Back Where I Come From

I’m going to try and pack a lot of great stuff in this blog. Hopefully, it’ll all make sense.

Flights to the US

Coming back to the US was such a different experience. I decided to stay up the night before I left, in hopes that would switch my schedule. (In fact the weekend before could have been a whole blog in itself- great nights out, wakeboarding and finding the only place in Singapore to get gum stuck on your shoe-those will have to be for another time though).

Well, it seemed to work. I had a bit of reverse culture shock when I got into Chicago’s airport though. It was weird hearing so many American accents, plus realizing I had no US money in my pocket, and on top of that, I was no longer the distinct minority. It felt so odd-I’d never even thought of culture shock on the return. Side note- the hallway at the Chicago Airport is so cool (made me feel like Kevin in the Home Alone movie).

Missouri

Getting to see Amanda made the loads of traveling worth it. Even though we only had roughly four days together, it was really great.

Highlights: Great nature walk on Tuesday with Amanda through a trail by her apartment, spending some great time with my buddy Max and his girlfriend Kelley, my friend Lauren coming in for St. Louis, catching up with everyone from AEPi, my trips to KOMU and of course the FOOD (American diet at its finest- Shakespeare’s Pizza , chokes ‘n cheese, beer and pretzel at Flatbranch, breakfast at Ernie’s with the shooter, two home cooked meals by Amanda, massive Chipotle burrito, man was it all awesome).

On a whole different level, was Thursday night in Columbia. Amanda and I met up with a whole group of friends at Harpo’s (my favorite college bar). Let’s just say the night reminded me of a traditional college night. After plenty of fun, Max, Kelley, our buddy Zach, Amanda and I all headed to “The Diner.” The food was perfect for that time of night- I got something called a flat top- hash browns, scrambled eggs, veggies and cheese with a side of wheat toast-sooooooo good. The night was just a perfect end to the Columbia trip. I saw so many old friends, but more importantly, spent quality time with the girfie.




Dallas

Coming back home was phenomenal. I really tried to make the most of my week there. Easily crammed two weeks worth of visiting into a week.

Highlights: Being home for Friday night dinner, spending lots of time with my adorable niece and nephew, watching “4 Christmases” with David and Melissa ;), my two rounds of golf (of course counting the Sunday brunch in there), all the great conversations with my grandparents, having the “best pizza in Dallas” with Zack (it was very good, a bit too fancy for me, but still really good), big family fajita dinner, again all the food (not even going to start to detail how much I ate), seeing my friend Jordan’s one man play, catching up with Frances and Tracy, but most of all, just seeing all of my family and spending time with everyone as much as I could.

Best Quote : My nephew Aaron saying, “I want you to sing to me on da computer” (nowadays he’s used to seeing me on skype haha)

Best Story: My buddy Mike came in from Austin for a day and we did quite a bit- casino, Bone Daddy’s, golf and Pei Wei. The highlight (or down point depending on how you see it haha) was going to the Choctaw Casino on Monday night. They’ve opened up a brand new hotel equipped with a whole extra casino floor. After quite a trip to find the blackjack tables, we sat down for what can only be described as a pure beating. I’m not a great gamble. I admit my moves are never very good, but this was just a bad night. I don’t know how many hands we played, but in total I got three 20s, and won only once. I must have been dealt a hand of 12-15 at least 10 times (all seemingly very close together). I mean, I tried to be smart, sat out a couple hands after continuously losing, didn’t over bet- well, none of it worked. We’ll just say I made a nice contribution to the casino’s new amenities.

The best part of our time at the table, and maybe what made it all worth it was this guy that sat down with us. I could say lots of mean things about his appearance, but let’s just say he looked a bit disheveled. After a few hands, he just starts ripping on their 50 cent ante system. Mike seeing an opportunity, enjoyed pushing this guy’s buttons, and the man was happy to oblige. At one point, the guy started telling us how he hated the casino, everyone in it and he’s only here because of his girlfriend (if that’s true, why was he betting so much?). This is not even close to the highlight though. After a bit more prodding from Mike, the guy just goes on a rant (loosely quoted), “I hate this casino and everyone who works here (at which point a worker kind of defends herself, he doesn’t buy in, basically tells her he hates her). I mean honestly, I’d love to burn this place down. Just wait til Rick Perry’s gone and we’ll have a casino and Texas and this’ll be a ghost town. I mean that ante, really? I wish I could burn this place down.” It was so funny, Mike kept laughing, I’m just sitting there, stunned at this guy. Boy oh boy, I forgot how much I missed America’s finest.


All in all, I had a fantastic trip home. I had about 11 days to work with, and I was busy from sun up until sun down. I could easily have written about all of the awesome food (the pictures will have to do), or expanded on all the adventures, however, the point seems to get across. As much as I enjoyed home, it also gave me even more confidence I made the right decision by coming to Singapore. I feel very fortunate to be doing a job I love, plus having the opportunity to see a different side of the world.

Still, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Thanks to everyone for making it such a great trip home,

Michael

Is that Charoset or Honey?

It's official-I survived Passover in Singapore. This was a completely new experience for me, but a good one.

For Seders, I went both nights to the synagogue, where they put on big community Seders each night. The reading of the Haggadah was definitely different, especially the part where on of the Chabad boys came out in a bright green from speed skating like suit. It was a lot of fun and the food was very nice. I will say though, Sefardi charoset to me seems like honey with tiny little bits of apple.

Now to the food, of course the most important part, I decided to eat rice this year. They served it at the synagogue, so I figured, if the big guy upstairs is okay with these religious people eating it, I bet he's okay with me eating it.

I also didn't keep super strict restrictions this year as the Kosher options here are limited. My big goal was not too eat bread. It's harder than you think even though most Asian foods don't have bready items. The problem is that I often make peanut butter sandwiches for lunch or dinner-not an option for that week.

I did make myself matzah pizza pretty often, and I really enjoyed it. Cooking wise, I tried my hand at Matzah brie. My first attempt was not so good, far too much egg. The next try was much better as my matzah to egg proportion was much better. The other thing I realized this Pesach - I love chocolate milk. I drank at least a glass or two everyday.

All in all, Passover was very good. However, this was also one of the hardest I've ever had. For the first time in my life, I was away from family for Seders. I wrote a big long sappy email to my parents about that- let's just sum it up by saying I missed my family, the amazing food they'd be having and simply, how easy it's been for me to keep Passover thanks to my mishpachah. Being on my own is good though. It's a chance to grow and figure out what the holiday means to me. In the end, I figured out that the Pesach is a combination of two things for me. First, it's a test for me to show my commitment to my beliefs. Second, Passover is about who you are surrounded with. Hopefully, the answer is people you love and/or those you want to share memories with.

Pesach 2010 is in the books, with a check mark.

Sports wise- this is one of the best times of year. The Masters is getting underway, we had an AMAZING finish to the college basketball season, soccer is wonderful at the moment (Champions league {Lionel Messi is absolutely magical}, BPL title race), NBA is getting closer to the playoffs and we also had baseball opening day. I love it all.

Next week, I'll be in Missouri! I'm very excited to see the girfie (I know how much she loves that nickname), plus lots of other friends. Then, it's off to Texas to visit all the family.

I think for the moment, Dayenu!

Michael