Sometimes I sit down to write and get so frustrated as to what in the hell I should write about that I just shut my laptop and walk away. There are so many things that happen in a day or a week that I want to write about, that excite me, make me giggle with happiness or make me want to curl up and cry. I find myself censoring things because the blog is supposed to be about how exciting and adventurous my expat life is. Truth is, sometimes the only one it excites is me. I feel like there is such a demand to feed the people with this crazy international life and all of it's exotic tales of danger and conquer. My fiends back home wait with baited breath after they ask, "What's going on in your life? Are you traveling anywhere? What did you do this weekend? I bet you did something so amazing? Tell me. Tell me now."
I went to a birthday party this weekend.
Oh. Did you do anything else? Ya know, exciting?
Umm...the party was a lot of fun. It was exciting, I mean. I met a lot of new people. Had real western cake.
Oh. Well, that's cool.
I want to say, yeah actually it is cool. Western cake is amazing, and I miss it. I'm tired of this cool whip/sweet potato cake crap at Paris Baguette.
I want to write about how I fixed my own washing machine, how I can order an entire meal in another language. I want to tell you about the boy I had coffee with, who even though his English is weak, we had a fantastic conversation. How I've never had a thing for brown eyes, but his were beautiful. I'd write about how I die a little bit inside each time someone tells me that this "traveling and living abroad thing" is just a phase and when it's over I can settle down and get married. I want to post about riding shot gun in a car (so rare here!) or about God. Just God. How much I'm in love with him and how I desperately need him all the time.
So maybe in all actuality, cerealandchopsticks is telling the story of a girl who is changing, all the time whether that be through sticking her hand down a dark nasty dank hole to fix her washing machine and being triumphant, or falling for the wrong guy. I love Korea. I seriously love this country and fall a little bit more in love every week, and I want the next five months to go by very slowly. But, I'm not going to write about all these "Eat, Pray, Love" moments all the time. I'm going to write about how she's changing me; how God is leading me through this wayward life I love dearly.
Point is, the purpose of this blog isn't to be a side dish to a travel book. It's for me. It's mine. All mine.
like. like. like. like. Love.
ReplyDeletep.s. this is me hitting the imaginary like button that your blog really needs.
Love you sister.
i think anyway who tells you that traveling is just a phase, does not know you very well. While it may not always look the same, I truly believe you have a beautiful travelers spirit and that you will do much more traveling your life and possibly more living abroad! I always figured you would be my friend that is abroad...
ReplyDeleteAlthough it may not be "exciting" to your audience all the time. I think the exciting part is that you have developed a life for yourself there and that is what living abroad should be all about. Engulfing yourself in the culture, good or bad, experiencing it all!
I love you! And I do wait with baited breath to read your blogs, because I love your writing and it warms my heart that my friend, after many years of living in different areas of NC, has found a new country to call home, even if only temporarily.
Miss you!
Like Jen said.. I also look forward to your blogs because I love your writing. I also love the way God is growing and changing you through the big and small things of everyday life.
ReplyDelete