T minus 1 month

Before I go any further, let me introduce you to the cast of characters up to this point. I am sure they will come in and out of my writings.

Joe Roman - Head Coach and Defensive Coordinator. He is a "retired" high school and college coach and has spent 9 seasons coaching in Europe. Joe had a tremendous amount of success as the Defensive Coordinator at the junior college level winning a national championship before retiring.
http://www.geocities.com/coachroman/

Jim Mader - Offensive Coordinator. Jim is the one that got me hooked up with this job. He and Joe go way back and were college roommates. Jim is also an assistant coach at St Johns with me. Prior to St Johns, he was the HC at Albany HS where he won multiple state championships and too many section and conference championships to count.
http://www.gojohnnies.com/staff.aspx?staff=29

Christoph Piringer - Team President. I don't know a whole lot more about Christoph at this point in time. All that I know is that he is our contact person over there and I am sure I will get to know him more when I get over there.

I just got back from the AFCA Convention in Nahsville and it was a good time. The convention is the yearly convention for all the high school and college coaches. There are clinic presentations, awards ceremonies and luncheons, exhibits, and committee meetings. That being said, it is mostly a networking event where everyone is either looking for a job or positioning themselves when that time comes. It has a unique dynamic and you can just feel the testosterone and ego when you walk into the convention center.

Now that the convention has passed, I am starting to focus on getting everything ready for when I do leave. I still do not yet have an official date when I am going to leave, although I should know within the next week or so. Jim and I are planning to head down to Phoenix to meet with Joe for about 5 days. When we are down there, we are going to spend a lot of time just ironing out all of the football and living details so that we can hit the ground running.

I have made a list of all the things that I need to take care of before I leave and sadly more things are being added faster than I can cross them off. None the less, I am sure it will all get done. Those of you that have lived overseas and had to pack up and move your life for months on end, if you have any tips for me please don't hesitate to mention them or let me know. I was over in Spain for 5 weeks a few years ago, but this will be a little different. Anything that you did before, during, or after that made your life easier let me know.