Expatriated

Officially I became an expatriate the moment I landed here, but it is only now that it's really sinking in I suppose.  This may be in part due to the fact that we now officially have a house here in this country, and we must begin to make it home.  Though I think that is only a small part of it.

In truth I suspect that it stems from the fact that I have come across the threshold of the longest point I have ever been outside of Canada.  Apart from various vacations, a week here or two weeks there, I have never lived outside of my home country.   This is something that, while on the surface is scary, is infinitely exciting to me.  Life in Vancouver had become mundane, and my career stagnant, but here everything is new again.

We sign the papers for our new place tomorrow, and begin the difficult duty of completing simple tasks; purchasing a bed and small household items.   To be honest, we aren't even sure where to shop for these things.  It takes a great deal of effort simply to learn the basics here.  At some point these sorts of challenges will be second nature, and even the language barrier will begin to fade.

And just as we begin to settle in, in the same span that I have been here, a mere 3 weeks, I will leave again.  I've been asked to take over editorial responsibilities for a US based studio within the company.  This is one of the many exciting aspects of my work that I look forward to.

Essentially I will be traveling to this studio and acting as a direct representative of HQ.  My job will be to make things work, solve some tough problems and help the studio meet some serious goals.  I am no longer working on a small scale, with responsibilities limited to the course of a project or a mechanical problem.  I am now a corporate troubleshooter, hired to work on problems spanning an entire studio or the corporate issues as a whole.  This excites me.

This trip, while "live fire", will thankfully not be solo.  In this case I will be traveling with my manager.  He will be making the introductions, showing me the ropes and generally acting as training wheels.  While I know I can handle designer-related logistics and challenges, I am thankful to have the company of the Editorial Lead for this one, and I expect, much like living here, the trip will be packed full of challenges that in time will become second nature, but today they are more certainly a serious hurdle.

But this is what I signed up for, and I am loving that it is already everything that I had hoped for and more.  Too often is expectation the eradicator of reasonable outcomes.