How to Finish an AA Online

I can finally say I've finished university. I have graduated, I can breath in a deep breath of air, enjoy the freedom, revel in the delight and joy of no responsibilities...or can I? Actually I'm only half done. I've finished my first two years of university with an AA degree, half way to a final four year degree. Nonetheless, it's a degree, it's a great place to be and by transferring in four classes and taking a summer semester, I completed two years in 18 months.

Having now finished the mountain of former problems blend into a mirage of memories including bad internet, bad math homework, a few locational moves, couple of tankers worth of coffee, and maybe even a few fits of rage at whatever thing was supposed to function but wasn't...I live overseas...remember? The mirage notwithstanding, I'm glad to finish and be on to new adventures. It's time to try something else.

I learned a few tricks for online success. 1) Drink coffee, lots of coffee because if you don't you'll be sorry. That's all I can say. 2) Work ahead, the internet often dies, the teachers are late responding to email the school site goes down so you've got to stay a few days ahead. 3) Play the "I live overseas card," okay...I used this trick with the profs when I truly did have an excuse and it worked well though playing the card normally meant there was a problem with resulted in more work for me so in the end it's a negative thing.

Sadly I didn't get to wear the funny graduation outfit. I'll have to wait another two years for that privilege. I'll have to work even longer, harder, endure strange food, more professors who take forever to grade homework and more poorly written papers by other students who constantly forget to justify their page margins. But now that's just a part of life.

How to Have a Happy Eid-al-Adha

Happy Eid-al-Adha! Eid is also spelled Idd as well and admittedly this post will arrive a day after the celebrations have drawn to a close. In the Muslim world, this is Christmas. It's three days long so people take the extra two days off and make it a great long holiday. The non-Muslim Pakistanis making up 3%-5% of the population-Christians, Hindus etc.-take their holiday at Christmas later in the month. December has mixed productivity.

Eid-al-Adha is a lunar based religious holiday commemorating Ibrahim's sacrifice of Ishmael to Allah. In Christendom we recognize this as Abraham's sacrifice of Issac stemming from a primary doctrinal different. The holiday also marks the end of the Hajj where any Muslim who possibly can goes to Mecca. In real life, Eid-al-Alha is giant three day long celebration involving, food, family, gifts, and more food. Each family must slaughter a goat and give a third to the poor and Tuesday there was the smell of butchery on the winds of Islamabad and we saw goats in all shapes and forms around the city. We thought about having our own version of Eid...Pizza Hut...but all the stores were closed...so we studied for finals. It's the last week of the fall semester and my American university didn't recogize Eid as a holiday (they didn't give me a Thanksgiving break either, I was ticked on both counts).

This was my first Eid and while I applaud tradition, it reminded why I'm deciding to turn vegetarian. Not that I disapprove of meat, I simply disliked seeing all the goat parts. Goats are cute.

How World AIDS Day Came to Be

In my world, in the world of overseas dwelling expats working in developing nations, World AIDS Day is significant. Weeks and months of planning go into 1 December in order to pull of a memorable and poignant day. With my dad working in relief and development, I've seen my share of World AIDS Days and been to quite a few events. It's almost a game; will this year's program be better then last years? Can this organization compare with the other? While growing up, sometimes I had fun at these events and enjoyed the numerous tasty finger sandwiches and samosas. Other times I've been bored unto tears and would sigh loudly in some dark corner while whinging about the lack of food. Thankfully, this year the program was fantastic and I was excited to attend and take part.

World AIDS Day came to be in 1988 with the help of Johnathan Mann and the World Health Organization. The UN later appointed 1 December as the international date and since then independent organizations have been set up for it's promotion. It serves as a type of Memorial Day or Veterans Day; we're aware of an issue but let's set aside a day to really do something about it. World AIDS Day started with a concentration on young people and children. Later it grew to accommodate everyone and typically has a "theme" set by UNAIDS months in advance. The 2005-2010 theme is "Stop AIDS. Keep the Promise." World AIDS Day shouldn't simply be commemorated by NGOs, health officials and governments, it should cause everyone everywhere to stop and think. How does AIDS affects people? How is the problem continued? What's our response? What are possible solutions? Most importantly, how do we treat those with AIDS? It's our opportunity to express solidarity with those devoted to eradicating this pandemic, and show our support to the 33 million people currently suffering from the disease. It's a time to raise awareness about the issue with the informed and the uninformed.

Currently in Pakistan, over 74,000 people live with HIV/AIDS, .01% of the population. While certainly lower then many Africa nations which have up to 1/5 infection rate, it's not the percentages but the actual lives affected. Globally, few people are able to receive treatment and still millions more lack understanding regarding transmission. Despite all the work poured into stopping the disease and it's transmission, the problem continues and is here to stay.

Some say the AIDS pandemic won't peak until 2040. Other suggest 2020. Regardless, our children will never know a world without AIDS. Maybe one day I'll see Mao Zedong's photo in Tienanmen Square come tumbling down, but I'll never live in a world without AIDS. That's why we say stop AIDS. Keep the promise.

How Goes Thanksgiving Overseas

More then just about any other holiday overseas, Americans place a huge emphasis on Thanksgiving. Quite a few people go home for Christmas, but rarely Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is important to the American culture, you know this when you start creating a list of all the Americans you know in your overseas location.

What Americans will do and pay for a turkey overseas. Oh the meat I've had for Thanksgiving during my 10 years overseas has been downright criminal but it has to be some kind of turkey. We pay the $8 for the cranberry sauce and join in the fellowship of "Americans Who Stress Over the Thanksgiving Dinner." It's important to recreate the feast not only for the cultural significance but because there are so many reasons to give thanks. Even though we're not with people who might mean the most to us, there are aspect of our lives to celebrate. I have known of Americans with a dish having guy parties to watch the football games. Sports.

This year, it was the most traditional I've ever known overseas and perhaps the most fun. We sat around with friends and enjoyed the spread, told jokes and swapped stories about who had the most bizarre story with a foreign airline (that was the hardest to judge). It wasn't so Norman Rockwell-ish but to us it was fabulous, down to the mosque prayers in the distance. We also have the maid which comes the following day and washes all the dishes, ha, ha, ha! There's no Black Friday overseas. I live in an Islamic Republic. The money stays in my wallet. And though it's the wrong holiday to say this, God bless us, everyone.

How We're Anomies

The following is a paper written for my sociology class. Sociology is something I've come to appreciate recently. While the theories rarely interest me, I enjoy learning of trends and putting names to concepts I observe. This week's topic was anomie, a state people reach when they win the lottery and can no longer relate to culture normally. I naturally had to apply this concept to a favorite subject, life overseas and how we're anomies in our own right. Albeit this is written for an audience outside this blog and for my evangelical university, but perhaps you can relate...perhaps you're an overseas anomie.

"I can easily relate to the concept of an anomie. Expatriates like myself who have been raised or spent significant time overseas define ourselves as partially anomies. From one culture but living in another culture, we acknowledge that we don’t fit into either and therefore create an informal “third culture” with other expatriates struggling with the same issue. Returning to the States I frequently feel detached and confused as the American culture continues to develop in my absence and I’m left unclear as to the new acceptable standard for behavior, food consumption, clothing style, and slang. Last summer I discovered Americans were “going green.” The year before that was another fad. My response to transitions is reliance on friends, family, and faith.

"Being dropped into new circumstances is challenging and you instantly become an anomie. Likewise being tossed into new personal wealth entailing a new status and prestige come with its own headaches. Shefik Tallmadge was one of those people thrown into change and unable to handle it. Tallmadge was suddenly transformed into anomie and this transformation was complicated by his absence of a support system. Individuals with close friends and family, involved in the community and holding strong religious convictions are destined to handle sudden change better and not become anomies. In Tallmadge’s case he had no friends to guide him, no financial help and in addition was excessively greedy. He was expected to develop good habits after he won the lottery unlike Milt Laird who received his $27 million jackpot yet already had a sound foundation under him. Milt knew how to handle his money thanks in part to history in finance and he made intelligent choices. Friends, faith and community create a group, a small society and to lose this foundation is to become an anomie. Tallmadge fell for the myth that money grows on trees, and his forest proved rather small.

"Christians have their own financial responsibilities. We’re expected to tithe 10% of incomes, stay out of debt, care for our family and generally be “good stewards.” We also have Christian social obligations, to care for widows, orphans and those in distress. Solomon notes our responsibility to, “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” An increase in wealth should not cause Believers to forget these responsibilities. Ignoring these God given requirements means becoming an anomie with God and the fellowship of Believers.

"Personally my “social class” is a diverse group of expatriates living and working in Islamabad; German, French, Dutch, British, Australian, and South African. Working in diplomacy and development, they’re highly educated and come from varied backgrounds normally in the lower middle classes. We’re fundamentally different but our anomie-like connection with our homelands brings us together in a tight community holding out for stability in strange and insecure country. My family informally appointed ourselves custodian of laughter, and we strive that everyone who walks through our door is able to laugh and relax. It’s our witness to extend encouragement to expatriates and nationals, Christians and non-Christians alike and demonstrate that we believe in the sovereignty of God despite any insecurity."

How I Learned from My Ipod

I'm at a lost this week for overseas subjects to expound upon. While much of my time has been centered around sociology, any ideas discovered therein are not yet fully developed to put into theories. Instead I will make reference to lessons learned from my latest toy, my Ipod.

My birthday occurred this week, a momentous event as I grow closer to the point in one's life where one does not divulge one's age on birthdays. I asked the parentals for an Ipod, a Product Red Ipod, and indeed this was my present; a slick little thing that when I first held I could have sworn I was going to lose it was so flat and small. It was a perfect present because it will be perfectly useful for my soon to be life in an American world.

It's easy to go green. I'm all for green; going green is a new fetish but more then anything I desire to go Red. I wish for humanity to take a vested interest in overseas issues such as AIDS in Africa or Islam in Asia. The emergence of Product Red has shown me that despite everything, Americans do care and this delights my little nomadic heart. My delights are increased by now being able to expand my knowledge through books on CD, or should I say audio books since CDs are no longer necessary, all uploaded and waiting for me to enjoy while I live my life. If those two bits of knowledge weren't enough, I can now enjoy BBC Podcasts in the morning. It's such a delight to hear my friend on BBC from bygone days, droning on in my ears about world affairs while I slip my coffee in Islamabad. It makes a person feel so connected to the rest of the world.

How 8 years Changed the World

The Florida Recount seems like decades ago, remember that? I was a quirky preteen living in Medford Oregon years before any of my political interests cultivated. Now with a new president-elect, the world heralds a coming era of peace and prosperity. George W. Bush polarized thought but it's been a tough 8 years. Recently I sat down and thought above some of the key events of the last 8 years and what they meant for me but most importantly, our world. I attempted to imagine what these developments will look like in our children's history books.

9/11/01- 9/11 is undoubtedly the single biggest event of this decade. It moved us from a post-Cold War world to a War of Terror. It's created a new image of America internationally and the results of 9/11 will be felt for years to come. It revived an interest in both Islam and the afterlife as it reminded us that life is indeed a gift which can be snatched away in a moment. Since then we've seen seen chaos and grief all over the world, Madrid, London, and Iraq as we move into our own brave new world with our own challenges much different from those on 9/10/01.

Going Green- I watched "Some like it Hot" recently, a 1959 comedy in which of the protagonists ask for 40 cents of gas for a road trip. I laughed, out loud, a lot. So gas as gone up a little but then so has the "Go Green" movement. We're dedicated to finding clean renewable energy and are willing to make changes at the grass-roots levels. The economy has been both strong and weak in the past 8 years, but going green is something I'm proud of.

China- The West was predicting doom for China during the days after Tienanmen Square. China as the crouching dragon is beginning to waken. Amazingly, in the past 8 years they've grown at rates which shock both historians and economists. They've embraced capitalism and emerged as a potential top player on the global playing field. Even Communist Cuba shows signs of opening up to the world reaffirming that Reagan did end the Cold War. China's entry into the Modern Age at the Beijing Olympics was glamorous, and it's going to be very interesting in the future.

Darfur- Darfur hasn't changed in the past 8 years, but now it's a household word. It's becoming a pet project for many celebrities and stars who are actively promoting change in Sudan and other sectors of the global society. We've seen many disasters, Pakistan's 2005 earthquake, the 2004 Sumatra Tsunami and Hurricane Katrina and we've seen the involvement of millions of people worldwide in relieving suffering and restoring order and prosperity.

Ipod- This was certainly not something from the 90s! In the past 8 years we've thrown cassettes to the dogs, CDs to the bookshelves and embrased ITunes. We catch the latest episodes of Gray's, Lost, or American Idol on our computers and listen to news podcasts on they way to work. Steve Jobs became a billionare and we started walking around with thousands of songs on a 4 inch bit of Asian manufactured metal with Q-tip-like bits in our ears..."Please don't stop the music, music..."

Zimbabwe- We saw Africa's breadbasket change under one man's leadership to a land of suffering and angry chaos. We've seen two national elections rigged and done nothing. The pain there continues, and this is a project along with Darfur we carry with us into the future. We must continue to strive for order and reconciliation.

Globalization- We've seen outsourcing, moving beyond our own boarders at lightening speed and on a large scale. We've introduced Indian salespeople on our telephones, Dell computers custom made in China and even the intro of the Euro. The Internet debuted social networks like MySpace and Facebook, Skype, Wikipedia, Google and online university choices. Globalization is strong, it's changing us and like the title of Thomas Friedman's book, "The World is Flat."

Harry Potter- Okay, so the first book was published in 97. Okay I only read the first book before being bored but the little English wizzard in Coke-bottle glasses did hit it big. His creator has made over a billion in revenue and we're still awaiting more movies. We've seen the growth of family films as well, Cars, Finding Nemo, Narnia and have proved to Hollywood that the gore doesn't make the blockbuster.

Can you believe all the change? We live in an era moving at the speed of sound and we move forward into our own brave new world embracing the change and resolved to make it a better place. The world I live in, the world I'll work in, the world I want to change is the world created by the past 8 years, and I welcome the challenge.