March 19, 2018
First blog post ever. It's a strange feeling to create one. Though this website is basically an artist portfolio, I've decided to add a blog since life has taken me to a place that I feel compelled to write about. So this will be kind of part diary, tales of adventure, mishaps & creative endeavors. Like I do with my personal artwork, the plan is to let it morph in whatever directions feel right. If the idea of that is interesting to you, fabulous, if not, I have lots of images you can look at instead. I hope you enjoy both. Hopefully I still remember how to write in coherent sentences and will be motivated enough to post updates fairly regularly. I might freak out about the whole thing and delete it in a week. Time will tell, I guess.
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Some time ago, I don't remember an exact date or moment, my husband and I discussed where we might like to live after he finished his doctoral program. I thought that after all that hard work (it was hard for both of us. If you've been through it, you know), we should try to create a real adventure and with his job search cast a very wide net, which to be honest, seems to be a necessity for anyone in academia these days. Last year, an opportunity arose for a job in the Czech Republic. It's a country neither of us had ever been to, but it was intriguing, seemed like a good opportunity and definitely fulfilled the goal of having an adventure. Now, I could lie and say the idea of living abroad never occured to me but it's always been sort of a fantasty. I say fantasy because the "dream" was generally all about museums, drinking wine and exploring amazing new places with fabulous people. If you ask my husband, he can confirm that I am an expert at enjoying being delusional, even with both feet firmly planted in reality. I consider it a gift, really, and hope it comes in handy while we navigate this new world we're in. We've been here for about 6 months now and for the most part feel settled in (at least I do) and I can confirm part of my delusional fantasy has come true. We live down the street from a castle ("castle adjacent" as we call it), this country is rich with interesting history, I have had many, many glasses of wine and we have made a few truly great friends. On the reality side though, some days can be a little rough. Shopping in the grocery store (or anywhere) is exhausting and can take forever translating what items are, trying to cook/bake has been very frustrating, the idea of finding a doctor or dentist is terrifying, and I can't even talk about trying to learn czech. But, I've found that people here for the most part are quite kind, despite the reputation we heard about (except for a couple of bitches in Tesco. They know who they are.) and many have really gone out of their way to be helpful. I've also have had the opportunity to spend a lot if time being creative and it's rejuvinated the desire to be creative. For that, I am extremely thankful.
So, my "evil" plan worked. For better or worse, we have our adventure, such as it is. Do I miss things in the U.S.? Yes, of course I do. It's hard being so far away from family and friends, not knowing the language and having easy access to everyday items we consider "normal". Do I regret making such a big move? No...not one bit....not even a little.
