Clarity

As mentioned in my last blog post, I’ve been having a hard time deciding where my life is headed…then a bit of clarity set in:

My alarm went off at 5:45am in anticipation of having a third interview with a school in Seattle.  It wasn’t an ideal job or an ideal place because of its proximity from my family, but it was a job something I am in need of.  While waiting for Skype to ring, I opened up my email and lo-and-behold there was an email from my ex-boyfriend—yes, the boyfriend whom I’d fallen in love with, had ideas of future grandeur, and dreamed would email me someday.  There it was, unopened, but full of possibilities.  Maybe he was emailing to say he was getting married to someone else, maybe he was emailing to say he wanted to marry me, maybe he just wanted to check in on me.  The latter proved true (or at least I think so…) and I responded normally, acting as if my heart wasn’t beating out of my chest and as if I didn’t draft the first email begging him to take me back.

6 o’clock rolled around and I continued a conversation I’d been having for a few weeks when the final question was asked: Are you still interested in this position?  Unbeknownst to my conscious mind, the answer came out of my mouth without hesitation, “I think the school is great, and the position would be great, but I’m not sure Seattle is for me.  I really want to be close to my family and that flight is just too far…but I love your school.”  The last bit quickly escapes in a bit of a panic.  Even though it’s not the answer she probably wanted to hear, it was the honest truth.  Though my hopes did get raised with the email I’d opened 15 minutes earlier, it played no part in my answer…I promise!

On my way to school, I began reading a yoga magazine I’d picked up from the studio and it featured a few articles about yoga in schools.  That bubbling feeling you get when something is exciting emerged and it made me start thinking about how wonderful it would be to be a yoga teacher and that maybe in the fall I could do yoga teacher training instead of elementary school teaching. 

Later in the day I received a reply to my ex-email asking for a Skype session.  And while I was sure he wasn’t going to ask for my hand in marriage over Skype, I was eager to hear what he’d have to say.  This enthusiasm bubbled over to me perusing the internet for yoga teacher training; first in Chicago, then opportunities in Spain and Greece came up—how amazing would that be?! 

After my answer to the Seattle’s school question and my profoundly good day, the clarity set in about what I want to do when I get back to the States.  Maybe someday I’ll go back to teaching, but this school year I’m going to sit it out; I’m going to find out what else can make me happy.  I need to take this chance and try it out…it certainly is scary as hell to not have a plan, especially for my Type A personality, but I’m psyched about what else is out there.

Since then, I’ve been offered the Seattle job and turned it down; had a Skype date with my ex-boyfriend and, no, there is no proverbial ring on my finger, but we had a nice time catching up; and I started the search for yoga training institutes in the US.  My life is going to work out, even if it isn’t what I’d planned.

Reverse Culture Shock

“No one really cares about your ‘life-changing’ experiences abroad.”

Wow!  Can it be true?  Will no one want to know about the last 2 years of my life??

I recently read an article about expats returning to the US and a few lines caught my attention, so I thought I’d share:

Reverse culture shock

The United States you remember has been replaced by its cinematic evil twin.

It’s really just the same old country with a mustache, but that’ll be enough to cause what is widely regarded among the expat community as reverse culture shock: the unexpected difficulty of adjusting to life back home.

According to Mobility magazine, “For many, it takes a full 12-month-cycle of holidays and work-related events before [returning expats] feel fully re-established back home.” Here’s what to expect …

Continue reading Reverse Culture Shock

Which Career Do I Choose?

As part of my usual Sunday routine I perused the Independent Schools website and the Illinois Education Job Bank in search of jobs that are in awesome, fun, totally rad cities and that both fit my qualifications and my desires for a job.  For some reason, today I started to feel the crunch.  It’s the end of March and after sending out countless resumes to schools of interest, 3 first interviews, and zero job offers, the panic began to set in.  I am great, my resume is great, but the fact that I’m in Hong Kong serves as both a positive and a detriment to my CV.  I think it makes my background interesting, but I doubt that people are willing to entertain the idea of interviewing someone living overseas.  They can’t see me (Skype is here, people!!), so it’s hard to get a good feel for who I really am.

Panic set in and resume sending was set in motion.  I found multiple jobs that fit the aforementioned and despite a hiccup in the Illinois application system, I applied to many jobs in hopes that someone somewhere will see that I belong there.

Continue reading Which Career Do I Choose?

New Blog For My New Adventure

Welcome to my new blog—New Girl in the City! This will serve as the chronicle of my new adventure post-Hong Kong. It’ll start with my job search, then onto my eventual move back to the States and then how I get along in my new city. I’m super excited about where my life will take me…even if I don’t know where that is yet or what I’ll be doing once I get there!

The preparations for this new life journey have begun. I’ve been applying for jobs all over the States—from New York to Chicago to Austin to cities in California. I’m being choosy about what types of schools I’m applying to (only independent schools so far) and about what cities I’m choosing (big ones with lots to do) because I’d like wherever I move next to be where I settle down for a while. Better make it good so I want to stay! So far I’ve had interviews for a school in St. Louis (though I didn’t get the job), Chicago, and Austin. Ideally, I’d end up in Chicago since that’s the closest big city to my family, but for now, I’ll take what I can get.  As much as it feels like I need a job before I return I’m really not too worried—I have great qualifications and a passion for something else: writing! If I thought it was hard applying for teaching jobs overseas, it’s even more difficult looking for writing/editing positions. I do have experience now but no degree in the field so I think that puts my resume in a difficult place. It should be easier once I’m in a city, can show my face, and prove that I’m worth it. Wherever I end up and whatever I end up doing, I have a good feeling it’ll be the right thing for me (at least my fortune tells me so).

Taking Chicagoland by storm…one date, one yoga class, one salsa lesson, one blog post, one trip, one drink, one meal, one new friendship at a time.