Send a Letter

For the next 11 weeks, I will likely have little or no access to the internet.

I'm a digital native, so these next few weeks will be like stepping, not only into a new physical environment, but also a technological one. Alas, my life will be without the wonderful educational services of Wikipedia, the entertaining antics of lolcats, and the musical and theatrical talents of youtube.

But most importantly, I have no access to all of you: no e-mail, no Facebooks, no blog, no Skype. All of you can help ameliorate the loneliness and frustration engendered by my exile from modern communication technologies by sending me letters!

Karen Ives, PCT
Post Office Box 1036
Central Post Office
Ulaanbaatar 15160
Mongolia (via China)

This address will only be valid while I am in training, which will last until I am placed at my site--sometime in mid to late August. After that, I will have an actual address in Mongolia!

Some of you have asked about care packages: you don't need to send me anything, but hearing from you would be great. If you have time, consider writing me a letter or sending me a card. We've been told that Pre-Service Training can be a difficult time, and I'm sure I could use the support. Thank you all in advanced, and I will post another blog when I can! Wish me luck!

Cheers,
Karen

Prologue to Adventure!

So... I'm moving to Mongolia for a couple years. I think I've told most of my family and friends, but for those who I didn't inform of my impending egress to the Land of the Blue Sky: Why aren't you on Facebook?!

--But yes, I have indeed decided to quit my job in the great city of New York, leave all of you (my friends and family) behind, and move half-way across the world. I promise it is not because you smell, mis-matched your socks, or made an ill-timed joke. Nor was it an act of desperation to get away from this crazy country (or was it?). Rather, drunk on the youthful drought of idealism, I fancifully applied and was accepted to the United States Peace Corps.

My job title is University English Teacher. What this actually means is somewhat ambiguous; I may be teaching at a vocational school, and my students may have a very rudimentary understanding of English, and these pupils may be from quite an age range. The only thing I have been able to determine is 1) I will be teaching English, but 2) I probably won't be at a "university", per se.

I leave on May 31 to Mongolia, and begin my training on June 3. Training lasts until August 17th, at which point I will head to my site and begin getting settled in. I will likely have very limited access to internet during training, but will try to write when I can.

Feel free to leave comments and questions. I'll try to respond--even IF you smell, mis-match your socks, or make ill-timed jokes.

Much love to all of you!

Cheers,
Karen