Job Discussion Forums

[MELEE]

Laura,

You've recieved lots of good advice, so I'll try not to be redundant.
The thing I'd like to add, is if you haven't already done so, start mentioning the idea to your family. I'm from the US, but a similar small community where most people don't go anywhere, well, they to Canada on fishing trips, but certainly not places like Japan or Chile. When I first decided to study in Chile, some of my extended family were shocked. It helped that I had prepared my parents by envolving them in my peliminary research. They knew that I knew what I was getting into and what sort of preparations and plan B I would need to pull it off. People who have never been away from their home, hear a lot of horror stories of things that can happen to you abroad.
Fear also goes beyond the issues of physical dangers. Before I went to Chile, my mother confessed to me that she knew I'd come back changed and was afraod she wouldn't be able to relate to me anymore. If you can let your friends and family know, that by choosing a different path, it doesn't mean that you are personally rejecting them, you will avoid a lot of un-necessary tension.

Best of Luck,

[Guest]

Age goes have SOME advantages, my parents are dead and I just told everyone else who was horrified at the thought of my coming to China - to get KNOTTED.

I suppose having one lung (and SARS in the news at that time) did not help, but do not let anything or anyone stand in the way of what your heart tells you to do!

[johnslat]

Dear Rhonda,
You're a trooper and an inspiration to me, a youngster of 60. You may be 56 (or is it 57 now?) but I don't think you're ever going to grow old. Here are some quotes about age that I enjoy:

Old age is like everything else. To make a success of
it, you've got to start young: Fred Astaire
It is not how old you are, but how you are old:
Marie Dressler
Youth is the gift of nature, but age is a work of art:
Garson Kanin
The older I grow, the more I listen to people who
don't say much: Germain G. Glidden
Age is a question of mind over matter. If you don't
mind, it doesn't matter: Satchel Paige; also
attributed to Jack Benny
Just remember, once you're over the hill you begin to
pick up speed: Charles Schultz
To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am:
Bernard M. Baruch
Though it sounds absurd, it is true to say I feel
younger at sixty than I felt at twenty: Ellen Glasgow
The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes.
Frank Lloyd Wright

I especially like the last two.
Regards,
John