I was going to start this post out with a comment about “Unbloggable Ishews”; but then I realised that none of you would have any idea what I meant. The reason for that is that you probably don’t read this incredible blog (unless you are my sister Julie who recommended it to me) by Suse over at “Pea Soup”. You should read her – she’s funny and inspiring and reading her posts is a highlight to my blogroll. Anyway, she occasionally will mention “unbloggable ishews” in reference to problems that cannot be aired like the usual post content.
I feel that way a lot – it’s rewarding having readers; but I wonder sometimes how much nicer it would be to have a “diary” instead of a “blog”. Not only do I have lots of these ishews… I have them across different facets of my life. Sometimes when Joe and I fight (which to be fair, is very infrequent and usually small) I am so tempted to log on here and pour my heart out with my indignity and righteousness…. (yikes! That would be a miserable entry, no?) In those moments, I am reminded of the movie “Julie and Julia” where Julie and her husband get into a fight, he storms off and leaves her with a yelled “And don’t blog about this fight!”. Too true, too true…. Another huge “ishew” that I had never even considered when I started this blog was not really being able to talk about the differences between countries and the hardships of settling into a new culture. Don’t get me wrong, no one minds a cutesy little post where I compare the currency of both countries or posts about the different types of food here etc…. But those entries that I write about the negative aspects of being in this country (or moving to a new country in general) seem to spark an insane negative knee-jerk reaction from Australian natives and ex-pats alike. In a way, this could be a positive I suppose. No one wants to read a complaining rant about Australian customer service (or lack thereof) or a teary entry about how homesickness can hit you in the gut sometimes so hard that you are left bent double and gasping – trying to regain your equilibrium. I’m sad for them though – those entries that will never see the light of day on this blog – the really honest (and maybe slightly scary) ones.
I have to consider my audience so carefully. I don’t know if anyone at work reads my blog; but I’m sure some do - so I can never post about my “ishews” at work. Really, when you pare down my list of things that are unacceptable subject topics there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot left to air my voice on. Perhaps this is one of the reasons why I have started posting so little? Well, along with the fact that my life is super boring!
Enough introspection! Onwards and Upwards as they say....
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Well done, love. This is exactly how I feel many times. You know, one has to be really careful as to how express oneself because even though you see them as observations (and taking them at face value) many people will see it as just complaining--and think the worst. But, we're human. We all complain. And when one moves overseas, these things happen. I'm going through some pretty bad adjustment issues in Switzerland, as well. My 3 month anniversary is next week. Isn't it crazy? And even though I've made some fantastic friends, created a decent home/work balance and have many things settled, I sometimes just complain for the sake of complaining. Maybe it makes us just feel better about everything to get it all out. If you ever want to bitch, you can always bitch to me!!! 8-) xxx
I always find this tricky territory. On one hand, I don't want my blog to be all Pollyanna, "life is so great!" when sometimes it isn't great - and sometimes that doesn't have a darn thing to do with what country you live in. Unfortunately, in our position, as expat bloggers, it is hard to present anything negative without it looking like an indictment of the country (at least to someone). For me, the question becomes whether or not it is relevant to my expat experience because that is the focus of my blog. But, I don't think I've ever had a real go at anyone/anything on my blog... too many people that we are accountable to and once it is on the Internet, you have to be willing to own it forever and to anyone, even people you think don't read your blog. (Of course, you know that you can always have a good long bitch to me, too!).
I thought you'd like Peasoupoftheday as much as I do! : ) And you know you can always bitch out your ishews to me as well! Sorry we didn't get to talk the other morning -- that was a real bummer! Maybe we can Skype this weekend...?
julie z
Uh oh, well I've been in full on complainer mode about my ishews lately, but I don't blog for anyone but myself so not worried if people hate it or not. I figure you and C and maybe about 5 other people are the only ones reading it and you'll just stop if you hate it :) I don't post about the rare ishews I have with Steve, though, and I never know who reads my blog or how they found it so I never talk about work ishews, either. My philosophy is that I own whatever I put on the internet and I wouldn't want to be called out by my manager because I vented about a crappy day to the interwebs-I wouldn't want to have to own that!
@ Ray - I can't believe it's already been three months! I keep trying to catch you on Skype cause I am dying to hear all about your new job, friends, life etc... I loved the pictures of you in Milan - you looked incredible! Anyway, what is the best time for me to catch you on Skype? I am dying to talk to you...
@ Cristin - Well, I definitely learned my lesson on the "not posting about specific people even if you think they will never read your blog" issue. Man did I learn that lesson hard. You and your PIC already know all my ishews - thank God for good friends that we can talk to :) Thanks for being there when we do need to bitch!
@ Julie - Thanks for the recommend lovey - I wasn't sure about her at first just cause I sometimes struggle with reading people's blogs when they have kids - but she is wonderful! Love the knitting - it reminds me of Mom :)
@ Dana - I made the mistake of really promoting the heck out of my blog there for a while and now I am paying the price. Pretty much everyone knows about it, if not reads it, on a regular basis. So, work ishews are out! I'm sorry things have been so frowny for you lately - I've been thinking about you and hoping things look up. You really need to take a Saturday and head down to Sydney. Cristin and I will spend the whole day cheering you up!