This was our first mass farewell, and many of the people we visited with, we hadn't seen in nearly a year. As a result, we had a lot of explaining of what lies in store down the road.
After delivering our over-rehearsed, or over-practiced, schpeel, invariably, there were two responses, but they both had one thing in common - the word "adventure."
I thought I knew what adventure meant, but after getting two entirely different meanings of the word over the weekend, I decided I had better brush up on my vocab. So I turned to my trusted Webster.
ad ven ture (ad ven'cher) n. 1 a daring, hazardous undertaking
OK, that meaning definitely makes sense in context. With a look of concern bordering on despair, I've heard this expression several times, "Well, it will be an adventure."
This is the pre-dominant use of adventure when we are in Ohio or Kentucky. You can tell this is a lifestyle they don't comprehend and definitely do not desire. Some have mixed feelings as they think it is a great opportunity to see parts of the world, but the thought of living overseas for years at a time (and in our case, Mexico), is out of the question.
But go back and look at the definition. See it started with a number "1." That means we have a second entry:
2 an unusual, stirring, often romantic experience
Once again, I have definitely picked up on this sentiment from others. "Wow! I'm so jealous. That is going to be an awesome adventure."
While I appreciate the support, this response catches me more off guard than the first. And I think the key is the part of the definition that says "often romantic." I can't help but think they have romanticized our situation too much.
Yeah, they do ask about what Natalie will be doing, but I feel as though they think we are going to be worldwide tourists. Which is definitely not the case; well, at least not for Natalie. She will have a demanding and high stress job while working at the consulate, though for Natalie, there isn't much that doesn't fall into the category of "high stress."
And not to belabor the point, but Hermosillo is not exactly a tourism hot spot.
Like all things, the reality of our adventure falls somewhere in the middle. It definitely has characteristics of a "hazardous undertaking." There is no shortage of recent news articles and television reports proving it. And there is an element of "romanticism" as we set up shop in various countries and get to experience numerous cultures.
I'm just kind of curious what a response in this vein would sound like, because I haven't heard it, yet.
Everybody has an opinion ... whether it be good or bad. And after 7 years of listening to people, I've thankfully built up a tolerance for (most) of what people have to say. And when we lived in Israel, you can only imagine the discussion!
ReplyDeleteHowever, I usually give the same response to people who ask how in the world I can subject my kids to moving every few years ... when they usually get on their high horse and tell me how hard it is for kids to adjust, how horrible it is to not provide them with a stable home, blah blah blah.
"Kids are resilient. They are young and are easily adaptable. They are also living and experiencing things that your kids are only just reading about in history books or seeing on the news."
Think of it as romantic because it's something you two are experiencing together. Very few of us would pick up and move around the world for no other reason than we love our partner.
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