I’ve heard a lot of accents over the last week… Thai, Khmer, Vietnamese, Indian, Chinese, Hispanic, Californian, Texan…
None of em evoke the emotions as hearing that good ol’ southern accent sounding over the loudspeakers. Airports are funny places, the announcements are almost always the same words but how they are said can be so different.
It’s good to be home. Though, I still miss speaking Khmer.
Five years ago, I learned a truth of the world and now I have been reminded of it again. China Airlines, and to a lesser extent Asian Airlines in general, are amazing. Excellent food, polite pleasant service, good reading, a variety of music and movies… The only sour note is how pushy the other passengers are and my just being too big in general. My poor legs. But yeah, if you ever come to Asia, do not take Delta. China Airlines. Of course…China Airlines is really Taiwan Airlines depending on your political stance but you know what I mean.
So, yeah, I’m back in the states for my brother ben’s graduation from high school. He’s probably the brother I’m closest to, though in terms of personality I have a lot more in common with my youngest brother. I’ve blown all of my vacation time in one shot for this trip, totally worth it but it does end my plans of traveling from Laos through southern China to Hong Kong. Maybe I’ll get to see that region some other time.
My dad lives in Flagstaff which is hands down the best city I’ve seen in the US. It’s right on the tail end of the Rockies, near the last peaks of that grandiose mountain chain.
I’m still kind of reeling from the jet lag and a bit of culture shock – everyone’s speaking English and there’s so much wireless internet access. That and the first night I was in Flagstaff it snowed. Nice present, I love snow and, obviously, haven’t seen any for around two years now. Unless you count Siberia, which I flew over en route to Hong Kong on my trip in, beautiful view in the twilight.
Had a few good days in Flag, getting reacquainted with my favorite dog in the world – my brother’s Schnauzer. Oh, well, I hung out with him too and got to meet his mysterious girlfriend. It was a pretty restful few days, more than I expected it to be. Very nice.
Now I’m in Charlotte, North Carolina, waiting for my flight back to my hometown. Pretty impressed by the airport, not so impressed by the flight that got me here – I hate sleeping on planes, there’s no room. It’s not just the free internet that makes the Charlotte airport nice, it’s also got nice atmosphere. Though, there’s no way I’m paying eight dollars for a sandwich – not after eating breakfast everyday for .75 cents for over a year now.
i think i have a right to be morally offended by james bond, harrison ford, and all of their genre. their interaction with women alone ought to make any decent person vomit and break their television, but the unoriginal and base plot lines and storytelling leave everything to be desired. there’s nothing edifying in the entire genre. these hot-shot men ritually destroy property, spit on culture, and violate women in ways which (i hope) we would all find worthy of prison or death. however, the storytellers utilize media to glorify all of these horrible patterns of behavior, to draw in the viewer to accept and like a degenerate stereotype of man. it actually makes me want to vomit.
my other brief irritation is at stargate. i’m rather irate that they ditched jonas. in the jonas v daniel debate, i’m not sure there can be one. daniel is old and boring. been there, done that. in fact, i think daniel’s story was told in the MOVIE and does not need to be retold over and over. while the other characters show moderate development, daniel continues to simply be who he is. when we finally get rid of him in an acceptably honorable way, we get a brilliant new actor, new character. jonas is fresh, lively, unique and curious. he’s excited about things, happy and interested. its not the same old, same old, that all the other characters are stuck in. *sigh* that, and i think all the characters are more fun and interesting with jonas than with daniel. he’s just got spice. he’s not arrogant, but excited. he shuts up quickly and submits to authority, but is true blue, and nicely contrasts teil’ks silence, o’neill’s sarcasm, and carter’s standard know-it-all. what a tragic mistake *shakes head* the series might have done better if they hadn’t brought back daniel :/
Severe Mental Illness. Every time I encounter it, there is a profound sadness, a deep beauty and tragedy wrapped together. The sweetness of innocence, the vulnerability of confusion, the horror of losing someone so dearly loved. Thank God for medication which can, in many cases, give people back their lives, give back beloved husbands, daughters, friends and grandparents to their family and community.
MCC Laos is about to start up a new project in the Tha Thoom of northern Laos and they would be delighted for anyone with a background in agriculture, irrigation, soil science, etc, etc to apply. I’m half tempted to transfer. 
The scenery is simply glorious though the area still has no electric. That should change within the year however. I’m sure there are more details on the MCC website but I thought I’d pass it on for all the agriculture types who read my blog… I guess I’m the only one. Well, it’s a position in beautiful natural mountain country helping poor subsistence farmers. Wonderful!