pulling up sticks, pt. ii

i now know what to do when you're getting ready to leave a country. a while ago i made a post asking the question of what a person is to do when they have to leave something they have only recently become accustomed to. in this case, what am i to do now that i'm leaving england in three weeks and i have just started to feel like i'm living here. i have a solution and it depends on the individual's denial-level. if you're, say, a novice and usually find yourself admitting defeat before you're given the chance to succeed at something, this may not be the route for you.

if you're like me and have become rather accustomed to pretending you'll never have to return to the real world then do i have the whet for your whistle. leave where you are and go home, just like you're supposed to. unpack your bags. take a hot shower. check your mail. doddle around the kitchen aimlessly for a day or two. pretend everything is normal.

and then pull up sticks and go on vacation.

in my case, plan a ski trip to bozeman with your chums and neglect to really think much farther beyond that. i know that, especially these days, we all need to be a little more careful and plan ahead. we don't know what's around the corner anymore so we have to choose our steps and be aware of over-zealous behavior. or not. or we deal with what may come with the awareness that we will be okay, even if things will get hard for a time. but there will always be something to be said about spurs of the moment. i.e. i can go without living what i think of as, oh, decently and respectfully for a few weeks if it means a couple days skiing with two of my favourite people in the world.

being overseas has taught me many things. don't get in a cab drunk and forget your address. don't tell a northerner he sounds like a southerner. don't miss your flights. but most importantly, don't pass it up. whatever it is. don't.

so, take a vacation. the economic crisis will still be here when you get back.

-e


ben, aubrey, bobby, than, myself