I realize my blog post below was a little...ermm, over the top. I couldn't stop reading those horror story comments. My awe left me unable to edit that middle bit.
In the desire to prove how wrong that article was, the comments seemed to try to point out just how awful and terrible being in the FS is.
It was like being unable to look away from a car wreck. I couldn't stop.
Must look away. Must look away. Avert my gaze.
7 comments:
Wow, it was really interesting to read that compilation you did in your last entry.
Thanks for putting it together! My husband and I read it with our jaws dropping just the least little bit...
Yes, do avert your eyes from the car crash. It's not worth looking at for long.
You've likely read enough of these FS blogs to know that life IS good in the FS. You DO survive & can even thrive in overseas homes. Some days are more taxing than others but the same is true in the US.
All of this to say you'll be fine. Don't pay too much attention to the ones who paint an awful picture OR to the person who paints too rosy of a picture either. The truth falls right in the middle. You've got a lot more interesting things to think about as you prepare this next step than whether or not there's fecal matter in your water. (Your home water, BTW, is filtered. You'll wash your foods with bleach & water. There are ways to survive and you'll find them all).
I'm the person who was refered to as going deaf in those comments (at least, I hope I am - I'd hate to think there are lots of us). On the plus side, though, I just got an hour-long massage for 20 bucks yesterday in Beijing. So you see? There's good and bad. The problem is that the highs are so high, and the lows are so low, that if you pay too much attention to either end, your head starts spinning. Everyone who sticks it out in the FS does it because we love something about it. But all of us get infernally pissed off when someone tells us how easy we have it. We don't. It can be really, really hard, and we're all sacrificing one way or another to make it work. Ultimately, though, we're choosing to do it. And that's because there are more highs than lows. No worries: you'll get your horror-story badge of honor eventually, but whatever it is, you'll get through it.
Like Donna says, you'll get through it... with plenty of us at your side (literally and virtually). It really is a small world and you aren't tossed out there all alone. btw... Today, is a good day, like the majority of them tend to be. I am 'getting through it', with new patio furniture. Kids were home from school, sick with colds.. as kids are wont to do... and the guys from the warehouse showed up to set us up with a new table, umbrella, and chairs in the garden. By the afternoon, despite sniffly noses and mild fevers, my little sickies were outside in their PJs, having their snack in the sunshine. :)
The comments to the "article" scared the crap out of me, too--but the comments to your postings have reinforced why I want to do this crazy thing!
And ultimately, you will find that going in with your eyes open will make you more satisfied in the long run. The lows won't surprise you and the highs will thrill you.
I have no regrets about joining. I have experienced some definite lows, and like Donna said, it pisses me off when people talk about how easy we have it. But I wouldn't trade it, and I am itching to go back overseas. I have experienced things most Americans can only dream of and I got to do it while serving my country.
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