Time

Where are we? Are we in the present or are we in the future or the past? It is an interesting thought, because our present is never divorced from either the past or the future.
Summer is a time to reconnect with old friends. But then where are you when you are with them? Are you revelling in the past or building a new present together.
So are our futures any more real?

Summer vacation one week on

It's been a long week. I have had to wake up early and spend a long time sitting in cramped seats.
But what the hell, I am on vacation.
The week started last Tuesday when I saw a few of my dear friends off from Kuwait. This is the time of year when you have to say goodbye to some of the people you have been sharing your waking hours with. So that was a little tough.
Then I jetted off to London. London was lovely. It was a little chilly but fortunately I had my jacket (dirty, beaten up and in need of replacing). The big think in London was that I got to meet my friends' baby, a little girl named Emi. And what a cutey she was. She is at the age where she is making a lot of nonsense sounds, but they are always fun to hear. She didn't cry too often either, which was a real blessing.
I didn't do much in London. Went to the Tate Modern Museum and to the British Museum, ate some okonomiyaki and a really nice beef curry; had fish and chips of course, and managed to buy only one book. My friend, Toshio, put the idea of flying to Morocco into my head before I left, but he can't go with me so I will probably just stay in London on my return in about three weeks.
Now I am in Atlanta. It is hot and humid. I got in last night. I did laundry this morning. Mostly I have been unpacking some things I ordered from amazon.com and complaining to myself about those little sticky labels on all of the cds. They are such a pain to get off.
Well that is week one. God only knows how many more there are. Now I need to go and watch the European Football Championships, which is being shown on ESPN. That makes me happy.
Cheerio.

Some notes on June

Well June is now eight days old. I guess it is time for the circumcision. Or maybe I will wait for a few more days.
School is drawing down. I will be leaving for London on Wednesday and then arrive in Atlanta next Monday. I am looking forward to a kind of low-key vacation. Not too stressful. Or at least that is my plan. Stress comes with the territory sometimes. I am mostly looking forward to just hanging out a bit with friends and family.
Of course every summer when I am away from Kuwait I miss her. I really do like it here. I know that ousnds weird, since there are many things I don't like but I like being here. Over the weekend I rearranged my apartment. I put a chair in my bedroom and moved a bookshelf and you know it felt so nice. It was mine. So I was happy to fix my things up.
Of course there is always August hovering far off in the distance, but I am also looking forward to that. I have had a bit of good news. I was made one of the school's Model United Nations Directors. So I will finally get to make that trip to the Hague that I have always wanted to. When I was in high school I participated in the MUN but wasn't chosen to go on the trip. Then in Beijing I was involved with the program for two years. We went to a conference in town called BEIMUN which was a lot of fun. So now I am really looking forward to doing the conferences here in Kuwait and going to the Netherlands next winter.
I am also looking forward to the start of the new school year. I have good classes, mostly good kids, great teachers and administrators to work with. So I am hoping my sixth year is a great as my fifth was. But that is still three months away.
I guess the other big news is in politics. I am stunned that Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee; stunned because I actually supported him. I never get the candidate I want. So these are big days for me.
Well I am off. One last thing, I hope to see a bit of baseball this summer, so if you want I will have a chili dog for you.