ATL to SFO to SIN

3 Jan 2018 - 4 January 2018

Since I began teaching in 2011, I have been interested in pursuing a Fulbright teacher program.  Last fall while also planning our wedding, I decided to begin the application for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching program.  It was the longest application I had ever completed, and the process gave me time and space to reflect on the previous 6 years of teaching high school math in Lilburn, Brooklyn, and Atlanta.  I submitted my application a week or so prior to the December 1st deadline and patiently (and somewhat anxiously) awaited an update.  On April 24, 2017 I received a an email with the subject: "Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching: Selection Update" that said:

"On behalf of the U.S. Department of State, I would like to congratulate you on being selected for the Fulbright Distinguished Awards in Teaching Program.  The mission of the Fulbright Program is to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.  Each year approximately 8,000 Fulbright grants are awarded to teachers, university students, scholars, artists, scientists, professionals and host institutions in more than 160 countries around the world. 

By living and working abroad, you will have the opportunity to learn about the culture, society and educational system of your host country and share your insights about the United States with colleagues at your host institution or school.  As part of this program this year, you are among 35 U.S. teachers that will study in Botswana, Finland, Greece, India, Israel, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.  Based on the experience of past teachers, you will have a transformative experience that will broaden your leadership and teaching skills."

It was such an exciting email to receive that afternoon!  Bren and I went to Carroll Street Cafe for dinner to celebrate and read over all the selection packet from Fulbright.  Since that day in April we have prepared for this move and experience in a lot of different ways.  From arranging for our friend, Meaghan, to live in our house and take care of our dog, Brody to registering for graduate school classes in Singapore to meeting all of the international Fulbright teachers in Washington D.C. at the August orientation...it has been an exciting whirlwind leading up to the 3rd of January when we were scheduled to fly out.

The night before we left lots of our friends met up with as at The Midway for a beer and a "see you later" hug.  It was such a fun and celebratory time and a reminder of the wonderful friends that we will miss dearly over the next 4 months. 

On January 3rd I went over to Elizabeth's house to see her new baby, Jane and couldn't fathom how much older she will be by the time we meet again in May. 

Bren and I finished cleaning and packing and hung out with Luke and Anna.  Around 3:30 Bren's parents and younger brother picked us up and took us to the Atlanta airport where my parents also met us.  We ate dinner together, gave lots of hugs and kisses (I cried, because I always do at the airport :) and we went through security. 

I got a notification that our flight had been delayed due to a late plane coming in from San Francisco.  We only had a little over an hour layover between landing in SFO and leaving for Singapore so I started getting a bit nervous that we would miss our flight.  I talked with the United gate agent who assured me that we would either make our original flight or they would reschedule us for the 12:05am flight via Singapore Air.

As it turned out though we landing in SFO as our next flight was taking off, and after talking with United customer service we learned that the 12:05am Singapore Air flight had no seats available.  I had been building up anticipation for this day for so long that it felt a bit overwhelming to learn that we weren't going to be able to fly out until 24 hours later on the one flight that United has each evening to Singapore.  Since the delay was United fault (not weather related) they paid for our hotel and Bren smartly asked that we get upgraded to Economy Plus seats (yay for more leg room).  As bummed as I initially was, I was very thankful in hindsight to have a full day to explore San Francisco with Bren. 

We woke up and walked to a nearby thrift store to buy jackets (it was cold and we didn't have our suitcases).  We headed to the Russian Hill neighborhood and walked up Lombard Street, around Ghiradelli Square, and Fisherman's Wharf.

(note the over sized thrift store jacket)

We ate lunch at The Franciscan crab restaurant where Bren had been years before with Jason when they took a road trip out west.  It was so delicious and made me even more excited for the spicy crab dish that I hear Singapore is famous for. 

After lunch we walked to Pier 39 and I fell in love with sea lions! 

We headed back to the hotel, showered, and headed back to the airport for round 2 of trying to catch the 10:40pm flight to Singapore.  Fortunately, we got on the flight and here's to hoping the next 17 hours go by smoothly and are filled with sleep.