et Owen (!!!) and spend some quality time with him. I know we'll be best friends when I get back. I also met Reese, who, aside from her penchant for peeing on people's beds (bet you'll put "a door" at the top of your birthday list this year, won't you Ellie Bear?), 
is also very sweet. We had a great trip up to Chicago, complete with bread dumplings, I got to see all of my Evansville family, and I watched as many DVRed shows with Mommy as possible. I spent an entire week with Joel (which is unprecedented since we graduated) and even got to see Meggy O'Roark. I wasn't quite ready for it to be over. My suitcase was lost on the way back, as I had a sneaking suspicion it would be. After three days of wearing the same clothes I became convinced that I would never see my wonderful blue Samsonite again and started compiling a list of the contents so I could hopefully be reimbursed by KLM (whose motto, ironically, is "the reliable airline"). As the list grew longer and longer I grew sadder and sadder. Coming to terms with the fact that you'll never see things like "Christmas presents from Grandpa and Uncle Sonny" and "Cabbage Patch Doll/Childhood Best Friend" again is a difficult task. 
Luckily KLM eventually called to let me know that a suspect "matching my description" had been apprehended in Amsterdam, and a day later my rogue suitcase and all its contents were delivered to my door. So the saga of my suitcase had a happy ending, but I think all the worry I experienced because of it, combined with jet-lag and readjusting in general, contributed to my little incident in class 5c on Thursday.
The day's topic was unemployment in the US. We started with the facts and figures and then progressed into more personal territory. I told the kids about people I knew who had lost their jobs and how hard it was for my very-qualified friends to find jobs right now. Then it got REALLY personal. As I talked more and more the hour transformed into "Emily touchy-feely sharing time" and I poured my heart out to a group of 15 year olds, telling them how scared I was to not have a job next year, how awful it was to not have a plan, what a rude awakening it is to realize that it really isn't what but who you know that matters, and about how I really don't even know how to search for a job. I don't think they understood most of this (although whether it was because of the words I used or the fact that I showed emotion I'm unsure), which only made me more sad. Somehow this snowballed into me feeling like no one in the entire country of Austria understood me.
Luckily KLM eventually called to let me know that a suspect "matching my description" had been apprehended in Amsterdam, and a day later my rogue suitcase and all its contents were delivered to my door. So the saga of my suitcase had a happy ending, but I think all the worry I experienced because of it, combined with jet-lag and readjusting in general, contributed to my little incident in class 5c on Thursday.
The day's topic was unemployment in the US. We started with the facts and figures and then progressed into more personal territory. I told the kids about people I knew who had lost their jobs and how hard it was for my very-qualified friends to find jobs right now. Then it got REALLY personal. As I talked more and more the hour transformed into "Emily touchy-feely sharing time" and I poured my heart out to a group of 15 year olds, telling them how scared I was to not have a job next year, how awful it was to not have a plan, what a rude awakening it is to realize that it really isn't what but who you know that matters, and about how I really don't even know how to search for a job. I don't think they understood most of this (although whether it was because of the words I used or the fact that I showed emotion I'm unsure), which only made me more sad. Somehow this snowballed into me feeling like no one in the entire country of Austria understood me.
6 Ferrero Rochers and a nap later, though, I felt like a new person.
No, I won't be needing a door because now I have yours! Mwahahaha!! But it's too late for you and Owen, we're BFF's already. I'm in his fave five.
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