I blame (read 'thank') my parents really, for the gypsy in me. I think that exciting feeling of moving to a new place with interesting things to discover and new people to meet was spawned from my family's frequent house moving when I was growing up. By the time I was in high school I had moved house 6 times. Now I get a bit tetchy if I live in one place for more than a couple of years. Not that I don't like where I'm living at the time, it's just that something inside tells me I've got to get on and see what's next. I feel really fortunate to have had this kind of experience whilst growing up. When I meet people who want to travel but are afraid to leave their friends and familiar place...I just don't get it. I can imagine what they are thinking but I can't relate to it. These feelings are what I believe have led me to my career choice which is English teaching.
Like many teachers at first I thought I'd try it for a while to see if I liked it and could always rely on it to make money during travels. But I've found the students to be more interesting than I ever imagined. When I can't travel, I am at work, which means the world is coming to me in my classroom. So now I'm attempting an MA in Language Teaching and Learning and will hopefully finish this year (2004). Unsurprisingly, I've discovered sociolinguistics and language teaching to be my 'thing' and am currently doing my dissertation in this area.
I would describe myself as a 'binge yoga addict'. This means that I go for months of intensive practice and then get involved in some other project at work or Uni and trail off for a few months. I always come back but would like to maintain some more consistency. Likewise with meditation...and journal writing...and pleasure reading...hmmm, a pattern forming?? I've met many others like me so I don't feel bad about it. I just try to enjoy what I'm doing at the time.
My favourite places are too numerous to mention but I'd say that Thailand and India are right up there at the top.
When I'm not travelling, working, doing yoga or practising meditation, I'm outside in beautiful New Zealand doing some tramping, reading travel literature, cooking curry or chatting with friends in cafes over a coffee or at someone's house with a nice bottle of red (usually a New Zealand one). I also love Bollywood movies. The clothes! The drama! The cheesy lines! The dancing! I've even gone as far as to take a Bollywood dance class which I loved.
Future plans involve working in Japan, saving money for a house and then renting it out while travelling. But then those are THIS week's ideas.
Watch this space... |
