I love the holidays and I knew that leaving home this time of year was going to be a little rough. Last year I was able to plan my trip so I missed only Easter and the minor summer holidays. This time around I am missing the BIG 3, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and all within the first few months of my trip. While I have been keeping myself busy, reading, writing my book, organizing the new apartment, and lesson planning, I have not really had the chance to meet people yet, which only made missing my first holiday a little bit harder to bear. It was a lonely Halloween for sure, especially when you are used to being around friends, dressing up like a weirdo and acting all kinds of foolish and ghoulish.
I really am okay though, and I am keeping my spirits high. School starts tomorrow, and I am sure I will meet tons of new people. The school houses grades K1 through upper primary, an there are several English speaking teachers assigned to each grade, so I am sure I will make friends in no time at all. I should also be keeping myself busy with my 11 classes of K1 students that I see twice a week. I'm really exciting to get started!
So that's it for now, living abroad is not all rainbows and skittles, and I guess that is what I wanted to get across in this post. Loneliness is inevitable, even when you are in your own home country. I am sure I will be feeling pangs of guilt, loneliness, and heart ache as the next couple of months progress. But, I am also looking forward to what is ahead of me. Its only one year of missed holidays, and I will power through and look to the good things I am doing and experiencing.
I'm posting a couple pictures of Halloween's past to make up for the missed debauchery this year :)