College: Chapter One

I need to just start out by saying that I stole this title of this post from my friend Elisa, the picture from my friend Anya, and the impetus to actually write from my friend and roommate Derek. I saw Elisa's status on FaceBook and thought it was cool, so I used it. I don't think she'll mind. I was looking through Anya's pictures and was pleasantly surprised to see that she is an excellent photographer. Or photographess. Whatever. I didn't ask permision to use this picture, even though I really should of. Well, I will, and I'll just assume she won't hate me. And my roommate, Derek, has been reading my blog, and he kept saying I should blog. Well, knock and the door will be opened to you. I'm blogging. I've been doing really well since I got to college. The fact that I can list three friends at the beginning of a post shows how well I'm doing. And that's just three of them, there's more. But if I tried to name them all this post would start to resemble the genealogy of Jesus. Long and boring.

Anyway, I'm hungry and should be running off to breakfast soon, so I'll give you the abbreviated version. The TCK (Third Culture Kid) Transition Program was excellent. I made a lot of good friends there, and had a lot of. And now that the TCK program is over I'm trying to spend more time with SCKs (Single Culture Kids, a term I just invented) because I like to have lots of friends in lots of different groups. So I'm happy. Yesterday we went to Letchworth state park, the Grand Canyon of the East or something along those lines. It was pretty cool. And I got to hang out with a lot of people, so I'm happy. Though I still need to put the pictures on FaceBook. Now I'm off to breakfast and then "new student worship service", which actually kind of unnerves me because I don't think us new students should be worshipped. But whatever, I'll take it as it comes. So anyway, I really should go now, my stomach is whining for cafeteria sustenance. The food, by the way, is pretty good here. And also, well I'm doing "by the ways", I'm writing all of this on my brand spanking new Lenovo R61 super extra special awesome laptop from heaven. It came down in a ray of light, with angels flapping around it, guiding it slowly to Earth, where, through a divine power it found it's way to it's rightful owner, me. I think I'll name it Bob. No, Bob's an overly used name. Let's name it something better. Well, I'm not naming it right now, I'm going to breakfast, I'll try to write again soon, Cya!

What's the first thing we think of when we think about America? That's right. The flag. The American flag pants.

Well, I've been in America for a while now, and to be honest, it hasn't been that bad. Normally I go to America and I'm sickened, both physically and emotionally, by everything. But thanks to my super special awesome foresight I've been watching what, and how much, I eat so as to not make myself sick. And as far as emotionally sick? Well, I believe that 2 things saved me there. First of all I know there's A LOT of people praying for me. Like, more than I realize. So right now I just need to say thank you, I'm already over jetlag, I haven't made myself sick once AND I'm barely having any trouble with culture shock! That's one huge miracle! The other reason is that I think that spending the summer with the very American mission team (No, I'm not dissing you, I'm just calling you American) sort of immunized me or something. So most of the things that have "culture shocked" me have been more of the, "Hmmm, that's odd" variety rather than the, "OH MY GOD, THIS COUNTRY MAKES ME SICK!" variety. The biggest shock I've had so far was the revelation that it's not that people don't walk because they're lazy, it's because they can't! Everything seems to be set up to only support cars, not walking. And even if there were good places to walk, everything is so far away! And everything is huge! I was making plans with someone and I'd just been thinking I'd walk to meet them. The idea of a car entering the equation just never came into my mind. So I was shocked to realize that, no, I CANNOT walk everywhere. There is no tram. This country is designed to make you fat and lazy because of the way it takes away walking!

Wow, see, that shows how well I'm doing. Only one tiny little rant. The only other thing that really comes to mind is that there are flags everywhere. Years ago, when I livedin America I was in a creative writing class and we had some assignment. I don't remember what the assignment was, but I do remember that girl wrote an excellent, thought provoking paper about the flag. This was recently after 9/11 and she argued in her paper that because we were putting out so many flags that we were disrespecting the flag, I don't remember her whole arguement, because I never paid attention in writing class, (but something got through apparently, because my blog seems to have some half decent writing on it) but I'm starting to get it now. In Estonia I have two photo hobbies. I like taking pictures of the sky, sunsets especially, and I like taking pictures of the Estonian flag. Why? Well, because the sky is beautiful. But the flag because it's special to see an Estonian flag. We take out the flag for holidays. But they're not out all the time, so it makes the flag worth more. So I love the Estonian flag. But the American flag is everywhere, all the time. It loses what made it special. Do you see what I'm saying?

So that's one rant, one, "That's odd". I'm sure once I get to college I'll find more to rant about. To be honest, now that I'm sitting here blogging I'm starting to remember a few things I could rant about if I really wanted to. But I don't. I'd rather tell you what I've been up to lately. I'll start from the beginning. I left really early on Saturday, so early that I don't remember exactly what time. My plane took off like 6ish something. Anyway, I had a good trip. First a few hours over to Copenhagen, then an insane 5 hour layover there. But that layover actually wasn't that bad, I had a bag of peanuts in my bag and 3 episodes of, "Wait, wait. Don't tell me!" on my MP3 player. So I hunted down an empty bench (hint: if you're ever looking for an empy bench in an airport, find out if there's any construction going on. Chances are even if there's no noises from the construction, nobody will be sitting there!) lay back and worked through my snack and my podcasts. Then I read some more of Robin Hobb's, "Forest Mage" (hint: if you love to read, bringing an awesome 800+ page book is a great idea!)

Then I got on the plane and checked out the entertainment system. I'll be blunt. SAS's entertainment system sucks. KLM has the best entertainment system EVER! But sadly I was on an SAS flight. I enjoyed myself though. I watched several movies, "Be kind, rewind" which I honestly didn't think was that funny. I was REALLY disapointed. Come on Jack Black! Then, "Drillbit Taylor", which was pretty funny. Yay, Owen Wilson! I also watched some other stuff, I don't remember what though. I just remember a feeling of deep disapointment, because I watched, "Be kind, rewind" first. And I was angry because the stupid entrtainment system would not let me rewind! It was not kind! But whatever, now I know I should always try to fly KLM. Then I landed in Newark and got mugged by security. Not really, but mind as well have been. first I stood in a line for HALF AN HOUR, than I finally get to the desk hand the guy my passport and that stupid little security paper they make you fill out and he looks at me and in extremely bored voice says, "is that pencil?" So I had to go to THE BACK OF THE LINE and rewrite my stupid security paper again in pen. It asked questions like, "What did you buy while away from the U.S.?" only like HALF OF WHAT I OWN! Though I didn't put that. I left that blank. Then, are you bringing in more than 10,000 dollars? I wish! Geeze, those questions all irritate me. So anyway, that sucked. Security took forever. Then I couldn't find the carousal with my baggage. Then I finally did find it, but I did something stupid. I took my baggage off before making the blood sacrifice to summon the baggage cart (seriously, 3 bucks for a cart I'll use for 10 minutes? Those guys suck!) so I used my super human strengh to pick up 3 suitcases and my bag and run over to the carts. Run because if I didn't go fast I would have fallen over. I was literally carrying almost everything I own. So then I sacrificed my firstborn for a cart and then finally pushed my way to the back of ANOTHER HUGE LINE! I hate lines. Then I finally got through it all and went out to meet Uncle Billy, who was picking me up.

And ever since I've been with him, partying non-stop. And despite the fact that I've had tons of computer access I haven't wanted to blog because I'm on some sort of mini-laptop so typing is really awkward for me. But I realized that if I can go on FaceBook and write stupid comments than I can blog for you guys. And also someone asked me to. So I decided to give you this super long post so that nobody can ever complain that I don't blog enough. Anyway, so let me tell you what I've done this week. I got some super awesome sneakers. Like super extra cool. They're black. And they go on my feet. That's cool. And un-like my old sneakers, the bottom doesn't collapse! Yay! I also have gotten, from various places, all the bedding I need. So thank you to my Aunt Mary-Kay (Masha) and my Aunt Sylvia. And when I went to Maine, I just got back from Maine by the way, my Uncle Andy gave me a guitar! Uncle Andy must have some scheme about how when I'm a rockstar he'll be in my band or something. Because he's given me my first two guitars! I had to leave my old one in Estonia, but now I have a new one, so nothing can stop me from becoming a super rockstar! And believe it or not this guitar is tuned, despite living in a basement for a while. So I'm thrilled with that.

So, as I mentioned I just got back from Maine. I had loads of fun, I got to see pretty much everybody because we had a big party. It was so cool! And I was so happy to just be loved by so many people. That was special. My cousin Monica almost wouldn't let me leave, and my little 3 year old cousin Joann gave me a nice big hug and kiss. So anyway, now I'm back in New York, and I'm going to be traveling around tomorrow to see my Grandparents, and then Saturday I'm going to be meeting some Salvationist girls who are also going to Houghton. So that should be fun. I'll try not to be nervous. Oh, but before I go I have an intersting story and a caution to young travelers. Because I'm moving I am, of course, taking everything of importance with me. Including some glass stuff. Trust me, if you're traveling internationally you really shouldn't put your glass in your checked luggage, I swear the people at the airport smashed your suitcase with sledgehammers before launching it out of a cannon into the plane which then drops it, without a parachute, onto a concrete landing platform from an altitude of 3000 feet. And that's before they even take out the bulldozer! So anyway, I think you get it. Broken glass throughout my suitcase. Bad. Well, what made it worse was that I forgot about it, so as I was reaching for some clothes I sliced open the side of my pinky. Ouch, bloody.

So since I was alone and without bandaids I made a makeshift bandage out of a papertowel and one of those rubber wristbands. Still not nice. It's okay now, I mean, the doctor said I didn't really need that finger anyway, so amputation shouldn't be a problem. Just kidding. But then I was still faced with the task of cleaning up the glass. I didn't cut myself again but I did experience one of the oddest moments of my life. I never thought I would be shaking glass shards out of my underwear. So this is my advice to any of you traveling. Don't travel with glass. But if you must and breaks, be sure to shake out your underwear before you put it on. I don't want to even think about what could have happened had I not cut my finger, I wouldn't have felt the need to clean up the glass yet, would have gotten dressed the next day and...Thank God I cut my finger! See, I told you the prayer was working. God works in mysterious ways, but I honestly believe I had to get cut because if I hadn't I wouldn't have cleaned up and then I might have just as easily ended up cutting my wrist accidentally instead of my finger. So thank God. anyway, I really should be going now, I've got some traveling to do tomorrow. Cya!

Back to Tallinn, hooray!

Well, it’s been a while since I left Tallinn, like 2 whole days or something, but it feels like forever. I can’t wait to get back and post this post. That’s right. Once again I’m writing in the car. At the moment we’re in Lithuania, heading for the Latvian border. In a bit more than two hours we’ll be at the Estonian border, and from there about two hours to Tallinn. It’s going to be a late night. I guess not many people can say that they’ve been to three countries in three days, but I can see why. It’s a tiring trip! I much prefer air travel, statistically safer (according to Superman) and also much quicker and more comfortable. But my air travel will come on Saturday morning, as I head to America. I’ve sort of given up dreading it. I don’t know if my rambling “Wanderlust” post made any sense whatsoever, but that’s a part of it. I’ve allowed myself to be caught up in the thrill of traveling. And also, I know it’s going to happen, so why dread it? I could stop it if I wanted, going to college is my own doing. But I want to go. And Estonia, in all it’s glory, will still be here when I come back. The hard part now is the waiting. I know that once I’m on the plane, or in America, moving in, meeting friends, I’ll be fine. I know that, all bragging and sarcasm aside, once I’m put into a situation I can handle it, and usually handle it with more finesse than I would expect of myself. It’s just the waiting that sucks. The endless “what ifs” that march through my mind, trying to tear down my confidence and awaken my fear. But on the other hand I only have 4 full days left, then my life will be plunged into complete chaos, and there won’t be too much waiting involved. And now some of my further thoughts on the coming plunge…

Normally I have about a million “bungee cords” of support. Friends, family and just the comfort that comes from being somewhere familiar. Enough bungee cords to form an elaborate and beautiful safety net. I may have worries, fears and problems, but I know that I have all the help and support I need. Now I’m taking the biggest plunge of my life with only a few cords holding me. First and strongest and most precious, God. No matter what I do I will never lose his protection, and he will always love and care for me. Secondly, and not quite so reliable, I have myself. Allow me to tell you about two of my heroes, Indiana Jones and Han Solo. First of all they are both played by Harrison Ford, secondly they’re both great with the ladies. If that wasn’t enough to make them my heroes I don’t know what more I could want. But what are two things these two characters have in common other than these two things? One simple thing. Rogue’s luck. They’re both what could be defined as, “Rogues”, and I have always considered myself something of a rogue. Those who know me might agree with that title, or might not. But I definitely like that idea. And both of them seem to get by on luck quite a bit. “Never tell me the odds!” And though I don’t really believe in luck I do believe that things always seem to work out okay for me, some might call that luck, some might not. I just call it really cool. But I also like to call it “Rogue’s Luck” because that was an ability in “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic”. So in some ways I feel I can count on myself and my own coolness, and my own intellect and abilities. And the third and final thing that I see as supporting me when I go to America is language! I might not know the culture, but I know the language. And though I’ve been told I have slight Canadian accent (weird) after surviving 4 years almost completely stranded in a foreign language environment anything done completely in English will be easy in comparison.

So, as you can see I’ve gained an extremely cocky confidence. But I’d rather be cocky then terrified. Anyway, I do have some other stuff to blog about, but nothing I want to do without internet access. I also would really like to blog about the situation between Russia and Georgia with South Ossetia, but having spent 4 years in a country bordering Russia that was illegally occupied by the Soviet Union for about 50 years, I can’t find much to say that isn’t horribly hateful towards Russians. But I will say one thing to President Bush who, according to BBC World News is “deeply concerned” about this. Russia and America are both major world powers. They both have more land and more firepower than most other countries. And they have one other thing in common. They both use military force, invading countries, when they shouldn’t. At least Russia has a less flimsy excuse than us. They’re “defending Russian citizens” rather than defending the people of Iraq (who made us in charge of defending smaller countries? Why is it our responsibility? A noble cause is no excuse for stupidity.) or trying to keep someone from using some nuculur, ah-hem, forgive me, nuclear missiles which are…where? Bush wants the Russians to pull out, well I’ve got one last thing to say. Matthew 7:3 and 4 says, “You can see the speck in your friend's eye, but you don't notice the log in your own eye. How can you say, "My friend, let me take the speck out of your eye," when you don't see the log in your own eye?” look to your own troops, and your own wrong invasion first, then talk to Putin.

Now I’m sure I upset some of my readers, because I know that some of my readers are pro-Bush, well, you know what? Too bad. I’m sorry if I upset anyone, but Russia attacking Georgia is wrong, and the world is shocked. And America attacking Iraq was wrong, and the world was shocked. Remember “freedom fries”? Anyway, I’ve managed to both come across as sickeningly cocky and upset tons of Republicans all in one post! I should feel so proud. What a liberal rogue I am. I hope you don’t all hate me too much. I normally try to steer clear of politics, because I know that it’s a great way to make enemies fast, but I really am upset about both Georgia and Iraq. War is wrong. Killing is wrong. There is no such thing as a just war. So JUST STOP! I’m off now, time to listen to something on my MP3 player. Maybe some NightWish, maybe some NPR. Until later, Cya!

P.S. If I really did upset anyone please don’t write me spiteful and angry comments. I prefer my liquid hatred to drip in my E-mail, where only I see it. Anyway, hope I didn’t lose any readers!

The Wanderlust is rising…

Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, New York. Most people don’t get to see all four in a lifetime. I get to see all four in a week! As you all know I haven’t been terribly excited about leaving Estonia. It’s not something I’m all that happy about. I’d much rather have Houghton magically transported to Estonia and take the place of, like, Saku or something. Then I could go away to college in English, study what I want, yet still live in Estonia and be able to visit Tallinn as much as I want. That would be ideal. But thank God I don’t have that kind of power, or else I’d end up rearranging the whole globe. I wouldn’t mind moving Vancouver and Australia closer to me. But anyway, this last week before I leave is vacation. And I’m making it my own brand of R & R. Some would say I should just sit, rest and read. And go on Facebook of course. But no. I know that there is only one way that I can make this move. I must awaken…the Wanderlust! I believe that I’ve blogged about the Wanderlust before, and I had internet access at the moment I’d see what I’ve said before and also look up the lyrics to two NightWish songs. But since I have no internet at the moment (I’m typing this on my dad’s laptop as we drive from Riga, Latvia to Vilnius, Lithuania) I’ll just listen to the NightWish songs and trust my own hearing and also trust that I won’t be too redundant of anything I’ve said before.

Now, back to the Wanderlust. What is the Wanderlust, you ask? It is an awesome NightWish song, though it’s from back when Tarja was singing so I can’t completely understand the lyrics due to her Finnish accent. But I’ve looked up the lyrics before, and I know that what I don’t understand is just as cool as what I do. But that’s not really the Wanderlust I’m talking about. That’s just a song. I’m talking about something deeper. I’m talking about the all consuming desire to travel. The need to see new things. To have new surroundings. To breath new air, eat new food, smell new smells. “I want to see where the sirens sing, hear how the wolves howl…dance in the fields of coral…discover the deepest jungle, I want to find the secret path…it is the journey that matters…call of the wild in me forever, and ever and ever! Wanderlust!” that’s some of NightWishe’s Wanderlust. And though I must admit they seem to be more about getting out into nature, I see it more as finding new things and discovering the world. So what am I getting at here? Quoting NightWish and raving about my desire to have new adventures, do I have a point here? Possibly. Probably. Definitely. Ready? Time for some more NightWish quotes…

“Wayfarer, heartlander!” Curse Tarja’s accent! I know this song has really cool words, I just can’t remember them or understand them! But whatever. The name of the song is enough. Plus those two understandable words from the chorus. I know that some of you noticed that on Friday night my FaceBook status was, “Chris has seven days left in his heartland” When Keit saw that she asked me (Via MSN), “’Heartland’ Chris, do you really love Estonia that much?” My answer, of course, was a resounding, “YES” Why is this my heartland? Allow me to explain. I have come to realize and accept that no country will ever be my, “Homeland” growing up in America and speaking English will always make me a foreigner in Estonia, yet spending my teenage years in Estonia, completely cut off from, and not caring about, American culture has and will make me feel like a foreigner in my official, documented “Homeland” See, I’m stuck. Therefore, since I don’t have the luxury of an Earthly homeland, I claim the luxury of choosing an Earthly heartland. That is, Estonia. It has no true meaning to anyone other than myself, but Estonia is my heartland.

Anyway, I have internet now (yay!) and looked up “The Wayfarer” lyrics. I knew there was something cool. “Home is where the way is, my road goes on forever, one more voyage to go” well, that seems true. I feel very much at home in an airport. More than most other places. So, home is where the way is, and I know my road will go on before me for the rest of my life. Such interesting things. Sometimes I get the feeling that I’ve just blogged and no one even gets what I’m talking about, this is one of those times. Anyway, here’s a little summary. To go to America I’m going to need some inspiration and motivation. And what motivates and inspires me? Travel and adventure, two synonymous words that would be in my version of that “These are a few of my favorite things” song from the Sound of Music. So by traveling through two countries, one of which I’ve never been to before, I am igniting an immense Wanderlust, a desire for change. And I will ride the wave of this Wanderlust until I am safely settled in America. Because I know that I am embarking on the biggest adventure of my life, and so rather than fear and worry about it, I’m deciding to enjoy the ride and jump in head first! I love to travel! Here’s a little of what I’ve seen traveling so far…

That's right, today I saw...Akatsuki! There were four of them, and traveling with them was..Sasuke! Super funky plot twist! There was also some chick with cat ears and a tail coming out from under her skirt. That was odd. It's like that fillr with the fish girl. Wierd. Anyway, when I saw them I was about to drop into a ready battle position, ready to fight them to the death because they're so nastily evil, but then I decided I'd rather just laugh. Teenage girls are always so funny when they cosplay as guys. I only recognized Deidara and Itachi, but the fact that an extremely girly Sasuke was traveling with them still made me laugh. Just think about it. I, an American, watch Naruto in Estonia, in Japanese, with English subtitles. Then I come to Lithuania and run into a group of girls cosplaying Akatsuki. It's funny. I LOVE TRAVELING! THE WANDERLUST HAS TAKEN HOLD! Now I must be off. The world awaits! Good night!

To Riga I will go...

Well, I haven't blogged in a while. That's sad. I know you all are dying without me. The world just seems so empty without a new into-the-void epistle from me. So I thought I'd shoot out a short one, as a special gift for all my fans. And especially for Lisa and Keit, who have both requested that I blog. Last week I was at music camp and now I'm off to Riga. Sorry I can;t blog more, but my mom is yelling for us to get in the car. I'll blog more before I leave Estonia! Cya!