photos from before lockdown.