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Hello All,
I will try to keep this brief, but I could go on forever about our move to STT. 🙂 My husband took a job on STT last year May 1st. He moved down first and stayed a month at Bluebeard's. He then found a one bedroom where he lived for two more months before I moved down with three kids (7 years, 5 years, and 6 months) and we found a very nice two bedroom. It was large, but we needed three bedrooms. Time ran out so we took what we could. We used a 20' crate to bring all our belongings. We lived in our cramped home for 7 months before finding a four bedroom house for a cheap price. As the saying goes, "If something is too good to be true...". So two and a half months later, with our things still in boxes from our original move to STT, we moved again to a wonderful three bedroom home, good price, and lots of room. We now have a wonderful landlord and a wonderful place to live. I wish we could have found this home last year when we moved, but I wouldn't have had all the 'interesting' experiences. While I write this, things are still in boxes. It seems like we moved to this island a couple of weeks ago instead of one year ago. Oh well, maybe in a few more years I will be unpacked. 🙂
The first few months on island were up and down for me. Mostly down. It has been diagnosed as culture shock. For whatever reason it affected me greatly and the rest of the family adjusted in a few days with nary a worry. I guess as a mother, wife, and female - it just took me a long while to adjust to a complete different way of life. I planned for three months to move to STT, but just couldn't forsee how difficult it would be to adjust. However, the first trip back to the States at Christmas made me abruptly change my mood and fall in love with all the benefits of island living. Below zero wind chill will do that to you when you stand at the airport without your coat wondering why family couldn't have come to the island to celebrate the holidays.
So from January til now, I have grown to love this island. The island has so many flaws, but I don't know of anyplace on earth that doesn't. The beauty I see daily helps so much for me to call this place home. My teeth never chatter (except for those brief periods of going from sweating in the heat to an air conditioned place) and to me that is worth it!
I came from the Midwest, where you need four wardrobes for the seasons and two different sets of tires for summer and winter. I don't miss the Midwest at all. I do miss my friends and family of whom haven't visited nearly as much as they said they would.
It is strange looking back one year and wondering how we did it. I started out with homeschooling my two oldest and now have them in public school and am satisfied with their education this far. We have moved so many times that I forget which way to go from Tutu to get home. 🙂 I now have two part time jobs. Both which wonderfully worked with my husband's schedule and kept me from going insane at home with no adults to talk too. I was a career woman before our move and adjusting to a stay at home mom was very hard. I got bored and depressed. Thank goodness I now have my jobs and have made many friends on island. My first few months on island made me feel that I would never make friends. I couldn't even understand what most islanders were saying let alone get to know them. Now I can not only understand most of what people are saying, I am able to say a few phrases and words in the Carribbean accent myself.
I guess I haven't written much to help others, but my message is that for those who are making the plunge and moving to the islands - beware of the culture shock, open your mind to learn and understand, be friendly, be calm, slow down, and forget everything you know about life so that you don't miss out on a wonderful experience and knowledge that life isn't about reaching your goals so much as it is about enjoying the whole journey. I told my husband the other day that if the day comes that we are going to move back to the mainland (as we have planned all along) I most definitely won't want to go. He smiled and said, "I know."
Teresa
Posted : September 7, 2005 1:04 am
Hey Teresa,
Congratulations - you sound like you have adjusted well. Sunday we set out driving from good old KC (was supposed to happen a few weeks ago but hubby was admitted for emergency surgery in Fort Lauderdale on his was home from STJ to KC, so things have been pushed back alittle - but thankfully he is doing fine now) We will drive to West Palm and load our container and then fly to our new life in STJ. I really hope I can adjust as you have as I'm sure I really don't know what is in store for us but we are up to the challenge 🙂 (I hope) Looking forward to meeting you, and the others from this wonderful board at the next get together.
Posted : September 7, 2005 2:27 am
First, its good to hear from Piaa!! We were getting worried about you & Les.
Teresa, thank you so much for your feedback! I will always remember the Saturday you took Mike & I all over STT and spent the day with us talking about your move and feelings.
We are now settled in STX. Mike is beginning to look for a job without too much success so far, so that is our worry right now. I will eventually look for something part-time (right now receiving LTD from work from cancer surgery this summer). The transition hasn't been all easy, tho; and I think of you as a lot for inspiration. I feel very isolated from friends, and miss comraderie of co-workers. It will be nice when we get into a little routine of jobs, friends, etc. But, we like the island, the ocean, and our little place to live.
We hope we can meet up with you this winter on a visit to STT - OR you all can visit STX!
Posted : September 7, 2005 1:45 pm
Hello Teresa,
Congrats on your first year! 🙂 Thank you for the follow up, I am going to add it to your intial moving story.
--Islander
Posted : September 7, 2005 4:04 pm
Hey Teresa, and Piaa and Travelwoman,
I know you are settling in well Teresa, and are helping others who have come here also(i.e., Ashley). I wish all of you continued success in your transitions to island life. It has been good for me and my family so far, and we don't miss the states much, if at all. It's nice to see your posts.
Posted : September 7, 2005 4:37 pm
Topic starter
Hey All My Kansas Citians and the Board!
I had to trim my post down quite a bit. I found that I really can type forever! 🙂
Island Ed, I am pasting this article mainly for you. I don't know if you read or heard about it, but Kansas City and surrounding areas are really getting in on helping out the areas hurt by Katrina. Here it is:
Residents and city leaders are reaching out to a small town in Mississippi that was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina.
Ocean Springs, Miss., is a lot like Parkville, KMBC's Jim Flink reported.
When Missouri was hit by the flood of '93, Parkville was devasted.
"We had a tremendous outpouring of support from other communities," Parkville Mayor Kathryn Dusenbery said.
So Dusenbery found Ocean Springs on the map with the help of some now-local Gulf Coast natives and called its mayor.
"She is the first woman mayor of her town, just like I'm the first woman mayor here. She has a 10-year-old daughter just like I do," Dusenbery said.
Beyond personal similarities, the towns mirror each other, Flink reported.
"They're very into their history, culture and music," Dusenbery said.
Dusenbery then called local leaders, like State Rep. Jason Brown, who was eager to help.
"Let's not try to figure out who's to blame, let's just get down there and do some good and help," Brown said.
Flink reported that the effort goes beyond mattresses, baby supplies, prescription drugs, food and water.
"This isn't a one-time thing. We're going to keep on going down there. We want to build on this," Brown said.
"These are communities that are hurting just as much as New Orleans, and it's just as important to help them," Dusenbery said.
Parkville will send two convoys to Ocean Springs this weekend. City leaders plan to keep sending convoys of aid until Ocean Springs is back on its feet.
Posted : September 7, 2005 4:50 pm
Yup,
That's where I lived... Parkville. The old downtown is right on the Missouri river. It was devastated by floods back in '93, but is a booming area today. It is called the "90210 of the Northland" and is enjoying tremendous growth. They also had a tornado go through a couple of years ago. Most of the damage was in Liberty, but it cut a swath through Parkville as well.
Thanks for the info.
Posted : September 8, 2005 4:43 pm
www.parkvilleluminary.com has more info on the flood and Parkville, fyi
Posted : September 20, 2005 9:05 pm
Theresa,
It was good to read your post. I will be visiting St. Croix this weekend for a pre-move visit. I have twin daughers (16) and am concerned with thier schooling. I don't know the first thing about homeschooling and am very afraid to move. How did you start homeschooling?
Posted : September 28, 2005 5:14 pm
Hello Shelly,
Homeschooling 16 year old should be easy as they can learn the dicipline to work with a scheduled. There are great books out there with learning scheduleds by grade. They are geared to what schools in each grade level are teaching. As a homeschooler you need to keep a record on what you children are learning anyway. Therefore it is good to use such a tool. If you do some searches you might also have luck finding internet schools or long distance learning. With such a service you get evaluation and tutoring online with real teachers. I know there is a German online school. I am sure there are American online schools. Just run a google search for homeschooling and one for online schools. I bed you find a ton of info. Also research some homeschool parents forum to get more feedback and support wile you are home school.
Iris
Posted : October 1, 2005 12:24 pm
Topic starter
Sorry Shelly, I must have missed your post. You will find a ton of info on homeschooling via the web. Abeka is a popular homeschooling program out of Florida (I think). I have to look up some of my info because there is actually a college that provides homeschooling material and offers a graduation ceremony at their campus for high school grads of their homeschool materials. They also give a highschool diploma instead of a GED equivalent.
In the V.I. you only need to fill out a single form with the Dept. of Education that states you will be homeschooling. They may follow up with a home visit to see your materials and planner. I haven't heard of them ever doing that, but there is always a first time. Most homeschool programs are set up so that if you follow their curriculum it mirrors a school schedule. Homeschooling at 16 years old should be pretty easy and most programs are really easy to follow. They even have 800 numbers for all your questions. The internet has 'support' groups and helpful advice. You just have to dedicate a little time to finding the right program for your kids. I will post again when I find more info.
Teresa
Posted : October 2, 2005 4:58 am
Thank you so much for the information. I think I am just a bit overwhelmed with the whole move. I just didn't know where to start since my kids are in private school right now.
Posted : October 3, 2005 7:25 pm
Teresa,
Wow, I can only hope my experience goes so well. I am going in with an open mind but the unknown is a scary thing.
We have two college age daughters who we are leaving on the mainland as well as our little dog (our condo that my husband's prospective employer is providing to us does not allow pets). They will stay with my parents in upstate NY for now.
I would love to talk to you when we are down there from Oct. 26th through the 31st.
Alesia
Posted : October 3, 2005 11:07 pm
If your children are currently in school, why take them out and homeschool them if they have two years left? Why not allow them to finish school and then move to the islands?
Posted : October 3, 2005 11:38 pm
I can't stay on the islands another 2 years because my husband has to relocate for his job. i would have to stay here in the states with my husband in St. Croix. I would love to keep my girls in school in the states, but it just is not possible.
Posted : October 7, 2005 5:02 pm
Check out the private schools there. Country Day is one of them.
Posted : October 7, 2005 6:03 pm
