a roller coaster of emotions

today begins the month-long countdown to our departure (that is, providing all of our documentation is sent out in time in order to secure our working visas..) and the mix of emotions is mind-boggling. how quickly feeling overwhelmed and terrified can transform into bubbling excitement mixed with impatient energy to go, go, GO!

the decision to partake in this adventure came rather quickly for the two of us. teaching abroad was something i'd always considered post-university. i had even gotten to the initial planning stages shortly after retiring that rented cap n' gown. however, somehow, the adventure got lost and forgotten in the bustle of early alumni life: backpacking europe, securing a successful career with potential growth, and all the other yada yada yada that comes along with that well-trodden path to adulthood. i followed along on my "merry" way, until WHAM, one day reality hits you in the face and.. wait a second.. is this what i want to be doing? is this where i want to be? i'm supposed to be fulfilled and challenged, and yet something is making me restless. it's not time to settle down just yet. everything happens for a reason, and you're handed a big glass of perspective and told to follow your heart. and here's where i am.

my partner-in-crime has a story of his own, but somehow life landed us in similar adventure-seeking, nothing-doing-at-home situations. so here's where our foreign story begins.

i should responsibly relish the next thirty days+ and get myself organized. i've got an apartment to move out of, with an apartment's worth of furniture to find something to do with. i've got a beloved hatchback to find a year-long babysitter for. there are trips to the doctor, the dentist, the eye doctor. appointments at the consulate. canceling cell phone plans. organizing my entire life. visits and goodbyes to family and friends and all who will be missed.

and in the meantime, i keep following/creeping/watching every single instructional video of these two and wriggling in the mix of emotions.

life-180, here we come.