These past two months have been too short. I'm going to miss Australia. Packing is always miserable, it's like tearing off a band aid. I am worried about coming back and realizing how much I and Indianapolis have changed.
I have learned a lot about myself while here both as a person and teacher. Most importantly my relationship with God has deepened. When you live in a foreign country you have no safety net. Sure people will help you out but your family and close friends are thousands of miles away. Also, I have made some great friends, but there hasn't been someone who's been in my same position, a young single male American teacher in an Australian school. I've been forced by my circumstances to talk with God about how things are going. Also, I've had to trust God a lot more. Whether it's just getting to some place or feeling out of place at school, God has been a constant aid. Living in a foreign country has forced me to rely on him.
Those are some beginning thoughts on my experience, more to come.
I have learned a lot about myself while here both as a person and teacher. Most importantly my relationship with God has deepened. When you live in a foreign country you have no safety net. Sure people will help you out but your family and close friends are thousands of miles away. Also, I have made some great friends, but there hasn't been someone who's been in my same position, a young single male American teacher in an Australian school. I've been forced by my circumstances to talk with God about how things are going. Also, I've had to trust God a lot more. Whether it's just getting to some place or feeling out of place at school, God has been a constant aid. Living in a foreign country has forced me to rely on him.
Those are some beginning thoughts on my experience, more to come.
I totally understand where you're coming from! Being away from family and that safety net is so hard, but it's so awesome at the same time - it's bittersweet. During my travels I have cherished deeply the new perspective and depth in my relationship with God that it has allowed me. I love the clean slate a completely new place gives you - free from your habits or your culture or familiar people - to be able to explore with God in a new way.
ReplyDeleteCherish this time and reflect much on it! (Which I'm sure you will) :-)