It has not always been easy but it has always been interesting. People everywhere are pretty much the same. They all want better lives for their children, a job that will provide for their families and a home that is safe. It is interesting when we made our decision to go overseas, many family members and friends were concerned about our safety, yet each June when we would leave Egypt to come home for the summer, our Egyptian friends would be concerned about our safety in the States. It is all a matter of perception and what the media shows. We have often said that during our three years we have never felt any danger or threats of any kind. People have been extremely kind and helpful to us. We’ve learned that we can get along with a lot less “stuff” than we had in the states and that a smile and “hello” can go along ways in a different culture.
We’ve given up some things to come abroad – missed out on events for our family and friends and given up some aspects of our lives that we had grown accustomed to. But we have also had the opportunity to share our experience with our family as our son, daughter and grandson, my sister and her husband and Pat’s two sisters and two of her cousins have been able to come over to visit and learn firsthand what another culture is really like from a resident standpoint off the beaten tourist path. It’s too bad that our experts in the government don’t take the time to actually live with the locals for an extended period of time – perhaps if they did relations between countries but be more amicable.
We will miss the friends that we have met over the past three years – teaching is teaching no matter where one is, but the relationships that you form along the way with others is what makes this such a rewarding experience. We will never forget the students, staff, friends and families we have shared both joy and sorrow with the past three years – we know there will always be a place in our hearts for them.
We hope that you have enjoyed reading about our overseas experience – in August we will take to the air again and leave for Tokyo, Japan. I’m sure it will be a very different and very interesting experience for us, one we are looking forward to. We hope to be able to share our experiences with you in a new blog (The Rising Sun @ http://macissh.blogspot.com/).
