Sarah, no worries, I'm always late on birthdays, only fair. I'm looking at Will's present right now, and his birthday was in January...so you see, karma. :) Thank you, you too!
I bought a bag of salt at the grocery store and was looking for a salt shaker. No luck at all, nothing even remotely like a salt shaker. I was so confused as to how there could be salt but no salt shakers. How do people get their salt evenly and cleanly onto their food? Then I opened the bag of salt. It has the consistency and texture of brown sugar, there's no way it would pour out of a salt shaker like the granulated salt I am used to. It's eye-opening to realize how many of these cultural biases I have. The big ones you can try to prepare yourself for; these small ones catch you off guard, and I think it is the small ones that most contribute to culture shock over the long-term. As we (Peace Corps Volunteers) like to say, "Everything's the same, except it's all different."
I always say there are two kinds of friends: 1. The ones you hang out with because it's convenient: you have the same job, or live in the same place, or share some common activity. You like them and enjoy their company and remember fondly your time spent together when you move on. But when it is no longer convenient to be together, you drift apart. 2. The ones that are still your cherished friends no matter where you live, what your job is, what new adventures you pursue, how much your tastes change or how you choose to live your life. When you move on, you take each other along. Your friendship shifts and adjusts to the new person you are becoming, but it doesn't falter or weaken. You still have the same affection, love and respect for them that you had when you first met them. Today is a friend's birthday from the 2nd category. Our lives are wildly divergent, but I still like her more than most people I have ever met. Knowing her is still a joy, even after 20 years of fri...
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techno: it was yesterday, the 21st.