It’s great to hang with my mom. I got a good laugh when I realized that for the whole time I was away, she didn’t know how to work the phone I left her. She kept kvetching about how it would only call my friend Sue, or on rare occasions, Beth or Tammy, the fiancées of two of my brothers. As it happens, you need to dial the number THEN press the call button. If you press the call button first, you basically get either the last number called or my old speed dials and hilarity ensues.
My mom is going to kill me for telling this story, but I have to. Anyone that knows her is aware that she always goes out of the house looking like a million bucks. One day, we were putting some stuff in the storage area under the eaves. She had a bunch of bungee cords around her neck that she was using to bundle up some foam padding and comforters. She used them all except one. Later that day, she had to go to the mall to return a sweater. When she got back, she still had the bungee around her neck and I asked her if anyone inquired as to where she had gotten that chic little bungee cord she was wearing. She was mortified. I laughed my ass off.
I just started taking a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course online. It’s amazing how difficult it is to focus on the basic elements of your own language. Especially since I’ve pretty much taken them for granted since I learned to speak and write. Once I complete the course, I plan to take an additional course in teaching business English. Even though I don’t consider myself a business person, I am able to speak it with some degree of fluency as a result of selling college textbooks for five years. Granted, it’s sort of like Esperanto or pig latin, but I think I can get by. (thanks Prentice Hall…) As my goal is to continue traveling and volunteering, it would be good to subsidize my endeavors with a job teaching English.
Here are the burning questions of the moment…why am I so irritated with the problems of people around me? It’s entirely too pat to say, “Compared to what we were dealing with in Sri Lanka, these difficulties are all so inconsequential.” True or not, it sounds so arrogant and dismissive but I can’t help but feel that way. I never want to be the person that runs around saying, “You think you’ve got problems…let me tell you about blahblahblah…” I just have a real shortage of patience right now and a sincere need for fewer expectations from those people around me. If you’re unhappy with your life, then change it; you want a meaningful relationship with someone in the same geographic area? Find someone that’s already there. You want more money? Then get another job and/or a better one. Hold the door for someone you don’t know; be kind to small children and animals and wipe your feet. Feel free to give me your advice, just don’t get pissy if I don’t pay it any mind.
Dan & Jon with their new shirts...each of their dads has "jersey envy".
4 comments:
hey sue
Don't be too sure no one is reading this:) Sounds like your are going through culture shock. I can't say I've been there so I can only imagine the diffences between Sri Lanka and the states. If you need some gentle breezes, sand between your toes, and an alcholic beverage or two- to help ease your transision-we're always here with an open door. Love Julie and Gabby
So happy to see you writing again. Yes, we are out here looking for your guidance, insight and wisdom, even if we ignore your suggestions. Most important, you are loved, supported and appreciated. Press on and take any fork in the road. Its good to have you home but I know you have to leave.
Hey Sue,
I totally understand where you are coming from. No body wants to be the 'you think you've got problems- you should see what it's like in Sri Lanka' person... but you know what? IT'S TRUE. And it's not arrogant because we have been the other person (The 'oh my life is so awful I can't afford that new skirt' person). I was a different person post-tsunami. Furthermore- I was a significantly different person post tsunami-volunteering for a long time. I think that now I have settled into being a more moderate and more mature woman than pre-tsunami Deana- but less angry at the insignificance of western complaints. However I can tell you that most things will remain water of a duck's back to you from here on in. People are always saying to me 'I don't think I would take that so well' (When my computor packs in), or 'I can't believe you are not more upset'(When I lose the finished versions of all my academic essays). None of that matters so much because I know how lucky I am..... Experiences like ours change you and it's not something to be ashamed of. It's not just the volunteering, but the way of life in Sri Lanka. In so many ways they are much richer than us! Volunteering for me was possibly one of the most selfish things I ever did. It has benefited me more than my efforts could possibly have benefited anyone else. The same is NOT true for you. You gave your everything to VI and I'm sure wherever the wind carries you, you will do the same again.
Just remember that everyone's problems are relative. To the princess who has never seen outside her palace gates then breaking a finger nail is the worst thing that has ever happened to her. Try not to be angry with her ignorance- instead try to educate her and show her that there is more to life than what is in your own back garden.
You are America's very own Mary Poppins (but far cooler) good luck with wherever your path leads next and keep us all posted. (Literally speaking).
Hi Sue....
This is my first post but you need to know that I have read every bit of this blog...more than once. Laughter at work, shared it with friends and appreciate you for what you have done.
Thank you for sharing and continuing to share. This last story about your Mom had me rolling!
Bought anything at the Lancome counter lately?? :-)
Lori G.
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