Ten years in review, Part 2

[seaskyclay]

What did you do in...

2000

• Sold my company; got out of the internet industry; ended my relationship; sold my house;
• Went on solo travels to the New England area to get my life sorted out; went on a Buddhist retreat;
• Met and started a relationship with an amazing person who was in the same place as I was at the time;
• Went to massage school and started working as a massage therapist.

2001

• Tried to get my business as a massage therapist going;
• Dot-com bubble officially burst and all my friends lost their jobs, many had to take jobs well below them or change careers entirely;
• Started seriously planning to work abroad.

2002

• Continued trying to get my massage business to break even (unsuccessfully);
• Local economy continued to suffer;
  
• Plans to work abroad failed;
• Our dog died of cancer.

2003

• Moved to Madison, Wisconsin with partner for work;
• Spent first winter in a cold place (the first in a series of cold winters to follow);
• Did research and made plan to become an ESL/EFL teacher.

2004

• Moved back to Santa Cruz, CA briefly (for three months) in order to finally write my Bachelor’s thesis, which I’d left hanging for many years; got my Bachelor’s degree (finally)!
• Downsized my life and belongings: sold most of what I owned, put the remainder in a 6’x6’ box in long-term storage; took a road trip across the U.S.; left the States!
• Took a road trip from Mexico City to the Yucatan Peninsula; traveled overland through Belize and Guatemala; lived for one month in Guatemala;
• Completed my teaching course; received my Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults;
• Took my first year-long contract as a TEFL teacher; moved to Slovakia;
• Relationship with partner I left the States with came to an end;
• Traveled to: Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Poland.

2005

• Started a relationship with a kindred spirit who would later become my husband;
• Finished contract in Slovakia;
• Took a contract in Lithuania; Moved to Lithuania;
• Traveled to: Slovenia, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland.

2006

• Finished contract in Lithuania;
• Did my first ESL summer camp course in San Diego, California;
• Took a contract in Kazakhstan; Moved to Kazakhstan;
• Traveled to: the U.S., Slovakia, Ireland, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan.

2007

• Finished first year contract in Kazakhstan; signed on for a second year;
• Did my second ESL summer camp course in San Diego, California;
• Completed a teaching course in teaching young learners; received Certificate in English Language Teaching to Young Learners;
• Managed a center as ADoS/Senior Teacher for first time;
• Traveled to: the U.S., China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Thailand;
• Got engaged.

2008

• Finished second year of contract in Kazakhstan;
• Participated in six-month online course in Advanced (teaching) Methodology;
• Took contract to manage a center as an Academic Coordinator (AC) in Hanoi; moved to Vietnam;
• Became certified as a Cambridge IELTS test examiner;
• Traveled to: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam.

2009

• Got married!
• Finished AC contract in Hanoi;
• Became certified as a Cambridge YL examiner;
• Traveled to: the U.S., South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia;
• Moved to Danang, Vietnam; found a house at the beach;
• Took freelance work as ESL/EFL teacher.