Life & Books

2026 Life Update 2: Teaching Middle School, Social Life Shifts & Long-Distance Marriage

And just like that, April is coming to an end. I’d say my theme for the past month centred around being an adult even when I really wanted to be a kid.

April was my month of instilling new routines that I’m rather proud to say have become habits. And that’s one of the defining aspects of adulthood in my books; knowing that something is a drag but ultimately benefits you so you keep at it.

Teaching Middle School: What Actually Works

For the first month of teaching middle school classes I gave my absolute all, trying to make the lessons highly educational only to find the kids totally uninterested. See, my biggest mistake was assuming every student opted to be there to learn. The reality was, their parents were calling the shots. Once I realised that it changed everything.

I no longer spent hours drawing up presentations and worksheets—they don’t have the bandwidth to take on any more after a full day of classes. Now, I meet them where they’re at.

It is still meant to be educational, so we spend 15 minutes learning some new words and expressions. Then we spend the rest of the time committing those to memory by playing games, and that gets them hella excited. So, my key takeaway from this—work smarter, not harder.

*If anyone’s interested in downloading the lessons you can find them on Korshare and Canva.

A Very Small (But Meaningful) Social Life

With all the traveling I have planned for this year I’ve really been tightening the purse strings. So much so that I have the tiniest speck of a social life which, honestly, I’m totally fine with until I remember just how blessed I am to have the friends that I do.

I somehow manage to convince myself that going out and socialising will require more energy and effort than I can muster up. But the reality is it’s all mind-over-matter. My people don’t drain me of my energy; they replenish it.

I learn so much about the person I want to be by being surrounded by those who possess kindness, patience, confidence, intelligence and a plethora of other fantastic qualities beyond measure. All that to say, I’ll be spending a bit more time outside of my home over the next month.

Being In A Long Distance Marriage (10 Outta 10 Do Not Recommend)

As for being a newly-wed wife, it sucks. I’m a wife living on an entirely different continent than her husband and there are really no words to describe how much that fully and completely sucks!

We’re trying to get his visa figured out now so come August—when I’m back in South Africa—we can leave for Korea together. In the interim we’re video calling every day, texting when the time zones aren’t favourably aligned and basically each trying to keep up morale for the sake of the other. We have our “dates” every so often but let’s be honest, those are incredibly depressing—sharing a meal over a video call is not a vibe.

Being a wife like this is not something I’d ever envisioned for myself but I thank God every day for a man worth doing it for—3 more months to go.