Wednesday, June 11, 2008
There is something about a long flight that transports you. Not the obvious literal transportation but figuratively… to another time and place and culture. Taking you away from everything you know and love, everything that is familiar and normal, everything that is day to day. It is a challenge in so many ways. It is a challenge to not forget anything but, of course, you always do and that is it’s own challenge to make due with what you have or can find in an unfamiliar land. So many times there is something better (This is coming from a woman that has three large bags of chocolate chips in her carry-on at the moment). It is so humbling to go some place and be at a language disadvantage since Greek is the common language, though most people speak English as a second language. You are reminded immediately that your way of doing things is not the only way. Sometimes it is not even the best way. There are different ways of presenting information, different expectations, and different customs.
People watch how you act and how your children act. You are your country’s representative. Patience and graciousness could not be more important, although they are always handy at home as well. It is amazing to see your children on their own. They are still with you but they stick out and are noticed as individuals not just as another kid. The manner in which they speak, the way they respond, their gestures are so important. You see them with their own little place in the world because they are special not just to you because their differences make them special to others. I guess that is part of the transportation too that when you pick yourself up out of your environment that you are transported figuratively and literally.
-B.Lee
There is something about a long flight that transports you. Not the obvious literal transportation but figuratively… to another time and place and culture. Taking you away from everything you know and love, everything that is familiar and normal, everything that is day to day. It is a challenge in so many ways. It is a challenge to not forget anything but, of course, you always do and that is it’s own challenge to make due with what you have or can find in an unfamiliar land. So many times there is something better (This is coming from a woman that has three large bags of chocolate chips in her carry-on at the moment). It is so humbling to go some place and be at a language disadvantage since Greek is the common language, though most people speak English as a second language. You are reminded immediately that your way of doing things is not the only way. Sometimes it is not even the best way. There are different ways of presenting information, different expectations, and different customs.
People watch how you act and how your children act. You are your country’s representative. Patience and graciousness could not be more important, although they are always handy at home as well. It is amazing to see your children on their own. They are still with you but they stick out and are noticed as individuals not just as another kid. The manner in which they speak, the way they respond, their gestures are so important. You see them with their own little place in the world because they are special not just to you because their differences make them special to others. I guess that is part of the transportation too that when you pick yourself up out of your environment that you are transported figuratively and literally.
-B.Lee
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Wow! It’s like we never left. The school year fades away like a kind of slightly neurotic dream. I miss the people at home, but it’s nice to get away and not have to do anything.
We are all tired from the plane ride. I slept more than I did last time (I wasn’t sitting by Carter) but I’m still exhausted. Right now we are all sitting around swatting flies, looking out over the ocean. We’re all in bathing suits and will leave to sit around at the beach soon.
-Ellen
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