That kid is more worldly than I am.
Though I recognize the immaturity of being jealous of a 6 year old, the need for adventure was enough to make me reach for another glass of champagne. I mean, I went from traveling all over Europe for a year to spending half of one in the same town ...Never mind Caribbean islands, I haven't traveled further than my COTTAGE since the summer.
Where are the life-threatening, wild hero-sweeping situations I had dreamed of as a child? If "life is either a great adventure or nothing" (as Helen Keller said) then I have fallen into the nothing. I've become restless.
So this was the point when I declared to everyone: "I'm going to teach English in India."
What back-stabbers.
....the fact half of my family believed me, however, came as such a surprise that the idea went from an absurdity to a possibility in the span of 3 seconds. The fact my parents (making loud exclamations of mock-protest) were among the non-believers made me think:
Where are the life-threatening, wild hero-sweeping situations I had dreamed of as a child? If "life is either a great adventure or nothing" (as Helen Keller said) then I have fallen into the nothing. I've become restless.
So this was the point when I declared to everyone: "I'm going to teach English in India."
Ha! Take that, parents. Because, really, while I was dreaming of being an editor for some big-shot company (my dreams have holes, I know, but I was going to find a name for this said company soon) and having a bestseller that would launch me into super-star book-dome, they were under the impression that I would become a teacher... Fine then, I'll teach: In Syberia India.
Because, really, what else are you going to do with a Bachelor of Arts and an English Literature major and French Studies minor? they were thinking.
Because, really, what else are you going to do with a Bachelor of Arts and an English Literature major and French Studies minor? they were thinking.
What back-stabbers.
....the fact half of my family believed me, however, came as such a surprise that the idea went from an absurdity to a possibility in the span of 3 seconds. The fact my parents (making loud exclamations of mock-protest) were among the non-believers made me think:
If not India, then what the hell am I going to do with my life?
I am not saying there's anything wrong with being a teacher—my mom is a high-school teacher, my dad the principal of my old high-school; the profession is entirely respectable. I just don't want my kids to have to live through those awkward summer teacher-gatherings I lived through, my sister and I hiding in my room while debating the merits (if there were any) of entering the "teacher zone" downstairs to retrieve food.
No, being a teacher is not OK. What I realised, however, is that it's not the teaching profession itself that's scared me, just the idea that I would turn into my parents. And there's nothing wrong with my parents, I love them, I just don't want to BE them.
So hence the idea of teaching in India.
If you could have a job anywhere, anyplace, anytime, what would it be? Because I'm not too sure what mine is anymore.
