Back in the Saddle Again

Tomorrow night will be my last night under my parents' roof, at least for the time being. A long journey awaits me before I reach Moscow. First, my mother and I will drive three and a half hours to the airport in Kansas City, where I will board a plane to Chicago at 6:45 at night. In Chicago, I transfer to a flight to Copenhagen, where I will get on the plane that will take me to Moscow.

I still have some loose ends to take care of before I leave. Some books need to be returned to the library. My bags still need to be packed, and I will have to figure out how to get a few books and two weeks' worth of clothes into two suitcases, hopefully in a way that will not result in too large an assessment for excess baggage. And I need to gather together some paperwork I will need to present my school upon arrival.

All in all, though, I am looking forward to this adventure. I have every confidence that things will work out better in Russia than they did in Taiwan. I am not going to be a brand new teacher at a brand new school. I will be teaching adults. I will not be in an isolated situation where I am practically the only English speaker. And most importantly, I will be in a place where I have proper academic support and guidance, not two shysters who are always on the lookout for an excuse to get rid of me.

There is still a lot I don't know about what my situation in Moscow will be. I have no clear idea where I will be living, other than that it will most likely be in shared accommodations with another teacher at my school. I do not yet know whether my work will be primarily in-school or in-company.

But I know that whatever the particulars end up being, I will find a way to make it work. For the first time, I am going somewhere I really want to be going, to do something I really want to be doing. When I went to Taiwan, I went primarily because my life had fallen apart in New York and I felt I had no other choice. But Moscow is different. I have always wanted to see Russia, and this is likely to be my only chance to do so. This I can actually look at as an adventure, not an exile. And an adventure that is part of a bigger plan, as I have a definite plan to attend graduate school next fall and will continue to work towards that during my time in Russia.

Most of all, I look forward to being back in the saddle again, to being part of the world I have been out of for the last four months, and was out of for a year and a half before I left for Taiwan. I have had a tendency to fall into situations that isolate me from life. But I am going to work hard not to fall into isolation in Russia. I will have other teachers around me and will do my best to befriend them. I will find ways to get out on the weekends and not shut myself up in my apartment.

And I will come back home, far richer for the experience of having left.