After an enormous amount of time waiting at first patiently then, I'll admit, frustratingly, I finally know my final set placement. I am being placed in Sacred Heart School in Pokhriabong which is a small town within the Darjeeling district (approximately an hour drive from the main Darjeeling township) in West Bengal. The school clings to the mountainside so the views towards the mountains and valleys are absolutely spectacular. 

View of Nagari and Pokriabong areas near Darjeeling.
Yes, I will be living in one of those townships. Wow, insane.

Google Maps of Pokhriabong.
As you can see, it's very mountainous and rural. Also it's in the middle of nowhere.

What I really admire about Sacred Heart School is that it was established in 2004 for poor children, and at present there are 290 children (mostly Nepali) aged 3 to 14 years old. There are a few boarders and a small fee is paid by the families, however, the poorest of children do receive free education and accommodation. I think this will be a great opportunity for me to develop a great relationship with these boarding kids and learn a lot about the individual and personal Indian/Nepali culture and lifestyle since I will be living on campus. If I do, it is going to be so hard to leave. I can't even imagine.


The curriculum is based on English medium education so hopefully communication between me and the students and teachers won't be too much of a hurdle. But that is not stopping me from learning Hindi. Namaste! Meraa naam Sharon hay. Aap se milkar bahut kushee huee! (Hello! My name is Sharon. I'm pleased to meet you!)


Although the official school hours is from 9:00am to 4:00pm, I will be teaching a minimum of 4 hours a day, five days a week, with weekends generally free. It's not hard to travel out of Pokhriabong so I'll have heaps of opportunities to travel around and explore! I can't wait to stroll along a dirt pathway that lines the top of a hill, soaking in the beautiful mountainous landscapes with a cup of aromatic exotic tea in my hand. It's going to be surreal. Anyway back to the classroom. An average class comprises of 20 students, where I will be teaching English mainly, but other subjects as and when needed. We are greatly encouraged to organise extracurricular activities such as music/art/drama/languages. That would be heaps of fun! It'll be like after school care all over again.


Since Pokriabong is a hillstation, the temperature is a lot cooler than the big cities like Kolkata and Mumbai. During my stay, I will be experiencing the monsoon season (August), autumn (September to November) and winter (December to January). In the summer, it never crosses 25°C and during the winter the average ranges from 5°C to 7°C with minimums of -2°C! The hek! So much for the humid stuffy weather I was preparing for. I don't know how I am going to survive winter. For those who don't know, the circulation within my body is absolutely terrible. My hands are always cold and during Sydney winters of 17°C, my toes turn purple. Hello frostbite! This is going to cause pickles whilst packing...I was planning on packing to the bare minimum in terms of clothing but it seems that I have to pack much more than what I anticipated. Which reminds me, I need to start packing.


Crap, I'm leaving in a week. I'm so excited.

Quick Update

23 days left in Sydney. 3 weeks until I land in an unfamiliar country. 23 days until goodbyes. ):

As each day goes by, I am getting more and more anxious, excited, worried, dazed and overwhelmed. Although five months seems relatively short, it isn't. Not to me. Five months ago, it was Valentines Day. It was summer. The university semester hasn't started. And I thought, "Wow, six months until I leave!" 

Where did all that time go? Now I'm preparing To Buy lists (which is insanely long! I'm going to be poor for the rest of my life), To Do lists (which is also insanely long! I can feel the Procrastination Queen rising inside of me) and organising important information about my visa, passport, bank accounts etc for my parents incase something goes wrong when I'm away. 

My biggest worry right now, is the homesickness that I'm going to experience. Apparently it comes in waves, hitting you hard so suddenly then leaving at the same speed. A week and a half later as you're sitting in bed preparing for the next day, it hits you again leaving you crying and sobbing in fetal position. (Okay, that last sentence I made up but I imagine it to be true.) Although I will probably have plenty of internet access and I'm able to call home quite often (apparently there is an amazing deal at Crazy John's which is 3cents/minute for international calls. Get it and call me (: ), not being able to hug people hello and goodbye, or kiss mum good night, or hold hands with someone special or just feeling the physical warmth of a friend standing next to you is something quite daunting and saddening. All I'll have is a virtual smile, a face on a screen and a voice in my ear. 

A big update that I should probably tell you guys, is that I have no idea where I am being placed. Good Start Montessori School and a few other schools pulled out leaving volunteers, me included, to be reassigned in a last minute hurry. Through Facebook, I witnessed volunteers being placed together with a friendly, "Hello! Looks like we've been placed together!", as I await eagerly searching my e-mails every hour for a message telling me where and who. Yes, every hour. But my e-mail has not come yet. My friend was assigned her placement two weeks before her departure. Looking on the bright side, guess I'll find out my placement this week then! How exciting.

Although this post seems to have quite a dull and negative tone on it, I assure you, I am genuinely very excited about my trip. It's going to have major lows but it's going to have even more major highs.

When all is said and done, who is responsible for the experience you will have?

-YPWB