I’ve chosen (for now, anyway) not to have media in my home. No TV, no Internet… I don’t even have a phone (for now). I don’t get any newspapers, but Oprah arrives via her magazine (the only one I get right now) each month. Mom sends me Grey’s Anatomy, which I look forward to all the time (though it’s not as funny this season as last). (Update: iTunes is a godsend.) I am going to get a way to play music, because I miss it and I notice it lifts my mood automatically, every time. Today I will buy a boom box or something.
In Idaho I had TiVo and watched a LOT of television. Here, I get so much more done, I think. It’s a good thing, too, because the work load is about three times as much.
It’s strange to never see a newspaper, though. I still rarely walk Mufasa down into town along the lake, one of the main things I wanted to do with all the time I used to spend watching television. Mostly I just work, though. After the house is set up, I will do that.
We have two weeks off from classes starting today. The kids are on academic travel and I don’t lead a trip this semester. Patti arrives Sunday and I still need to get the house in order. In Italy and Switzerland, there are no light fixtures when you arrive. I have light bulbs hanging from wires out of the ceiling. It’s just one of those little cultural differences.
Here’s the image I came up with for what I’m creating in my life. I have no idea how I’ll get from here to there…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
That is so funny, did you know that you hooked me on Grey’s Anatomy? I thought of you during the season premier and wondered if you were going to be able to watch it. It’s funny but I’ve noticed the same thing with my favorite shows, the old mood lifter.
Yay that you have some time off. That’s good. Looking forward to connecting soon. love,
H
Hey, I just watched my first episode of Grey’s Anatomy tonight – on your recommendation, as a matter of fact! Dr. Derek is suave, isn’t he?
I am thinking about your comments about the job not being a “good fit,” your feeling like you are floating, etc., and my first reaction is that surely some of those feelings must be inevitable in a transition of the magnitude you have just made. You are in a new academic setting, in a new country, a new culture, new acquaintances, everything is new, unfamiliar, disconcerting (except the chocolate and yogurt, of course!), that it would be even more odd if you felt you just “clicked,” that it was easy… Any one of those transitions by itself would be plenty to process, but all of them together– surely it will take time to find a sense of your own place in your new context, to even begin to feel somewhat settled. I would think it wisest to let yourself float for a while, to crest along on all these waves of novelty and just indulge them, without too much worry for the future. Somehow I think the pieces of your appealing collage (wha’d you do, make a cool poster and then scan it?) will begin to materialize. Of course, all that I’m saying here could be simply a subconscious effort to mask my self-interested desire for you still to be there when I come over to visit in June of 2007…but I’ll own that, too! No, really, I would imagine that all you are feeling is very much to be expected now that the initial arrival, meeting students/colleagues, getting situated, etc., has happened and now you get to deal with this as “home” — sort of “who and where I am” right now… Be good to yourself, and don’t let fear or uncertainty dictate what you do. I’d say give this two years — if anything, just for the cross-cultural experience, even if the job turns out to be a pain you don’t want long-term. And then you can introduce me personally to the marvelous food and gorgeous men (well, I can admire them at least, can’t I?) when I come see you, seasoned Swiss-Italian expat that you’ll be by then…
I realize I’ve replied to this post before reading your more recent ones…am catching up in chronological order. Let’s see what else has been going on in your life and head.
Miss you! Thought of you when I was having fun doing jazz karaoke with some of my choir friends the other night. We definitely need to sing together sometime, in some context!
Love to you, and peace, and FAITH –
Wendy