All Change

Lately I seem to be living up to the 'Accidental' part of my Nom de Plume. My plans to travel to Australia and New Zealand have all come tumbling down.

I should have read the signs, there were enough of them: firstly, the four weeks teaching work I was supposed to get in Germany in October shrank down to one week. I had planned that those four weeks would pay for my plane tickets.
Then there was the whole social welfare fiasco - I applied back in mid October and it is only as of today that I have started getting any money from the state.
So it should have been clear to me for months that I couldn't afford to go backpacking but I had my blinkers on and my head down. I was simply not letting reality intrude on my fantasy.

I finally bowed to the inevitable last Wednesday week and admitted that I was not jetting off on any Antipodean adventures any time soon. I conceded defeat with all the grace and decorum of an overtired three year old! That day was a real 'long dark tea time of the soul', after which my poor mother will never again worry that I'm not 'in touch with my feelings'!


I'm relieved to report however, that once I cleared Australia and New Zealand from my agenda, my life has begun to coalesce into a real focus.
I made a bargain with God - I'll apply for absolutely every TEFL job I come across and leave everything after that up to Him.
So far I have applied for jobs in Spain, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The only nibbles I'm getting back are coming from South Korea.

Did I say nibbles? They're about biting my hand off! The only reason I don't have a job already is that this week is a national holiday for Korean New Year. As it is I have two phone interviews lined up for Monday morning with Korean recruitment agencies.

So as of this evening it looks like I'm heading to Korea, but if I have learned anything this year it is the utter futility of planning. These days I'm wallowing in fatalism and just living by the maxim 'Let Go and Let God'.

I'll let you know how that works out!