Renzatic on 5/7/2011 at 18:17

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Hope you all had a nice Fourth of July everyone! :D

I didn't. My holiday weekend was spent tearing down my garage and carport in humid, sweltering 100+ degree weather. All I wanted to do was play videogames and shoot fireworks, but NOOOOOO. The construction company left it up to me to tear everything down.

I should've just set it on fire. That would've been my fireworks. Could've also roasted some ribs over the flames. Damn. Why didn't I think of this yesterday?

Bobotsin on 5/7/2011 at 20:42

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Casey Anthony.

dexterward on 5/7/2011 at 21:25

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Last I`ve checked the Great Wall of China that runs through Prague - capital of Westfalia - is still standing (in a parallel universe, of course.)

demagogue on 6/7/2011 at 01:09

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no worries dude. :) It was the ninja'd which can't be helped, not the post itself. And I was just exaggerating for humorous effect.

demagogue on 6/7/2011 at 03:06

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All my time overseas was either teaching English or later some other work & study, but especially for English teaching anybody English-speaking can do it, and they'll even provide the plane ticket over & have housing ready. So if you really want to live overseas for a while that's an easy way to do it and even get paid for it, and IMO it's better to work in a place than just be a tourist anyway. But granted, then there are issues of having the time & coping with how to come back to a job in the US later on, so it's not the perfect solution either.

As for setting people straight, mostly I just tried to be a good model person myself and hope I set a good example. The bigger debate is probably more: to what extent do I want to stick to my guns on certain values vs watering them down because I know they'll play better to the locals and I don't want the hassle of dealing with them not understanding why I care about X (like privacy, or not liking corporal punishment of students or blatant sexism, etc). But I also need to know what they care about too, and I'm always conscious that it's more important I understand their country than they understand mine, but I hope they aren't completely oblivious of really important things I care about also (same issue with any kind of immigration or resident situation). Anyway it can get complicated; understanding is a two way street, but you're constantly changing lanes too.

Edit: Should mention I was almost surprised living back in the US now how often people care about things I care about again, as if I still have that half expectation they might not. Sort of a relief and curious at the same time.