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August 28, 2008
A deep breath before the plunge...
I'm looking down at my last 24 hours or so of my time in America, and generally I think I've had a wonderfully American summer, which included rock concerts, avant garde performance art, door-to-door political canvassing, a river trip through the grand canyon, and a number of lunches and dinners with some very interesting people. As a grand finale, I'm going to watch one of the first college football games of the year (A Pac-10 opener between Oregon State and Stanford) mere hours before leaving the country. College football is a bizarre, splendid American tradition, one I hope to spend many exasperated hours trying to explain to my students. I couldn't think of a better way to leave.
At the same time, the prospect of what I'm leaving for is suddenly becoming very real. I am throwing myself into a wholly foreign culture for a year with little more than a smile and a carefully-arranged bag of assorted medical supplies. There's the feeling as I met up with relatives and friends that this might be for one reason or another the last time I see them.
What's more, it might happen from some misfortune on my end, not theirs. Cambodia is a lot safer than it was even five years ago, but I'd rather not see for myself if there is a difference between 'safer' and 'safe.' I have an obligation not only to myself but also to my loved ones that I don't do anything unnecessarily stupid. (The category of the stupid but necessary, however, is one accepted and treasured by all working men and women.) So while I want to meet lots of people and have plenty of fun, out-there experiences, I'm going to try not to do anything that could get me stabbed.
Which, as I think of it, has generally been my operating principle all along. Maybe this will be easier than I thought...
Also, my mom is awesome. That is all.
Posted by flynn at August 28, 2008 2:33 AM
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Comments
Thank you!
And please stick with that not-doing-things-that-get-you-stabbed S.O.P. For your awesome mom.
(BTW, you did not slip into some parallel universe crossing the international date line. The GOP VP candidate really is Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. Explain that one to your students!)
Posted by: Ann at September 2, 2008 3:01 AM