Oulin White

28 June 2011

A Scuba Dive Instructor’s Note to Herself

Posted by oulin under: O Space .

Obviously I am not maintaining my blog very well. Apology to all of you who are stopping by to check on me from time to time. The truth is that since last August, I have been living as a full time dive instructor and I have pretty much working constantly without much of personal time. Casper and I gained a lot from working in both Scuba Junkie and Crystal. It’s been so rewarding and I won’t trade this experience to anything else. I’d like to see it this way, every time we give a course, we make a change in someone’s life. I am valuable to them. This is definitely the best career choice I’ve made so far! But island life can be lack of varieties in terms of entertainment or food, or, to some people, type of work they can do. And our work schedule can be very intense, too. As a full time instructor sometimes means working 20 days in a row or giving quick courses back to back like I did the first 17 days this month. It’s mentally and physically demanding. All I want to do sometimes is just to lie in bed all day and do nothing. I don’t even care to see the sun outside. When I am exhausted, it is hard sometimes to hold up and give the patience and energy to the students. We need holidays from the “holiday” now and then.

Casper and I have grown closer to each other and built a fantastic relationship through the past year. We are great companions to each other. But we both miss our own friends and families who are far away. Therefore it’s always such a pleasure to have friends visiting. The greatest part is to teach them how to dive! Steffen and Sarah were the first couple of friends I’ve taught, then Matt and Hsuan were also brilliant students. We had such good fun together. Matt and I even held a little underwater facebook divorce underwater, haha, that was hilarious. Finally Casper and I, Matt and Hsuan can finally “announce” our real relationship on facebook. How silly we are, huh?

Being a dive instructor living on an island was something adventurous and challenging to me. The life style was very attractive which enabled me to visit many amazing places and meet many amazing people. However, something is missing. We miss the stable circles of friends which won’t change every few months, and a place we can call home always. It seems to us it might be time to leave the islands and settle down in a place. For many couples who are from different countries, the ultimate question of all time might be “where are we going to settle down in?” A mutual place to make both sides satisfied to live in “forever” is rare. Eventually one of us will need to compromise more or less and choose what’s the best for both of us. This is the process Casper and I are going through right now. Neither of us has been to the other’s countries. We found it a great idea to visit each other’s country and decide what the best is.

I am so looking forward to seeing Casper again in the fall! We have been missing each other tremendously since he returned to Denmark in May. I can’t wait to show him Shanghai and travel to some amazing places together! I can’t wait to see Copenhagen and visit those fairy tale looking places in Denmark, even though it’ll be freezing cold by the time we go I think only until then we can really know and understand each other.

The adventures are never ending. Each chapter of our lives is a new adventure. Although plans might be made to be changed, it always gives us something to look forward to. One step at a time