Friday 20 April 2012

to blog or not to blog

apologies for the time between blogs.

I've written several  and deleted every one of them.

They were either too personal to post, or rather repetitive which there's not need for, or blogging for the sake of it which is boring.

So, no blogging.

However, today's the day. I feel like i have something worthwhile sharing, so share I shall and let you be the judge.

I was encouraged to start my blog by a friend in Japan whose blog 'AnyNeedReally' always has me in stitches. Yesterday I inspired a friend in Tokyo to blog and with that,  Gilly's Gaijin Kai  (www.gilliantbate.blog.com) was launched.

I met Gilly Gaigin thru MrsNZ in Tokyo and always enjoyed her enthusiasm for life! We would meet up once a month (at least when I could organize MissM to have a play date after school) at the famous Chicken and Chablis lunches in Tokyo, hosted by an incredible group of ladies from Australia and New Zealand.

The committee organised the most indulgent luncheons at some of the best restaurants in Tokyo. Wed' start lunch around noon and it had been known from 'some ladies' to arrive at their front doors around dawn the next day! THAT'S how good the lunches were, and how fun the company was.

But I digress.  It's only NOW that i discover not only is Gilly Gaijin an awesome chef but she teaches cooking. Wonder what we talked about at C&C that this topic never came up.

Anyhow, I am very honoured to have been the person to suggest and encourage Gilly Gaijin to start blogging and wish her the very best success. Please check it out, you'll love it.

No lunch marathons for me here. Being an invisible expat (love the term coined by expats) is hard work. Everyone around you is working full or part time (which is normal I know and probably what i'd be doing if we were in Sydney), helping older parents, grandparents, and extended family members with all sorts of things, have a network of friends they are already involved with, belong to various clubs and groups. Having a slightly mad Aussie family arrive one day, with a huge expectation of friendships and joined lived isn't what they were thinking back in November.

To be honest, I have met several lovely ladies who have indeed become friends who work part time and we do get together on their day's off and always have a great time. So please don't think i'm sitting at home alone all day every day ( sometimes i do, but not all the time) I just have had to learn patience and not be pushy with 'call me when you're free to catch up'

My personal goal this school term is to stop focusing on what's not happening and focus on what's on offer and create a life for myself.

As I mentioned previously, I am booked into a one day cooking course to finally learn how to cook fish; looking forward to another term of Ikebana; have Mum and Lil visiting May/June so will be out'n'about with them; oh, and 3 mornings a week go to the gym. In between there's 'normal' life to live, friends to meet and hang out with, running around with and for Mia and generally enjoying being in a lovely part of the world.

I'm going to commit to going into London at least once a month to a gallery or 'something' with or without company, preferably with as it's much more fun.

When I look back over the photos we've already done a lot.
We've had several very enjoyable social gatherings at home, had fun weekends with friends, entertained overseas guests, done some sight seeing and discovered local parks.

Maybe I'll learn to slow down just a bit and not be so hard on myself.

With friendship
x

1 comment:

  1. Just remember, those lives that everyone else is leading on facebook have been highly edited. No-one ever talks about the pissy days, the ones where you want to hide from the world or wonder if you have ANY friends, ANYWHERE in the world because no one has called. WHY haven't they called??? I'm beginning to hate the thing because while it is a useful communication tool with those you no longer live in the same country as it is also a 'show off, look how fab my life is' tool. And their lives aren't. They are just talking themselves up. I know 'cos I do it too.

    SIL came to stay and it was great but also made me sad because I realised we don't laugh much at the moment :-( Trying to figure out how to find the world funny again.

    x

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