New Year Part 2

Continuing things I learned:

4. I can survive:
a. a room the size of a walk in closet
b. A shower/bathroom, the size of a linen closet, with no tub, curtain, or medicine cabinet
c. . A shower/bathroom, the size of a linen closet, with no shower, toilet, or medicine cabinet
d. Without live sports
e. An ulcer
f. Eating a grasshopper, and whole red hot chili pepper, soon after discovering I had an ulcer.
g. Applying to 13 law schools while in Thailand
h. Without a kitchen
i. Street food
j. Motorcycle taxis
k. Cambodia
l. Burma
m. Isaan
n. The revenge of the spicy Thai food
o. Caroling through a red light district.
p. Jet lag to end all jet lag
q. Working the 7:45 to 4:30.
r. Potentially malaria and dengue fever carrying mosquitos
s. living in a country where I am wholly ignorant of the language.
t. monkeys
u. without protein powder
v. a buzz haircut
w. without four eggs before I go to bed
x. Having to be an entertainer
y. Without decent health insurance.
z. Teaching crazy second graders

New Year Part 1

So a New Year doesn't really change much. Theoretically, it's foolish to wait until Jan. 1 to make new resolutions that could better your life. But it does provide an artificially good time to reflect on the old year, and look forward to the new. Let's start with....

Things I've learned:

1. I get along better, and meet people better from foreign countries than from my own. For some reason, I assume they are friendler--making myself more friendly (Haiti trip, trip to Thailand)

2. Traditional church in America has failed. They focus on doctrinal differences, superficial things that make attendance higher, and building bigger buildings. White, Christian America has hidden themselves from the poor in America, so they don't have to deal with guilt of not helping them. This is just touching the iceberg of the deficiencies. (Trip to Haiti, attending Church Under the Bridge, attending New Song, reading the news)

3. I love the energy kids have. Fear and pain steal away the excitement for life. (Haiti, teaching at my Thai school)

In a few days, I'll post things I've learned.....I can survive. (I know you all have short attention spans, and I want to create the illusion that I blog semi-consistently.