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.

How to Travel the KKH

Coming home from our trip to the Northern Areas, our flight was canceled. We decided rather then waste precious vacation days, we'd drive back on the only road...the one and only, the famous Karakoram Highway (KKH). They call it the 8ths wonder of the world. Considering it took 20 solid years and 892 lives to complete, it's pretty amazing.

The KKH follows some sections of the old Silk Trail but it mainly follows the Indus River with the roads thousands of feet above the river basin. The KKH begins in Hasan Abdal China and ends in Kashgar Pakistan, not too far from Islamabad. It's a truckers road, built by the Chinese to sponsor trade between China and Pakistan and is mainly traveled by the gorgeous Pakistani trucks. It's supposedly two lanes, but it's a miracle anyone can actually pass on some of the sections. Much of the road is carved out of the solid rock high and then drops off for several thousand feet. Drivers have to both watch the road and keep and eye up for the frequent rock slides. Rock slides can shut down the KKH for hours or days and back up traffic until someone clears the debris. Maintaining the road is a constant battle. As it is, it's impossible to travel faster then 50 kph which is considered a decent speed.

Driving home we started in Gil Git so in total we drove almost half of the entire KKH. We started out at 4am from Gil Git, and arrived in Islamabad at 00:30. It was a little long and several passengers in our rented Toyota van were sick from something we ate, sick from the switchbacks or sick from the heights. It's slow going with the trucks and one 100 kilometer section of road took us an hour and a half. We had lunch at the office of a humanitarian organization in Besham which neared the halfway mark at 4pm. It was another 6 hours on to Abbottabad where we stopped for snacks and to let the driver have a smoke. Finally reaching the outskirts of Islamabad at 23:30, we were turned back because the police and national security wouldn't let a van inside the city limits. We were forced to drive another 45 minutes out of our way to enter the city though the trucking highway.

All in all, it wasn't that much fun but now we're laughing about it. It's rare you ever regret something that afforded awesome views of diverse and beautiful places.

How to Kill Yourself on Term Break

Living overseas has taught me both to be rational/reasonable and daring/stupid. I hardly know what column my fall term break falls into. Term break means a holiday from hard work which I can assure you was intense over my now completed 8-week term. I was up for laying around, writing friends and watching TV shows. But no! We must seize the moment! Part of living overseas involves enjoying what's around while it's around so we decided to make a trip to the Himalayas while we're in Pakistan and term break is a perfect time to do that.

"North" means "Northern Areas," officially "Federally Administered Northern Areas" (FANA); (not to be confused with Northwest Frontier Provence where the militants hang out; no one goes there). The Northern Areas back up to China thus the trade and thus the high mountains and deep ravines. The mountains are incredible; they go straight up out of the river basins and on the flight up we were actually flying with the mountains higher then the plane.

We started off by visiting Fairy Meadows (so named by Germans explorers). We traveled in 1970s Russian jeeps (beautifully refurbished) up the side of these cliffs in a frightening experience for even those who like heights. The “road” was a path thousands of feet above a river basin. Once the 16 kilometer death trip ended, we trekked for several hours up steep inclines over more cliffs before reaching the camp. Little House on the Prairie cabins with no heating welcomed us while it snowed down upon us wimps from Southern Africa. When the sun finally came out, we had a stunning view of Nanga Parbat, the second highest peak in Pak, ninth in the world. Nanga Parbat is a deadly climb and quite a few people have died in their attempt to make it to the top (we only trekked around it). All this, is only going up. We could have died coming down too and then we realized, it's always important to read the fine print.

After Fairy Meadows we spent the night in Gil Git before driving north towards Hunza Valley. We spent two nights at the famous Eagle's Nest lodge at the tree line high above the beautiful valley. Hunza residents are considered to be more open people. The women are highly educated and freely walk around without headscarves and people are very friendly. We did some mild trekking around Hunza and saw the famous 800 year old Baltit Fort sitting near a now melted glacier. Hunza boasts it's own peaks; Golden Peak, Lady Finger and our favorite, Racaposhi (we said it over and over again, attempting to create as many different phrases with the word as possible). We then traveled on to visit Passu Glacier north towards the China boarder.

We were supposed to fly out of Gil Git a week later on Wednesday morning but due to the weather, Tuesday's flights were canceled (happens all the time with mountain weather) so they kicked us off the Wednesday flight. How we got home, is another deathly adventure. But that's reserved for next week.

How to Vote Absentee

Voting is a privilege. Many consider it a right, but it's a privilege to participate in government. Those who know me can perhaps guess who I voted for, but it's a secret. This was my first election as a voting member of the American population, a rite of passage I've coveted for ages. I've followed the campaigns and like many Americans was amazed at Hilary's success and shrugged at her demise. I enjoyed the conventions (via CNN online) and read the articles. I didn't find it a very interesting election, but I plan on living for more drama.

I'm convinced global nomads are some of the most brilliant people. We're expected to understand our own political system (often complicated), and that of our host country (often more complicated). We follow our own elections and that of our host country. Depending on our host country, we hide out in our homes during elections and if we're unlucky, we experience post-election violence and write hundreds of emails to family and friends assuring them of our safety (or lack of safety). The effort is exhausting keeping names and positions straight for two systems. Nonetheless, as before stated, global nomads are politically intelligent. Despite Americans overseas possessing this brilliance, Gallup Poll doesn't poll us, no one collects data on us nor did McCain or Obama make an effort to engage us. While I understand we are small numbers, I hold it against them.

November 4th for American overseas is a non-events. We watch a map of the country on internet newspapers color in red and blue. Depending on the country and time zone, one can easily fall asleep in the process. In Kenya for Election 2004, I stayed up all night watching the numbers come in. This year, I might stay up all night anyway, watching TV shows, writing papers and cleaning my room. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. What happens in Washington affects our world directly. As they say over there...God bless America