I'm feeling decidedly more settled. I think the mechanics of moving here were more daunting than I had at first expected. If I reflect on our time, here are some of the things we've done:
Packed and shipped many boxes
Crossed the world
Unpacked those boxes
Enrolled in language school
Acquired the things that made summer better (fridge and AC)
Acquired the things that made fall/winter better (dehumidifiers, heater, etc.)
Acquired all of the things we didn't know we'd need (trash cans, etc., etc.) and a lot of pesky furniture
Significantly improved Chinese language ability
Fought back mold (on-going)
Found a church (in addition to older church)
Sam in day care
Sam happily chattering in Sam-ese, English, and some Chinese
Emily understanding most everything in Mandarin, Jonathan started on Taiwanese
Emily with full draft proposal
And paper accepted at international conference
Jonathan with submitted religions chapter
Wrote lots of newsletters
Picked small fight over (future) language evaluation with some faculty
Lost gracefully but have some more clarity
Applied for and received international health insurance
Doctored up, with dentist next on the list
Bugged many people, over and over again, to figure out what we are supposed to be doing here
Shed excess responsibilities like a molting snake
Bought a bunch of other stuff to cope with the changing seasons
Started attending faculty meeting and worship
Read some fine books
Started but didn't finish too many big projects
Skyped with family
Found out where all sorts of things are (like the Wednesday pie truck, the furniture stores, the car registration center)
Bunkered for 9 days of cold rain during the New Year
Celebrated six months with a fine Korean lunch
That is my short list of what we have accomplished. Sometimes I feel like I am still waiting to settle. I think we are slowly finding our balance and figuring out how to make the most of things. Today I was extremely grateful for child care, which is sooooo expensive back home but is free (for us, for now) here, and pretty reasonable (for us) in the long term. I still have a lot of frustrations: the language barrier, being The Young Teacher, looking so different from every one around me, being on the edge of my old world. Nonetheless, these disorientations have been good for us, and I think they will be a big help in the long run.
In talking today, we decided part of what has helped is that Sam is just so chipper. Today he went to school. He happily went off with his teacher when I dropped him. He played with pebbles afterwards as I waited for Emily. He greeted his old friend, the seminary accountant, at dinner, and walked all of the way up the hill and home with us without help. He giggled with Emily, took a long bath, and went to bed quickly. He's just such a fine baby, and while I'm sure he would have made a go of it in the garden state, here is a little rock star of a toddler, and we're very glad to be in a place where lots of people love him and look out for him.
For us individually and as a couple the bigger challenge is probably to be okay with the limitations of our life, and to realize that every place, every job, every way of being is on some level unsatisfactory. I think there is a natural longing which we cannot meet ourselves. I'll probably always fight the "grass is greener" impulse, even as I live somewhere that is as green as any place I've known. It's a big world...
2 comments:
good post, j. and am glad to know that i am not the only one who is continually longing.
xoxo
Thanks M--I'm sometimes surprised when I realize how ideal this place/job is, and yet it's still an adjustment. I think a lot of the challenge is just growing up and having a "real" (in some sense of the word) job that can continue for perpetuity and carries real longer term responsibilities. Mix in family and it feels different. I also often have to remind myself that the longing is something that won't be met by external validation, status, etc.
Post a Comment