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Stranger in a Strange Land

On Sunday night, I felt this weird sensation when we got into bed.

Kinda like, I was living in a new house. Or living someone else's life.

It was so bizarre. Everything felt strange and unfamiliar.

Throughout my life, I have been known to have the occasional anxious moment where all you want is a big hug from you mom. And, I always took advantage of the hugging when possible to make the willies go away.

But this was different. It wasn't a scary feeling. Just more surreal.

We have recently started planning our next travel jaunt and this one is looking to be a big kahuna.

We're talking about places like Singapore or Sydney as though they were Toronto or Montreal.

We're deciding on whether to go to Vietnam or Laos first like it's a decision about chicken or steak.

We're discussing day long trips on trains across Mongolia and Russia like it's a decision about whether to walk or ride our bikes to the store.

All the names, all these places, that for so many years were far away and distant on a map are now becoming places I need to decide whether or not to pack a bikini or a sweater for.

I'm trying to remember the excitement when we decided to take the plunge around Europe.

Trying to remember how I felt then. Was it this strange? Did it feel this exotic?

Once we lived in the UK, it's amazing how someone's weekend to Madrid or Berlin or Amsterdam just became, well, so common. Like someone from Canada going to Daytona Beach for spring break or Muskoka for a summer cottage stint.

I got to the point, living in Belfast, that I figured I would simply just have to adjust to the fact that I would only have a few months to travel around Asia. Take it all in before heading back to Canada.

And now I'm here, living in Korea, feeling occasionally isolated but mostly quite Asian, talking about taking a quick jaunt over to Fukoka, Japan before we head down to a Malaysian beach.

All these places that I used to dream about in my grade 11 World Issues class. Little letters strung together as words on a big map with green for land and blue for sea.

And when I look at these places now with my students, it's my home that's far away.

Perhaps I felt strange on Sunday night as a reminder of how lucky I feel. How happy I am that I AM living this life.

That most days, I am pinching myself, wondering how I ever got here from a small town in the middle of the 401?

And I suppose, that's a great way to start the week that will end with my 31st birthday.

(what??? you thought you'd get out of it in this post? nice try people. nice try...)

Comments

Elizabeth said…
mmmmm...tacos.... ;)

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