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It's just a hop to the left,
And a step to the right,
Put your hands on your hips,
And bring your knees in tight,
But it's the pelvic thrusts,
That drive me Insane..ane...ane...ane...
Let's do the Time Warp again!
Yes, tis the season again, Halloween is today, and Thanksgiving won't be long. Time is flying by here in Praha, and they don't even know that "Trick or Treat" means! I received word via Mom and Dad that Steffan, my instructor pilot was to begin learning the lay of the land, so to speak, at his job as a missionary pilot. Something very important in his line of work. And this got me thinking, what am I going to do next? Where should live when I return, what should I do. I'll need to start looking for a new set of wheels, that's a give'en, but what else. Should I return home? The idea of staying here has crossed my mind more than once. Or should I stop traveling. I could sign on with Charles University, and work towards my doctorate. I could take the work in Antarctica for a year. I could sign on with the Navy, some how they found me! Now that I'm in the mode of being away how hard could it be. I mean after two months; you can do four, and after four, well who knows. It's an idea right, I could even find work here in Praha if I wanted , I'm sure, and as my understanding of the city and the language increases so does my chances of landing the job. But on the other side of this coin is being away from home and family. I dislike being away from Erin, and my family. Being so far from Ashley and Bob, and the gang at EC, it's a lot to give up. Now I've also been givin the advice that you've not lived in the environment long enough to know. But I'm thinking that I'm reaching that point. True I've been here for a few months, and that is not that long, but if it weren't for my family being so far away I'd just stay. I like it here, things have become regular to me, and even the language isn't that terrifying anymore. During the day's here I could say "Yes, this could be a good pace to live for a while" but still it's not home. And I'm sure that getting on the plane bound for Austria and all points west in December is going to be one of the hardest things that I have to face in this city. This city is becoming regular to me and I am becoming a part of it. That, and the lives of my friends and colleagues here. It is becoming home, so what am I to think. Should I resign to make it my home, return to the one I know, or just keep drifting on and see where the wind takes me. Part of me says and it's getting louder every day that I should take to the breeze. The very second that I feel comfortable with a system or a place, I should seek out a new one and a new place. Sort of a radical anti-stagnation device built in, I suppose. But what would that get me? Homeless for years? Just a camera and a lap top, no one to kiss me good night that's for sure. It's a hard call to make, and I asked my closest friends here about it, as would be normal, and they had different answers. Martin basically said to follow your heart, which is the most sound advice, as none of us would be here had we not done that. Craig was not so easy to sum up, but he would like to stay here. It's just too, to his liking here, and I can sympathize to that idea. If just living is the goal, than here we can surly win this game. It's nice to have been kept under wing for so long, and then released into a world that works. Where we are all old enough to know how to conduct ourselves, we all understand how to live on our own, and it's not impossible to do so with great struggle. Here we live in a land of intellectuals, a city that revolves around ideas, and ideals. The place to be if you are a college student or anyone who believes in the ideals of education, and the educated. Not to say that Praha is any kind of utopia at all. It's a city like any other and it faces its share of problems. Homeless, Drugs, Violence, they can all be found on the streets here too. But it's not like any other city I've been in before either.
Now I've been listening to my other classmates, and friends as they have been talking to me here too. Some of them have been traveling more that I have, most in fact. This I wonder about some times. It seems that they have less to go home to in the grand scheme of things, but it puzzles me as to how that could be. I mean I've never been away from Waverly as long as this, but it's no big deal. I could stay away forever if it weren't for my family , so that leads me to believe that I have been granted an unusual family in this respect. Some thing binds us closer together than the average, I guess. Not that I'm the only one from a village, or close family. I had the opportunity to sit and have a few pints with a nice Irish girl named Fionna, who is going to be here for about as much time, and said that she was looking for work at home. She was thrilled with Prague, but wanted to get back and make her life closer to where it began. She was the only person besides myself and the woman that I love to say such a thing. And so perhaps it is some mostly forgotten trait amongst us, but only comes out every so many generations. Or perhaps it's a small town thing, as she was from a village out side of Dublin about thirty forty minutes. One distinction that I can make with all the other persons in my group here. My being from more humble beginnings. However another item in the argument that only serves to confuse me further is that one evening with my friend Aubry I was commended on my choice of maintaining the ideals of the small town live. I was applauded at my convictions, and if this has never occurred to you, wait for it, it's a mind bender. To have this come from a person of apparent wealth that I don't understand, and so well traveled and experienced in the world to tell you that you really have it figured out. You just don't know how to take something like that. I think I replied to her in some fashion close to "We'll just have to see what happens." What would you say?
So after nearly eleven hundred words, I'm no closer to a decision, only a few pivo's less for the journey. And so I think the question is "am I coming back here, or going some where else" because I know that on the twenty sixth of December I'll be home. So the question is also can I give it all up again, and the answer, well you'll just have to wait for that one. But I'll be sure to tell you in person the next time I see you.