Jumpa Lagi, Asia!

Change is afoot! When you follow the school-year calendar, June is always a wild, climatic and hectic time of deadlines, 'year-end' gatherings and flat-out energy. Of course this year will be no different. However after the cubbies have been cleaned out and the bulletin boards are taken down, we will not only be packing up for our annual summer bliss in Canada, we will also be packing and stacking boxes full of our accumulated chopsticks, elephant pants, saris, Buddha statues, lanterns and curry spices, and starting our next chapter in....Europe!

Ok 'Europe' is so vague, I know. More specifically, we will be joining a school in Tirana, the capital city of Albania. So where is Albania and why are we choosing to make it our next home away from home? Well, to start, Albania is sandwiched between Greece and Montenegro, with Macedonia to the East, and across the Adriatic Sea from Italy. Is that anymore clear? If not, don't fret...When we initially heard back from our new school, the first thing I did was plug Albania into the ol' Google Maps. To save you the time....

Alright, so why have we made this seemingly random choice? Well, all with good reason. After six years of enjoying all things Asian, Tyler and I were looking for a new experience both professionally and as travelers. We knew that we wanted to either make a try to fulfill a dream of living in Europe or head home to Canada. We also knew that we wanted to continue to work together at the same school, as well as continue to teach the I.B curriculum. Since we had that frustratingly special mix of quite specific to very general criteria, we decided to blanket both Europe and North America with resumes and wait to see what came back. We heard back from a number of schools, and after a bunch of interviews in half a dozen countries, we decided that the school in Albania sounded like it shared our values when it came to education. (The beauty of working for private schools is they are all different and can have a big range in focus and values...You gotta shop around!) Another big advantage to the school in Albania was it met three out of four of our search criteria. (...Sadly, Albania is not Canada's 13th province 😢)

So professionally, we're happy. Otherwise, what are the things we are looking forward to while living in Albania? Well, to start, we're very excited to have so many European countries at our doorstep, as this isn't an area of the world we've seen enough of--Three hour drive to Greece ✔, two hour ferry to Italy ✔, three hour flight to Switzerland or Spain (eh, Danielle? Ferran&Maria?) ✔. We are excited! Next, being one of the least developed countries in Europe, the cost of living is lower so we won't have the shock of our lives moving from Kuala Lumpur. Most importantly, the food- I predict that I will eat very little but cheese, bread, roasted peppers and pizza until Christmas. Of course, travel in Albania itself; --The curious post-Communist-esqueness, Mediterranean coastlines, mountains, lakes, winding goat-peppered roads..."get my driving gloves, Merla! We're buying a van!" And finally, four seasons! You can all remind me of this when I'm griping about the cold...but for now-- boots, scarves, coats, mitts, sweaters-- items steamy Malaysia would never allow for.
So until we get there and can see for ourselves, we can thank the internet and Lonely Planet for giving us a taste of what we're in for.

See you in August, Albania!
....And until then, we start to say goodbye to our beloved Malaysia, and I can tell ya, it's going to be oh-so-bittersweet.