Five weeks after arriving back into Britain, I’m finally starting to feel things get back to ‘normal’. The moments of reverse culture shock have come to a halt, I’m starting to get used to the weather as Spring sets in (Could do without the constant breeze coming in from the coast though) and I’m finally back on British time (Holy shit! They don’t tell you how much that six hour time difference can really mess your body up!).
It’s a strange sensation being back in the place you left behind. Sometimes Mexico seems like a distant memory; Sometimes it feels as though it never really happened. I’m torn between wanting to talk about it all the time – and risk seeing that ‘here she goes again’ eyeroll – and choosing to keep it all shut up in a box in the back of my head.
Mexico got harder to write about while I was there because, the more I settled in and began to create a life, the more everything seemed normal. There didn’t seem to be anything ‘quirky’ or extraordinary to write about. Now that I’m back in the Albion, there’s a lot I really do miss and now want to share with people but, at the same time, the little things I remember will spark a moment of nostalgia and I’ll start longing to go back there.
I miss the people I left behind: Friends; Lovers; Students; Colleagues; Crazy commuters. But I left it for a reason.
As I’ve spoken about before, I have new dreams now; New dreams I have to work hard and save money for in order to achieve them. And, unfortunately, Mexico wasn’t going to help make that happen any time soon.
I have no doubt that one day I’ll return and I’ll cross paths with the people who became some of my closest friends again. But for now, it had to be an adiós!
So what does that mean for now?
There’s been a lot of confusion and stress over the last month about what my next step will be. So many old friends and family members asked the inevitable ‘What are you going to do next?’ question that instead of saying, ‘I’m still thinking about it’, I quickly put an unnecessary pressure on myself to figure it all out straight away.
So many options came my way and it was tempting to accept all of them and not really think anything through.
After five weeks of reflection and proper planning though, I’ve decided to apply to teach in South Korea for Spring 2014.
Not only is South Korea going to give me the option of gaining more teaching experience but it’ll also give me the chance to explore a brand new culture and save a substantial amount of money for those big dreams I have planned (which’ll I’ll write about at a later time).
Those of you who’ve read my previous posts are probably scratching your head and thinking, ‘Wait a minute. Didn’t you already apply for South Korea and they rejected you because of your Asthma?’
Well, yes and no. I actually applied to a Korean recruitment agency who couldn’t process my application because I’m taking ‘regular medication’ (my Asthma inhaler) but, since then, I’ve done enough research to know that there are quite a few foreign teachers out there who’ve managed to snag jobs while being saddled with their own paper lungs. It can still happen for me and I’m going to give it a go!
That means I’ll be living back in Wales for the rest of the year, getting myself prepared for a new trip, learning a brand new alphabet, making sure I have a whole year-round wardrobe to take with me (because let’s face it, at 5’8″ and 11 stone (154 lbs) it ain’t going to be easy for me to shop in that petite Asian country) and generally making the most of my time with my family.
However, anyone who knows me knows that being stuck in my home country for a year straight is going to make me want to kill myself.
I’m happy for those who love being settled here and have a wonderful life but we all know it’s not for me. I get itchy feet and I start to feel suffocated.
So to break up the monotony, I have a few trips planned in the coming year.
First off – I’m heading back to New York for New Year’s Eve! Not only will I get the chance to visit my girl Cerena again but I get to see one of my favourite cities in the world at winter time! One more thing to tick off my bucket list.
Secondly – A trip to Paris one weekend is a must. I’m so close and with half my family working on the railway and able to snag me cheap tickets for the Eurostar, how can I say no? My love affair with Paris began when I was 10 and I haven’t been back in about 3-4 years. It’s long overdue.
And then, of course, there’s London. I know I’ll be back in London in the next 10 months. I always end up there for some reason or another when I’m here – especially as I’m only three hours away and my mother and I are keen to pick up on our mother-daughter tradition of going away for the weekend to do some shopping and catching a West End show. (Not to mention the fact that the Camden music scene always comes a-calling to me – I’m looking at you, Helena!)
Little things that’ll break up the huge time between now and heading to Korea.
I’m excited for the coming year though. I’m looking forward to spending Christmas with my family for the first time in three years; I’m looking forward to seeing more of the old friends I’d left behind; I’m looking forward to experiencing a British summer after living in the Mexican heat; I’m looking forward to planning and preparing and reading and researching. And, most of all, I’m looking forward to seeing those new dreams start to become a reality.
