Today we had a breakfast meeting with Cumberland County Schools where we met our head teachers (principal!) and was taken for a quick look around our schools. The school is split into two halves with Kindegarten to grade 2 on one side of the school and grades 3 to 5 on another. I am in Grade 3 (our year 4) and Alisha is in Grade 4 (year 5) and we have classrooms opposite each other. My classroom is a lot bigger than I thought it would be but will need some sor...

After packing the cases again after orientation, we were sent on a minibus (or can as they're called here) to Fayetteville. We then were taken to a welcome meeting before going apartment hunting. After hearing a rumour of an offer, we visited Windtree Apartments and opted for a two-bedroomed apartment for half price at $349 a month for the year! Bargain! Quite a few of us from orientation have opted for the same complex so it should be good to have a few of u...

The final full day at oreintation but a VERY tough one!! From 8am right through to 6.30pm with hardly any breaks throughout the day, we were in workshops about teaching and schools in North Carolina. The information was excellent but it was just too much in too short a time. It would have been much better spread over an extra day. Again with little time to prepare, we had to get ready for the orienatation farewell dinner and dance. The dinner was very odd ...

MY BIRTHDAY!!!! I wasn't sure how I would find today being away from home on my birthday but in the end had a great day and everyone has been fantastic in making the day special! After opening my cards, Nik decorated the hotel room with them before we headed off for the 8am start of orientation day 1. At that stage we were unsure what that would involve but have been very impressed with the organisation on VIFs part since our arrival. Throughout the day...

Hello everyone! I arrived at orienation in Raleigh-Durham safely. The journey was good although would have been struggling to catch connection in JFK had the connecting flight not been delayed due to poor weather! I was really pleased on the flight to have been sat with Nicola who I met at my interview in London on Mrach 3rd. We were also sat with another VIF guy from England too which was nice. Once we arrived at the hotel we were checked into our room...