Anna Worlein left Austin Thursday, but she had 22 hours of airplanes, four countries and a four-hour taxi ride to get through before she would lay eyes on what will be her home for the next three years.

Friday, July 07, 2000

Anna Worlein left Austin Thursday, but she had 22 hours of airplanes, four countries and a four-hour taxi ride to get through before she would lay eyes on what will be her home for the next three years.

Her destination? The city of Kodaikanal, in the south of India. The Austin native will be teaching seventh- and ninth-grade math at the international school of the same name, located in the heart of the city it preceded.

It’s the first step on a path Worlein has been planning for some time.

"Before I started teaching, I knew I wanted to teach abroad," Worlein said Wednesday, the day before her departure from all things familiar.

"Why India? Because my college roommate and another friend had both been to India and they both had really good things to say about it. And everything worked out with the school – that helped make the decision."

Worlein contacted the Kodaikanal International School through its Web site, applied and was accepted. It was an ideal situation for Worlein, who – although she has been teaching for the past two years in Columbia Heights – was looking for a job where she would have some support from other teachers at an established school.

She’ll get both at Kodaikanal International School. Established in 1901 as a school for children of missionaries, the school’s enrollment is much more diverse today. Worlein said half the students are from India, while the other half come from about 20 countries. The foreign students are in India because their parents are in business, government or, yes, children of missionaries. The school is a place parents send their children to prepare them for university in India or abroad. Most of the older students board at the school.

Worlein will live in a very basic one-bedroom apartment just off the school’s campus where she will be provided with two burners for cooking and a water filter. Anything beyond that in the way of appliances – a refrigerator or oven for example – is a luxury that she would have to buy herself out of her roughly $100-a-month salary.

"I’m definitely not going for the money," Worlein said, laughing. "But I’m really looking forward to getting there; I’m excited about the whole idea: being in India, teaching, traveling …"

Her excitement is shared by her sister, Kari, who is hoping to visit her in India. Her father Paul also is planning a visit, and Anna said she’d be home for her youngest sister Marni’s graduation in May 2001.

However, while Anna said she feels "nervous excitement," but not fear about her trip, Kari said she was a little scared for her older sister.

"I’ve known she was going to India, but first it was months away, then it was weeks," Marni said. "Suddenly, it’s tomorrow."

Not to fear, courtesy of the World Wide Web, Anna plans to keep in touch with her family, friends and former students via the Internet. She bought a digital camera to take with her, so she can share some of what she’s seeing and doing with loved ones across the globe. She didn’t have an e-mail address yet, but anyone who is interested in finding out more about the school can look on the Internet under www.kis.ernet.in.

Anna is the daughter of Paul and Joanne Worlein, and the sister of Kari, Marni and Erich Worlein.