When I turned 5, my brother's godmother (one of our neighbours) gave me a stack of books. I still remember it as one of my happiest memories. The covers were hard on all of the books except one. In that moment I realized that I preferred hard covers to soft covers. The books were mostly nursery rhymes and other children stories. They were not fairy tales. The book covers were so pretty and the pictures that were strewn over all the pages inside the books were even more enticing. You couldn't find a happier 5 year old than me at the time. I read all the hard cover books in no time, maybe a day or two then I re read them. The soft cover book was not so enticing as it was about Jesus and his 12 disciples. Even at five I found it strange that 12 grown men dropped their previous lives and decided to walk around behind or beside this guy who was preaching a message incongruent with the popular beliefs at the time. They didn't paint an industrious picture to me, therefore, I did not properly read that book until years later when I became more interested in religion.The main point of one of the hardcover books, 'Scuffy, the tugboat' has however stayed with me for a long time. The punch line of the book was that the tugboat lived in a bath tub and wanted to see the world and often said 'I was meant for greater things'. The tugboat eventually got the chance to see the outside world and sailed around in it. Scuffy loved it at first then he realized that the grass was not always greener on the other side when he got into some trouble. At that point he yearned to go back to his safe little bathtub.
Before getting a chance to roam, I always remember Scuffy, the tugboat saying to himself 'I was meant for greater things' when he wanted to get out of the bath tub. It is a very inspirational line from the book that I was reminded of last weekend. I met someone who made me think of Scuffy for the first time in decades. I met a guy who wanted to leave his perfect, safe world to re-enter 'real life', as he calls it. I could understand the sentiment but couldn't help thinking of Scuffy. Scuffy seemed like the perfect comparison to this guy. When he was in the bathtub all he could think of was leaving the tub and when he got into real rivers and seas, all he wanted was to return to his tub. I've been feeling like that lately and apparently, so has the guy with whom I was speaking.
Teaching English abroad has become a popular endeavour for young native English speakers these days. Many people trek to Asia and Europe to capitalize on the 'English boom' that is taking over the world. Many of these young people are not trained teachers and have dreams of doing other things than grooming the next generation with regards to culture and language. Some of these teachers want to contribute significantly to their world through different ways. Teaching English in a first world country is useful but it doesn't solve any of the problems of poorer countries directly. To the people who moved to developed countries to seek a better life, teaching English provides that life, but it doesn't lead to real improvement in their home country. To the nationalistic or patriotic migrants there may be some sort of a trade off between their nationalistic dreams and reality.To the outsider, who may feel trapped in his or her home country performing a nine to five job that doesn't allow exotic trips in different countries every holiday, preoccupation with contribution may be meaningless. Patriotism is not seen very often where I'm from, unless we are participating in a sporting event. When I worked a nine to five, I remember being bored on several occasions and wishing I could just take vacations to interesting and exotic places, however, for several reasons, I couldn't. The contribution I was making to the real world was great, but without a proper balance with my personal and social life, it was not fulfilling. My dream then is to find the perfect balance among the many aspects of my life and personality.
I want to be able to go to Mexico or Croatia for vacations and I want to be able to fly to Aruba and Trinidad for the weekend without worrying about finances. Then I want to return to my job and in the evenings see my family and friends. Scuffy, the tugboat, did not understand the value of safety, comfort, family and friends while he was in the bathtub, but after travelling on the open waters for some time, he learnt that travelling is important, but the other things are equally if not more important.
**I read Scuffy, the tugboat a long time ago and may not have recalled the story in its full accuracy. However, this is the version that has remained with me throughout my life. This is the lesson I learnt from Scuffy, the tugboat.**
Images from:
https://whisper.sh/whisper/0513d7509ac5de77014256e9f2397f204770ec/I-feel-like-my-life-is-supposed-to-be-so-much-more-than-it-is-Im-meant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scuffy_the_Tugboat
http://sopheliajapan.blogspot.jp/2013/01/the-human-tape-recorder.html#.Vfph6vmqqko
https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=travel+then+return+home&espv=2&biw=1366&bih=600&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIw9_x87z9xwIV4uCmCh2iuQdc#imgrc=Yz6SSBgD_x4XaM%3A
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