The TEFL Logue Goes Home

I suppose it’s about time to let my readers know that I’m 99% sure to return to the US. I did not teach this term and instead took the opportunity to travel a bit, and provided that I don’t have a major change of heart [in which case I will return and delete this post!], or become a victim of abduction [believe me, I meet all sorts; this could happen!], I will be returning to the US during the second week of November.

I won’t really be keeping a running tally of what’s going on, but a logical question that many might wonder is, “what will you be doing?”. In fact…I don’t know! I’m not sure how well regular readers feel they know me; if it needs to be said, while I do find it fairly horrifying to return to the US without a job, it’s nothing new for me to fly by the seat of my pants a little.

In any case, to put my mind at ease a bit, I generated a list of what I am looking forward to in the US. And my evil twin added a bit about what I will miss.

What I’m looking forward to:

  • Going to Borders, Barnes&Noble, or other excellent bookstores where I can just buy a coffee and then sit and read for quite some time, without buying any book. Also more generally, bookstores with several floors of English language books.
  • Big-ass cups of coffee which take me about 7 minutes to swill, as opposed to the 45-60 seconds it takes me to deal with the higher-quality but considerably smaller European variety. Being able to order that coffee just how I like it, as in, tall with room two-pump cinnamon dolce Americano.
  • Netflix.
  • Yes, yes, friends and relatives I haven’t seen for a while as well as my beautiful and charming dog.
  • Mexican food. And somehow I think the diversity of what’s on offer as far as foreign food in large US cities will make up for the expected period of Bosnian food withdrawal.

Things I will not be looking forward to:

  • Being constantly distracted on public transport when I am able to understand ever single conversation around me.
  • Paying to receive calls on my cell phone. Really, I attribute the fact that Americans put up with this to the most profitable conspiracy theory ever.

Things I will miss:

  • Sarajevo people. For example, the random young guy who asks me to watch his laptop for five minutes while he goes across the store from the café to the shop to buy a few things…and asks me if I need anything. Or, this kind of behavior from landlords.
  • Being able to get out of situations by saying, “I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Then again, this may work at home too if I speak Bosnian.