First week complete

I finished my first full week of work. It was pretty darn fabulous. The people I work with are great and really have made me feel welcome. Already I feel like I am one of the family - not to mention they tell me that too. Its just so nice to feel comfortable at work and know that people really care about you.

I was chatting with some cohort friends and realized that I am in the best place for me. Laura talked of mountains and lakes and beautiful sunsets. As I told her that my life was surrounded with skyscrapers and traffic - I laughed. It sounds funny to say that I prefer where I am now to where Laura is in mountains. There is just something about the architecture of the buildings and the craziness of the driving that makes me love this place. Maybe its the work that I'm doing, the students/parents that I interact with or the place I am living (free Starbucks 24/7) but I am making this place my home. I guess that's the most important thing.

As I was wrapping up on Friday I was contemplating what to do with my weekend. Its tough not knowing anyone and trying to explore the city. I decided that this would be my weekend of park hunting. And by that I mean I am going to check out the local parks. Piedmont park is like the central park of Atlanta I am told. So tomorrow (Sunday) I am going to go check it out. I am discovering more and more my inner "I". I am appreciative of the time I do have when I am with people, but I also enjoy my nights where I can sit on my balcony and reflect on the "newness" of my life. Its quite interesting the feeling that comes from being completely out of your element. My patients with people has grown greatly.

Oh the language. It cracks me up how many different dialects you can hear in one office when they are all technically from Georgia. Of course I had my first bout of people telling me I sounded like I was from the North. Yep they were parents too. I take great honor in where I'm from and definitely was glad to hear I hadn't lost that simple touch of home. Apparently I say the word both funny as well. It took my coworkers about 4 times of me saying it to understand what I was saying and then we all laughed about it for a good 20 minutes. Don't think it stopped there though - a couple of days later it came up again and laughter ensued. Its good to feel loved. HAHA. I also have a tendency to say you all instead of y'all which undoubtedly gets caught to which most reply "what did you say?" I tried saying "you guys" but it just doesn't sound right at all when I talk with them. Its all too funny to me.

If ever anyone wants to come visit just let me know. I'm not technically all the way unpacked yet, but I will be soon enough.