Solsbury Hill

Solsbury Hill

August 03, 2024

 Have you ever felt a pull towards a certain place which was not your hometown? Maybe you went on vacation and fell in love with a part of Cape Cod? Maybe it was your annual trip to see long distance family members that made you love going to Ohio? Or perhaps it was the lure of finally being able to visit an exotic place like Cairo? Well, this is how I have always felt about Ireland and the UK. By the time I was 25, I had visited the UK and Ireland over 8 times. My longest time spent abroad was the 6 months I spent studying English Literature and Education in North London in 1988. It was by far the best time of my young life, and I promised myself I would return and see it again. 

While I did visit for short periods of time, it never felt like enough time. The guided tours spent 2 or 3 days in London but then it was off to other parts of the country. Fast forward a couple of long decades and I find myself at a crossroads. This year will mark my 30th year as a public school teacher in New York. As any American teacher would tell you, teaching is a profession that has changed immensely from the 1990s until now. While classroom management was always an important component of being an excellent teacher, it now has to be balanced with being a pseudo psychologist for the post COVID children who spent 14 months (in my school's case) trying to learn online while being quarantined 24/7. The intensity of emotional problems has been at its highest and has pushed many great teachers out of the profession. I have always loved being a teacher but I had to admit that I wasn't happy teaching in my hometown any longer. 

I was at a family party when I told a family member that I was thinking about retiring after this upcoming school year. He told me not to let anyone sway me from what I wanted. "You have worked so hard for so long. It's time you do what you want to do." I don't know why but that really triggered my longing to live abroad again. At only 57 I was much too young to retire and just collect my pension (plus I knew the shopper in me couldn't afford it). I knew I wanted to travel but also knew that the places I wanted to visit were so far away which meant spending cash I just didn't have on hand. I explored maybe working in a different field maybe as a corporate trainer. However, the business world and I never really got along. My family owned their own businesses through the years, and I hated working at each one of them. I had almost resigned myself to head into retirement with no plan on what to do next. And I historically don't do well with any kind of uncertainty. Cue the anxiety attacks...

However, after that brief exchange with my cousin I drove home asking myself, what is it I REALLY want to do? A huge part of me wanted to continue teaching but not in my current district. I have always wanted to teach abroad but for one reason or another, never followed through with the process. Could I in late middle age really pack up and move to another country? To be honest, I'm answering that question through my blog writing and lots of research. Right now in August of 2024 the answer is "You betcha!". But will I feel the same in December? I think so, but time will tell. A few years ago I thought I would move to North Carolina, and even received several job offers. However, the timing was off. Now I wonder how I ever thought I could deal with the humidity found in the south. 

But as I stated in my opening paragraph, I feel pulled back to London. Logic tells me to pick a different city because of the wild increase in rents in the city. Common sense tells me that only a few American teachers can receive Visas to work and live in the UK. Friends tell me that it will be so much harder to start over in a new country at my age. But my heart is ignoring all of those warnings and following the example that Peter Gabriel set when he wrote "Solsbury Hill"-

I did not believe the informationJust had to trust imaginationMy heart going "Boom-boom-boom""Son, " he said"Grab your things, I've come to take you home"Hey, back home
To keep in silence I resignedMy friends would think I was a nutTurning water into wineOpen doors would soon be shut
So I went from day to dayThough my life was in a rut'Til I thought of what I'd sayWhich connection I should cut
I was feeling part of the sceneryI walked right out of the machineryMy heart going "Boom-boom-boom""Hey, " he said"Grab your things, I've come to take you home"Hey, back home

So London is calling to me, and I'm going to use the next 10 months to prepare to heed that call. I welcome you to accompany me on this journey. Who knows? Maybe it will inspire you to listen to that little voice inside of you that urges you to follow your dream.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heart of Gold

  Have you ever made a decision that you know was the right one but still broke your heart in two? Silly question, I know. We all have had to make sacrifices in order to either protect the ones we love or to improve our own lives. Well, I made a decision this weekend that may be hard for others to understand especially those of you who know how much I love my little dog, Kiki. When I first got Kiki, it was really a beautiful spot in an otherwise lonely phase of my life. Ever since I read up on the breed about 4 years ago, I have wanted to bring one home. When my beautiful dog, Jasper, passed away at age 13 (from Covid we believe), I made it a goal to bring one home. At first, I tried to find an adult dog and adopt him/her because I've never been great with housebreaking puppies. But when I discovered a great breeder who was local through a coworker, it seemed fated. I brought home a perfect beautiful little frenchie and became totally obsessed with her. To say she changed my life s...
Read more

Believer

Image
This adventure that is my life has just taken a weird turn. I have two new options, neither of which I expected or even thought were possible. The first one is the possibility of being awarded a fellowship in Ireland. Dublin City University has 5 Education Fellowships open with one of them calling for an expertise in Literacy Education. It would entail me working at the University with local student teachers and beginning teachers. I would be teaching in small groups, observing lessons, and doing other things to support early support teachers (ECT). I have applied formally and am now looking at making sure my credentials are recognized by the Irish Teaching Council. I never thought I would be able to teach in Ireland because all primary teachers need to be able to teach/speak Irish Gaelic. One of the fellowships does have this as a requirement but not the literacy one. I'm excited about this possibility and hope to hear something by the middle of January. The second twist involves ...
Read more

Subterranean Homesick Blues

  It's been almost a month since I've written in this blog, and a lot has happened. I started back to school for the 32nd year and for the last time in the US. I've gotten to know my class which is full of sweet kids that are making this last year start off as a really nice one. But like most school years there is one group of entities that have reared their ugly heads to destroy all of that tranquility: germs. I do usually get really sick in October/Novemeber of most school years. Whether its the flu or some kind of virus, I tend to get really sick during the first semester of the year. Unfortunately, this year it struck in September and it was the unwelcome wallop of Covid.  Covid has ruined my flow in many ways. When it first struck, it was against my mother who was too weak with dementia to fight it off. She died soon after contracting it. Then my sister and I both got it (we were living together at the time) in December of the same year. I was out of work for 3 weeks a...
Read more