I have lots of time to think nowadays. Whether I’m sitting on the balcony, helping my host mom make lunch or showering (actually showering = 90% of my thinking time).
Maybe it’s because of all this time I have to think, but I feel ready to come home. Not that I urgently need to come home because I miss my life in Canada. In fact, I feel ready to come home because after all this time away, I see very clearly what is important to me over there. My life will never be the one it once was and that’s okay. I’ve let go of that, which I think was an important part of my exchange; observing my life from a new perspective.
I believe that looking back on my life and making these realizations was the most important thing for me to learn here, aside from the language and the culture. This is new knowledge on a much deeper level.
I‘ll start wrapping this all up now by saying that I will never again throw a fit about unloading the dishwasher before going out with my friends. This was - I know it’s hard to believe - my signature move.
Perhaps because of this new attitude I have towards being-of-service-to-other-people-for-no-personal-gain, I actually find peace in doing some household chores. In fact, I sometimes fold laundry as a break during my day because it’s just so therapeutic. I don’t know, maybe that will pass.
I mean other than all this thinking, I’ve been doing a couple other things too! You know, typical quarantine stuff: going for walks, starting a bunch of small projects that I would have never thought of 3 months ago... I sometimes help my host mom in the garden to keep it looking award-winning. I swear, if there was an award show for hobby gardens she would win. I also I started sewing a shirt out of a pair of jeans I ripped while dancing alone in room...
I would say I’ve been doing pretty well! I hope you all are too. If anyone knows how to sew a shirt out of pants please contact me.
