The Author’s Return

Well, hello there. It’s been a long time.

In case anyone at all was worried, I did finally make it home to Texas again. In fact, it’s been roughly six and a half years since my family and I moved home from Melbourne. Looking back, I was quite dramatic but I guess that’s a part of being a teenager. I was pretty sure my life was over. I was so unbelievably homesick and focused on getting back to the good ol’ USA, that it wasn’t until I was well into college that I realized those two years in Melbourne, Australia were some of the best times of my life. Hindsight is 20/20.

Remember Justin? Yeah, that guy is still a mess, married with two kids. Morgan hasn’t spoken to me in 5 years! Wild, right? I dodged bullets with both of them, to be honest; neither of them are really the type of people I want or need in my life. Instead, I have friends who build me up and help me grow. Friends like Davis and Katherine, who you’ll hear much more about in later entries, I’m sure.

Aaron and I are STILL DATING (hold the applause). We had periods of time when were weren’t together, mostly because of my own issues, but now we’re figuring out how to be actual adults. We work through and solve our problems, just two imperfect people refusing to give up on each other. He wants to go back to school and get his Medical Associate’s Degree.

I finally did get to go to Lubbock Christian University. I spent four years at that school, learning some pretty harsh lessons that I’ll carry with me forever. In the end, I got a degree in Art Education. Why? Because I knew I wanted to teach and I wanted to learn about art.

So I’m sure you’re all wondering what I’m doing with my life. Well, after my Australian experience, I never quite got over the appeal of international travel. As a result, I finished my second year of teaching English to college students in China a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, China. That communist country. I was assigned to a small school in Wuhan, a massive city of about 8 million people in Hubei province (central China). It’s really not such a bad gig; the school pays for my apartment and I only teach 12 to 18 hours a week. Of course, in American dollars, I’m not making all that much, but in Chinese yuan, it’s a good amount.

In my free time, I’ve seen several other Chinese cities such as Guiyang, Xi’an, Beijing, and Yangshuo as well as Tokyo and Kyoto in Japan. Even though I’ve had a great time with this job, I’m pretty sure this next year will be my last; I miss living in Texas.

Here’s hoping I’ll write my next entry soon,

Marissa  Rissa