It's St. Patrick's Day, not to be confused with St. Patty's Day (I get so irritated with people who mix this up!). It's a day that I get to deck myself out in my favorite color and brag a little about all the time I've spent in Ireland. I wore my Claddagh today, proudly, along with my green shirt and green fingernails.
March 17th is also a day that I get a little sad because I'm not currently in Ireland. I love that place, and if you aren't aware of that, check out http://hesinireland.blogspot.com. Still, I'm fortunate to have so many fond memories of my travels and living there, so I am grateful for that.
What I've been thinking a lot about these last few days, is that I have had some wonderful experiences on my travels (I am not trying to brag about it), but it dawned on me that I don't always appreciate my home town, Charleston, as much as I do these far off places that I visit. Actually, there were days I didn't appreciate Dublin and there were certainly days I didn't appreciate Milan. At least here, on an almost daily basis, I remember to thank God for the beauty of Charleston and the extremely long list of wonderful things to do here. I love this city. I've always said, "Charleston born and Charleston bred, and when I die, I'll be Charleston dead." It's in my blood. I've written that before. Charleston's pluff mud and southern charm got a hold of me early on (please don't reference the new Bravo series unless you want a good laugh...what an embarrassment). I do love it here, BUT, I'm often drawn to visit other places, and I do get the itch to go again after a little while of being rather stationary here. The thing is, when I'm here, I need to do a better job of taking it all in, no matter how simple or small things may seem.
Just this weekend, I had supper club with some friends. We ended up having a little slumber party so that we could enjoy each other's company even longer (and not have to drive home after too much wine). We sat up watching pointless TV, painting our nails, and talking about the past as well as what's to come in the future. One dear, dear friend said, "Nope, you're not moving." It about broke my heart. This friend has been part of my life for the past 14 years (wow) and we've certainly had our ups and downs, but the Lord knows, I'd do ANYTHING for her and her sweet family. ANYTHING. It's funny because we aren't usually so affectionate (we don't often tell those we love just how much we love them), but something about the unspoken affection we have for one another has been getting me lately. I guess it's because I know I'm leaving, and I'm more aware of it, but God bless her for ending the conversation quickly Friday night, because neither of us needed to sit around and ball like babies (she has her own baby that makes enough racket for the both of us!).
Saturday I didn't do much of anything, but that evening I was able to babysit my sweet M & M. These two kiddos crack me up. I've watched them since the oldest was just a tiny baby, and now he's in third grade. They are hilarious, no doubt about it. Saturday night, because I'm housesitting at their grandparents and their parents had a late engagement, I had them spend the night with me. I thought, "How special," when we all piled into the king-sized bed to call it a night after an afternoon of playing and watching a cute movie. (They had to talk me into taking them to the late movie, telling me, "It's educational." The movie was Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and it actually was really cute.) Of course I only thought our slumber party was special for a few minutes, just up until the point where the youngest started flailing all around and slapping me in the face! No, I only kid. She's a wild sleeper, but it was still a sweet moment. I especially loved when they left Sunday morning and the oldest M turned to say, "I love you Hannah." He's the one that two weeks ago told me, "You're going to die," when I shared my news about moving to China. Great pep talker he is!
So you see, nothing so special or outrageously fun happened this weekend, but gosh I wouldn't change a minute of it. I love the people I hung out with over the weekend, truly love them, and there are SO MANY others in Charleston that I love too...I can't wait to spend a little more time with all of the special individuals in my life. I think I'm down to 135 days left in Charleston before the big move (you can thank the countdown app for that accurate time frame). I want to make the absolute most of it, and appreciate every single moment...slainte to the simple things!
*FYI, I know "slainte" actually translates to "health," but as we use it for "cheers" and I'm big on alliteration, I thought I'd make it work here! Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Monday, March 17, 2014
Friday, March 7, 2014
On the Road Again
It's been two years in the making; two years have passed since I moved back to Charleston after an amazing journey through Europe. If you recall, I had moved to Ireland in June of 2011 in hopes of spending a year abroad. I was in Dublin for six months, but without ever applying for a visa, wore out my welcome. A little depressed about having to give up on my dream of spending a year abroad, I went home for Christmas, but the Lord presented me with an opportunity to move to Italy, so I left in January and moved to Milan. The next few months were a roller coaster, but so worth the ride.
At the end of May 2012, I was eager to get home to Charleston to see my best friend and her new baby. I was excited to return to teaching at Stiles Point, the wonderful little school where I have now spent seven years, the majority of my teaching career. I was happy to be home with family and friends and to be back to the wonderful city of Charleston. I love this place.
Pretty soon though, I struggled with my return. Just like culture shock when moving to a new place, a person can also suffer from reverse culture shock. Definitely check out the link if you want more info about this very real condition. I don't know if I got it worse than some of the others with whom I traveled, but to me, it seemed VERY hard to adjust to being back home.
Almost immediately, I started talking about ways to go abroad again. They say once you're bitten with the travel bug, it's hard to let that urge to travel go. I got bitten hard at age 15, my first trip to Europe, but living abroad made it even harder to adjust to being back in the states, and after that, I desperately wanted to move again. I started looking for jobs abroad, but as I hadn't worked full time when I was there, I needed something permanent, something I knew would bring in a steady income. Tutoring here and there, nannying, and volunteering in Ireland and Italy were fantastic experiences, but those things didn't really pay the bills. I needed stability. I wanted to move and to do it right this time. (This I battle with because I do believe my previous experience abroad was "right." Actually, I think it was more than right, but I needed to make a move this time that I knew was a responsible one.)
I prayed; I even consulted a tarot card reader (contradictory to some, but I do all things with God's guidance. I have a very strong faith and no matter what you believe, I know my God is guiding me). I went through the phases of day to day life, but I wasn't happy. I was really unhappy actually. I felt guilty about this because I've been blessed with SO MANY things, but I knew in my heart something wasn't right.
Two years passed, lots of friends celebrated marriages and births of their first children. I enjoyed and am honored to have been part of those experiences, but they weren't mine. I want more than anything to have a family, to be a loving wife and mother, but it's not my time. I've prayed a lot about this too.
After spending 7 weeks back in Ireland and the UK last summer, I thought, "I can do it. I can live in Charleston." I went house hunting and put offers in on two different properties. I thought for sure I'd make it work. I thought I'd be happy if I bought my own place and made a fresh start here. The Lord had other plans. Both houses fell through. There was a reason for that.
Just in the last month or so, through my prayers, I've finally heard God's will. I've struggled with this over the years and felt like I just wasn't a good listener, so I was never going to know what He wished for me. Up until recently, I've been completely lost. I am so happy to announce though, that God has shared His plans with me, and although I don't know exactly what He has in store, I know I'm being guided. I know, without a doubt, that I am being called to China. He tried to show me this last year, but something wasn't right with that experience either, and so I turned down a job in Shanghai. I spent a lot of time researching recently, deciding which school I'd join for the 2014-2015 year, and after weighing all the pros and cons (but actually from the first moment of reading their mission statement I knew) I decided to join the team at the International School of Dongguan. I can't tell you how excited I am for the new adventures ahead and I can't wait to be "on the road again!"
At the end of May 2012, I was eager to get home to Charleston to see my best friend and her new baby. I was excited to return to teaching at Stiles Point, the wonderful little school where I have now spent seven years, the majority of my teaching career. I was happy to be home with family and friends and to be back to the wonderful city of Charleston. I love this place.
Pretty soon though, I struggled with my return. Just like culture shock when moving to a new place, a person can also suffer from reverse culture shock. Definitely check out the link if you want more info about this very real condition. I don't know if I got it worse than some of the others with whom I traveled, but to me, it seemed VERY hard to adjust to being back home.
Almost immediately, I started talking about ways to go abroad again. They say once you're bitten with the travel bug, it's hard to let that urge to travel go. I got bitten hard at age 15, my first trip to Europe, but living abroad made it even harder to adjust to being back in the states, and after that, I desperately wanted to move again. I started looking for jobs abroad, but as I hadn't worked full time when I was there, I needed something permanent, something I knew would bring in a steady income. Tutoring here and there, nannying, and volunteering in Ireland and Italy were fantastic experiences, but those things didn't really pay the bills. I needed stability. I wanted to move and to do it right this time. (This I battle with because I do believe my previous experience abroad was "right." Actually, I think it was more than right, but I needed to make a move this time that I knew was a responsible one.)
I prayed; I even consulted a tarot card reader (contradictory to some, but I do all things with God's guidance. I have a very strong faith and no matter what you believe, I know my God is guiding me). I went through the phases of day to day life, but I wasn't happy. I was really unhappy actually. I felt guilty about this because I've been blessed with SO MANY things, but I knew in my heart something wasn't right.
Two years passed, lots of friends celebrated marriages and births of their first children. I enjoyed and am honored to have been part of those experiences, but they weren't mine. I want more than anything to have a family, to be a loving wife and mother, but it's not my time. I've prayed a lot about this too.
After spending 7 weeks back in Ireland and the UK last summer, I thought, "I can do it. I can live in Charleston." I went house hunting and put offers in on two different properties. I thought for sure I'd make it work. I thought I'd be happy if I bought my own place and made a fresh start here. The Lord had other plans. Both houses fell through. There was a reason for that.
Just in the last month or so, through my prayers, I've finally heard God's will. I've struggled with this over the years and felt like I just wasn't a good listener, so I was never going to know what He wished for me. Up until recently, I've been completely lost. I am so happy to announce though, that God has shared His plans with me, and although I don't know exactly what He has in store, I know I'm being guided. I know, without a doubt, that I am being called to China. He tried to show me this last year, but something wasn't right with that experience either, and so I turned down a job in Shanghai. I spent a lot of time researching recently, deciding which school I'd join for the 2014-2015 year, and after weighing all the pros and cons (but actually from the first moment of reading their mission statement I knew) I decided to join the team at the International School of Dongguan. I can't tell you how excited I am for the new adventures ahead and I can't wait to be "on the road again!"
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