My world of speaking to people extended recently to a number of others living in different countries….all eager to move on.
The South Africans I speak to are jittery about the future of our country. The crime gets to them. The low salaries get to them. The bad economy gets to them. They want out. So they try find a job somewhere else. Going to teach in the Middle or Far East is never a ‘forever’ move. It’s temporary. It may be, depending on their age, for a couple of decades at most, but it can’t be beyond the age of 60. They will have to come back to South Africa and live out their days here if they can’t move to a country where emigration is a possibility.
What has taken me by surprise is the British I’ve spoken to who want to get out of Britain. The weather gets to them. The economy is getting to them. The teacher issues get to them. They want out!
Different countries, different issues.
When they arrive in their new teaching country, other things may quite possibly get to them. The weather may get to them there – incredibly hot. The very foreign culture may get to them. The teaching may get to them.
I spoke to one lady recently who had what she thought was a very smooth ride to her job in the Middle East. Everything went according to expectations, except she couldn’t adjust to the the lack of having her family. She stayed 2 months, resigned, worked until the end of the term and then left.
She phoned me to ask if she could go back.
No.
She can’t.
Once you have returned due to breaking your own contract, it will be close to impossible to get a job again.
You have to learn to be content.
If you feel discontent now and plan to move on, be sure to be prepared to adjust to wherever you are going. The discontentment that you feel where you are now may rise within you in a different form in the land to which you are headed. Loneliness, homesickness and culture shock are just three lots of emotional pain that may lead to discontentment.
You have to wait three to six months to adjust.
I’ve been touched by teachers who have written to say they are loving it. It has been just the right move for our family. We are loving it here.
I bet you she was making the most of her situation at home and that she was happy in SA but just looking for more money. She’s happy in the UAE.
I’ve also been touched by someone who said they feel so safe in the UAE, only to discover that she was not South African, but American! She was not feeling safe in the States! What about those South Africans who are rushing off to the US to escape the crime in SA?
And so I’m learning that there are so many trade offs in life. You trade one country for another, leaving crime for safety, but also leaving fabulous SA weather and lush landscapes for the heat of the desert. You leave close family relationships for homesickness. You leave lower salaries for much high income. You have to weigh up what you want. It has to be worth it.
For me, I’m happy to stay in Cape Town. It’s hard to beat.
I am on a forever journey. This world is not my home. I would love to get to see a bit more of it, but for the place that I call earthly home, I’m happy to have a Cape Town address. 🙂
Today I read the book of Ruth. What a treat. When Boaz met Ruth, he said to her:
Ruth 2:11-12
“I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband….may you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.”
That’s the best address going.
“Under God’s wings.”
There’s no place I’d rather be.
#284 of my 1000 thanks, is for a Cape Town address under God’s wings!
These are the days!
Keep the smile going.
God bless you!
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂