Relevance...

It's Hump Day here in Malaysia! (Oooh, looking at the clock...it's Hump Day for most of you back in the States, also!) Let's give a big round of applause for making it to the middle of the week!

So, yesterday I had lunch with Susan and Trang and they introduced me to Sandra. We met at Estilo, a Spanish tapas bar located over at Publika.

Estilo

I wish I had taken pics of some of the great tapas we enjoyed. Estilo has a nice lunch special and we all shared some great dishes.

After lunch I ran a few errands and then headed home in a torrential downpour. Thank God for the Daiso store which sells everything for RM5 (Think dollar store in the U.S.) - I was able to purchase an umbrella and managed to stay considerably less wet than I would've without it.

Once I got home, I friended Sandra on Facebook. Sandra has been an expat for 20 years - and this rookie of 4 weeks is really lapping up all the good advice that experienced expats can provide. (Sandra did say she could tell right away that I would "make it" as an expat! Phew! That's a good sign!)

Sandra then posted a great article on the expat life! Here's a link to it:

Not Just Gin and Tonics: Why Being An Expat Wife Is Harder Than You Think

Anyways, it's a good article that brings me to today's topic of relevance. I'm searching to find mine. Brian (who is the trailing spouse in another Cargill family here in Malaysia) warned me about this when we came to look at Malaysia back in May. And, while each day makes me feel more and more settled, I still sometimes wonder if I'm making a difference. Back in the States, I had a job I loved, I served on the board of our local community library, I was a wife and mother, I was a trusted friend. Right now, I've just got the wife and mother thing going for me - and I'm making progress on the friends thing.

So, I'm working on it. This blog is one of the ways I stay relevant. It's my creative outlet right now. I love to write. I'm not a professional by any means, but this makes me happy. Some days it's serious, some days informative, some days funny, some days sad, but always truthful.

And, I'm thinking of returning to teaching. Many of you know that I was a French teacher for 8 years before I started training teachers when I lived in New York. Well, wouldn't you know it - the kids' school is always in need of subs - and it is one of the few jobs I can do here and not have to worry about having a work Visa. I'm still not sure about this. I left teaching because students were getting ruder and ruder by the day (although the headmaster told Blaine that this would not be the case at MKIS), there was a serious lack of parental support, and "teaching to the test" just sucks. Additionally, I've always enjoyed the separation that the kids and I have throughout the day. Now, that probably sounds really selfish. I truly love my children, but I have other interests besides them. I'm not a helicopter parent by any means. I want my children to know that their mother has other things she enjoys doing besides being a mom. (I laugh because each afternoon when I ask about their day, they ask me how/what my workout was for that day. They know that this is one of my "things.") But, subbing, in a school with little to no discipline problems, without the responsibility of teaching to the test, may actually bring me back to time when I really loved teaching.

Right now I'm currently following this motto and trusting that the rest will fall into place:

(I hope each of you are, too!)