Do You Know Someone From Luxembourg?
I was talking to an old friend on AIM this morning that I have not chatted with in years. Only Mpls Ju knows him among those of you who read this site, but he was a foreign exchange student from Luxembourg at my high school during my senior year. He was a trumpet player in the marching band and also in a couple of my classes (including the Humanities class I took with Mpls Ju).
I spent a couple days visiting him in Luxembourg during a one-month family vacation in Western Europe after my freshman year of college. After that, we were not in touch very frequently. He came back to the states to attend a year of college at Miami University in Ohio. He joined the marching band there and we met up after a Michigan-Miami football game during my senior year of college. After that, we had basically lost touch.
As it turns out, he got a degree in political science and has spent the past few years working for a United Nations program in various unstable locations working to improve the way of life. He absolutely loves the work he is doing, despite the demands of the job (and that fact that 'helping the poor pays poorly'). He is currently living in Pakistan working to improve the quality of a local school. I can't say that Pakistan is a country that I'd ever visit (since no matter what kind of person I really am, it's probably not safe to be American and Jewish in that country). To no surprise, living in a strict nation like Pakistan results in a significant case of culture shock. However, living in Serbia, Bosnia, Armenia, and other poorer and less stable countries has helped him prepare for this current assignment in a place where all types of fun are outlawed.
I am incredibly jealous about his experiences. I would love to be able to travel more frequently to far away places. I have only been out of the country once since I moved to Connecticut. Even though I have been to Vegas, Arizona, NYC, Philadelphia (many times), rural PA, and Upstate NY in the past two months, I feel like I don’t get away as often as I like. All my trips are 2-3 days long. I have not taken a full week off of work in a year and a half. Of course, I don’t get to make a difference when I travel like my friend does, but just getting to travel to some of these places would be fun.
The good news is that I will get to travel out of the country at least once and possibly as many as four times over the next 12-18 months. I definitely need some real vacations!!
I spent a couple days visiting him in Luxembourg during a one-month family vacation in Western Europe after my freshman year of college. After that, we were not in touch very frequently. He came back to the states to attend a year of college at Miami University in Ohio. He joined the marching band there and we met up after a Michigan-Miami football game during my senior year of college. After that, we had basically lost touch.
As it turns out, he got a degree in political science and has spent the past few years working for a United Nations program in various unstable locations working to improve the way of life. He absolutely loves the work he is doing, despite the demands of the job (and that fact that 'helping the poor pays poorly'). He is currently living in Pakistan working to improve the quality of a local school. I can't say that Pakistan is a country that I'd ever visit (since no matter what kind of person I really am, it's probably not safe to be American and Jewish in that country). To no surprise, living in a strict nation like Pakistan results in a significant case of culture shock. However, living in Serbia, Bosnia, Armenia, and other poorer and less stable countries has helped him prepare for this current assignment in a place where all types of fun are outlawed.
I am incredibly jealous about his experiences. I would love to be able to travel more frequently to far away places. I have only been out of the country once since I moved to Connecticut. Even though I have been to Vegas, Arizona, NYC, Philadelphia (many times), rural PA, and Upstate NY in the past two months, I feel like I don’t get away as often as I like. All my trips are 2-3 days long. I have not taken a full week off of work in a year and a half. Of course, I don’t get to make a difference when I travel like my friend does, but just getting to travel to some of these places would be fun.
The good news is that I will get to travel out of the country at least once and possibly as many as four times over the next 12-18 months. I definitely need some real vacations!!
posted by GaryGinew at 7:03 PM
4 Comments:
um. hi gary. you came to visit me (ok, really your mom, and a lot of other people) in Michigan for a week. remember?
I know who you're talking about. Glad to hear he's doing well. And I feel like you're one of my best-traveled friends, so I'm surprised to hear you "never go anywhere". :)
Mouse - that was not a real vacation. It was a "I need to use the rest of my vacation days since I cannot carry any days over into next year" vacation.
I love Michigan, but If I have five vacation days to burn this year in December, I want to go somewhere else that I haven't been before.
And boo urns for not answering your phone tonight. Boo. Urns.
I really hope that this vacation you're talking about is to Germany! BTW, I'm 10 mins from the Lux border and 20 mins from Lux City, so we could check out your friend's country. I'm actually headed to Lux today--yeah, it's tough not working... :)
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