What a whirlwind my life has been the last month. It's hard to even believe how much everything has changed. First I made the difficult decision to leave my job. That was hard enough. I was so torn and conflicted about it. Once I made the decision to leave I felt much better. At that point my plan was to go back to Florida and hopefully find a full-time teaching gig. Worst case scenario was being a substitute teacher. I was ok with that. I was happy with that. I was at peace with the whole thing. It was going to make things easier on my long distance relationship and it would be nice to be home again. Then my world crashed in around me and the long distance relationship came to an abrupt end. Once I accepted that as reality I thought about living in Florida again....and I started freaking out! What is there for me there?! I would be going back to the exact same life I had left to come here. Erik was the one difference from my previous life. With him gone there was nothing to go home to. With that, I began frantically looking for jobs anywhere. I applied to a job in China, Dubai, Colorado, Minnesota, 2 here, and one in Mexico. I didn't care where I went, as long as it wasn't Florida. Rather suddenly two jobs became known to me and before I knew it I had 2 interviews set up in one day. One was for a language school here in Saigon (2 blocks from my apartment) and one in Mexico. That morning I was offered the job at the language school and the Mexico interview went REALLY well. It lasted about an hour and a half and I got a REALLY good vibe from the principal. Two days went by and he asked if we could talk in Skype again. I assumed this was a second interview of sorts, so I was all nervous again. We got online and before I knew it he was emailing me a contract and saying "You got the job!" I couldn't believe it! The next day I told him I accepted and now my life is in upheaval again!
As far as grad school goes, I was in the process of finishing my first class when all of this drama hit the fan. That made focusing on my studies very difficult and it did suffer a bit. Now with this plan to move to Mexico I made the decision to take a break from the second summer course. It worked out well with financial aid and I was able to drop the course without losing any money. My first course finished this past weekend and now I have one less weight on my shoulders through all of this coming up. I'll start up again at the end of August.
So here is the current timeline: School finished July 13, my parents get here July 14, we have an epic Viet Nam vacation (Haoi, Sapa, Halong Bay, etc), leave Viet Nam July 26, get to Florida July 27, leave for Mexico July 31. Yea....talk about insanity! I'll be home for a whole 3 days! Just enough time to recover from the jet lag....If you want to see me during my 3 days at home keep in mind that I won't have a car and am not insured to drive in the states anymore so you might just have to come to me haha. This weekend I bought myself an iPhone (FINALLY) so when I get to the states I'll get a pre-paid SIM card which will give me unlimited talk and text for my time there. I'll post the phone number when I get it.
I still can't quite wrap my mind around everything that's happened lately. Things I was so sure of have vanished, and things I never thought would happen have. I've just been trying to roll with the punches and make the most of it all. I'm actually really looking forward to Mexico. I have a good feeling about it. I think I'm really going to find my place there and be happy. I will miss Viet Nam, though....Living here has been such an incredible learning experience and I know I will never be the same. I think everyone should live abroad for at least 6 moths. It really opens your eyes to the world and gives you a whole new appreciation for what you have. Traveling the world on vacations is great and it does change you but it is nowhere near the same as living somewhere. Going somewhere foreign and figuring out the laws, finding an apartment, finding where things are, learning how to drive in the traffic....those are the kinds of things that tourists can not learn and can not appreciate. It's just a whole new experience. Lord knows I'll never take America for granted again!
Well, I wasn't expecting to go on such a rant but I thought I'd put my thoughts down today while I'm home sick with bronchitis (ugh). I hope everyone is well! Looking forward to me brief visit home!
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