I took another big step yesterday. It was telling the school that the marking and course is too much for me. I’ve never done that. The can-do attitude has perhaps been my downfall, taking on too much. I feel this is important for my healing. I don’t even really believe in being uber-positive anymore. You end up putting up with stuff for too long.
These are my thoughts.
I’m so thankful for the years of teaching English. I met many cool people, travelled and learnt all about the English language.
In Wonderlust, I too took from my experience in the classroom but it was also my time in Lucerne learning German. There are a lot of refugees at the language schools in Switzerland and it was super interesting and enlightening to learn about their lives. I included this in the book and found it good to contrast it with Sarah’s “first world problems”.
“So what if I’d flown into Zurich airport and been picked up and delivered by a bandy-legged Italian? The teacher moved onto teaching us a past tense they don’t even use here in Switzerland and there was no opportunity for me to tell of how hard I’d worked to save for this trip, how I’d gone against the grain and cashed in my mortgage, and how I too was fighting to save my life, in the metaphorical sense at least. I’d also have liked to tell about the high rate of inflation in West Australia, shock them with how much a beer costs or a coffee, and explain about our two-tiered economy and the mining industry. I might add that we have the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, and how our farmers suffer frequently from droughts. Don’t these things count?
I sat there arguing my case, attempting to dissolve the lump of guilt that sat in my gut. Moments before I’d been worrying about my chocolate intake and analysing that caffeine-induced groping for the 57th time. I realised once again that I needed to become a woman of substance. How could I know so much about Angelina Jolie and nothing about refugees?”
Read the rest of the sample here : Wonderlust on Amazon.
The paperback is available from the US and UK site at least and will deliver to Australia by mid December if you order now. Perfect for holidays and Xmas! And of course the digital is available as ever. www.amazon.com/author/mireilleparker
Thanks so much for reading till here! Enjoy!
Wishing you a magical week wild heart..
Lots of love,
Mireille xxx
