about me

December 27, 2011:  I am a nomad, a pilgrim, a vagabond, a wanderer.  I discovered the art of living and working abroad, and now I’m hopelessly addicted. I love this world, full of surprises and adventures, and I love exploring as many nooks and crannies of it as I possibly can.  I hope I can do this for a long time to come.

yours truly at the mutrah souq

I love pushing myself outside of my comfort zone.  I come to this adventure late in life, and I figure I better do my wandering now before there is no time left!  I have a yearning to make my life as interesting and rich as possible in this second half of my life.

Last year I taught English at the public schools in South Korea.  I taught at two elementary schools in Seongju, home of the yellow melon, and I lived in west Daegu.  It was my first experience living and working abroad, and though Korea was a huge challenge for me, it’s was one of the most transforming experiences of my life.

at the Muscat Gate Museum

This past summer I went back to Virginia for 6 months, and during that time, I taught Speaking and Listening at Northern Virginia Community College.  I loved teaching there, but it was only an adjunct position, the pay was lousy, and I had to pay taxes.  In the ESL world, which I have fallen into purely by accident, teaching abroad pays the best.  And it offers the greatest opportunities and adventures.

So.  Here I am in Nizwa, Oman, teaching English at the University of Nizwa.  Right now, I’m working my way up the learning curve, trying to understand the culture and the expectations at the university.  I hope to eventually settle in and stay here for a couple of years. Insha’allah.

me in Aurangabad, India

Here are some of my favorite quotes that might give you some hints about me:

“Who are these kids and why are they calling me mom?”

“Being unstable and bitchy is all part of my mystique.”

“The first 40 years of parenthood are always the hardest.”

“Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.”
~William James

me at the taj mahal, march 2011

“History does not repeat itself; it only rhymes.”
~Robert Brigham, Professor of History, Vassar College

“Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn!”
~Rhett Butler in “Gone With the Wind”

“Send me out into another life
lord because this one is growing faint
I do not think it goes all the way.”
~W.S. Merwin “Words from a Totem Animal”

Experience life in all possible ways — good-bad, bitter-sweet,
dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don’t be afraid
of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become.
~ Osho

yours truly in Jordan

“Being solitary is being alone well: being alone luxuriously immersed in doings of your own choice, aware of the fullness of your own presence rather than the absence of others.” ~Alice Koller

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
~ Mark Twain

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the
barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” rumi

‎

in Busan, South Korea. April 2010.

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.”~ Fyodor Dostoevsky

Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born. ~Anais Nin

You create your future with the power of your intention. Intention is simply the conscious act of determining your future now. Health, harmony in relationships, happiness, money, creativity, and love will come to you in the future, based on your intentions now.

Intend every day and create your future life. (The Secret Daily Teachings)

“Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures.”
– Lovelle Drachman

Don’t be afraid your life will end; be afraid it will never begin.
– Grace Hansen

What you think of me is none of my business. ~ Byron Katie

Self-actualized people are independent of the good opinions of other people. ~ Wayne Dyer

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” ~Helen Keller

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” ~Philip Roth.

“The desire to write grows with writing.” ~ Desiderius Erasmus

“The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.” ~ Emily Dickinson

“Do not chase people. Be you and do your own thing and work hard. The right people who belong in your life will come to you, and stay.” ~ Wu Tang

Every single thing that has ever happened in your life is preparing you for a moment that is yet to come.

“The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” ~ Saint Augustine

“All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake up in the day to find it was vanity, but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.” ~ T.E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph

“Photoshop your life.  Touch up the edges, adjust the tones, blur out the background and crop people out.” ~ Unknown

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