Sydney Smiles: The view from where I write...

Today is February 1st, 2014 & it is the very 1st day of the Expat Blog 28 Day Challenge created by my friend over at In an Opal Hearted Country. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for me to get back into regular blogging. We will be following daily prompts & let our creativity run from there. Today's prompt is "The view from where I write," and so let us begin...

The view from where I write... it's amazing. It must be. I am writing about my glamorous expat life. I'm sitting on the balcony of my harbour view Sydney apartment enjoying my espresso while I type away on my laptop. I can feel the gentle breeze and smell that fresh sea air now...

Except I can't, because I don't live in that lovely harbour view apartment at all. But, wouldn't it have made for an amazing opening to this blog challenge? Oh, it was beautiful in my mind while it lasted. Which brings me to this thought - does everyone back home think that is my life?

I get the impression that people back home may think my life is a tad more glamorous than it actually is. If I am being honest, my view this morning is a little closer to the picture on the right than the picture above. Don't get me wrong. Sydney is an amazing city filled with amazing views, culture, art, festivals, and a diverse range of available ethnic restaurants. I'm quite lucky to have all these things at my disposal... but my life isn't all that glamorous... my life is filled with a lot of views like that on the right.

It sure would make for a nice blog if I had something a little more glamorous to share... heck I even thought of going to a special location just to try get a nice blog entry... but then I thought why not just be honest? Living an expat life can be an amazing adventure, but it can also be your average mundane everyday life. In fact, one even becomes so used to those amazing views one starts to forget to even notice or appreciate them. I think it is time I reopen my eyes & see what I can find to appreciate in the city that has now been my home for 3.5 years.

Labels: Expat Blog Challenge

15 Comments:

At February 1, 2014 at 12:17 PM , TheYvetteRene said...: You are absolutely right, Samantha! In fact, that's what I thought my life was going to be like before making the journey down under almost 2 years ago. It's funny to me how little time had to pass before the Opera House was just another building to my left as I walked to my job over the Harbour Bridge! LOL
At February 1, 2014 at 12:41 PM , Samantha said...: I know, right? So funny how sometimes I catch myself being unimpressed & start thinking - what the heck is going on here?? Lol. I suppose it's just like me not realizing how beautiful my hometown in rural Michigan was until I left. Lol.
At February 1, 2014 at 12:59 PM , Pearl Maple said...: agree with you the expat life can be an amazing adventure, and needs to be exercised everytime we get stuck someplace not so glam
At February 1, 2014 at 2:03 PM , Anonymous said...: I enjoyed your humor, and I like you I often feel the need to correct the misperceptions of our friends and family back in North America about our glamorous life. I probably contribute by blogging about our adventures rather than the boring daily stuff. Expat life is at least 90% mundane details, I think, many of which are more difficult than they would be back home. Thanks for sharing! p.s. I spent many, many happy childhood hours in my mom's rural Michigan hometown of Fremont. Christie
At February 1, 2014 at 7:44 PM , Samantha said...: Yes, it definitely takes effort to appreciate life fully.
At February 1, 2014 at 7:57 PM , Samantha said...: Thanks, Christie. It's so easy to only want to write about our more exciting adventures on social media. Talk about a small world, Fremont, eh? I am from a small town called Reed City. It's about an hour drive away from Fremont, but our schools are actually in the same division & on occasion our sports teams compete. Lol.
At February 1, 2014 at 8:49 PM , April said...: I watched "The Descendants" a couple years ago. The opening voice over SCREAMED at me, and I still use it for reference in times like this....

"My friends on the mainland think just because I leave in Hawaii, I live in paradise, like a permanent vacation. We're all just out here, sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, catching waves. Are they insane? Do they think we are immune to life? How can they possibly think our famalies are less screwed up, our cancers less fatal, our heartache less painful?"

The reality of an expat is we aren't on a perm vaca. We wish, we still have a normal life just thousands of miles away.
At February 1, 2014 at 8:56 PM , Cristin said...: I love this post, Sam. I think one of the challenges of having an expat blog is that you only want to write about the exciting stuff, which becomes hard when you settle in and it's just day to day life. Honestly, that's why I wanted to do this challenge - to remember to think about what I write about from a lot of different perspectives.
But, yeah, that would be awesome if that Harbour view, espresso thing were your life. I'd come visit you every day!
At February 1, 2014 at 9:39 PM , Samantha said...: This comment has been removed by the author.
At February 1, 2014 at 9:42 PM , Samantha said...: Wow! That is a powerful quote! I guess I know a movie I need to go watch now, "The Descendants"! Thanks for the tip!

Lol. My first comment had an typo in it - I didn't realize deleting it was going to make it look like I was trolling my own blog. Lol.
At February 1, 2014 at 9:52 PM , Samantha said...: C. I am loving the blog challenge already! I am really enjoying reading everyone's blogs & comments. I am already starting to feel a sense of community. P.S. That would be great. I can just imagine us sipping away on my lovely imaginary balcony. Lol.
At February 2, 2014 at 12:27 AM , Teagan said...: Hello from Michigan! Thinking of you, and looking forward to getting a peek into your life outside of the USA. :)
At February 2, 2014 at 5:11 PM , Samantha said...: Teagan!!! So nice to see you! :-)
At February 2, 2014 at 7:29 PM , Unknown said...: Yes, there is a certain romance surrounding expat life. I've been in Oz for almost two years and there is a lot of wonder and excitement (I saw a koala today!), but many days are just mundane - clean the bathroom, do the laundry, what's for dinner....
At February 2, 2014 at 7:56 PM , Samantha said...: That is pretty darn that you saw a Koala! Are you in a rural area? I've only managed to see a Koala at the zoo.

The view from where I write...

Sydney Smiles

Saturday, February 1, 2014

The view from where I write...

15 Comments:

Post a Comment

About Me

Previous Posts