Relocated

It is not always if not rarely what it seems.

That distance is far too long to travel up and down every day, the vocational counsellor, said. Not that he was actually guiding anything or counselling, anyone. After completing primary education, those who did not know what to become would soon find that they were left to their own devices. The vocational counsellors were no different from the job fairs where the same professions were represented repeatedly, and those who did not know what they wanted to do could always get married or join the army. There was no room for those who wanted something different. Archaeologist, being an inventor...

So there was nothing for it but to go and do some research on his own and spend the summer holidays doing so. Secondary education sounds all very well and the average schools do their utmost to pretend to be much better than they are (the performances are generally low and also the admission requirements are in reality much lower than the level of low gifted) but as a new student, you don't know all that. What you do learn very quickly is that once you are enrolled in a school it is not so easy to leave when the school, their regulations, the teachers or pupils are different from what was expected.

Is one to two hours travelling to school too much to ask of a pupil? That depends on the type of transport. Two hours of cycling is quite a different story from sitting and sleeping on a bus for over an hour, although not everyone is happy on the bus. There are still many who suffer from car sickness and for whom public transport is a daily, sickening drama.

The holiday is good enough to see the city on foot and try out public transport within the city. Something that is not easy when there are no bus timetables at the stops and the tables presents the strangest signs and more exceptions to the transport schedule than the rule. How can foreigners understand this or do they just wait and stupidly get on the bus and see where they end up?

For us, it is not always possible to leave the house. Lots of rain, high water, and mudslides are examples of this. Leaving the car and walking up and down is not always possible either. We discuss the options of spending the night in the city. Just for those days when it is not possible to return home after the school day. You would think that there are enough houses, flats, and rooms (B and B) available but that is disappointing. If they are there at all, we cannot find them. Those who are new don't know anyone to show the way and the school doesn't do it either. You have to be enrolled first, and visit the school before you get an introduction week. A week in which the newcomers are shown around the city. Well, this is the world upside down.

There is a hotel between the railway station and the bus station. There is also a supermarket, bakery, and some other kiosks. The hotel seems practical but turns out not to be for the average private person. It is a place where railway employees and perhaps bus drivers can spend the night. It is quiet and peaceful there. How to contact the manager or landlord is not indicated. Too bad for us, but the railway officials were happy with the new hotel built for them. Close to work, the necessary facilities and no trouble from the rabble or tourists. After a day's work on public transport, that is probably the last thing they need. Just imagine having to ride a bus full of screaming, yelling, drunk or cranky people all day long. Not to mention the air you sit in and the mess they leave behind.

If things don't go as planned, the only way is back to square one.

Back to square one is, for some, home, what you are used to, although after having been away once, it is not easy to be back home again. Out of sight is out of mind. The world goes on without you and even though nothing seems to have changed, it often has.

The school chosen with care was disappointing and after one year the education was drastically changed. The new type of education was never signed up for and the annoyances increased. How can it be that a school teaches something for which there is suddenly no further education? The only way to get out of school and have a chance is to move. So there was nothing else to do but to go and look elsewhere and to go back to school and house hunting. Education takes too long to be unhappy all these years although a teacher remarked that every child is unhappy at school. Imagine if that were true. Nursery, kindergarten, primary, secondary, vocational or university... from 2.5 years old to about 25 years old, children are said to be unhappy. Some cannot live with that.

The decision was made. She relocated her mother, Rebecca, and her sister Harriet to Seattle and I, I came along

Those who are unhappy and already doing badly should take the gamble and make a new start elsewhere. The seaport city might do good, was the idea, since the city has high populations of Native, Scandinavian, Asian American and African American people which in this case meant one can easily find the bird with the same feather, mind liked people, or disappear.

Those who are unhappy and already doing badly should take the gamble and make a new start elsewhere. The seaport city might do good, was the idea, since the city has high populations of Native, Scandinavian, Asian American and African American people which in this case meant one can easily find the bird with the same feather, mind liked people, or disappear.

But what if the countryside is calling and you can't resist that call? It all sounds great, living in a city where you can live anonymously, but for many in reality, that is not possible and instead of three bullies there are thirty or even three hundred who make your life miserable.

You can educate yourself, mother said, the world is changing and what was the future ten or twenty years ago is faded glory today. Life rarely goes as planned. There's no need to be unhappy, live in a violent, crowded city where biotech rules.

During the trip to Seattle, we took the tourist route. It was a long journey, but also a way to forget everything and finally relax.

During lunch, an outdoor picnic, we looked in amazement at the canyon filled with water.

Nature does what she wants and if it is true that everything is already planned, the life of every person, then education is no longer important. I will learn what I need to know and survive, I said and felt relieved.

We looked at each other and knew that in the end only one thing really matters and that is to be happy. It is not the one who learns the most and has the best education that will be successful, but he who is independent and does what he has to do to be happy and there is no school or teacher who can teach you how to achieve that.

#freewrite #kittywu #life #new-start #relocated #creativewriting