Saturday, July 5, 2008

It’s a winding road

Exactly one year ago I got on a plane with a backpack and two suitcases and officially became an expat. What followed is an era of great excitement and satisfaction, but also frustration and disappointment. The greatest adventure of my life turned out to also be one of the most difficult. Had I know that, I might not have attempted – or I would have at least thought twice about it. But is it worth it? Hell, yeah. I don’t want to dissuade anyone who might be thinking of taking a giant leap, so maybe I should focus on the glamorous side. But, on the other hand, there are always people so much better at that than I am.

You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafés.

--Ernest Hemmingway

2 comments:

EC said...

haha im putting that as my favorite quote on facebook. dedicated to you.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for writing this.