another week done...

I have been teaching here at the American University in Bulgaria since July and it has been great. I am teaching 29 class hours a week, I am usually at the language center from 11:00 am everyday to 8:00 pm, but I couldn't love it more. I have great students and my colleagues are great. I even have enough time in the morning to go to the gym and wake up not too late.

Today is Friday and so I only have one class. And it's done. I still don't have Internet at my apartment and so here I am still at school writing and downloading the 1978 AL East Playoff game between the Red Sox and the Yankees. MLB.com has a new service where they let you download old games and -starting this playoff season- new games for only $1.99 a game. The games are posted a day later, but for a fan living in Bulgaria while his team is on the way to the world series, the charge and the time delay is nothing. Real baseball, I can't wait.

As I have a free afternoon, I've started thinking about somethings. Mostly, the way my life has been going and where it will go in the future. And I am amazed at how my life has taken some turns I could never have imagined. So, I have decided to compile a top-five list. I hope you enjoy:

The Top 5 Things I Wasn't Expecting in my Life Ten Years Ago:
1. I would be living in Bulgaria. I gotta admit, this current situation was quite a surprise. I'm not sure 15 year old Andy even knew Bulgaria existed, besides some hazy notion of Bulgarian Olympic gymnasts. I never thought I would learn Bulgarian, make Bulgarian friends, eat cow stomach soup, can my own peppers and peaches, pick and dry herbs, or fall in love with a country so different than my own.

2. I would be teaching. I remember a teacher in my AP Biology class suggesting to me that I should look into teaching because while it is a really tough job, I would love it. Well, it's true but I thought at the time, "yeah, right."

3. I would be contemplating law school. I'm still shocked and unnerved by this one but there it is. I always thought that law school was for other people, not me. This was the same feeling that I had when I thought about applying to Ivy League schools and the Peace Corps. They were things that I always heard about growing up, but always thought they were not possible options in my life. Now, as I am once again standing at the door, I am beginning to think that this choice may bring me as much happiness and success as the other two.

4. I would miss New Hampshire and Concord. When I was 15, like most teenagers who grow up in a small town, one of my constant thoughts was how to get out. I was sick of how boring it was, how small it was, and how everywhere I went I kept running into people I knew. Now, after living abroad for 2 1/2 years, I have started to realize how much I took my state and my hometown for granted. I am looking forward to returning at the end of July to my home, my family, and friends, with an excitement that is both sweet and heartbreaking.

5. I would grow so much. I used to think when I was 15 that I was at the peak of my emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth. Of course I would have never admitted it, either aloud or to myself, for fear of being labeled naive, but still I carried this sneaking suspicion inside me. After these two last years, I realize how much I have grown and yet how much this growing never stops. I know deep inside that we never stop growing. As long as we are active and care and try, we will never stop. And that excites me most of all.