Parallel Lives

Transitions are VERY difficult for me. I feel as though I have two parallel lives. My life as a mother, wife, daughter, sister and friend in London, Ontario and then my life as an international school principal, friend and colleague here in Beijing. Rarely these two lives meet and how both lives seem to be all or nothing.

When I go home I really really try to put my heart and soul into my family and friends. I want to be in the moment and to spend as much time with them all as I can. I try and catch up with as many people as possible and enjoy a very rich and active social life. I also try and indulge in all of my favorite things and comforts from home.

This last trip was a bit of a mix of both but I had the privilege of spending a great deal of time with my family and friends as well as continuing the hiring process. I attended the TORF fair in Kingston and then scheduled a series of Skype interviews throughout the 2 weeks home. The beauty of Skype is that you can do it anywhere. Sitting on the back patio in Sarasota, Florida, in a hotel room in Ann Arbor. Wherever you have a computer and WIFI. The follow up is also easy with Google forms and email. I was able to request references and complete recommendations for hire and return through email! After all was said and done I was able to hire 4 and possibly 5 candidates as well as review three others our Head of School interviewed and offer them positions! SUCCESS!

I connected with my colleagues from TVDSB and even found time to visit my old school to wish my former secretary a Happy Retirement. I attended the Council of Ontario Directors of Education annual meeting where my bestie Catherine Zeisner presented on behalf of Microsoft at the very beginning of my trip and then a week later met up with her again in Florida to write our article/book for 5 days. This professional learning was deep and rejuvenating. I always do my BEST work when I have Catherine by my side. We have a chemistry and a rhythm that is hard to explain but really works for us both.

I tried to spend as much time with my family as I could. My husband carved a few days in his schedule for me before he headed to Russia on a business trip and we managed to celebrate my birthday. I visited my parents as much as I could and my in-laws spent the night and drove me to the airport for my flight back to China. I saw Harrison ad Griffin and tried to make the best of the time we had together. I left feeling good about the time we had together and loved every second of being with them.

My heart was full, my body rested and my mind clear as I hopped back on the plane to Beijing.

I landed Saturday night and headed for my apartment exhausted as I NEVER sleep on the flight. I arrived to a bag of few groceries left outside my door and a birthday present from my close friend Joey! He had taken the time to get me the things I needed to survive for the evening and morning and some AMAZING Vietnamese coffee. I ate the delicious Great Leap pizza my FAVOURITE and began unpacking.

I began the challenge of finding a home in my small space for all of the new items I brought back. This requires organizing and reorganizing. After all was said and done I decided to go to bed early so that I could try and get 10-12 hours of sleep and tackle the jet lag.

Sunday I woke up and prepared to head out to breakfast with Joey to catch up and then to the TCM doctor for my appointment. I loved visiting our favourite breakfast place and then walking through the familiar neighborhoods with the blue sky and sun shining and clean air! When I got home I delivered all the items I had brought back for friends and then met up with my VP to reconnect and get organized for the upcoming week.

I am excited to go back to work tomorrow. I missed the kids, the staff and the work! I LOVE my work! It is so rewarding and I know the second I step through the door I will be so happy to be there. As hard as it is to leave my family and friends and return to work I find such joy and fulfillment in the work and the relationships I have formed here.

It is so hard to explain how you can be two people and have two lives. How you have to compartmentalize and switch gears. How your two lives rarely come together and how you wish they could. How you miss so many little things for each life when you are away from it. How you have such close family and friends in one life and your friends are your family in another. How you wish you could combine all the best things from each life into the other. How transitioning from one place to another isn’t just physical but mental and emotional as well. How blessed you feel to have the opportunity to take risks and to follow your heart knowing what you leave behind.

I know the next few days will be difficult but as Jenny said to me only 17 school weeks left until a summer back home!

3 thoughts on “Parallel Lives

  1. What an amazing read in the early morning. It’s too powerful and inspirational. Your school, staff, students, community, family, and friends are blessed to have you.

  2. Thanks again for sharing such personal and honest insights. Your story reminds me of an essay by Mitali Perkins in Teaching Tolerance: we hope that our students will be “strong enough to balance the best of many worlds.” The liminal spaces we occupy as transnational educators and learners, afford us a unique perspective – on both the local and the global – a view that is essential for us to live together in an increasingly diverse and globalized 21st-century world. I appreciate you sharing your story.

  3. Another awesome Blog….. you are such a wonderful and energizing woman…. Happy to have you as my Best Friend and Wife….Keep up your amazing work!!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *