Another New Chapter

A quick update on my life...this ends the travel bit for now as I embark upon learning a new culture:business.

This summer I started rereading “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years” by Donald Miller.  I read it the first time in that terrible period when I came home from Russia and felt like my awesome life had suddenly stopped and I didn’t know how to get it started again.  It really resonated, because the book’s about your life as a story, and in your life, to make a good life, like a good story, you need a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it.  I’m not sure why I decided to reread it, but I brought it to Georgia.  At first, I read about a chapter a day (they’re short).  Then, after a few weeks, when the book was starting to tell me I had to stop reading and start living, I stopped reading. 

 

This encapsulates Georgia on so many levels

I wanted to ease into the comfortable routine of class, homework, watching the Turkish soap opera with my host family, reading some fiction, and then crashing before doing it all over again.  I mixed it up with some friends, but the workload was enough that I could easily ignore all the rest Tbilisi had to offer.

This summer, I really realized how beautiful Tbilisi really is.

The weeks went by too quickly.  I knew they would.  My bucket list is far from complete.  Time with friends was too short.  But, I realize, in those eight weeks, my story entered a new chapter.  I climbed a mountain with a friend after two other attempts went wrong.  I had conversations that stayed in Georgian.  I became part of a family in Tbilisi.  I finally made it Shatili, the place at the top of my bucket list.  I laughed with friends a lot.  I discovered new parts of Tbilisi I didn’t even know. I spent two months indulging my love of languages.  I fell more in love with Georgia and Tbilisi.

My host sister gave me a special tour of the Art Academy, with this gorgeous lobby.

It all ended too quickly and the next chapter began immediately, before I had a chance to recover from the jet lag.  Somehow, I managed to make friends even when I’m pretty sure every sentence didn’t make sense those first days.  In the last week, I’ve made a few friends that I think will see me through my MBA.  I’ve met a lot of fascinating people.  I’ve gotten to make friends with several international students.   

At the same time, watching all these people move and start over, I realize that I’ve done this for the last two years.  It gives me a leg up, but it also makes me a little tired.  As much as I love going and moving and trying something new, I miss having friends who know me enough to call me out when necessary, who really know me.  I’m starting to realize that while I’m making friends all over the globe, I need quality time in one location to develop those deep friendships.  I hope I make them in the next two years, since the sheer quantity of forced socialization means I’ll be doing a lot of “networking”.  

Even though I’ve lived in Bloomington for a year, it’s still an entirely new experience.  My program can consume my entire life.  But, after this, I’ve finally got to grow up and maybe even settle in one place, so for now, I’m going to try to enjoy it.  I see a lot of conflict (forcing myself out of my comfort zone is going to become a daily occurrence), so I’m hoping my character grows and gets whatever I’m seeking from the MBA.  For starters, a clarification of what exactly that is would be nice…