As I mentioned back in March, I moved to Providence, Rhode Island to work on a temporary project teaching beginning literacy skills to English-speaking immigrants and refugees.  I have learned so much from this job about what goes in to developing reading and writing skills and it’s been a fantastic challenge to help my students learn and develop phonics, phonemic awareness, and decoding skills that I took for granted, since I can’t remember a moment of not being literate.  I always say that my job as a teacher is to build my students’ confidence, and I really feel honored to have participated in their journey.

Though the project looks likely to continue, I’ve decided not to stay in Providence.  Providence has turned out to not be the best environment for me.  I have dealt with major issues with my apartment and found it difficult to even begin to develop a social life as I’ve been teaching an evening class.  Providence is a cute city in some parts with a surprising number of good local bakeries and restaurants, but at the end of the day it’s just not enough of a city for me.  When I decided to move back to the east coast, I wanted to live somewhere where I could develop roots, something that wasn’t happening in San Diego and won’t happen here.  Since I’ve been back east, I’ve had a chance to spend time with family and friends I haven’t seen in years and explore New England a bit, and everything has reinforced the inevitable: I need to move to Boston!

So I am.   At the end of the month, I will be packing the few belongings I brought to RI and move up to Cambridge.  I’m subletting in a great apartment near Mass Ave with plenty of space for me and my plants, which is also near public transportation (hooray!) and fun parts of Cambridge and Somerville.   Moreover, in an incredibly surprising and fortunate turn of events, I’ve already secured employment at a English language school in Boston.  I got a really good vibe from the school and am excited about trying out a new dimension of ESL.  Previously I’ve taught at non-profits and a community college where most students were required to be there to get cash assistance, so I’m curious to see the motivation paying students bring to class.  I’ve also missed ESL and all the humor you can appreciate with language learning.

So as it turns out, after everything, I only spent one season in Providence.  Spring in Providence was perfect for wandering around on foot and exploring different areas, such as the East Side and Downcity.  Over the past few months, I poked around in neat little vintage/antique shops, sampled treats at local Portuguese and gourmet bakeries, tried amazing pizza in North Providence and Federal Hill, and appreciated RI’s strong do-it-yourself vibe, including the local food scene which includes some neat farmer’s markets in Pawtucket and Providence.  Mostly I wandered and enjoyed the sun and spring breezes around Fox Point and the East Side when the weather decided to take a break from cold and/or rain.  I also relaxed and read in India Point Park on Providence’s less-than-scenic waterfront near Route 195, and went running on the nice safe path in the middle of Blackstone Boulevard (one of the fancier parts of town, good for imagining Providence’s affluent past).

All things considered, I think spring was the perfect season for getting to know Providence since I got an opportunity to appreciate it at its best and will leave feeling like it’s a nice city, just not a place I will call home.  Here is some photo evidence of my spring spent in Providence:

I’ll be back soon to show off my new container garden and some of the baked goods I’ve been producing like mad lately.

After a couple of years in San Diego, it was blatantly obvious that San Francisco and the Bay area were more suited to me — my politics, my love of city life and public transportation, my personality and attitude, my vegetarianism and sustainable eating practices.  But I didn’t manage to visit again until the end of May/early June 2009, when I needed a quick and inexpensive vacation and was evaluating it as a potential place to move.  It was my first solo adventure in the US, and I stayed in a hostel, wandered around, ate alone, and I loved it despite the dampness of spring.  But did I want to move there?  Not really.  If I’m honest, I was tired of California (for good reason, I’d been fighting to survive for too long in its terrible economy).

Once my mind was made up to leave California, I wanted to visit again, cheaply, since it’s far more expensive flying across the country (and I hate, hate, hate cross-country flying, since I have ended up sleeping in the airport on several occasions).  I got a $70 ticket for early December and off I went.  When I got out of the BART station and was surrounded by the tall city buildings, I knew for sure: I love city life, it suits me, and I miss it greatly. San Francisco is a lovely city and someday it would be great to live there (with disposable income).  My second visit in 2009 was even better, with sunshine and blue skies (though bone-chilling temperatures due to the dampness in the air), and my own improved familiarity with the neighborhoods and public transportation.  I wandered and ate lots of delicious food (especially ice cream) and just appreciated the city’s character (so different from and similar to NYC at the same time).  I may have never visited Los Angeles during my three years in southern California, but I visited San Francisco twice!

You can check out my photos here, but below you can find some of my favorites.

But let’s back up a moment!  After my announcement in November, I went through a whirlwind of preparations, beginning with boxing up my books, shoes, purses, and other extraneous items, selling all of my furniture over Thanksgiving weekend, and trying to figure out how to pack my tiny Corolla with belongings either too heavy, too valuable, or too fragile for UPS or USPS.  (Perhaps I’ll make another post in the future with suggestions.)  It wasn’t as difficult or as frustrating as I’d anticipated, though I did have to give away a number of things I’d hoped to take with me at the last moment, including my beloved plants!

Besides the obvious packing aspect, I also set to visiting some San Diego sights I’d managed not to get to over the three years I lived there, and revisiting others that I loved. Mostly I said goodbye to the Pacific Ocean and the lovely ocean (and sunset) views.

This is taken from the beach after a lovely hike through Torrey Pines State Reserve.

This was the classic sunset shot I always intended to get at Swami’s Beach in Encinitas.

While I do miss the San Diego sunsets, I truly do believe that sometimes you just need to leap and trust your instincts. For me, it was fitting that the sun went down just as I crossed the border into Arizona on my road trip. But the details of the amazing cross-country road trip will be saved for a future post. For now I want to say that every day I am thankful that I took charge of my life and decided to leave a less-than-perfect situation for something new. Or rather, something familiar, revisited after years of independence, growth, and change, which allows me to see through a new perspective.

While I’m not sure I miss winter, I’ll soon have no choice in the matter.  That’s right, after a month of considering my options and facing some uncomfortable effects of California budget cuts, I’ve decided it’s time to leave San Diego.  Many of my friends and acquaintances have asked “why now?”, but what it comes down to is that it’s just time to follow the signs and my intuition.  This is a challenge for me: I like to have things planned and arranged before making big decisions like moving, but part of what I’ve learned over the past few years is that no matter how well I’ve planned things, what actually happens is completely out of my control.  And that’s okay.  I just have to pay attention to what is truly going on.

As of now, I plan to move back east in mid-December.  My semester will end December 1, and I will take a quick trip to San Francisco to savor some delicious foods and sights while it’s still an easy and cheap visit.  Then I plan to drive across the country along the southern region (hopefully avoiding snow), passing through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia and then up through all the small states.  I’d like to do some sight-seeing along the way, but we’ll see how it all plays out.

Already I’m feeling like there are more job opportunities on the east coast than here in San Diego.  It may not be easy right now, but I feel a lot more optimistic about my plan than I do about the idea of staying.  At first I’ll stay with my parents, and then I intend to move to Boston, unless I come across a good opportunity in one of the many cities I’d be happy to live in.

So why not start a blog?  It’s a fantastic way to keep in touch with friends around the world, to connect with others in blogging communities, and to share what I’ve been inspired to create recently.  Instead of asking why, I’ll ask why not.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Here’s where I’m at right now: I’m Kim, a 28-year-old east coast transplant currently living in San Diego, California.  I teach ESL to adults at a local community college and love my students and their desire to learn and improve their lives.  Outside the classroom, my life is filled with my many passions: eating and making vegetarian dishes and baked goods from local, seasonal, and organic goods, growing my own garden, running, yoga, knitting, jewelry making, and photography.  Phew!  While I love each of these interests, they each seem to have their season based on my attention span which waxes and wanes.

At the moment, I am in a period of transition.  While I’ve achieved two big goals while living in SD (finishing my Master’s and changing careers), I have realized that I’m ready to move on.  I am fairly certain I’ll be heading to the east coast next, but I’m not sure where, when, or how!  So that’s where that blog comes in–I want to document my journey trying out the “unconventional” paths that many of us are taking in this new economy.  Let’s see how I do!