It's been way too long since I've touched this thing.
So many things in my life have changed since my last post. Instead of writing about life, I've been living it. I really wish I could write about all of it right now...sometimes it's much more interesting to do that. But I find myself so busy these days...much busier than being back at Maple Leaf, that's for sure.
You're wondering where I am. I'm back in my native Vancouver. That's right...I'm no longer an expat. All those times are just memories now. It was an amazing three years abroad. I have no regrets in leaving Canada for that amount of time. I traveled to some great places and have met some great friends that I'll never ever forget.
But my real struggles start now. Expatriation was surprisingly easy for me. It might seem like a struggle for some. I think it gets easier over time. Some even come to love it. I suppose it all depends on how you go about living life and traveling out there. Only now in retrospect, in the comfort of my home, do I have a deep appreciation of what has happened to me in the last 3 years. I miss being abroad, and I realize now how brave expats really are. Maybe one day, I'll go back out there...
I have found, and as many expats have found, repatriation is hard. I'd go so far to say that it is the most difficult part of being an expat. My first few months back home...well...let's just say I'll be writing about that later...a lot about that later...
So many things in my life have changed since my last post. Instead of writing about life, I've been living it. I really wish I could write about all of it right now...sometimes it's much more interesting to do that. But I find myself so busy these days...much busier than being back at Maple Leaf, that's for sure.
You're wondering where I am. I'm back in my native Vancouver. That's right...I'm no longer an expat. All those times are just memories now. It was an amazing three years abroad. I have no regrets in leaving Canada for that amount of time. I traveled to some great places and have met some great friends that I'll never ever forget.
But my real struggles start now. Expatriation was surprisingly easy for me. It might seem like a struggle for some. I think it gets easier over time. Some even come to love it. I suppose it all depends on how you go about living life and traveling out there. Only now in retrospect, in the comfort of my home, do I have a deep appreciation of what has happened to me in the last 3 years. I miss being abroad, and I realize now how brave expats really are. Maybe one day, I'll go back out there...
I have found, and as many expats have found, repatriation is hard. I'd go so far to say that it is the most difficult part of being an expat. My first few months back home...well...let's just say I'll be writing about that later...a lot about that later...
And now for catch-up blogging! I gotta finish off my stories from my final year abroad...
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I'm too lazy to actually put pictures up of Yangshuo, so I'll just make a bullet list of some interesting things that led up to Spring Festival 2013...I'll do Yangshuo later.
- Another Shanghai bachelor party. Trained it to Nanjing then to Shanghai. Highlights: a colleague throwing a large McDonald's drink at a taxi that almost ran us over, seeing Chinese youth dance to Indian beats in a Nanjing nightclub, eating a delicious Teppanyaki feast, and then replacing beer with a bottle of scotch because I wasn't getting drunk fast enough. Needless to say, that last one was foolish of me. I was the first one to drop that night. Apparently, I did tough guy shots again, but I don't seem to remember. My colleague Joe had to drag my sorry ass back to the hotel. What a great guy. The next day, I had lunch with Hedy near Hongqiao Airport. We had one of our shared favorites - American BBQ ribs. Coming from Wuhan where that doesn't exist, it was pretty effing sweet.
- I "fought" a student during Sports Day. Muay Thai Boran vs. North Korean Tae Kwon Do. Highlight (accident) of the fight: I took a full on flying kick to the face which stunned the crowd. In the end, I was "killed." Students loved seeing me dead, and my victorious opponent was deemed "the most dangerous student at Maple Leaf."
- Cathy left Maple Leaf in January for a seemingly better job. Seemingly. Yes it is a lot calmer and less bothersome than being a Maple Leaf counselor, but it is also quite isolated and the pay was initially not as much. However, we think it was a good move and she's "moving up." Now she's getting better pay for a less stressful job. Cathy also moved in with me just before the end of her time at Maple Leaf.
- A swanky bar at the Royal Grace Hotel opened up near Wanke Cheng Shi Hua Yuan (Wanke Garden City), an apartment complex where most of the teachers lived. I'm not much of a mixed drink guy, but my new favorite mixed drink is hands down the Singapore Sling.
