Update: Summer 2015

Hello World,

In few words, since summer 2014, we have taken trips to the UAE (Dubai and Abu Dhabi), Thailand, South Africa, Kuwait, Doha, and Jordan. The UAE was a quick road trip over the Eid holiday, Thailand was over the winter break to sign contracts and celebrate our new jobs, South Africa was a spring break trip, Doha and Kuwait were brief weekend getaways, and Jordan was a quick birthday trip for Phillip that we took with some fun colleagues.

Exiting Saudi was an exhilarating process. We packed and shipped a few boxes, closed out accounts, sold our car, and said 'Ma'asalala' several times. Leaving Saudi on an exit only visa is surreal. While we have no desire to go back to Saudi, it was strange knowing that you can't come back even if you wanted to.

We left and went to London for two and a half days. Brittney started feeling ill on the plane. When we landed, she was achy and feverish. After pushing 150 pounds of luggage around to the airport storage location, we hopped on the shuttle and Brittney was officially sick! By the time we walked to the hotel, she had a 104* fever and she was done. She told Phillip to get out and explore the town. All she wanted to do was sleep. The next day we found a juice bar and fresh salads, then enjoyed a rock and roll walking tour. We ended the day with a proper British 'afternoon tea'. We left for Dallas the next day.

In Dallas, we spent time with some of Brittney's family. It is always nice to enjoy memories of her grandfather and try to connect with people we do not see each summer.

Finally, we made it to California. As usual, our time was split between Northern and Southern California, and east and north San Diego. Throw in a wedding in Tahoe and our rental car packed in over 2,000 miles in about three weeks. Oh, did we mentioned it got keyed, really bad! 

You could say this was the summer of surprises. We had ideas about how we would spend our time and, for the most part, none of those ideas really happened. There was some dramatic misunderstandings, pure and simple lack of time, and the stress of moving across the world again. We cannot believe how quickly it came and went. We are a bit frustrated that we did not get to see most of you reading this (or even communicate with you on the phone)....we couldn't even make it out to Sonoma, that one stings. 

One thing we kept hearing was 'what happened to the blog'? Life happened. We enjoy updating the blog, and perhaps we need to dedicate a time to maintaining it. Send good vibes that we can get this up and going again.

You could say that a take away from this summer was about cultivating and maintaing meaningful relationships. We are doing something we love as being expats in the International School community, and people are generally proud and offer encouragement for us to keep this up. The blog posts and social media pictures and updates can make it all seem carefree and maybe glamourous. There is, however, a lot of challenge and sacrifice that come with this way of life. Brittney goes back and forth about wondering if it is worth it or not. Phillip grew up this way so it is completely normal, but also wonders about a different way of life. 

Coming 'home' one time a year is difficult; of course there is the living out of a suitcase, and sitting 14 + hours in a dark tube of stale recycled air and smelly things (plane rides). However, this summer we realized a new challenge regarding relationships with people. We come back once a year (if that) and are forced to somehow pick up where we left off. This would make sense if everyone's lives paused when we last saw them, but life continues and circumstances change. As a result, there is a bit of a disconnect that occurs and it takes time to catch up. Unfortunately, it usually catches up while we are headed back out.  As a result, we realized that some relationships need more time to cultivate than our jam packed summers allow for. 

This article might help explain it further. http://naomihattaway.com/2013/09/i-am-a-triangle-and-other-thoughts-on-repatriation/

We are not complaining. We are truly blessed and feel 'ahead of the game' in many respects. At the end of the day, we all have to tend to what matters most to us and to attempt to live with passion and integrity. We were reminded of a statement Brittney's grandfather used to make when people did not understand why he did something,  his response would be, 'It does not have to make sense to you, it has to make sense to me'. 

In other words, we all tend to question why people do the things they do. This usually happens when you would do something differently than someone else (or not even attempt the task at all). The questioning of someone's choices might come from an unthreatening place of seeking understanding, but the other person is often left feeling untrusted or on the defensive. This can quickly drive a wedge between two people or groups. When really, if you do trust and respect someone...you are not required to understand every decision they make. Instead, trust that they understand what it is they are doing and let it be. 

This summer, we recognized that we have been on both ends of the conversation: the questioning and the questioned. It is just unpleasant and not worth it. ESPECIALLY when you have limited time to come to resolution and common understanding.  

At this time, we can officially say that this entry started on July 14, and is wrapping up in route to Shanghai (literally on the airplane right now) on July 25. (UPDATE: in Shanghai on July 28).

We have about two weeks of orientation/training/settling in, and then students arrive on August 13. 

On our list, aside from getting settled at our new school!!!!:

-Build an aquaponic garden in our new place (ongoing but asap) This will be a first for us, we have no idea what we are doing and plan to seek a lot of guidance. 

-Go overnight hiking in China (early October) This will be a another first for us, we really have no idea what we are doing.

-Join Shanghai Touch rugby team

-Get familiar with our home TRX system without Tammy to drill us at 4am

-Receive our shipment from Jubail (everyone cross your fingers and pray)

Brittney is planning a solo trip, maybe for a week of our winter break, and try her hand at what its like to travel as a solo female. Although, she is open to having you meet her somewhere (anyone up for WWOOFing?)  Phillip is tracking reward miles to plan what we will do the rest of the break-we're hoping for New Zealand. 

Hopefully, our next post will be sooner than later.

Until next time, 

B and P

PS, Brittney started an Instagram, ask to follow her @MRS_B.L.Y, Phillip also has one @mrphillipyoung