Funfare for the Common Man

A short story of near-misses, butterfly effects, and romantic/career what-ifs: a mini career and awful romance autobiography of sorts. And how a run of fortuitous events almost changed the course of [my] history. ‘It is a fact that when we make decisions in our life, we don’t necessarily know that we are making them correctly; we only think that we are doing the best we can – and that is what we should do.’  Richard Feynman We start our story in late September 2002: my arrival in Edinburgh for a Master’s in International Relations. A nearly 5-year relationship had ended just a couple months before. Late autumn/early winter: a new relationship. Just after we had met, my girlfriend was offered a job teaching at a university in Mongolia. She wanted me to go with her and a decision had to be made quickly. We barely knew each other. Mongolia? ‘What the hell would I do in Mongolia?’ I asked. ‘Teach English?’ she answered, unsure herself. Teach English?! Are you kidding me? I went to Edin...

Waiting patiently Interlude 7: One year later 13 February 2023: our darling little girl’s 5th birthday. 13 February 2022: our little girl’s 4th birthday party, a surreal experience overshadowed by the decision we – I? – had just made the day before to leave the next day, my daughter and I. (note to students: this is not a terribly good sentence; please don’t write like this) If you’re a parent, you’ll know the cliché very well: Where has the time gone? They grow up so fast. We left Kyiv on Valentine’s Day, with a return ticket for mid-March. We were leaving as a precaution, though precaution hardly captures how agonising a decision it was. An accidental career Late March 2022, Vienna: I sit here on a glorious sunshiny spring morning in Stadtpark, one of Central Europe’s most picturesque parks, with birds chirping, fountains in full flow, couples promenading hand-in-hand, the distant strains of a busker adding a jazz soundtrack to the setting. Ah, the life of an English teacher abroad! ...