In the couple weeks that have passed since my last entry, life has attained a sort of excited normalcy as I go about the regular routine. I work, I come home, eat, sleep, etc. Underlying this tedium is a feeling of heavy anticipation and anxiety, knowing in a few months time I may be on the other side of the world.

Inquiring into my visa requirements showed that while I don't necessarily need to get shots before going (I likely will regardless), I do need a job to get an Employment Visa for the duration of my stay there (somewhere around 2-5 years, I think). So my focus now is on finding a company to sponsor my trip. This fact has its positives and negatives.

As a university graduate in Canada, my English degree which is bordering on paper airplane material here can take me far in India. Though many there speak English already, the native fluency that comes with it being a persons primary language is difficult to attain without specific instruction. This fact can give me an edge in the ever growing use of English outside of North America/Britain. This is the idea anyway. I've had the opportunity to speak to people who have experience working in India, long story short, they say my chances are pretty good. Having to find a job before I get there will be trying though. I've always thought I'm at my best when face to face with a potential employer, walk the streets to get a feel for the area, walk in with a firm handshake, walk out with a job offer.

I'm obviously going to have to change my method here. One of many things to learn even before I make it there.

The Start of Something Epic

The rest of my life qualifies as epic, right?

In the next year, I'm planning on moving to India from Toronto, Ontario. The change from growing up in Canada will be undoubtedly vast, but after finishing university in Toronto and never really having traveled in my life, I have an itch to see more of the world. I don't want to just go as a tourist however, only getting small snapshots of the world as it is, I want the whole picture, in all its glory.

I try not to have preconceptions about what I'll see, I know the tourism information available focuses on the rich culture and spices in the air. There will be plenty more to life in India than Diwali and curry. But in living in the country, embracing it as I hope it embraces me (we'll see how that one goes) I hope to really get a taste of the world.

Sentimentality aside, the job market for recent graduates (especially ones with English/Philosophy/Linguistics degrees it seems) is in less than workable shape, and I'm really craving more than the job that I have. The economy and job market in India are not only strong, but steadily growing. Not to mention the opportunities for an English graduate are considerably different then in North America.

My journey won't be easy, but very little in life worth doing ever is.

If you've stumbled across this blog (one of my first, I'll do my best) and have an inclination to comment, please do. If you have any experience with the job market or education, in Canada or India, I'm especially interested in what you have to say. For a bit more information on me, check out my LinkedIn profile.