The Beginning of a Journey

So here it is. My first entry on my first blog which will hopefully be packed full of interesting tales by the time this is all done.

As some of you know I have had a very interesting time since graduation. First worrying about getting a job at all to being faced with three jobs consecutively. I have played several roles in these positions from semi military man to hard nose reporter to partisan political staffer. I have enjoyed every minute of it and wouldn't change any of it for the world.

But these last six months also came at a price. I found myself afterwards without any goals or ambitions. I had done a stint in the military, been a professional reporter (thanks Laura) and held a very lucrative position in the federal government, sometimes being privy to some of the government's top secrets.

Luckily I was let go just before the Christmas holidays which allowed me to return to friends and family to figure out the next stage of my life. Now I am not sure how many people I have told this to but I have always, since childhood, wanted to have a job where I could travel abroad. Since entering journalism at Carleton University I felt that meant being a foreign correspondent.

There turned out to be a problem with this though. Canadian media do not publish a lot of news from foreign correspondents. In their mind there is simply not enough interest among Canadians for them to send out reporters to the far reaching areas of the globe. Therefore my dream job, the one ambition that always stood at the back of my mind waiting for a chance to be freed has been to go overseas and to be a freelance journalist.

While looking for a job in May, just after graduation this dream wasn't possible. It was simply too big of a challenge. There is the one universal challenge that is known throughout all the cultures of the world and it is....you guessed it, money. However since my stint in my previous positions I have accumulated a decent amount of financial backing.

So I first decided to travel through Africa, writing stories on development, struggle and hope. My parents, friends and family were needless to say less than thrilled. But I assured them the country I was going to base myself out of was stable and would remain that way for sometime.
I had no means of financially providing for myself but I felt I wanted to see what it was like to walk in the footsteps of Stephanie Nolan, or at least get the travel bug out of my system.

My plans to give into this ambition were just started when the political struggles began in Kenya, the stable African nation I had told friends and family I would base out of. And like that my African dream was extinguished before it could begin.

So instead I decided to go a different direction. Before being brainwashed by Carleton Journalism I had always had an interest in perhaps becoming a teacher. It was a profession where I could positively change people's lives and help them towards their own dreams. In the end, I decided to combine both freelance and teaching ambition. I would teach english as a second language overseas in part of the world which was gaining prominence, Asia.

It wasn't hard to begin looking. It would seem that Asian nations are looking for native english speakers more than the reverse order. I soon had several people looking on my behalf for schools interested in my limited teaching experience.

The reason I have started this blog today is because I finally have seen the fruits of my labour. In my hand right now are two different contracts to teach english as a second language. Both start on April 7, and I couldn't be more thrilled.

This blog will be a log of sorts. It will chronicle my challenges as I fly halfway around the world to a place where I don't speak the language and only have a slight understanding of their culture. It will also be a forum for the several features and photos I plan to create.

If nothing else it will serve as an update into my life for my friends and family.

This is the most I have written in some time so I will leave it at that. But be expected to hear more about my journey as I go through the Visa process.