Oh To Be Transient - 9-5 Is Not For Me

  The world has modernised over recent years and the surge in electronic communication has meant that travel is becoming more and more common. Those wanting to write to those in Australia no longer have to wait a week for a letter to arrive because Skype means that loved ones can be video called in the space of a few seconds. You can literally have a virtual tour around someone's house in another country and give feedback right there and then. Transiency is also something which is becoming more and more a part of modern life as communication with those at home is now so much easier to maintain. Transiency is something I have come to accept as a part of my life as I know that most of the people in it are likely to vary from year to year as those who use TEFL as their jobs experience all of the different corners and cultures of the world.

  I developed a close knit group of friends last year and was reunited with them in September of this one as we all grouped together again after the summer. I remember feeling so relieved that they were all back where I could see them again, it was like being back amongst a makeshift and slightly dysfunctional family. These people have made my time here in Seville a memorable one and so it was with great delight that we were able to welcome another member back to the fold when he decided Columbia wasn't for him and decided to return to us a few weeks later; we had our final piece of the puzzle back and it was a really great feeling. We have another member of our family who comes and goes to and from Seville as her circumstances allow, it's always nice when she returns again but we accept that she can't spend all of her time here. In much the same way we also accept that we probably won't stay together forever because we will each be called off somewhere else one day in the future. Someone will choose to go home, someone will go to Japan, someone will stay in Seville, someone will go off to get married, someone will go to university, someone will start a family and someone else will do something else and eventually one day the group will disperse and there will be lots of fond memories of a couple of years spent together in an incredibly Mediterranean setting. We won't regret a thing and one day we will have a reunion in a dodgy social club somewhere up there in the north of England. It will rain, we will drink pints and we will fondly remember the times we spent together before our real lives start up again the next day. The reunion will be excellent and the hangover will be momentous.

  Acceptance of transiency is something else that I have become more and more used to as I have allowed my brain to reconnect itself back to the rest of my body over the last 11 months since the most recent collapse. I accept, understand and relish the fact that all of the people I meet are coming and going as they move about on their own game board. Some of them stay longer than others, some return and some wander off into the sunset never to be seen again, it's just the name of the game and you have to take the rough with the smooth, highs with lows and smiles with tears.

 I myself am quite transient in nature. I have always enjoyed the journey more than the destination itself. I remember as a child feeling quite disappointed when the driving adult would happily announce that the long journey was over and we could now get out of the car and partake in some funhaving. I was always a little sad because I very much enjoyed listening to music and daydreaming as I watched all of the things I saw speed past the window. I haven't changed in that sense, I still love the journey, I still feel excited by a long car or bus ride. Trains don't do it for me in the same way, I'm not sure why. I enjoy my journey to work, listening to music or reading. I like having a little think as I get ready to start my working day. What will I do today? How can I spice up the present perfect? Is there any conceivable way for me to put another clip from Modern Family on again without it becoming really obvious that I just love watching it? The journey is always the best part for me. It is the bit with all of the promise and the hope, anything can happen whilst you're still on the journey.

  I've decided that I want to continue being transient for the rest of my life. I want a base of course, a home somewhere with a big TV and kid's drawings on the fridge and a man in the garden messing about deadheading things. I'd like an office with a shiny computer and a nice picture on the wall for me to write my stories and plan my lessons. I'd also like a flat somewhere in Seville, somewhere in New Zealand and somewhere a little bit tropical as well so that I have the option of going elsewhere to write or think for a short while. You see, I have to keep the child inside of me alive because the little girl looking out of the window and enjoying the view is the only part of me that remains after many years of her body and her brain dis and then reconnecting. Transiency is my safe haven and the honest reason for it is because I enjoy a good wander around and a chance to smell the roses out there in the big wide world before the familiar sound of home starts to call out to me again and I realise I've been away for long enough and it's time to return to my mum, dad and sister with my arms wide open and a heart just full of love.