by Ms. V. (South Korea) | May 27, 2014 | 2014, Babies, Expat Life, Family, International, Korea, Multicultural, Parenting, Relocating, S. Korea, Siblings, World Moms Blog, World Motherhood
Hello from Washington State!
I can hardly believe it’s already been three months since we arrived from Korea. We just unpacked our last boxes of books last week and are finally feeling a bit settled. The transition took much longer coming back than it did going.
Neither my spouse nor I was prepared for the culture shock we would experience returning to the country of our birth. Parenting in the States is a whole other ball game, and we are still getting our bearings.
We also underestimated how difficult it would be for our son, who had only been here once when he was 7 months old. Despite our best intentions and what we thought was good preparation, it was a hard landing for all of us.
Thankfully, things are starting to change and we’re all feeling comfortable and content and present. It’s been three months of feeling in between two places, with daily (and sometimes hourly) utterly heartbreaking questions from our little one about when we will be returning home to Seoul. And of course, now that we’re all settled, our baby is due to arrive any day, throwing all of our new comfortable routines out the window. Such is life, right? Constant change with all of us just trying to keep up with as much dignity and grace as we can muster.
I find myself filled with unanswerable questions about how life will be with a new baby. Will I have enough time with my firstborn? Will our relationship change? Will I ever have time for myself or my spouse or our relationship? Will my body recover? What will it feel like to be the mother of two? Am I ever going to find my parenting tribe here? And on and on and on.
If I’ve learned anything from the times I’ve lived abroad it’s that unknowns eventually become known and in the meantime, you just make it work. Life will be what it will be.
My husband’s paternity leave has already begun so this morning we all walked down to the Farmer’s Market. It’s one of those perfect Pacific Northwest days with sun and breeze and Mt. Rainier looming. As we drank our hibiscus tea and nibbled on some vegan tamales, all the while surrounded by the heady fragrance of freshly cut bouquets of lilacs, I felt completely at peace, perhaps since the first time since we’ve stepped off the plane.
You know what that means, right? Come on baby. We’re ready.
This is an original post written for World Moms Blog by Ms. V. who we are happy to announce at the time of this posting has given birth to her families’ new addition. Both baby and mom are doing great!
Do you sometimes feel like as soon as you become settled in a routine in life, something inevitable changes creating a new variable?
*Photo uploaded from PotoBucket from Jawandapuck
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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by World Moms Blog | Feb 9, 2013 | Communication, Cooking, Food, Japan, Language, Saturday Sidebar, World Moms Blog
This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question comes from Alison Lee of Writing, Wishing. She asked our writers,
“How can you tell someone you love them without using words?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Ms. V of South Korea writes:
“By listening and being present, being willing to sit with their joy and their pain without trying to fix things.” (more…)
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by World Moms Blog | Sep 29, 2012 | Saturday Sidebar, Wedding, World Moms Blog
This week’s Saturday Sidebar Question is a sequel of the Part – 1 of where the world moms explained how they met their husbands/partners.
“How and where did you meet your husband/partner?”
Check out what some of our World Moms had to say…
Elizabeth_Atalay
Elizabeth Atalay of Massachusetts, USA writes:
“One night my mother was admitted to the emergency room for a complication with her breast cancer that had metastasized, My husband was 3 months into his internship and the intern on call who admitted her, she fell in love right away and spent her entire week in the hospital working with the nurses to set me up with him. (Thankfully I did not know!) By the end of the week, when she was no longer under his care, he asked me out. 9 months later my mother walked me down the aisle when we were married. She lived to know I was pregnant with our first child, and to know her own two children were set with their own families.”
Jennifer Burden of New Jersey, USA writes: “I was living in Hoboken, NJ at the time and working in NYC. My friend Hannah asked if I would show her friend Dave and his friends around NYC because they were coming to town for a long weekend. I was no NYC expert, but took them to the holes in the wall kind of bars that I liked to meet my friends in! Steve and I met at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in midtown, where Hannah and I met up with the guys to take them out. We split up into 3 cabs. Steve was in mine. He jokingly asked me to marry him within minutes of meeting him in the middle of a conversation we were all having. We dated Trans-Atlantic for a year and 3/4’s (seeing each other on average every 6 weeks) and got engaged before ever living on the same continent. We’ll be married 11 years this month and have 2 little girls.” (more…)
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by World Moms Blog | Aug 12, 2012 | World Moms Blog Itinerary
On Monday we will be in South Korea, where Ms. V talks about what it’s like to be a single mother there. It’s an interesting insight into the cultural impacts not only to the mother, but to the child and the mother’s entire family.
On Tuesday, we continue the discussion about single parenthood in Nevada, where Roxanne’s son seems to be very accepting of her boyfriend. A little bit too accepting, perhaps? Roxanne contemplates what it would mean if her current relationship were to become “the one”.
Later that day, we head to Canada where Travel Lady with Baby, who formerly worked for the Canadian Foreign Service on an UN file, gives us insight into the United Nations and human rights in our World Voice column. World Voice is a new column, which combines our posts on social good and human rights!
On Wednesday, we are off to New Zealand, where you are bound to be near water, no matter where you are. Karyn van der Zwet regards swimming as an essential life skill, one that she wants her children to have as second nature.
On Thursday, we have a guest post! Holly Pavlika of MOMentum in New York describes her daughter’s experiences with being bullied, and how she, as a parent, has handled it. She also offers some great safety tips that we can use for the benefit of our own kids.
On Friday, we head to Massachusetts, where Kyla P’an talks about a question of identity. What is it like for this generation of moms to find out who they are, or who they’ve become, after raising children?
On Saturday, check out the Saturday Sidebar with Eva Fannon, where the World Moms give their thoughts on an important topic, and chime in with your answers to this week’s question!
Starting today we have a new giveaway!! Comment on our site this week from August 12-August 19th to receive a beautiful pair of baby booties from Canada! They are just perfect for a mother planning to deliver this fall or winter! Booties were donated by our Canadian contributor, Travel Lady with Baby!
— World Moms Blog
Our World Moms Blog logo was designed by the creative Erica Joyner Designs in Virginia, USA.
This World Moms Blog Travel Itinerary is written by Kirsten Doyle @ Running For Autism
World Moms Blog is an award winning website which writes from over 30 countries on the topics of motherhood, culture, human rights and social good. Over 70 international contributors share their stories from around the globe, bonded by the common thread of motherhood and wanting a better world for their children.
World Moms Blog was listed by Forbes Woman as one of the "Best 100 Websites for Women 2012 & 2013" and also called a "must read" by the NY Times Motherlode in 2013. Our Senior Editor in India, Purnima Ramakrishnan, was awarded the BlogHer International Activist Award in 2013.
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by Ms. V. (South Korea) | Jun 26, 2012 | Family, Human Rights, Motherhood, Parenting, South Korea, The Advocates of Human Rights, USA, World Motherhood, World Voice
Okay, I’m just going to come out and say it: Feminist. There, I said it. We can all absorb and try to move on.
I joke, but, like all jokes, there is a kernel of truth within. I think in the case of feminism, there is more than a kernel of truth to the fact that, for many, the word feminist has a negative connotation. It brings to mind gangs of hairy arm-pitted, bra-less, angry, man-hating women. (more…)
Ms. V returned from a 3-year stint in Seoul, South Korea and is now living in the US in the beautiful Pacific Northwest with her partner, their two kids, three ferocious felines, and a dog named Avon Barksdale. She grew up all over the US, mostly along the east coast, but lived in New York City longer than anywhere else, so considers NYC “home.” Her love of travel has taken her all over the world and to all but four of the 50 states.
Ms. V is contemplative and sacred activist, exploring the intersection of yoga, new monasticism, feminism and social change. She is the co-director and co-founder of Samdhana-Karana Yoga: A Healing Arts Center, a non-profit yoga studio and the spiritual director for Hab Community. While not marveling at her beautiful children, she enjoys reading, cooking, and has dreams of one day sleeping again.
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