Blog Creeper

Hello, my name is Kate - and I'm a blog creeper.

Let me explain... When I first found out that I got accepted to go to AmSam I was thrilled, and immediately launched myself into some serious research. I had already done some basic research before I applied, but since I didn't want to get my hopes up too high, I hadn't delved in too far. So when I started to search for some information, I quickly realized that there isn't much information out there about American Samoa. Every travel site had the identical set of paragraphs, and there were only a few good sites including the NPS site for the National Park of American Samoa. And don't even get me started on their Department of Education website - no good information about curriculum or policy.

I was pretty disappointed after this week or so of on-off research, I was really craving some details on the place I would be calling home and teaching in for a year. But then I had a breakthrough: blogs.

I randomly happened onto a blog from someone who moved to AmSam from the mainland to work for a year, and it provided the perfect information. Basically it was a documentation of their experiences moving from the states to AmSam, and all the surprises, differences, and unique culture that they ran into.

I was hooked on that blog like trailer trash on meth.

Once I had skimmed and read a good portion of the posts, I realized that they had links to other AmSam blogs which eventually led me to numerous blogs from others folks who had moved to the Island to work for some period of time. Over the last few months I have fallen into the habit of reading some of them when I am in class (I take notes, or at least pretend to, on my comp) during the more boring parts.

Not surprisingly, reading these blogs has made me feel like I have a much better idea about what it might be like when I move to AmSam, and has consequently made me much more excited and less apprehensive. However it has also brought me a new fear...

I realized a bit ago that when I move to AmSam these people writing the blogs will no longer be strangers half way across the world, but possibly my neighbors. There are only so many expats on the island, and what do I do if I meet them?


"Hi, I'm John Doe. Nice to meet you"

"Oh hey John, how are your two girls Sally and Jane? Did Sally's team win that soccer match that was coming up? Oh, and tell your wife Betty that I hope she is feeling better from that bout of Dengue fever she got last week. She seemed even sicker that you were when you caught it last March!"

"Um. Er. What?"


Yeah probably not. I guess if I ever meet these people I will pretend that I never read there blog (know their children's names/occupation/life story), unless we hang out and I have a few drinks - then I will probably end up apologizing for stalking them. I suppose they will understand that I was just trying to figure out what life is like in AmSam, and they did write a blog - so I guess they assume random people will read it.


PS. If somewhere in the future, someone who is moving to AmSam is reading this blog - I DO NOT think you are a creeper. I feel that pain.