It's been awhile...During the past few months it's been difficult for me to find the time to sit down and write. Since the very beginning of our Chiang Mai blog I've tried to approach what I share with a sense of transparency, but during the past few months, it's been a little difficult for both Fuad & I to completely live out loud.
To be perfectly honest, I can't share it all anymore...the process of becoming an ex-pat, living & working & raising our child abroad has changed me too much. I feel reserved in sharing it all for fear of...well, revealing how different my thought process has become over the past 3 years.
We've had some big decisions to make because after a lot of soul searching, countless conversations and independent reflection, we came to the conclusion that our set up here in Chiang Mai isn't ideal for our family. That's not to say that anything is wrong with Chiang Mai...or Thailand...it mostly has to do with Fuad working in Bangkok, but it also has to do with (mostly me) wanting to be closer to our other home (the one in America) where our beloved family and cherished friends call home.
So for the first time in my life I resigned from my current job before securing a new one. Which felt like a huge risk for me. Then I searched and searched for the right angle to see things, weighing our needs with our desires, along with our potential options and decided to throw my hat into the ring of the international school hiring season. I decided that if I didn't at least try for a position, I would regret it. We had 2 goals: 1) For Fuad and I to live and work in the same city. 2) To be closer to our home (in America).
I applied to about 4 schools...and after a very long and thorough interview process I was offered an elementary music position in Bogota, Colombia! So after 3 years here in CM, we find ourselves packing up and once again going through the process of shedding stuff and preparing for some cooler temperatures! Yay!
Why Colombia? Why not? The list is so long...starting with the school which is well established & respected, and the pay and benefits are excellent. Plus we'll be living in the same time zone as our folks back home. I am so ready to live outside of Asia and in some cooler temperatures, and the journey home is a lot shorter than 24 hours!
I understand that some people don't get it...but there are plenty of people who do.
I can't pass up an opportunity to live and work on yet another continent. If my experience and qualifications allow me this, I'm going to do it. I can't pass up the potential for my son to one day attend an international school practically for free. Our son will be bilingual (he already understands and speaks a few Thai words) and will occupy a place in the world that I can hardly even fathom.
So...we enter a new phase, a new chapter, maybe even a different novel, thanks for sticking with us and reading along on our journey. Stay tuned for how the next few months unfold...endings and beginnings are always bittersweet, with so much to look forward to and so many goodbyes at the same time.
Check out this Ted Talk on what Pico Iyer calls the "floating global tribe", which is sounding more and more like the community we belong to.
