Hello, again!

After a long hiatus from writing and a few life-changing decisions, I’m finally back in front of the computer, ready to write. Okay, that’s not entirely true - more like continuously staring at the screen willing the words to appear in front of me and it doesn’t seem to be working very well. I’m not really sure where to even begin explaining the complete shift that’s about to take place on this blog, but I do know that I need to before I start writing new posts. Well now, I guess that’s not really true either. I know I don’t need to, but I want to. It would be easy to delete my previous posts and start over, or to just simply gloss over the change, knowing that most people who read my posts are friends and family anyways, who already know my story. But not addressing it feels inauthentic. And while it is complicated, it is part my story.

So here we go, again.

If you’ve been reading through my old posts, then you know this blog started as a creative outlet while I was living in Seattle with my (now ex-)husband, waiting for a work visa. A few months after launching my blog, we ended our marriage, I moved back home to St. Albert, AB, and I stopped writing. With so much else going on, it just didn’t feel like a priority. But I’ve realized that life is likely to be busy from here on out, so if not now, then when? Divorce is difficult to talk about. I don’t think anybody goes into marriage thinking they’re going to get a divorce, especially when they’re married to a really good person. Sometimes, things just don’t work out. And it’s hard. And that’s okay. We move forward. We adapt.

And now, we blog.

Fast-forward to today and I’m writing this in a little coffee shop across the street from my apartment in Gimhae-si, South Korea. My wonderful boyfriend is sitting across from me, working on report cards for the little Korean children we teach, and I can honestly say this is a place in life that I never expected to be (not physically, or any other -ally word you can think of, for that matter). So, how did we get here?

Now, as an English teacher I never condone the use of Cliff Notes in place of the full story, but I think in this case it’s necessary. Ready?American boy and Canadian girl meet on a trip to Israel and become instant best friends. Soon after, they fall in love. They decide to date long-distance, but realize flights between Edmonton and Philadelphia are difficult, and also expensive. Not to be deterred by the almost 4000km and visa restrictions that separate them, they decide to do something they’ve always wanted to do - teach abroad. They get jobs teaching English at the same English Kindergarten and move to South Korea, where they can live together without worrying about visa restrictions, since they BOTH have visas. Between work and home, they spend almost all of their time together, and somehow don’t ever think about killing each other, which, let’s be honest, is a really good sign. I think that pretty much sums it up. Oh, and the girl becomes an Eagles fan. Go Birds.

So, now you’re caught up. At this time, we’re about 3/4 of the way into our teaching contract, with plans to settle back in Canada once it’s finished. We’re still in the middle of a global pandemic, so nobody can say for sure what exactly that’s going to look like, but we’ve learned to take things as they come. In the meantime, I plan on sharing some of my experiences living and teaching in South Korea. Having arrived in the country at the beginning of the pandemic, my experiences are all very much shaped by covid and I’m sure differ from a non-covid South Korean experience. Regardless, I’m excited to share them with the world. If you have any burning questions about life here, feel free to drop them in the message box under the “about” tab!

And there you have it. My life looks incredibly different than it did the last time I posted, and my posts will too. I hope you’ll still follow along. A few things have remained the same from my original introduction though, I can promise you that. I’m still an English teacher (though I’ve dropped the “former” part) with a love for Harry Potter, Friends, Shakespeare, and writing. I’m definitely still a sucker for puns. My love for tacos continues. As it does for doughnuts. And pizza (though there is markedly less of all three in South Korea). It’s also important to note that cheesesteaks should also be added to this list. Great, so now that we’ve got all of that out of the way, let’s get back to it. Thanks for being here!