I know I am not doing a very good job of keeping up with my blog, but I always seem to find myself SOOO busy. Before moving to Greece, I thought life here would be less hectic and more relaxed, but the grass is not greener on the other side. I am not saying that life is bad, because by no means is it, it is just SO busy! Greeks tend to work to live unlike the American live to work, but I guess in my case you can't take the American out of America (not quite sure if that is the saying-but I think you know what I mean). I was excited about all the free time that I would have, but I am still waiting for that free time!
This is what a normal weekday looks like:
-wake up around 6:30am
-swim or run for ~45 minutes
-be at school around 8:30
-9:00-3:45 at school with the kids
-3:34-5:00ish at school getting work done, planning, correcting...you name it
-5:30 lift or bike
-7:30 make dinner
-8:00 eat dinner and sometimes do a little more work or relax and watch something online
-9:30 get ready for the next day
-10:00 go to bed...
And do it all again the next day..I mean there is some variation. Like today, I went and got a much needed haircut (I think it had been 6 months since the last cut) so I didn't get home till 7:45 and I still needed to get on my bike-so I am now eating dinner at 9:15...I do have the luxury of making my own choices and only having to take care of just me (more on that later). I also don't have to work out...really I don't but if you know me and I can't work out, you don't want to be around me. In college, I got a stress fracture and I was on crutches for three months and I could do NO EXERCISE. NOTHING. No swimming, no biking, no moving basically..I just crutched to school... I was not a very friendly person. I don't know how my boyfriend at the time put up with me...he is a saint...But this is true, I don't need to work out this much...I just want to continue my success as a triathlete. I have high hopes for myself and I want to be successful.
Also, during the work day I get a lot more breaks than when I taught in the States, but they go by so fast!! I do like things to be in order, but I don't consider my self a perfectionist by any means, because I am not at all perfect. I think I am just slow. (the exception with that being athletics, which is an okay place to be faster :)) It takes me a longer time to get things done than the average person. This is something that I have always known about myself but I try to think it's not true. But it is.
Anyways I think this is just a fact about myself that I need to become at peace with..but there is no time!
So, as usual December snuck up on us all! December not only means Christmas but also another birthday. This year I will be 29...my last year as a 20 something..EKK!!!! As a kid I sure did not picture myself being here in Greece or also still single. Again, not saying those things are bad, because they are both GREAT, but I never would have dreamed it. I always thought that I would find my husband during college, but that never happened so I never really had a second plan. I am thankful for my past relationships and what I have learned from them and the person those experiences have turned me into. I know that my Prince Charming is out there somewhere, probably on a bike, running, or in the pool swimming (or maybe on the sidelines cheering for me) and he will show up when the time is right. I am excited for this new year and what it has to offer. Oh and I can't forget about the yearly Birthday Run! Yes, friends, the tradition still carries on in Greece! Hopefully the weather will cooperate, although I did see one snow flake on Wednesday-yes friends 1 snow flake! Salt Lakers I miss the snow! I know some of you hate it, but it is just so pretty and white and you can ski in it!!!!
Alright, I think the post is just about ready to be over. Thanks for reading!! I miss all my friends back home so much, but I am also so thankful for my friends that I have made here in Greece.
Live love laugh.
PS. Just two comments about how the small the world is.
#1 One of the parents from my class is from Palmerston North, a smallish town in New Zealand where I studied abroad my junior year!
#2 Another parent in my class lived in Visalia, where my sister lives, for a year in college. Again Visaila is a smallish city in California that you wouldn't really go to unless you lived there.
It is just incredible how small the world is and also how amazing the people are that you meet along the way.
Downtown Vienna :) At one of the Christmas Markets :)
In Slovakia.
Shanna, the school nurse and I. I may have also danced and pretended I was an owl on this table...maybe....
Outside a running store in Vienna. I love running and I love seeing others (even if the statue isn't real)
