30 days. 720 hours. 43200 minutes. 2,592,000 seconds. 3 European cities explored.
3 airplane rides, squished in the middle--16 hours of the middle seat actually--
4 or 5 awkward 'I-know-I'm-in-your-space-and-it-stinks-don't-give-me-that-look' looks on those airplane rides.
40 Lbs of too much luggage. 1 minimalist-crazed moment of giving away half of my clothes. 27 days regretting that decision.
3 airplane rides, squished in the middle--16 hours of the middle seat actually--
4 or 5 awkward 'I-know-I'm-in-your-space-and-it-stinks-don't-give-me-that-look' looks on those airplane rides.
40 Lbs of too much luggage. 1 minimalist-crazed moment of giving away half of my clothes. 27 days regretting that decision.
5 minutes. Five minutes of walking the streets of Dublin till I have 1 new Brazilian friend.
1st time.....for a lot of things. My first pub. My first club. My first time busking in the busy streets of Temple Bar in Ireland. First kiss from a complete stranger (And then with a shocked voice let him know we do NOT do such things in America, and left).
Although I know we do.
4 weeks of the most intensive, challenging, not-quite-over Oxford TEFL course . 6 hours of observed teaching, 6 hours of FeedBack afterwards. 1 good cry after a lesson because the students literally stared at me with blank, confused expressions the whole tortuous 45 minutes...
1 Ukraine family to live with, 1 sweet baby and 2 bowls of Russian soup. Lots of hand gestures and funny dance moves to express what we are trying to say... (they don't speak English)
2 cartons of milk that actually weren't milk, just something that SAID milko and were really probiotics. 2 bowls of cereal ruined.
Many nights wondering what I'm doing here, I miss home, miss my little town of Chelan
Many nights wondering where will I go next, where will I work, where will I live, Wh wh wh when did the WH questions become a regular monologue in my head?
30 day's of being so grateful I have this opportunity. 30 days of knowing I wouldn't change this experience, or trade it for the comfort of being back home. We have to challenge ourselves to grow, walk where we haven't walked before and discover what we want to do.
About walking. Miles of walking everyday.
I wish I could sum up the last 30 days but I can't, I'm finding it's all one big long story with different chapters that mush together, overlap, and sometimes repeat themselves. It's been harder than I thought in some ways, but it's also given me a clearer pictures of myself. Or, at least, some things that are very NOT myself. And that's a start.
And weaved through out is peoples' kindness. Today, a stranger met me to give a tour of a possible place to live, showed me how to use the Metro (which I haven't even touched yet; one form of transportation at a time please) spent at least and hour and half sharing stories and talking about life in Prague. The Russian lady I live with--she is always offering me food, always ready to try and stumble through a conversation. My classmates. Getting through this course together, annoyed or not annoyed, :) I think humans are amazing.
What have your last 30 days been like? Go on any grand adventures? Make any mistakes? Drink probiotics on accident? On purpose?!!?
I would love to hear!! :)