Looking Overseas and Beyond

Rather than go to the Lord's Supper, today I stayed home today since my daughter Tabitha has been sick with a cough and a high fever. I realized that with four small kids that I don't have time to socialize with my friends nor do activities with my wife. With four kids, my life revolves around work, commuting (4-5 hours a day) and spending time with my family. It's been good to get a break during the Christmas and just relax. We are planning to go South Carolina for a church conference next week.

As far as work is concerned, I am open to job close by my house. If that doesn't pan, I am considering getting a job at the UN and work in Europe (Austria, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, UK and others) or South America (Mexico, Brazil) for a few years and expose my family to the international life. I was blessed when I was kid to have seen different cultures and lifestyles and those experiences have helped me in my life. According to some of my co-workers, FAA has to take you back in once you decide to return to the US. I am checking on it. That's all for now.

Comments

Michelle said…
I think people are going to laugh and wonder how our kids can possibly escape being exposed to other cultures coming from the family that they do come from. As for myself, I would love to see the world!
December 27, 2009 at 2:20:00 PM EST
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Impact of Mr. Jones' class

Image
Reflecting on my high school education, I recognize certain classes have had a significant impact on me from a personal and professional standpoint.  One of the classes I didn't enjoy much while taking it has made a considerable impact on me as a leader.  Nope.  It wasn't biology, physics, English, geography, or any other standard high school.  It was a course called History of Oklahoma. Yup!  In the early 1990s, the state of Oklahoma required students to take and pass a class about Oklahoma history to earn their high school diplomas.  I spent my ninth and tenth grades in Oklahoma and then completed my eleventh and twelfth grades in Kansas.   In the Spring of 1991, I took History of Oklahoma, which was taught by Mr. Jones.  Mr. Jones was a US Air Force pilot who flew sorties during the Vietnam War.  A couple of times, he had slide shows with pics of him and his buddies in the military.  Mr. Jones' classroom was also quite memorable ...
Read more

Lenny

Image
Today I found out on facebook that one of the guys I used to ride the bus with in India passed away a few years ago. He was a Kenya n and he and I used to ride in the back of the school bus. His name was Leonard but he used to go by the name Lenny. The disturbing part about his death is how he did died. He died in October, 2002 at Springfield, Missouri . According to BlackPressUSA.com , Lenny was found dangling from a microwave tower. The local police stated Lenny killed himself but the evidence shows that he could have been lynched. Springfield, Missouri was known to have racial problems but it hits a bit closer when someone you knew could have been lynched. Leonard Gakinya (Lenny), it was a pleasure knowing you.
Read more

Kashmiri memories

Image
In the mid-80s,  my parents, my brother and I visited Srinagar in Kashmir, India. We stayed in a bed-and-breakfast houseboat on the Dal Lake.  I remember beauty, meeting merchants who sold saffron and wild honey .  The other remarkable thing is that the local police had beards, which were not seen in the rest of India.  I also saw locals carry their Kangers.  Kangers are woven baskets that have hot embers that are carried by folks under a Kashmiri robe called a Pheran . My trip to Kashmir was a unique experience because it was my first trip to a Muslim-dominant India where the customs were different from the majority of secure India.  It reminded me of Old Delhi, which is predominantly of Muslim Indians. While I was in Srinagar, there was a sense of uneasiness due to the political turmoil.  I am not sure if my family and I had a bias that Kashmir is trouble and we need to be extra cautious.  The local Kashmiri folks were great.  As a cricket...
Read more