So Kaede and I received some bad news yesterday. Apparently her school decided to postpone her winter break by three weeks, which means she won't get here until mid-January. We were really looking forward to being able to spend Christmas with each other (even though she was actually gonna get here two days after Christmas... close enough), but now I guess we'll just have to start planning for a Martin Luther King Day celebration. She will get here in time for January 22, which, hard as it is to believe, marks six months that we've been together, so that's something. I'm pretty bummed though. Coming back to site after the fun-and-fancy-free atmosphere that ruled in UB for two weeks has been quite difficult, and so this is just adding insult to injury. Oh well. My counterpart Zoloo just gave me some nice pics her brother-in-law took when Kaede and I went to have dinner with her family in UB recently, so at least I can look at those for the next six weeks. The one above is the two of us with Ochka, Zoloo's adorably sassy niece.
And of course, when it rains, it pours. Another sad thing happened this week. Franz, one of our VSO volunteers, left Choibalsan for good yesterday. He was supposed to be here for the whole two years I am, but a variety of forces conspired to keep that from happening. It's a real shame, since he was one of my favorite people here at site. It was very sudden too, so we barely had a chance to give him a proper goodbye. We did get to go out for dinner and sing some karaoke one last time. That was nice.
On a slightly more neutral note, yesterday I got to help the students from my school shovel the roads of the city. There aren't very many plow trucks round these here parts, so apparently that's a task that gets delegated to students and workers. It was kinda nice to do some manual labor, even if it was in the freezing cold, but I mostly enjoyed it just to see how much fun the students were having. I have a feeling if American students were asked to do a similar task, they wouldn't be quite so peachy about it. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but, seeing as its only December 9, I'm sure it'll happen again.
Here's a pic of me and Pookie (as we all affectionately call Franz) on his last night in town. We'll miss ya buddy!
And of course, when it rains, it pours. Another sad thing happened this week. Franz, one of our VSO volunteers, left Choibalsan for good yesterday. He was supposed to be here for the whole two years I am, but a variety of forces conspired to keep that from happening. It's a real shame, since he was one of my favorite people here at site. It was very sudden too, so we barely had a chance to give him a proper goodbye. We did get to go out for dinner and sing some karaoke one last time. That was nice.
On a slightly more neutral note, yesterday I got to help the students from my school shovel the roads of the city. There aren't very many plow trucks round these here parts, so apparently that's a task that gets delegated to students and workers. It was kinda nice to do some manual labor, even if it was in the freezing cold, but I mostly enjoyed it just to see how much fun the students were having. I have a feeling if American students were asked to do a similar task, they wouldn't be quite so peachy about it. Unfortunately I forgot my camera, but, seeing as its only December 9, I'm sure it'll happen again.
Here's a pic of me and Pookie (as we all affectionately call Franz) on his last night in town. We'll miss ya buddy!
aw johnny that sucks. will her break be the same length of time? imagine stuff like this happening in the u.s.???? there would be a major revolt. it really puts things in perspective. if colleges changed their break schedule zillions of people -- ok hundreds of thousands anyway -- would miss air flights, etc. there'd be bedlam.
ReplyDeletei'm sorry you'll miss her for so long and that your friend went away. did he go back to the philippines?
during the depression in the u.s. ordinary people shoveled the roads. it was a jobs program that helped people eat. do the kids get paid for shoveling?
i love you and miss you alot.
xoxoxxo mom
Dear Johnny, I am sorry you have to wait to see Kaede. Just think though, she will be leaving later than she was going to leave, so maybe that will make seperation time shorter on the other end. I know it is not easy to be seperated from the person you love. I hate to be away from Ron even for a few hours. When he was living in Calais and I lived in Litchfield, I would go and wander Sam's Club to try and soothe my aches. Hopefully time will pass quickly and then slow down once she gets there. We love you dear. Miss you too.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the accumulated hits you have taken. We know it will get better when you can share time with Kaede. Have you guys talked about how to make dating easier when you get to the states?
ReplyDelete