Well she says sheepishly, it's been so long that I didn't even remember how to get into my blog! I had to go back to the email site...and I couldn't remember my password! Fortunately I could remember my first grade teacher's name and that allowed me in! (If you're reading this from the HHS class of 77, do not hack my account)
I didn't even finish my last blog on Wisconsin, because, well, I've had a bit of a case of writer's block. I was struggling with what to say and how to say it and what was important and what wasn't. I am also feeling a bit of "how much more can I say about kuwait and my lifestyle that hasn't been said already in the four years prior?" It's an odd feeling, and I don't know if I have really come to terms with it yet.
My lovely lil neighbor KK from Wisconsin is setting the blogsphere on fire with her timely and interesting posts on her life here. I see so much of my early excitement in her eyes. She's also only 23 (she had to invite us to her Disco party last year to add some authenticity!) and she's got a lot of youthful charm and energy. I almost want to post a link on this blog and say "check out life in Kuwait through this blog". But that would be almost cheating and certainly lazy.
Well, what can I tell you that you might not already know? We spent a week in London and Wales. I will post pictures later. It was a wonderful trip and we were able to see two shows (at the Globe theatre..Shakespeare's theatre and "War Horse" which was a great thrill). We also loved Wales and all of it's beauty. It was the perfect end to our summer of celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.
It's public news now that we are spending out last year in Kuwait having finally been able to talk with our superintendent. Actually "talk" isn't the right word as I got about 4 words out and then burst into tears. He was understanding as always. He knew this was a possibility as we didn't sign on for 2 years when offered our contracts last year. As school was ending up last year, he said to me "oh you'll get home and you will realize all that you'll miss in Kuwait and then you will want to return for another year." I said "oh you don't know me very well, my heart is in Minnesota-always has been, always will be". But I do admit that there must be some part of my heart deeply inbedded here to have that kind of emotional response when verbalizing the thought of leaving.
I guess that's a good thing. To leave a place when there's still love for the job and the people. We've always said when we stop laughing, we will leave. We're still laughing but we are aware that we're starting to get a little more impatient with all things Kuwaiti.
Not the students...not the school...we have the most perfect jobs we could ever ask for. But we miss MN, the American lifestyle (although we definately do not miss TV commercials and politics) and we miss our families that live there. Ben has had to fend for himself for the past 5 years and he's done a wonderful job with the help of Jolene and her family, but I definately miss being a part of his life.
Charlie completely understands what we are doing and why, but I can imagine that there's a part of him that wants us home to help and humor him. Thank God for Skype and Email because without those two devices, life would be very hard here.
This summer, we made a pact with each other that we would kick each other square in the butt if we ever said "oh well it's our last year we don't care". We've seen some of our colleagues go through that faze and we don't want to be there. Once this fall, I actually did utter those words to my working partner (the athletic director) and then after a few minutes I went back into his office and told him to kick me square the next time I even think that. Now that he's in on the pact I think I will watch myself more closely.
So I am going to make this promise to you, the readers of this blog: I will do better in keeping up this last year. We haven't seen EVERYTHING in Kuwait, there are still some hidden goodies out there yet. I will also probably tell you that this may be a bit of a swansong as I attempt to disengage myself from this lifestyle. To live here totally I had to committ 100% of my heart and head (at least from late August to early June) to being here and now I am starting the process of seperating. The trick is to do that without seem like I am doing it. I don't know if I can do that very well.
Stay tuned for details. And thanks for reading.
I didn't even finish my last blog on Wisconsin, because, well, I've had a bit of a case of writer's block. I was struggling with what to say and how to say it and what was important and what wasn't. I am also feeling a bit of "how much more can I say about kuwait and my lifestyle that hasn't been said already in the four years prior?" It's an odd feeling, and I don't know if I have really come to terms with it yet.
My lovely lil neighbor KK from Wisconsin is setting the blogsphere on fire with her timely and interesting posts on her life here. I see so much of my early excitement in her eyes. She's also only 23 (she had to invite us to her Disco party last year to add some authenticity!) and she's got a lot of youthful charm and energy. I almost want to post a link on this blog and say "check out life in Kuwait through this blog". But that would be almost cheating and certainly lazy.
Well, what can I tell you that you might not already know? We spent a week in London and Wales. I will post pictures later. It was a wonderful trip and we were able to see two shows (at the Globe theatre..Shakespeare's theatre and "War Horse" which was a great thrill). We also loved Wales and all of it's beauty. It was the perfect end to our summer of celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary.
It's public news now that we are spending out last year in Kuwait having finally been able to talk with our superintendent. Actually "talk" isn't the right word as I got about 4 words out and then burst into tears. He was understanding as always. He knew this was a possibility as we didn't sign on for 2 years when offered our contracts last year. As school was ending up last year, he said to me "oh you'll get home and you will realize all that you'll miss in Kuwait and then you will want to return for another year." I said "oh you don't know me very well, my heart is in Minnesota-always has been, always will be". But I do admit that there must be some part of my heart deeply inbedded here to have that kind of emotional response when verbalizing the thought of leaving.
I guess that's a good thing. To leave a place when there's still love for the job and the people. We've always said when we stop laughing, we will leave. We're still laughing but we are aware that we're starting to get a little more impatient with all things Kuwaiti.
Not the students...not the school...we have the most perfect jobs we could ever ask for. But we miss MN, the American lifestyle (although we definately do not miss TV commercials and politics) and we miss our families that live there. Ben has had to fend for himself for the past 5 years and he's done a wonderful job with the help of Jolene and her family, but I definately miss being a part of his life.
Charlie completely understands what we are doing and why, but I can imagine that there's a part of him that wants us home to help and humor him. Thank God for Skype and Email because without those two devices, life would be very hard here.
This summer, we made a pact with each other that we would kick each other square in the butt if we ever said "oh well it's our last year we don't care". We've seen some of our colleagues go through that faze and we don't want to be there. Once this fall, I actually did utter those words to my working partner (the athletic director) and then after a few minutes I went back into his office and told him to kick me square the next time I even think that. Now that he's in on the pact I think I will watch myself more closely.
So I am going to make this promise to you, the readers of this blog: I will do better in keeping up this last year. We haven't seen EVERYTHING in Kuwait, there are still some hidden goodies out there yet. I will also probably tell you that this may be a bit of a swansong as I attempt to disengage myself from this lifestyle. To live here totally I had to committ 100% of my heart and head (at least from late August to early June) to being here and now I am starting the process of seperating. The trick is to do that without seem like I am doing it. I don't know if I can do that very well.
Stay tuned for details. And thanks for reading.
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