for sale: a slightly-used life, but still got some miles to go yet! friendly, outgoing personality, sense of humour, polite - someone you'd introduce to your parents...bit of a talker with tendency to sidebar without segue....body a 'fixer-upper' for anyone interested putting in the work. life also includes mediocre job complete with low wage and crap hours. $1000 o.b.o. will also consider interesting trades.
i've decided that i need to go back to taiwan. the reasons are largely financial, with some of the blame being shifted onto professional growth and making just a tiiiiiiny bit of room for adventure. as soon as i came to this realization i really did feel a giant weight lifting off of my shoulders (as cliched as that sounds) now as i write i guess i've really never stopped thinking about how good life was while we were there, why we left, why we weren't going to go back, blah, blah, blah but i really should have just come to the conclusion of going back sooner rather than later.
the plan is to save, save, save...that also happened to be the plan before, but we opted for fun more than saving last time. this time i know that it will be different as i know awaits me here at home and it ain't pretty. it's not that i can't take life here....settling down actually sounds alright but i just can't see that happening on my current wage of $1300/month. back at our old salaries, we would be able to survive, pay all bills back home, and still save a a third of what we'd make.
overall, the improvements to life would be significant, if not downright vast....we'd be back in a city we love (albeit noisy & dirty at times) we'd be able to shop for things again (yah stuff!) we could eat excellent, cheap food and take excellent, cheap holidays as well. while there are arguments on the other side of the pro's (aren't there always?) lest we forget the retraining and improvement of chinese language skills, with the possibility of attending university to study graphic art? who knows. elisha has also considered doing her masters in education which would definitely help when she gets home.
more money, cheaper, improved lifestyle, more travel, cultural experiences around every corner, the promise of a brighter tomorrow....what can't this change do for us? considering this is the first blog i've written in this haphazardly-updated blog in a while that contains any enthusiasm whatsoever, i'd also have to say it would improve the quality of writing and pique my creativity.
the one and only thing that could darken our decision is the way we are going to finance our new life abroad. the family is planning our reception for this summer, so we expect to receive some wedding money. not really expecting anything, but it would definitely give us our start-up capital and allow us to advance these plans to this summer. the question then is how you look at the situation. the money will be given to us to spend as a couple in order to start our lives together. the traditional way of thinking assumes that the monies will be spent on household items, not international travel. some might think it rude to claim the money under the pretense of starting a life, only to abandon said "life" a few short weeks later. some may even think of asking for a refund.
then again, some may have a different outlook. the positive way of thinking about it is to remain neutral. once the money is given, the couple should be able to do whatever they want with it, irregardless of what that want is.
the last stance on the issue is also favourable but will take into consideration initial shock at hearing of how the wedding money was spent. after that first bit of surprise, understanding will take place as the person will realize that the cash was an extremely helpful tool to invest in our future (plane tickets) which we will then be able to increase that money. after that, we'll come back with the means to realize some dreams.
