Back to it

It was a bit over a year ago that I was discussing with my university friends whether to apply for this assistantship or not.  My worries were that I would arrive in a dead-end town in the middle of nowhere and be very bored and lonely.  I remember the conversation, my wonderful flatmates told me that it wouldn’t be the easiest experience I could choose, but it would be what I made of it and I could learn a lot from it.  I thought about it for a bit, and then chose to apply.

It has been in that vain that I’ve been carrying out this year.  My job has been above anything else a wonderful highlight of the year so far, but it’s also been more challenging than I was expecting, having been given a comparable amount of responsibility as an average teacher, albeit untrained and only a 21-year-old student.  The town is beautiful, and I feel privileged to be in such a pretty, safe and welcoming place, though I can’t deny that I wish the social side was more substantial.

I am mindful of all of this in the last few days coming back after the Christmas holidays.  It is reassuring that everyone I know seems to regard the first day back with an impending sense of doom and struggle with the readjustment at first.  It felt funny that I was coming back here after the nourishing comfort and familiarity of being with my family and friends over Christmas, and it took a little bit of self-coaching to get back to the positive mindset that I’ve held onto so far.  It seemed strange that the time in my own country was actually a holiday, and for the moment my life is out here.  

Yesterday I had a good day at work.  I had all of my favourite classes and they were happy to see me, and I them, and they were for the most part happy and receptive to follow the lesson, and we had a laugh too.  Basically it was my job on a good day, which was what I needed.  I think that the end of the visit in your own country is bound to be a low point of living abroad, but it’s okay really.  Remembering why I’m here and the lovely positive aspects of my life here, along with how that fits in with my expectations before getting here, makes a huge difference.