we just finished the interview earlier this afternoon. we picked up mr. philpot at houston hobby airport and drove to the local marriot where we spend two and a half hours sitting and talking.
i want to give jen a chance to share her thoughts as well... but speaking for both of us... it was really good to meet with him. our topics of conversation ranged from the realities of living in bishkek to travel opportunities in the region; from letting go of our american perspectives to immersing ourselves fully into another culture; from the professional expectations of being a teacher for qsi to the flavor of horse meat. we spent more time interviewing mr. philpot than he spent interviewing us.
jen did a great job focusing on questions revolving around life in central asia. safety... standard of living... budgeting our money. we both felt like mr. philpot (he doesn't go by larry) was honest and open about the challenges we will face. he kept repeating that we needed to be intrepid and tough and flexible. he also called jennifer the most confident woman he had ever interviewed for a job to teach oversees (go jenny!).
needless to say the interview went well and we walked away both impressed with the qsi organization and feeling much more comfortable about moving to kyrgyzstan.
You guys are awesome, you are an inspiration to young folks all over!
ReplyDelete