I signed up for a life less ordinary, I should start living it that way...

The title is a quote from a girl I knew back in Suncheon. Her name escapes me, but it came up during a conversation where we were talking about how our life paths didn't exactly match what our friends were doing, what other people saw as "normal". It's about not just being at peace with, but embracing the somewhat strange life choices one has made.

And so...

In about three weeks, we're going to be heading to the UAE. While it's certainly an exciting time, it's also one that is full of stress for both of us. It's also a pretty exciting time...

We're getting married.

Like, for real.

Like. OH MY GOD.

Next Saturday, we'll have a small ceremony with some of our closest friends from our time in Korea (followed by our Going Away party/Reception).

The following Monday/Tuesday, we'll run around to various embassies in Seoul, trying to get appropriate stamps that will make it all legal. We only really have those two days to get everything done, as the South African embassy is closed from Dec 24 to Jan 2!!!

There are, of course, other things happening. Tomorrow, we're hoping to sell off/give away most of the things we have in our apartment. This is, naturally, making me think of the last time I did this - in Montreal 3 years ago. The downsizing is liberating, and we will be able to ship things to the UAE, but I'm still absolutely floored by how much one acquires just through the normal processes of life.

Speaking of shipping things, the cats are, literally, requiring more paperwork than the two of us put together. We know that we can't leave them behind here (not in a feline-unfriendly country where the ex-pat population is so in flux). Ty has been in communication with an animal transport company in Incheon, and a vet clinic in Abu Dhabi, and our own vet in Mokpo... I'm really lucky that I'm not going through all this alone.

And then there are other things too. When you leave Korea, you have a certain process to go through, including getting your pension back (that's on my list of things-to-do next week) and making sure that your school has paid up all the money they owe you before you close your bank account. I've watched friends go through this "simple" process, which inevitably turns into a most complicated and stressful time for them.

As the final day of term, and the first day of vacation for my school, is Dec 24, and in the interest of making it simpler for them, I proposed this idea: Make Dec 24 my last day of work, but let me keep my apartment until Dec 31. This way, I thought, everybody wins - they wouldn't have to pay me for the final week of December, and I would a) know that the paperwork was completed, with time to spare if/when they forget some key element and b) we wouldn't have to worry about where we would be living until we left, sometime in the first week of January. As no good deed goes unpunished, the reply from my school was that if my last day of work was on the 24th, I'd also have to leave the apartment on that day... Yup. Getting evicted at Christmas? No thank you!

I've taken back my offer and told them that my last official day of work will be the 31st but, as absolutely nobody speaks English at my school, and as everyone is on vacation from the 24th, I still don't know how it will all work out. Needless to say, this is not the time that I want to hear the ever-popular Korean "Maybe" from anyone!

Getting married, moving, changing jobs, going to another country - these are all complicated enough when you are in your own country and can make sense of what everyone is saying to you....

Of course, there's also the fact of saying goodbye to people who have been my friends, and the country that has been my home, for over two and a half years. I've always been on the other side of it, and while I am super-excited about experiencing a new place (and returning to the Middle East!), it's going to be very difficult to say goodbye to my friends.

Finally, there's the general freak-out in my brain about the new job. What if, after all this, I get there and I can't do it? Gaaaaah... can't even go there right now.

Wow... this has been a really long blog. And a cathartic one too. Thanks for reading and letting me blow off steam.

In short, here's what the next few weeks look like:

• Marrying the man I love (yay!)
• Legally marrying the man I love (yay!)
• Getting rid of stuff (boo? yay?)
• Convincing the cats that they'd better be good, or they'll be back on the mean streets of Asia...
• Saying goodbye to my friends (boo!)
• Saying goodbye to my students - it's impossible not to get attached after over a year! (boo! Except for the bad kids - yay!)
• Packing and shipping stuff (boo!)
• Packing and carrying stuff to Seoul (boo!)
• Arguing with my school over outgoing paperwork (boo!)
• Moving to a new country (yay!)
• Arriving in a new country, getting to the new apartment, unpacking, figuring out why our suitcases are in Madagascar and not Abu Dhabi, sneaking the cats in, getting settled and exploring a new place (boo! yay!)
• Starting a new job where I will put my experience, education and training to better use...(gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!)
• Heh... enjoying UAE school holidays that start about a week after we arrive (yay!)

I don't think I can put into words just how amazing it is to know that Ty and I are doing this together. It's the first step of our journey together, and a future that will probably be a bit less ordinary....