January 01, 2008

New Year?!?!?

Hello! I haven't written for ages, I know. I've been home. Coming home was a big hassle because my flight was delayed from the Bratislava end, so I missed my other flight from London. Got the megabus all the way from London though, which wasn't the most pleasant experience, but I got home in the end. :-)

I think it's been a long year and I can't believe it's finally a new one. Not entirely sure what this year will bring. Well, I've got the Slovakian winter to look forward to and then I'll finish my contract and be back in the summer. I've been offered a job with Project International - the people I've worked at summer schools for - so I'll do that and hopefully temp for the rest of the summer. I've said to a few people already that if I survive the winter in Bratislava, I'll stay for another year. It's a nice wee place and if I continue to save - especially with the rise in salary if I continue - I'll be able to see a fair bit of Central Europe, the prospect of which is quite exciting. So, fingers crossed the winter is not intolerable. At least I know that the place I work and my flat are both well heated and well insulated, so I may just have to stay in a lot. :-D

Too many things have happened this year. There was my CELTA course, my temp post at the Mental Health Tribunal, my 2 weeks in Wolverhampton with Project International, then back to the Mental Health Tribunal and then a new life in a new country. That's just the professional side of things. I don't think I could go into what I've felt and gone through emotionally this year. That definitely was too much. I'm hoping that Sandra as a flatmate won't exhaust me emotionally. I doubt it, but I can't help but feel wary. :-)

Well, I feel that I've started so many 'new lives' this year with 3 different jobs and I'm relieved that I'm continuing with one at least and am able to develop the relationships I've formed over there in Bratislava. I think it'll be tough when Sandra leaves at the end of the school year (she's already decided she's going home) and me starting with a whole new flatmate. But I don't have to worry about that till September...

And who would've thought that I would be writing about being in Slovakia instead of being in Japan?! Hah! That was the biggest disappointment I had this year. But it turned out well. And yes, I'm still planning to go to Japan. I've got 2 more years of check ups and being a cancer patient- which equals 2 more years in Europe - then I'll be in the Far East. With 3 years of teaching experience down my belt, it shouldn't be too hard to get a job with JETS. I'll just have to make sure I meet the application deadlines! Well, there are 2 more years before I have to worry about that. :-)

Ok, I'm going to stop babbling. I never thought I'd end up in a place like Bratislava having dreamed only of Japan and the Far East for the last 4-5 years, but it's not bad. Not bad at all. Never thought that anything that happened this year would've happened, but hey, that's life. It's funny how it turns out. :-D