It starts...

I left Canada this morning. I packed up 3 suitcases and moved my entire life halfway across the world. Insane? Yes. But also totally awesome? Also yes.

For the past few weeks, everyone I know has said a variation of the following sentence: "Oh, you must be getting so excited!!!" I knew I was socially expected to return this statement with a similar level of voice-squeakiness and enthusiasm. But I just wasn't feelin' it! I wasn't really feeling any great emotion at all! And because I was expected to express this feeling I wasn't having, it was only natural for me to begin to doubt myself and my intentions to even embark on this trip.

Let me explain: when I say I wasn't feeling emotional, it's not because of the absence of emotion. Rather, there were (and are) so many different things I feel in my heart that they are all sort of neutralizing each other. I'm excited, but I'm scared. I'm looking forward to a new world and a new life, but I'm hardcore missing the one I've left behind. I'm equal parts happy and sad. Hence, I'm neutral.

And please don't get me wrong. I am endlessly grateful just for the opportunity to work abroad and to discover a new city. I look forward to teaching again after a month away from children. But there's a tug on my heart. A little voice that's not even located in my brain that says, "Why are you leaving? What was so wrong with the life you left behind?"

And so, I'm conflicted. There's the bare-bones honesty of how I feel about leaving all of my friends and family and the things I've known.

Having said that, there is one thing I am VERY excited about: the key to my flat in London! I know, that sounds silly... but it's one of those old-fashioned skeleton keys and it looks like a maple leaf if you turn it to the side!

All this is to say, I've now officially started the blog. Feel free to check it out at your leisure. I feel like blogging is the thing to do when you move to Europe... And it beats mass emails or Facebook Notes. I'll try to do it as often as I can - but no promises on its regularity!