Changing

Never assume that you know what will happen tomorrow or next year because things can change so quickly – whether you like it or not. In the past couple years I’ve gotten a travel bug. It’s a neat little bug because it makes me go places that my better judgment would never let me go to. Like Beijing. Nutty.

I remember calling my friend Emily from Rimouski last year about my weekend in Tadoussac, QC. It was a spontaneous trip to a little tourist town on the other side of the St.Lawrence to go whale-watching. It was something I’d always wanted to do and I got to do it. 

But a simple 3 ½ hour drive turned into 9 hours each way because the ferry was closed so we had to drive all the way around the River. We ended up staying in a youth hostel in a basement room that wasn’t really a room. They were overbooked so we were on mattresses on the floor in a storage room in the basement with strangers. Trust was required. If you followed my other blog while I was in Quebec for a year, you may remember this post. 

Anyway, when I called Em to tell her about it she was amazed. She said “The Becca I used to know would never have done that.” I thought it was funny because I hadn’t given the situation a second thought. I had changed in just a few months away from home in a different province. Similar to how I’d changed when I moved to Moncton for university. 

Travelling and moving changes you exponentially. I can’t even imagine how living in Beijing will change me.

On Thursday of last week, everything became so much more real for me. We booked our flights and now we leave on August 14^th. What am I thinking?! J I was sitting on a curb outside on my lunch break and made the call. Since that call, things have been spiralling into place as I make list after list (you know how much I love lists) of things I need to do. I ended up designating a notebook as my China notebook for planning.

I have also found out which subjects I’m teaching. The internet searching has begun. The curriculum perusing, the idea-jotting, the pre-planning for things I probably can’t even prepare for. I love it. I’m such a nerd but that’s okay with me if it’s okay with you (actually, even if it’s not okay with you I’m still okay with it). I’m teaching high school drama and English tentatively but I likely won’t know all the details until I’m there.

Any of you have pieces of advice? Lesson plans that you think would be good? Travel advice? OR, if you have a story about your own changes through travelling, please throw them at me!